The Right Way to Use Treats

We love incorporating treats into our day here at Pet U. They are effective training incentives both with our training clients as well as with our daycare dogs. We can quickly and easily calm down a large group of dogs just by waving the hot dog container around, and our dogs brought here for training actually look forward to working with us! We've answered questions about this technique ranging from "But won't my dog get fat?" to, "Will he learn to only work for food?" and even, "I want my dog to work because he respects me, not because he wants a treat."

If you are using treats correctly, there is no risk of weight gain, and your beloved pup will respond to commands quickly and happily (both because he loves and respects you and because he might get a treat.) If you are concerned about the weight factor, we recommend feeding your dog a little bit less dry food to balance it out. Even us humans need incentives to work once in a while as well; the boss offered to throw an office party if everyone meets their monthly quota? I'm on it! It's the same deal for dogs - knowing that they might get a reward at any point for their good behavior keeps them going strong!

So now that you understand why we use treats, here are a couple of pointers for how to use them to your maximum benefit:

You know that training your dog is a continuous process, right? That it's not just the few minutes that you decide to actively train with your dog, but that it's happening all day every day? Every action that your dog does, or doesn't do, can be used as teachable moment. Therefore, every response that we give to our dog's actions is enforcing their behavior, right OR wrong.

Take a second and think about how, and when, you give your dog treats. I've been guilty more than once of giving my dog a bone to gnaw on, just to calm him down. From my dog's perspective, that's me saying "Good boy! Great job racing around the house and jumping on furniture when I've got friends over. I'm going to reward you for that wonderful behavior!" Not quite what I was going for.

So, rather than calling them 'treats', try referring to them as 'rewards' instead. Then, the next time you want to give your dog his 'reward' make sure that he has earned it. The problem with handing out treats any old time is that it decreases the value of the treats in your dog's mind. Why should he work for it if he knows you will just give them away for free later on? Here are some behaviors that would earn a reward, and make sure to only reward the behavior that you want to keep.

1. Run your pup through several commands - sit, down, stay, shake, roll over, etc. The idea is to make him work for his reward.
2. Practice having him take treats nicely - have him sit and offer out a treat. If he lunches or snaps for it, pull your hand back. Choose a command such as 'gentle' or 'wait', and try again. Only give him the treat when he waits nicely for you to give it to him.
3. If you are talking with a friend, or have him out and about with you, reward him for sitting or laying quietly at your feet.
4. Have him sit and stay before you open a door. Make sure YOU exit through the door, and he follows you.
5. Use rewards to enforce being in a desired location, such as his bed or his crate. This can also be useful for keeping him off the couch, or teaching him to stay in one spot in the car instead of having free reign. For this, you will give all of his rewards only when he is in the desired location for a few days, until he is happily going there himself.
6. Work on confidence building. Use treats to lure him into a kiddie pool, up the stairs, or through a small opening.

But remember, not every good action needs or deserves a food reward. Head pats, belly rubs, and toys are all great rewards as well! Intermingle the tasty treats in with lots of good, old-fashioned attention to keep his excitement level up; otherwise he might get full too quickly, or get tired of the treats.