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My Dog Actually Prefers to Work for Food Than To Get Free Food

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Fri, 05/11/2007 - 18:31 — Aidan

Following on from my blog entry The World's Simplest Free Dog Toy, my wife said she was pouring the food into the empty milk bottle outside, spilling food onto the ground, and Sabella ignored the food on the ground - waiting for the toy!

So what does a dog really want most? Free food, or food that has to be worked for?

Of course, most dogs will take the free food if it's offered. But in offering free food we deny our dogs the chance to use their intelligence and natural talents for a purpose. What a waste! It's not just a waste of an opportunity, but as Mogens Eliason says - "a dog's mind is a terrible thing to waste", and that's what eventually happens if we don't allow our dogs to work every day in some small way.

I've just been looking at the questionnaire results for the Barking Dog Questionnaire and e-course. Two types of barking overwhelmingly stand-out, what I call "Territorial" barking and "Attention and Boredom" barking.

That these two types of barking problem are the most common does not surprise me. Most dogs are bored, and will find ways to overcome their boredom - often this will manifest as something we call a "behavior problem", such as excessive barking.

A dog's mind is not only a terrible thing to waste, but it turns into a pain in the proverbial.

Of course, not all dogs develop problem behaviors through boredom. Some of them just become boring, it's like that little spark they had as puppies just dies.