# Humidity, Boredom & Diet = Low Drive???



## Brent Dell (Oct 10, 2009)

Summer is here were I live and the heat and humidity is high. Daytime around midday temps reach 80-95 deg with humidity levels at around 70 - 80%. 

My 9 month old working line GSD has really gone downhill 'drive wise' and is showling little if any interest in training over the last month. I always get up early (between 4.30am - 5.15am) to get a quick brief training and play session in and are usually well and truly done by 6.00am. At this time the weather is alot cooler and manageable. I do some more stuff again between 9:00pm and 10:00pm in the evenings, again once the heat has subsided. 

90% of the training at present is food related rewards and I have just started introducing the flat tug in play and retrieve games.

During the day he is in a large kennel and run. I get him out to toilet and hose him off with cool water or take him swimming when possible during the day.

What really get's me is his training intensity has really dropped off but continually when he see's our cat appear and jog across the top of the fence line, it's like a light switch for him and no matter how hot or how lack luster out training session has just been he finds the energy to fire himself up and down the yard jumping all along the side of the fence line going mad to try and get at it!!. He would be be happy to keep at it for god knows how long so I have to put him back in his run.

Is his training was boring him? (and of course the heat factor as well) but his intensity to play with the cat and even run to the fence and bark when he hears a noise out on the road appears to me that he has lost motivation to train. I have made a concerted effort to be really animated when training, and I even dropped his meals to see if hunger would bring his drive back up.

What changes would you suggest I make to his routine to help? I trolled through some old posts and there was a suggestion his diet could be a contributing factor as well?


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