Hand feeding · Dog Training Community

Diane Gollowitzer

Apr '25 • 💬 General discussion

Hand feeding

This question is mainly for

@Nick Benger

but others might be interested in the topic as well.

I've been to a neutrality training class heald by a local FF trainer. It was a 90 minutes group class.

He said that there are 3 non negotiables in his protocol:

ONLY hand feeding the dog for a certain amount of time to create valeu and engagement (not a NILIF protocol but basically training the dog for its meal)
ONLY get out a toy if you are actively playing with your dog, never leave toys laying around to build value in the toy and the interaction
A can't remember 🙈🙈🙈 wasn't something nonsense like eating before them or this 💩

So, I'm not doing either of these two. And I would probably be willing to try the 2nd but I don't feel I need to. I have special toys just for training, and I like what I see so I don't think I have to do it.

Anyway, my main question is about the 1st one. I thought it's an outdated method used only by balanced trainers. I also think my dog is interested enough in me.

What's your take on it?

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