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id like to share one method that we use in falconry that may be applicable in dog training. ive read in some post here before that their dog isnt food motivated. i think this might be of use to them.
in falconry, we have what we call WEIGHT MANAGEMENT. We systematically drop the weight of the FALCON to motivate her on flying back to our fist for their food reward. You see, we cant just skip their meal and STARVE THE BIRD cos their health is very fragile and may cos them their life the next day. we want to strike a balance where the bird is very FIT to do long chases to hunt GAME yet would still do a whistle recall.
We start by feeding a young falcon as much food she can eat everyday until her feathers are HARDPENNED or fully grown. By giving full meal, we will be able to get their FATTEST WEIGHT. you will know they are at their FAT WEIGHT once they stop gaining.
When the bird is full grown and at her optimum size, then its time to start dropping their weight.
You need to remember the birds FAT WEIGHT since we will base our weight drop from there. we start by cutting their weight about 5% off the FAT WEIGHT and see if we can get the sharpness and fast recall to the fist. Quick recall for us means the bird should start flying towards us once she sees me raising my arm. this is what we call the FLY WEIGHT.
if she is still hesitant then we continue dropping weight to 10%, then to 15% and usually it doesnt go as low as 20% to get to her FLY WEIGHT. it is already risky to reach 20% and i make it a CEILING to not go beyond it.
the key thing here is to STABILIZE the weight before you continue DROPPING if needed.
We always keep a record daily for
FOOD AMOUNT = WEIGHT GAIN/DROP. We strive for PRECISION since a few grams off could mean the falcon FLYING AWAY.
We maintaIn FLY WEIGHT for the whole hunting season and once she starts changing feathers again, we fatten her up.
I am currently doing WEIGHT MANAGEMENT with my MALINOIS and i only need to drop her weight to 3% to get her food motivated. Im happy that ill be able to use both food and prey drive on her training.
Hope this helps...
here's a video of my BARN OWL free-flying:
http://www.cebudogtrainer.com/post/9284758218/when-i-was-a-kid-i-dreamed-of-flying-my-own
All the best!
in falconry, we have what we call WEIGHT MANAGEMENT. We systematically drop the weight of the FALCON to motivate her on flying back to our fist for their food reward. You see, we cant just skip their meal and STARVE THE BIRD cos their health is very fragile and may cos them their life the next day. we want to strike a balance where the bird is very FIT to do long chases to hunt GAME yet would still do a whistle recall.
We start by feeding a young falcon as much food she can eat everyday until her feathers are HARDPENNED or fully grown. By giving full meal, we will be able to get their FATTEST WEIGHT. you will know they are at their FAT WEIGHT once they stop gaining.
When the bird is full grown and at her optimum size, then its time to start dropping their weight.
You need to remember the birds FAT WEIGHT since we will base our weight drop from there. we start by cutting their weight about 5% off the FAT WEIGHT and see if we can get the sharpness and fast recall to the fist. Quick recall for us means the bird should start flying towards us once she sees me raising my arm. this is what we call the FLY WEIGHT.
if she is still hesitant then we continue dropping weight to 10%, then to 15% and usually it doesnt go as low as 20% to get to her FLY WEIGHT. it is already risky to reach 20% and i make it a CEILING to not go beyond it.
the key thing here is to STABILIZE the weight before you continue DROPPING if needed.
We always keep a record daily for
FOOD AMOUNT = WEIGHT GAIN/DROP. We strive for PRECISION since a few grams off could mean the falcon FLYING AWAY.
We maintaIn FLY WEIGHT for the whole hunting season and once she starts changing feathers again, we fatten her up.
I am currently doing WEIGHT MANAGEMENT with my MALINOIS and i only need to drop her weight to 3% to get her food motivated. Im happy that ill be able to use both food and prey drive on her training.
Hope this helps...
here's a video of my BARN OWL free-flying:
http://www.cebudogtrainer.com/post/9284758218/when-i-was-a-kid-i-dreamed-of-flying-my-own
All the best!