Why we use treats in dog training

People often ask ' why do we have to use so many treats when we're training?' Here are the reasons we use food, plus some tips on alternatives

Rewards are how you motivate your dog to want to learn new behaviours. What rewards work best depends on your individual dog

Let's start with why we use food when we're training dogs. At HotDog Training (in common with all modern dog trainers), we use a system called positive reinforcement to train dogs. In simple terms, this means motivating the dog to do things we like, by rewarding them with things they like. Basic example: we'd like to teach the dog to sit quietly. Dog places bottom on ground and doesn't move, we give them a treat when they're doing that. Repeat that often enough and the dog learns that sitting quietly earns a treat, and they like treats.

But the reward doesn't have to be food. It could be anything that the dog likes. Rewards come in three basic categories -

• Food

• Fun (eg play, freedom)

• Fuss (eg praise, attention)

It always suprises me how reluctant some people are to use food to train their dogs. I think there's a couple of reasons for this. The first is a language thing. It's usual to call the food we use to reward our dogs 'treats'. It's called a 'treat' for a good reason. The food you reward your dog with has to be motivating. If you give your dog a bit of kibble, it's not usually a very powerful reward (unless you have a labrador!). That's because you might be giving your dog hundreds of bits of kibble every day in their bowl for free. There's nothing special about a bit of kibble. Reward your dog with a bit of chicken, or fresh cooked sausage, hot dog, cheese, dried fish etc, and suddenly your dog is likely to be REALLY interested in how they can earn more of the good stuff.

Food rewards have to be rewarding. And only your dog can decide what they find rewarding. If you've been working with so-so food rewards, switch it up a bit and watch your dog's motivation soar!

But the word 'treat' is associated with human 'treat days', or treats/sweets for kids, and the sense that these things should be rationed. So try to think of food your dog earns in training not as 'treats' but as 'rewards' - something that they've earned and deserve for good behaviour.

The reason food can be such a good motivator is that food is one of the dog's basic, evolutionary needs. They simply can't survive without it. So the drive to earn food is a powerful, instinctive one.

Fun isn't such a basic need, but for certain dogs (border collies and German Shepherds are two great examples, although not the only ones) play is a really powerful motivator. They tend to be the dogs bred for hunting or herding, where movement is very motivating. And lots of dogs just really enjoy play with you. So play is a great training reward for certain dogs learning certain behaviours. It's one of our favourite rewards, for instance, when motivating recall.

Finally fuss. This tends to be one that many people would like to use. It's that old fashioned idea of 'they should do it because I want them to/they want to please me'. For some dogs that's true, but honestly, in my experience, for most dogs, fuss just isn't that much of a reward most of the time. Having said that puppies tend to really enjoy praise and attention, and plenty of older dogs too, but it is the least powerful motivator, because it's the least essential. And, quite rightly, we tend to give our beloved pet dogs lots of fuss and attention outside of training time. A reward that is rare has more value, That's not to say you can't use it but you need to be aware of its place in your individual dog's hierarchy of needs and rewards.

In short, make sure that the rewards you use for dog training are the ones your dog would choose! Your dog will be focussed and motivated and training will be so much more rewarding for both of you.