# My new dog doesn't like treats or toys.



## ksprenk534 (Jan 8, 2010)

So I just got a beagle mix the other day, and he is really great. He does well on a leash, and is overall very submissive. However, as the title implies, he doesn't seems to like any toy or treat I've given him. This is presenting a problem for two reasons; One, that I'm worried he isn't getting enough mental excercise, although he gets plenty of physical excercise. Being a beagle, he loves to sniff absolutely everything, however I don't know how I could redirect that urge into something mentally stimulating.
Secondly, I'm trying to crate train him, and its hard to get him into the crate when nothing really motivates him to go in there. I put his food and water bowl in there, and he goes in to eat when I feed him, however when i have to leave my place he seems to know the difference, and doesn't want to go in. 
Any tips would be much appreciated.


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## Maura (Mar 17, 2009)

He's gotta eat. If you are feeding kibble, put it in a Buster Cube. If you are leaving on a regular schedule, feed him his dinner when you live, in the Cube, in the crate.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

It sounds like you haven't had him that long. My foster dog took time to settle in. He hardly ate for several days, but I've since discovered that he is very food motivated. He had to learn to play with toys a bit, too. (He still prefers chewing on my shoes--definitely a work in progress.) So I would give him time and understand that he may need to learn how to play with toys.

I suspect, though, that you'll discover your beagle is food motivated. I've never heard of one that wasn't. I guess there's always a first time.


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## ksprenk534 (Jan 8, 2010)

Thaks for the replies. I would try the buster cube, but I feel like he would just walk away from it, uninerested.

I'm hoping you're right, Thracian, as I've only had him for a few days. However, he just did a pretty weird thing. I tried to give him a different kind of treat, after making him sit, and he took the treat over to the wall, started digging at the carpet and set the treat down where he was scratching. Not sure what thats all about.


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

What are you offering it? Many dogs aren't interested in a slick, new Nylabone. I think they are putting the nubby texture on more of them now. I think it is part of the reason so many dogs like the hard to find dinosaur ones. The ultimate is the Souper Size Galileo Nylabone. It is about 7 inches long and 3 inches around. It has the slick surface. They are more attractive if you rough up the surface with sand paper or by rubbing it on a concrete floor. Another technique is to jam a Nylabone into a Kong creating what I call a twofer. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.


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## ksprenk534 (Jan 8, 2010)

Well I did get a pretty standard nylabone, but I also got a kong, a little ball with a bell inside that isn't smooth, a plush bone that makes sound and isn't smooth, a tennis ball, a rope, and a laser pointer. He does seem to like these chip rolls I got him, but I can't seem to use them as motivation. I tried to tie one to the end of a stick, hanging off a piece of string to see if he would chase it, and of course, he didn't care.


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## hulkamaniac (Feb 11, 2009)

There are two things going on here. One is that he's new to the house and this environment. When I got Zero (a cocker spaniel) he ate little or nothing for the first day or two. He wouldn't play with a toy or take any treats at all for a couple of weeks. Now if you pick up a tennis ball, you better be serious or he's going to be ticked off. Two, some dogs just aren't into play at all. They're just not motivated by toys. Brutus will chew on a rawhide or try to empty food from a Kong. That's the extent of his interaction with toys. You can toss him a ball and he looks at you and says, "Fool. Get it yourself." In the 9 months or so that I've had him, I've never once seen him play. Zero will initiate play with any dog or any person that is foolish enough to walk within eyesight.


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