Using food in training, Pt. 1

There’s a lot of chatter about the use of food/treats in dog training: it’s very common to use treats to elicit the desired response and then to continue using it as rewards for performance. There’s no doubt that treats do motivate a lot of dogs, but it begs the question: is the dog working to earn the treat or is he working because he wants to please his handler? More often than not, it’s the former, which can become a big problem when there is a distraction or temptation greater than the value of the treat.

I sometimes use treats to teach a position (sit, down, stand): I can lure the dog into the desired position, mark it, reward with the treat, etc. But very quickly I will switch from delivering the treat after the marker to delivering the treat after releasing the dog from the position. This allows the dog to focus on the job at hand (sit) and not have half his attention on when the treat is coming his way. This also allows me to substitute play for treats and thereby wean off the treats completely. This is where many handlers get stuck: they find themselves dependent on food, and their treat-trained dog will not do their bidding without treats on hand.

Skilled trainers who focus on building a relationship with the dog that is based on trust don’t run into the problem of treat dependency. It takes time, but it’s well worth the effort!