Using Treats in Training

You just learned a lot about Operant Conditioning, how dogs learn, how to debate those things, etc. We talk a lot about balance in 2.1 and how we have to balance corrections with positive.

If we go back to the Op. Con. Part 1, we learned a reinforcer was anything the dog likes.

What do dogs like? Food (treats), praise, toys, etc.

We know that dogs learn new things really well if they are motivated by things they like. So in training, when teaching a dog something new, it is important to use treats to motivate and reinforce the dog.

What does the process of starting with treats normally look like?

An example would be the “sit” command. We put the treat in the dogs nose, raise the treat above their nose and their head will go up to follow the treat. As their head goes up, the butt will drop to the ground. Once their rear is on the ground, we say “sit”. And repeat over and over. The we try to move the treat away from the dog and rely on more of a hand sign and the verbal command.

Luring

Normally we start with luring. This is a dog trainer term for getting the dog into the position you want using a treat. Then once the dog is in the position you want, you pair it with a command. You do this over and over and over until the dog gets the hang of it. Once that happens…

Moving away from luring

We try to move away from luring. Using the example we used above, rather than putting the treat in the dogs nose, we hold the treat out over the dogs head while standing. The dog may jump a bit to get the snack, but then he eventually sits. We reward him. And then he learns that if he drops his rear to the ground faster, he gets the reward.

Another example that may be helpful… If we teach a dog to “down” using luring, in the beginning, we have to bend all the way over. We don’t want to have to bend all the way over to get the dog to down each time, right? So to move away from the lure, we have to slowly bend over less and less and move the treat progressively higher. So once the dog is downing consistently with the lure, we want to bend down and keep the treat higher. If you use your leg as a marker, you may start by brining the treat down to your ankle. Then after that, you go to mid shin and then your knee and then your thigh. With enough repetitions, we can get the dog to down based on just the verbal command and we aren’t bending over.

Weening the Treats Away

As the dog gets more consistent doing the command and we’re weening the luring motion away, we also want to ween the treats away. We want to move to a “variable reward schedule” and give the dog a treat sometimes but not others.

The goal here is to get the dog to obey whether they get a treat or not. Because long term we don’t want to HAVE to use treats. We can if we want to, but we don’t want to HAVE to use them and neither do our clients.

So by moving to a “variable reward schedule” we can start to teach the dog, you get treats sometimes but not ALL the time.

Adding Corrections

Once the dog has a solid grasp of what we’re asking him to do, then we add a correction in for not listening. We’ve rewarded the dog for listening. Now we want to add in a correction for him not doing what he is supposed to be doing.

Using the example of the sit command, once the dog understands the concept and we say “sit” and he doesn’t sit, we can pull up on the collar to give a correction. Or we can pull the collar up and help his rear to the ground. Then once he is in the sit position, we praise or give a treat.

By doing this, he learns he has to sit whether he wants to or not, whether there is a treat present or not, etc.

A note we MUST make: What we have described is A SINGLE way of doing things. This is NOT the only way to do things. This isn’t the particular order of training or the way things must be done. Sometimes we have to use a rewards and corrections from the start to get quick results.

Example: When we teach come when called off-leash, from the start we use the remote collar. We let the dog go away from us, call the dog and if he comes, GREAT! He gets a reward. If he doesn’t come though, we use the remote collar to correct him for not coming. Then we repeat the command and either reward or correct based off the dogs action.

All of this to say, it’s sometimes (but not always) best/easiest to start with treats. Sometimes, with some dogs OR some clients, it’s best to start with a mix of both positive and corrections.

Adding Context

Adding context would be the next step in training. Once the dog in training has a basic idea of what we’re asking, we need to add context. That means if we’re training in the clients living room, we move to the dining room. If we taught the dog to sit, we make the dog sit by the front door. We take the dog in the backyard.

OR we add in a distraction that wasn’t present during the initial training. So if we’re in the living room training the dog and there isn’t anything going on, maybe we bring another human from the family into the environment. Or if they have a second dog, we add the other dog into the equation.

The point of adding context or a distraction is to get the dog to listen in a multitude of different environments and with a number of distractions.

If we do this successfully we can “proof” the dog. Proof is a dog trainer word that means to get the dog to successfully listen in any environment and around any distraction.

Puppies Vs. “Dogs”

It’s important to note that with puppies we use a LOT more treats than we do with “Dogs” over 4.5-5 months old. Puppies explore the world through their nose and treats are a great way to get them excited and go where we want them to and to do what we want them to.

On top of that, puppies mainly learn through motivation. It’s much easier to show a puppy what TO do rather than what NOT to do in between the 3-4.5 month mark. There are certain things we’ll correct puppies for, like puppy nipping, but overall when we’re dealing with a dog in the 3-4.5 month age range the main thing we’ll use for training is treats.

Around the 4.5-5+ month mark, we will start to layer in corrections for unwanted behaviors. But we’ll also work to ween the treats away much sooner than we would with a dog that is under 4.5 months old. Because, once again, we want to use treats when starting but ultimately we want to ween the treats away and move the dog to a praise based reinforcement.

One thing to keep in mind about treats

We love treats. As you just learned, they are crucial for training a dog. BUT, when overused they can honestly make clients lose respect for you as the trainer AND the training itself. No one wants to hire a “treat dispenser” to train their dog. And if that is what they wanted, they likely would have hired a positive only trainer.

So, when you start training, use treats. But make sure that as the training continues you ween the treats away and you’re not using them ALL the time. If you are towards the end of the program and you find yourself giving out treats all the time to get the dog to listen, something isn’t right.

What to do if a dog doesn’t like the treats you have…

Some dogs are more food motivated than others. Some dogs really LOVE food and some dogs don’t care for food at all other than to stay alive. And some dogs fall in the middle of those two extremes. Most of the dogs we see are “food driven” or “food motivated”. They really like food or are definitely interested in it.

But, some dogs don’t care about it at all, some dogs are to nervous/scared to take food from strangers, etc. So what do you do when you encounter a situation like this? You have a number of different options.

Find a better treat, use the dogs food, cut up a hotdog or some cheese, etc. If the dog likes ice, get some crushed ice out of the ice dispenser. Use a toy as the motivator if the dog likes toys. If that doesn’t work, stick to physical & verbal praise. Get creative.

Ultimately, you just have to find out what makes the dog tick and then use that.

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