Treats - What motivates my dog?

Treats - What motivates my dog?

When it comes to training I am a big believer in food as a reward.. I mean look at my name.

Even though I believe in using food/treats I don’t recommend using them forever, use it at the beginning of training and as you progress try an alternative reward for your pup. Now it’s up to YOU to figure out the alternative.

An easy way to find what motivates your pup is to try different things. Food-wise you can try using dry kibble, freeze dried patties, chicken, cheese, etc. There are many options when it comes to food rewards. Notice what your pup tends to go for more, do they listen really intently when chicken is involved? What about carrots?

As far as using a toy or a real life reward, you need to spend some time with your pup and figure out if they would rather play tug with you or go sniff a bush. In order to find this out just play with them or go in the backyard and really pay attention to what they are doing, what are they spending their time on.

Now once you figure it what your pup prefers doesn’t mean that will work for every behavior asked. Some items have a higher value than others. If you were to offer dry every day kibble for a basic “sit” cue that may work but if you offer that same kibble for a harder behavior like not barking or lunging when another dog/animal get close, that kibble may not have any effect.

Think of it as getting paid at a job; you work 2 hours for $25, then you’re asked to work 8 hours for the same $25… no way. It’s the same for our dogs, they deserve a higher value treat for a harder behavior. Now once this behavior is practiced and your pup is doing what you’ve asked consistently, you can start replacing the treat with another reward: toys, sniffing, etc.

Overall, experimentation is needed to find motivation and variety is a good thing.