Treats and Toys
How to Incorporate Treats and Toys into Obedience Training
By Shara Slorstad

If you’ve already read the article posted titled “Bribing Dogs” by Ann Hollings you’re probably thinking I’m being kind of hypocritical to support training dogs without treats, and then go on to explain how to train dogs with treats. Let me explain my personal view on using treats in training…

I strongly believe food should never be the primary reward in obedience training. The primary reward in obedience training should always be praise in the form of verbal and/or physical from the handler. With that said, not all dogs are the same. Factors that may change how you train each dog is breed, age, sex, health, hereditary temperament (that a dog has genetically ingrained that has been passed down through it’s lines) and learned temperament (experiences in the dogs life from birth to present date that have taught the dog to behave in a certain manner). Each dog is an individual and needs to be trained as an individual. Some dogs respond the best to verbal and physical praise. Some dogs are more food motivated. While other dogs are more prey motivated (toy motivated).

If you have a dog that could care less about your praise but goes berserk over a treat or toy then you should consider using these as a reward for your dog, especially during the leaning phase of training. If you have a dog who is satisfied with your verbal and physical praise then I don’t see the need to use treats and toys in training. If you would like to use treats and toys for a dog that is satisfied with verbal and physical praise, that is entirely up to you, but I would suggest using these rewards sparingly.

I personally prefer not to use food or toys as a primary reward because I know that no matter what situation is placed in front of me the one reward I will always have on me no matter what is verbal and physical praise.

There are four phases you will go through when training your dog if you are using a balanced training program.

The Learning Phase occurs when a dog has no understanding of basic obedience and you are teaching your dog what these commands mean. During this phase it is extremely important to focus on reward and to never use a correction. Corrections should only be used if a dog is refusing a command. There is a huge difference between not understanding a command and refusing a command.

The Correction Phase and the Distraction Phase (also knowing as “proofing”) should overlap each other. Corrections should be firm but fair and given based on what the dog understands and the circumstance in which the dog does not listen. This article is not about giving corrections, so I will not go into further detail about them. Distractions should always be slowly added into your daily training and should only be added when your dog is 100% ready! You can’t expect to teach your dog how to sit in your living room and have the dog respond exactly the same and 100% when out in the middle of a dog park the next day. You need to slowly build up your distractions based on degree of the distraction. This could mean training in your living room, them moving to a more high traffic spot of your house, then moving to the back yard, then to the driveway, then to a low traffic park, then to a high traffic park etc.

The final phase is the Maintenance Phase. You can not teach your dog a command, proof the dog, and then never work with the dog again and expect him to respond the same way two or three years down the road. Obedience always needs to be maintained throughout the dogs entire life and new distractions should always be added. You can not predict every single situation you will ever encounter with your dog so it is best to continue working with him in every environment possible.

If you have a prey or food motivated dog you will use these rewards mostly during the learning phase and then slowly fade them out of your training up to the maintenance phase. You may want to sporadically give these rewards throughout the dogs life, but they should never be something you have to depend on.

Food Motivated Dogs
When training a food motivated dog you will first have to determine what reward holds the highest value, which holds the lowest, and which are in between. Some people think that an extremely high value reward (like steak) should be used when the dog is first learning and a low value reward (like kibble) should be used later on once the dog has learned and understands the command. I completely disagree with this and think it should be the other way around.

The higher the value the less likely that dog is actually going to be listening to a word you say. When using a high value reward the dog tends to focus on the reward and only the reward and may offer up learned behaviors repeatedly in an attempt to get that high value reward. You do not want this. You want the dog to be focusing on what you are saying and what you are teaching him! Using a lower value reward will ensure the dog is paying attention to what you are teaching him. Once the dog has learned and understands the command then you can sporadically give a higher value reward as a “jackpot” or “bonus” reward when the dog performs the command exemplarily.

To determine what your dog holds as a high value reward and what is a low value reward, simply get out a few different types of treats and watch how your dog responds to that treat. If he is jumping around, wiggling, whining, trying to grab the treat out of your hand, and/or offering previously learned behaviors then you know that treat is much too high of a value. If the dog is excited by the food but can still listen and respond to commands it’s a good sign that treat is a lower value that can be used during the learning phase of training.

When you begin your training you want to have this lower value food hidden from your dogs view and preferably on your persons. There are products available called “bait pouches” that is a bag you strap to your waste and hold treats in. If you can not get your hands on a bait pouch you can also use your pocket.

Treats should always be small, about the size of an eraser on the end of a pencil. Hard treats are also something you may want to avoid. The larger and harder the treat is, the longer it will take for the dog to eat it and the longer it will take to move on in training. You want to be using a treat that’s small and chewy enough that the dog eats it right away.

Always incorporate verbal and physical praise with your food reward!

When you reward your dog during the learning phase about every other reward should be a food reward and all others should just be verbal and physical praise. When your dog begins to catch on (or as I like to call it “the light bulb over the head moment”) and is obviously getting the idea (he is responding to the command without you physically placing him in the position) you should always reward with a jackpot reward. Whether or not you gave a verbal or food reward before this action does not matter. Several (about 5-10) treats should be given when the light bulb action occurs. This is showing your dog that responding on his own is what you want and you are extremely satisfied with his reaction.

Once your dog is starting to obey the command about 60% of the time without you reminding him what to do you can start weaning out your treats. Instead of rewarding every other time reward every two times, then three, then two, then four etc. Do not slowly build up the length between food reward vs. verbal and physical reward, but instead make it sporadic. You want your dog to never know when he’s going to get a food reward and when he’s going to get a verbal and physical reward.

When your dog understands the command 100% of the time (in a distraction free environment) you can lessen the food reward and up the verbal and physical praise. Remember – the less high reward (food) you give the higher your low reward (verbal and physical) should be. You don’t want to be lessening your reward, but rather weaning your dog off of depending on treats as a reward.

Once you start to proof your dog (adding in distractions) you should be giving higher rewards for successful behavior. You can add more food back into your training session; but remember to always use a treat reward sporadically! During this phase you should also be giving corrections. I stated already I am not going to go into detail on corrections (as that’s a whole different article), but I will say this: the harder your correction is the higher your reward and praise should be for your dog! Corrections add stress to the dog and a high reward decreases stress. You never want your dog to feel unhappy and uncomfortable during training; you want a dog that is happy to work for you!

Prey (Toy) Motivated Dogs
Dogs that are prey motivated are dogs who become extremely excited about a toy and really get into play. Training a prey motivated dog with toys is very similar to training a food motivated dog with treats; the only difference is the object you are using as a reward.

You should determine a dog’s level of reward. Some toys will be considered a higher reward than others. To create a high value toy you never allow the dog to play with that toy outside of obedience training. Withholding a toy from a prey motivated dog like that places it as a high value in that dogs mind. Dogs are similar to children in this way! If the dog isn’t always allowed to play with a toy or if he sees someone else having fun with the toy he’s going to want it even more.

To build up a prey drive in a dog during training you “tease” the dog with it. Use an excited tone and play with the toy asking the dog “oh do you want it? Look at this toy! You can’t have it!” this will get the dog excited and that toy will be placed as a higher reward to the dog.

Like in treat training, you want to use a lower value toy during the learning phase. As the dog progresses through training you can use a higher value toy (especially during the distraction phase; as the toy itself can make as a good distraction!).

When training a prey motivated dog you should hide the toy either in your pocket or behind your back. If the dog can not see the toy he will not focus soley on that toy and will be able to pay attention to what you are teaching him.

Just like with treat training you want to be able to give the dog a “jackpot” when he is extremely successful. To jackpot with a toy you don’t just add more toys like you do with treats, instead you use a game that is rarely played with the dog and really get into it. If your usual toy reward is a short game of tug (which I suggest as long as you are always “winning” the game and the game is kept short) then instead of a game of tug play fetch a few times as your jackpot reward (assuming the dog is on a long line and in a safe enclosure during training).

Also, just like in treat training, you want to start to vary what reward you use as the dog progresses through training. Reward with a toy and game sporadically and for the rest of the time use verbal and physical praise, slowly phasing it out as the dog is proofed in every level of distractions.

I must warn: some dogs are so prey motivated they may become possessive of toys and may show handler aggression when you attempt to take the toy away from the dog. This usually happens when a dog is a dominant, high prey drive dog. I suggest consulting a behaviorist if this is a case and never attempt any kind of training you do not feel comfortable with and are not 100% certain you can win with that dog. The most important thing in training is your safety! If you feel you need to work the dog with a muzzle on, then that is what you should do. I also suggest implementing a strict “Nothing In Life Is Free” program into your dogs daily life, and consulting a professional dog behaviorist who can help you hands on with your dogs possession problem.

Conclusion:
The important thing to remember when training a food or prey motivated dog is to never depend on these rewards. They should be given sporadically and accordingly. When and how you give these rewards will depend on your individual dog and is something you will have to figure out on your own by interacting with your dog and learning what works and what doesn’t. Unless you plan on always carrying some food or a toy in your pocket, I highly suggest weaning a dog off this type of reward and giving it sporadically so that in the end your primary reward is verbal and physical praise.