8 weeks old, and not excited about treats

[andre normand]

my puppy is 8 weeks old and those not seems to get excited about treats. I have purchased 2 different kinds of treats, he eats one of them but doesn't seems to excited. Watching YouTube videos of people trying dogs with treats, they seem so much happy to get treats
Does this excitement comes when he will be older?

 

[Calliesmom]

you need to find a flavor that he likes.....
not all dogs like the same stuff

 

[Hanne]

8 weeks - he has just come to your home, such a little soul must have time to fall into the new surroundings and it can easily take a couple of weeks or three.
Let him have peace and love to trust you, remember it's a sencetiv race and everything takes time.

Normally their normal food is fine as treats, and they do not spoil the stomach.
(I have never used anything else)

A link to us new Sheltie owners so we may better understand this little sensitive breed.
http://sheltieforums.com/threads/are-shelties-for-everyone.22964/

 

[corbinam]

Just curious--how much food do you feed? And does your dog have constant access to his/her food?

 

[andre normand]

Just curious--how much food do you feed? And does your dog have constant access to his/her food?

Half a cup in the morning, and half a cup at 5 pm
If he does not finish in the morning, I take it away

 

[Hanne]

Such a little puppy has a small stomach, so I have always given 3 meals in the first months.

Have you not received any good advice from your breeder ???

 

[Piper's mom]

I agree with Hanne, you should be feeding 3 times per day especially at 8 weeks old. I also wouldn't be removing the food yet...perhaps the puppy is still getting adjusted to its new surroundings or as Hanne said its little stomach can't handle that much food at once. I fed my boy 3/day until he was around 6 months old then I cut him down to 2/day. Also you don't want to feed them too many treats because their system can't handle a lot of different foods, too much and they will get diarrhea. Try reserving a small amount of food from their daily portion and use that for treats.

 

[mimiretz]

I third the above suggestion about feeding a smaller amount 3 times a day until at least 6 months old. We didn't start feeding Oberon twice a day until he was 9 months, and he's fairly large. If you do decide to give treats, either use a bit of his regular food, or make sure they're very small pieces - we used to take the tiny training treats and cut them in half or even thirds.

 

[Shelby's mom]

Our 1st Sheltie definitely was not food motivated. She liked treats and ate all her food with encouragement (because playing was more fun than eating). She was toy/play motivated. So when it came to training her reward was Us playing with a toy.

But when she got old and overweight that was a different story, she was definitely food motivated when we cut back her food.

Our current pup will do ANYTHING for a treat. So they are all different.

 

[Lexi]

Two months ago I started a new thread about my puppy not liking any treats. And I was making a fuss for nothing. After she got used to us, she became more and more food motivated.