Member Questions 6-14-26

Zach

Hi Robert - Our recently adopted 2.5 year old Belgian Malinois/Shepherd Mix is not treat / food motivated so training is incredibly difficult. I’m not sure what to do. She’s been with us for only a little but she doesn’t care much for her food or treats and we’ve tried many different types and combinations. She doesn’t have any favorites. We’ve also begun crate training which she is quite afraid of and that’s incredibly difficult since she doesn’t go for any food or treats either. Even when she finally goes in after lots of different treats i believe she is associating treats with the crate which she hates so when we want to give her treats she thinks there’s a catch if she even goes for any treat or food at all. We’ve tried putting food and water in the crate but she’ll refuse to eat or drink just to not go in at all.

Linda M

We have a 8 month old 100% Malinois from a breeder here in Hawaii. Good first generation bloodlines from the Netherlands. She has always scratched and chewed since we brought her home at 8 weeks. Vet suggested trying to eliminate all possible allergy triggers. We stopped feeding her the Iams that the breeder was using. Then started the process of elimination for 6-8 weeks at a time. First no chicken, then no beef, using a Salmon/Sweet potato dry food to supplement her cooked mix of pork, vegetables and brown rice I make for her. She eats "your" breakfast recipe daily. Recently we eliminated the pork and rice, still scratches. She has Norwegian Salmon Oil daily, also calcium and previously bone marrow (until we stopped the beef). Bottom line, we've tried to eliminate any allergy food triggers. We even stopped her Simpatico Trio treatments for a month, not that either. She goes to the beach daily to run/play with other dogs. She's a happy dog, just won't stop the scratching/itching. One suggestion was that it's her rapid growth (8 months/56 lbs) causes an internal itch that will stop as she matures??? Although we have pet insurance, I prefer not to have her knocked out and allergy tested. Read about it, not a pleasant process. Any ideas or is this normal for a rapidly growing Mal. We've always had German Shepherds our first Malinois. Thank you Robert.

Sven

We have a 7-month-old Bouvier and are trying to apply your theory. Things are going fine, but he easily gets distracted outside, which deserves more attention. We have a few short questions to check if we are on the right track: * **Distractions (horses/chickens):** "We practice with distractions daily, moving closer step-by-step as long as we can get his attention. Progress is slow, which is fine, but is this the right approach?" * **Leash pulling & back pain:** "He pulls when distracted. We correct this by turning around or giving a quick leash pop. Is this correct? Also, my wife is getting back pain from these corrections. Do you have any tips for this?" * **Busy intersections:** "He gets a bit distracted around cars and cyclists. We use the same approach: repeating exposure and gradually getting closer. Progress is slow, but are we on the right track?""