Wont eat treats?

Question
QUESTION: Hi! Sorry for the length - I just thought some background might help =)

I adopted Sophie (a 7/8 yo cocker spaniel) from a rescue shelter about 2 weeks ago.  She was very scared and timid when I brought her home but she's really opened up a lot in the last week.  A very sweet and sooky girl but I need some help with training her - she's just not interested in treats!  She hasn't shown any interest in plush toys, squeaky toys or balls (only in chasing birds hahaha).  

ALso by way of background, I think I may have inadvertently given her a mental problem!! What I was trying to do was train her to stay off my 3 seater sofa as I have bought her a bed of her own. The first 2 days I had her at home, I put up a barricade and lots of things on the sofa to discourage her from getting on there while I'm out, but I would come home to find her in a different position every time (whether it be up the back of the sofa or on the arm rests if the sofa was full - lil Soph's got quite a leap on her!).  I never yelled or scolded her, and as she wasn't anwering to her name (or any commands) at the time, I probably sighed tho, then picked her up off the sofa and put her on her bed, and praised her for staying there (she didn't seem concerned).  After the 3rd day, when I'd come home, she'd be on the sofa again, but when I'd approach, she'd start shivering and shaking.  Again, she wouldn't growl or stop me from picking her up, but I was so heartbroken to have scared her so much that I have to confess, I caved - that night I took the barricades away and covered the sofa with a bedsheet.  

She shakes a lot less now and doesn't tremble when I approach so I now feel like maybe her confidence/trust might be back up to the point where I can try training her again?  I'm scared just in case we go back to that stage where I couldn't come near her or she'd get the shakes, or that time she went on a hunger strike for 2 days and I had to leave the room so she could eat (and even then it took her 20 mins to finish the meal - she would take a mouthful and run around then come back again for another) and wouldn't take food/treats from my hand.  

I just don't know now how to train her to hop off the couch on command. In fact, I don't even know how to train her to even come, much less anything else.  The only time she comes to me is if I 'reel her in' (gently) on lead.  LIkewise, if she's sitting on the sofa, no amount of coaxing or cajoling or even luring will get her off.  I have to 'reel' her off gently with the leash.  

I have tried chicken, liver pieces (home-made and even the most expensive shop bought), tiny pieces of roasted lamb meat, 3 or 4 different brands of other shop-bought meat-based treats but she turns her nose up at all of them, even when I've been trying to train her before a meal (when I know she must be hungry).  

The funny thing is that even on the rare occasions that she has taken treats from me, she will take it and then run away skittishly.  She will take treats from me on lead on occasion but I get the impression the treats aren't really exciting for her.  Usually by the second or third treat she's completely lost interest and doesn't accept them any more, or puts it in her mouth and then drops it on the floor.

At home she approaches me very suspiciously if I try to cajole her over (if at all - usually she will run to her bed and watch me from the other side of the room), but if I simply crouch quietly in the middle of the room she will eventually approach (slowly and from an angle) and sit next to me for a cuddle.  When I stop petting her she will shift her body so she's ever so slightly closer to me, and sometimes she will even turn to look at me.  If I ignore her completely she will hop back onto the sofa.  She generally follows me around the house so I don't think she's scared of me generally, tho she does startle every now and then if I accidentally slam a cupboard door or turn around too suddenly. (then she runs back to the sofa)

I again apologise for the length!  Do you have any tips or ideas for me?  I'm happy to put in whatever work is needed and as soon as I recieve her vaccination cert (which should arrive shortly - the rescue shelter has a 2-week trial arrangement) I would like to enrol her in some training classes because she loves going outside with me (she walks beautifully on lead) but I can't wait for the day (if it ever comes) when she's as confident at home as she is out!

Thanks in advance,

Jacelyn

ANSWER: First, I would crate train her. It sounds like she needs a secure place to go. http://www.thegooddogjournal.com/2008/11/crate-training-without-trauma.html if you never want to lock her in the crate, that's fine. If she's housebroken you don't need to.

But the treat issue!
Each day, feed her her regular food one kibble at a time from your hand. If she refuses, put it up and try again in a few hours. She won't let herself starve. Make sure she has plenty of water though, in case she decides to entertain the notion.

I also want you to be very careful to follow the pack leadership guidelines at http://www.thegooddogjournal.com/2009/02/whos-boss-establishing-pack-leadership.
It sounds to me like she's working on becoming the boss and that will just make her more nervous.

She will probably warm up to playing as she gets used to the home. Take out a toy every day or so and let her sniff it. Roll a ball across the room and pet and praise her if she shows any interest in it at all. Eventually she'll figure out that it's fun.

Teach her the command "off" rather than scolding her for being on the sofa. If she's performing a command, rather stopping a behavior that seemed perfectly reasonable to her, it will not upset her as much.

I often equate training different types of dogs to raising different types of children. This might offend some, but I have raised both and I find parallels. Cocker spaniels are among the dogs that I find most like autistic children. I don't know if you have anyone in your life that is autistic, but if you do you know that they like rules and schedules. Things have to be "just so" to make them comfortable and well-behaved.  Cocker spaniels tend to be like that (not all of them) so when they are in a new situation they do not always adjust as quickly as another dog might. Set up a schedule, decide on your rules and stick to them. She will also benefit from daily obedience practice. Clicker training will probably work great for her. Once she is eagerly taking the food from your hand, start on that.
Check out the Everything Dog Training and Tricks Book.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much!  I had been considering crate training her, just wasn't sure if she was too old/timid to try it but I'll definitely give it a go now.

I think your views on cockers might be spot on esp in Sophie's case.  She really doesn't handle change well.  Things were going well for a couple of days last week then I brought out the vacuum cleaner and she regressed back to Day 1 again, shivering and skittish.  I hadn't even turned it on.  Ended up leaving it in the middle of the lounge room sprinkled with some of her breakfast kibble.  2 days later and she's fine with it being there but today when I came home with a new pair of boots in a box that I placed on the floor .. there she goes again!

Other than that, she has been better in the past 3 or 4 days.  She eats her meals happily from my hand - yay!

Still fussy with treats but I've discovered she has a weakness for polish sausages!  I know human food isn't ideal, but at this stage in tiny pieces and for training purposes only I'll take anything I can get..

What I also wanted to ask was how do you train a dog 'off' when luring them with food doesn't always work?  I've been trying using her leash (not pulling, just a gentle reeling motion) and then treating her when she comes to the ground, but without the leash she absolutely won't budge.  I don't want to traumatise her again by grabbing her collar or picking her up.  Am I doing something wrong?  

In hindsight I'm thinking maybe I should have put the vacuum cleaner on the sofa hahaha

Answer
With enough repetition you can eventually get the dog to do off the leash what she does on the leash. You could also put a blanket on the couch and pull the blanket while she's laying on it. I'm a big fan of a good butt shove with the old hand, personally. Just slip your hand under her but and push up. It annoys the heck out em. Eventually she will learn that the couch is not the place to be and will be scandalized by the very thought of getting on it.

Putting the vacuum on the couch is also a good idea.

My cocker gets in his crate at the first sign of the vacuum. He once spent 20 minutes barking at a rake the neighbor had left leaning against the back of his house and every time we changed the storm windows to screens or vice versa in our screen door in our old house, he'd mutter about it every time he walked by for days.