I’m not a big fan of using treats for dog training. Treats encourage begging and obsessive behavior, and treats make some dogs too excited.
I’m all for positive reinforcement and use a lot of treats when teaching a new concept, but other than that I expect my dog to listen regardless of whether I have a treat or not. It annoys me when some dogs will not obey a command unless they think they will get a food reward. This is the owner’s fault, of course.
Like most dogs, my mutt Ace also responds better if he thinks he might get a treat. The trick is to make him think there’s always a chance he’ll get a treat. Good thing Ace is not good at math and won’t understand he’s getting a treat about five percent of the time!
Ace responds better to my commands when I set aside time to do actual training sessions compared to randomly telling him to do things throughout the day. This could be because during these “training sessions” I am more likely to use treats.
For example, when Ace and I are at obedience class and practicing recalls, he comes running enthusiastically every time I call him. It’s not because I’m a better trainer than the other dog owners. It’s because I have a food hound.
Another reason my dog is more focused and obedient during training sessions is because when we train, he knows I mean business. Plus, Ace loves to work and he loves having my full attention. Whether or not we use treats, training is fun! And that’s how it should be.
If dog trainers (and by that I mean dog owners) can agree on one thing, it’s that treats should be used at least from time to time as positive reinforcement. My belief is that once a dog understands a command, treats should be given randomly but rarely - maybe twice per training session.
For young dogs, dogs that are still learning or dogs with short attention spans, treats should be given more often.
Be careful though, because it is possible to unintentionally teach a dog not to pay attention unless there is food. Dogs understand patterns and repetitions, so if you repeat something often enough, the dog will think this is what he’s supposed to do.
For example, if you pull out a treat every time your dog barks, looks away or starts to go after another dog, he might think you are rewarding him for the behavior. To prevent this, keep treats on hand and reward your dog randomly when he is paying attention without being asked.
Positive reinforcement dog training
Since Ace responds so well when we are in “working mode,” one of my goals is to get him to respond just as well when I randomly tell him to do something throughout the day. That means I’m going to have to use more treats – randomly of course. 
I will reward Ace when he’s doing something I like – maybe for coming when called, heeling perfectly, lying down calmly, making eye contact, etc.
The second part of my goal is to reward with food only when my dog is calm. It’s so easy for dog owners to do the opposite. As humans, we think it’s cute when our dogs are begging, jumping up and down or climbing into our laps. We also have a tendency to release our dogs, get them excited and then give them a treat. It’s better to give the dog a treat while he’s still lying down and calm. Then release him.
My mutt will always be one of those dogs that easily slips into an obsessive state of mind when it comes to food or retrieving. That is the main reason I want to work on rewarding him only when he’s relaxed.
Relaxed does not simply mean lying down.
A relaxed dog is not stiff, leaning forward, tense, staring or panting. A relaxed dog is not ready to break from stay in a split second.
If I am holding a tennis ball, Ace will be so excited and obsessed that although for the most part he responds to my commands, he will do so while remaining stiff, constantly smacking his lips and trembling. This is not normal and should not be rewarded!
If you look at the photo of Ace above, he is actually relaxed there. He is making eye contact, but not staring obsessively. His ears are back, and his body is back and relaxed, not leaning forward. Good boy!
Using toys as a reward during dog training
Another way to reward my dog is with a tennis ball – the ultimate reward in Ace’s small mind. Something I’d like to do more with him is to practice random obedience while a ball is in sight. That way, when he is calm, I can use the ball as a reward. I don’t even have to throw the ball. Every tenth command or so can be, “Get the ball.” For Ace, hearing that phrase is a much better reward than pieces of jerky. Go figure.
The phrase “Get the ball” is followed by “drop” and then “leave it” as we walk a few feet away to continue working on other commands and ignoring the ball.
If your dog is obsessive over food the way Ace is with a tennis ball, you could try practicing some commands while there is food on the ground so your dog has to ignore the food. Just use a leash for extra control as needed.
I have to be careful when using food or toy rewards with my dog because they can easily get him too excited. The training session itself should be a reward. The food and toys are just little extras for especially good behavior.
For training, I like to use soft jerky treats that can be torn into really small pieces. For other snacks or rewards, I give my dog homemade, natural dog treats because they are healthy.
Do you use a lot of treats when training your dog? What tips do you have for rewarding calm behavior?
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Although Biggie is about as food-oriented as they come, we vary the forms of positive reinforcement to include petting, verbal praise, play and treats. Also very important is to keep the rewards random and NOT 100%. As our trainer said, “Turn your puppies into little gamblers!”
Of course, Biggie responds better when I’m in the kitchen than somewhere else…
Another unintentional aspect of the training – if I reach into my pocket for anything – he pays more attention. Of course, this does sometimes help because if I am introducing him to strangers who are a little afraid of him and don’t know what to do with their hands, I tell them to put them in their pockets!
Random treats work well for my dogs. Also they don’t seem to know the difference between meatball size treats and tiny ones.
I use treats for training, but like you- not too often. I mostly use them to teach my dog a new concept, but once he has it down he will (usually) do it without a treat. He can become excited when treats are around (depending on the energy of where we are), and doesn’t always focus on me, but rather the treat. When we did our first round of agility at the Red River North Ob. the trainer always pointed out that I NEEDED to give him a treat after each obstacle, I disagreed. And her strategy to teach him the weave poles was to take a large treat and weave it between the poles. Well…this really didn’t teach him to weave because all he did was lunge for the treat and wasn’t focused on weaving at all. So I attempted not to use her strategy, but every time she would come over and tell me her strategy all over again. Sigh. We are going start our second agility class at the Molen Pet Center tonight, and I will bring treats, but I will not give him one EVERY time he does something, and hopefully this trainer is more accepting of that. I appreciate you discussing the topic of rewarding your dog when he is calm, I am also working on that with my dog. Thanks for the post.
Ha! I had to laugh about Biggie paying more attention when you are in the kitchen. Hmm, that sounds familiar. Not only that, but when I’m in the kitchen my cats suddenly care about what I’m doing.
Ace does not understand the difference between a tiny treat or a large treat. I usually give him treats the size of kibble.
Amanda, sorry you didn’t have a good experience with Red River North Obedience Club. That’s where Ace and I do agility from time to time and we like it there. But you should go where you are more comfortable. Let me know what you think of Molen Pet Center. We’ve never been there. I can’t use treats on the weave poles either for the same reason. Ace will get too excited and actually try to bite my hand if I use treats for the weaves. Sometimes I have to take a step back, relax, re-group and make him sit and chill out before certain obstacles. But we both love agility!
We tried to work on treat training with Stetson as a puppy, but he would just get way too excited. As a guide dog puppy in training Stetson had to be weaned off treat training by 16 weeks anyways so we just got an early start.
Now that Stetson is 3 years old and out of guide dog school I slowly began reintroducing treats into his training routine. So far he’s doing much better although he’s still very food obsessive.
I’m just going to guess that Stetson is a lab.
I just don’t like when my dog loses his ability to focus because all he can think about is getting that treat or getting that ball. This is when he will get too excited, bark at me or start going through every trick he knows rather than do the one thing I’m asking him to do.
Amanda, Let me know how it goes.
I was going to be there tonight to job shadow at the Molen Pet Center but I wont be able to make it. I guess the person who I would have been helping was you. I hope you have fun and plan on going again so I can meet you and your pup. I find her methods interesting. She certianly has trained her dog well. If she is doing something that bothers you, just say so. She is very open minded and a great helper. She also rents out the facility so if you want to train your dog agility by yourself and without her help, you can. Or if you want to have a friendly ‘race’ with your buddies, you can also rent out the facility and agility equipment.
I train at the Canine Academy, partly because I am a member of the FMKC but also because the classes are taught by very experienced trainers who all but one individual have put titles (agility, obedience, rally,and confirmation) on multiple dogs. I’m not saying that you need to compete your dog just that these people obviously know what they are doing. My dogs do compete, my rescue lab participates under the AKC Canine Partners program but my Vizsla is registered with the AKC and she earned her first obedience title at 4 months old under thier direction. Point is they know there stuff. If you are getting really frustrated with the instruction at other places, try them. There is a waiting list for agility but there is also a reason why that is, people know they are good. Just wanted to throw an extra resource out there. (PS competition is a great way to have fun with and build a great relationship with your dog!)
Ok, since a few people showed interest in how the agility went at the MPC, I will give you a review
. I really enjoyed the trainer. She was more one on one than the other trainer I had worked with, and explained things to me in much more detail. With the other trainer, I felt it was more “here’s the obstacle, good luck” but this trainer really explained what I need to do to get my dog to do what I want. And the atmosphere was more relaxed, the dogs were off leash and there were only 2 other dogs with the same owner at the session so there was a lot of time spent training! Which is tiring because it’s hard to keep up with my speedy dog 
The only thing I’m not fond of right now is that it is quite a bit more expensive than other more traditional classes but I think you get what you pay for. This is much more one on one, and as Tierney pointed out, there are more options available there for training, such as renting the floor, and personal lessons. The schedule can very week to week, so if you can’t show up one day, you can schedule another if there’s an open spot. So far, my dog and I really enjoyed ourselves. We are attending class at 5 pm next week if anyone wants to join us 
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What day will you be going? I work next door at Eddie and Barkus so I tend to head over there to help her train some dogs whenever available. Usually on Friday but I have attended a few Wednesday sessions.
I am glad you enjoyed it and I hope to see you next week!
I will be there next Wednesday. If any one is interested, your fist session is free, so you can check them out and if you don’t like it there’s no commitment. And you can just send an e-mail to dogs@molenpetdenter.com and see what is available. Sarah, thanks for your information about the Canine Academy, I’ve actually done all of the training for my dog myself, agility is our first formal class. I’m guessing a lot of it is just finding the right trainer that fits you and your dog.
Thanks so much for the feedback on the different dog training schools in Fargo. The good thing is we have several options! Our dogs are lucky to have such dedicated owners.
It’s never a bad idea to try different training schools or trainers. That way the dog gets to work in different environments, meet different dogs, etc. And the handler can learn from each trainer. I am thinking about taking a class at Molen just for fun.
I like to rotate between agility and obedience classes with Ace so we don’t get bored. We take almost all our classes at Red River North. I am a bit biased because Ace and I help with the beginners obedience class there, and I am a club member. But we did take one class at Canine Academy. I was bored at Canine Academy, not because the level was too easy for us but because the trainer spent too much time talking about her own dogs and we were always standing around. If we go back there I would just make sure to take a different class with one of the other instructors. As Amanda said, it really does depend on finding the right trainer who fits you and your dog.
Yeah some of the traners there are better than others.
Yep, and that’s true anywhere!
Good post. I may use some treats when the dog is a puppy but not really after that.
I always joke that it’s easy to teach a dog to respect a hot dog, I want the dog to respect me.
Good to know!
Well, treats for training doesn’t really work with Gus. He will just stare at you until you give him all of the treats. With him, you have to show him that you are the alpha and you can maneuver his 130 lbs around. Big silly.
Ha! Oh, Gus.