I ordered my first Treat&Train (aka Manners Minder) this week. This ingenious device comes from the late veterinarian and dog trainer, Dr. Sophia Yin, and provides us with a way to reward our dogs from a distance.
I determined I needed it to train my dog for very specific reasons. Mocha currently has become upset whenever she hears doors opening/closing or people entering/exiting the house. This is possibly a latent behavior from her barrier frustration she’s had since living at the animal shelter for awhile. It’s not simply watchdog barking to guard the home.
When I’m asleep and she hears someone open a door, she starts to get upset and bark. Rather than get out of bed, go to an area where treats are, open the container, and deliver them, with the Treat&Train I’ll now be capable of simply pressing a button on the controller of the device to deliver the treats, and they will be contained safely from her, so I don’t have to worry about her stealing them because I’m half-awake. I’ll be looking forward to getting better quality sleep after the training repetitions kick-in.
The other time she is upset and I’m currently unable to pair the situation with treats, is when I’m leaving the house. The Treat&Train will solve this as well. I can simply leave, press the controller button, and Mocha will receive treats from the Treat&Train.
In addition, I’ll test it to work on Mocha’s reactivity towards dogs while she is riding in the car. I have done some training for this before by tossing treats in the back seat while I’m driving, but this takes juggling multiple tasks at once, the treats go everywhere, and I haven’t been consistent about it. The difficulty level of training while driving should decrease greatly with the Treat&Train and simple click of a button. I’ll attempt to get some video of this process in the future.
Raymer Family Dog Training 