Treats in training

When using treats in training, there are several factors to be aware of. It takes some skill to be able to give a treat properly and at the right time, but it truly does pay off.

1. Marker word

Sometimes it can feel like a juggling act trying to manage the puppy, the leash, and treats, especially out in a distracting environment. Using a short, consistent “marker word” can help bridge the time between the dog’s good behavior and your ability to deliver a treat. My preferred marker word is “Yes!”, because it is concise and easy to say happily. If you consistently pair the word with the reward, the pup will understand that he is correct the exact moment you verbally mark his behavior. You always have your voice; you may not always have a treat immediately handy.

A marker word doesn’t negate the use of praise; after a “Yes!”, you can certainly lavish the pup with “Who’s the best puppy in the world??? Such a good dog!” type praise. However, marker words can also help with dogs who have a low praise tolerance (meaning excited praise sends them right out of their skin). It calmly lets them know that they did a good job.

So when you are teaching “Let’s go” to your puppy, start saying “Yes!” when the pup is walking nicely by your side, then deliver a treat. Say “Yes!” when he responds to the “Come” command and touches your hand. Use “Yes!” when he successfully follows you instead of paying attention to another dog.

2. Timing

Timing is important in training, especially when you are trying to get a behavior to repeat itself. Be sure that you are marking and rewarding behavior as it happens, not after the fact. (Again, the marker word can act as a bridge if you don’t have a reward immediately available) So if your puppy is walking nicely by your side, but you reward him after he has lost interest in walking with you and has started sniffing, you are reinforcing the sniffing behavior. Withhold the reward if the desired behavior ends before you can deliver the treat.

The good news is that poor timing with a reward has fewer consequences than poor timing with a correction. If you accidentally reinforce the wrong behavior, you still have a dog with confidence and who is still trying. Poorly timed corrections can result in a dog who is confused and inhibited from making decisions. So practice with food until you feel comfortable with timing; if you accidentally reward an unwanted behavior (like jumping up to get the treat), anticipate next time and be resolute in giving the treat only when 4 are on the floor. When you understand timing with rewards, it is easier to utilize appropriate timing with corrections.

3. Puppy's behavior during the reward

When giving the puppy a treat, be sure he is in the desired position. So if you’re rewarding the pup for loose leash walking, and he walks in front of you, do not treat him until he moves back to your side. That may require making a u-turn and walking for a while before delivering the reward. (You can also turn INTO the puppy to help encourage him back into position)

4. Taking the treat gently

Some puppies are naturally pleasant when taking treats; others may take your fingers off along with the treat. Rough mouth behavior around food indicates a high level of arousal in the puppy. This may be caused simply by the presence of the food; however, if your dog is normally nice taking treats, or has learned to be gentle, the appearance of a rough mouth indicates that the dog is stressed or excited by something in the environment. Dogs lose fine motor control when they are over threshold, and this is most obviously evidenced by their manners around food.

Start early with only giving your puppy a treat when he is under control of his mouth. If you know you have a rough puppy, hold the treat between your fingers in such a way that the pup cannot easily get it. If he gently attempts to take the treat, you can release it to him. If he is rough, you have a few options. You can simply remove the treat and try again; you can hold the treat in a fist until he calms his efforts; you can push your closed hand INTO his mouth to back him off; or you can give him a tug on the leash along with a firm, low “no”. The idea is not to scare him off, but rather to teach him to exert self control. Release the treat when he is making an effort to be gentle.

5. Enthusiasm (or lack thereof) about the treats

If bringing out treats results in a whirling maniac, make it a habit to walk around with treats. Do not give them to the puppy; just bring them on your walks and outings. Eventually, the pup WILL attend to the rest of his environment; you will have to be more patient and stubborn than your puppy! When you have successfully outlasted him and he has turned his attention to other things, tell him “Yes!” and reward him. This will probably cause him to renew his efforts to receive a treat, during which you should ignore him. You can correct him if he is a particular pest, but what you’re really hoping to achieve is a puppy who CHOOSES the right behavior. Eventually, rewarding the quiet behavior will make that behavior more likely to occur. You are teaching patience, and establishing that rewards only happen when the pup is mannerly. If you have this kind of puppy, require the same behavior at meal times.

If, on the other hand, your puppy is not interested in the treats, you may have to determine whether your treats are not motivating enough, if the puppy is too distracted/overwhelmed to function, or both. You may have to widen the box of acceptable behaviors and just ask for the puppy to stand or walk calmly with you, without too many rules or expectations. Watch for signs of stress: is the puppy breathing heavily, straining to get to something, yawning/licking his lips repeatedly, or shedding/producing dander? His lack of interest in food may indicate he needs to get to a calmer state of mind before he is able to function.

6. Luring vs. shaping

There are two main techniques for utilizing food training. Both are useful and can be beneficial. Most of what we focus on is shaping, or capturing the behavior. That means we try to make it likely that the desired behavior will happen, then mark and reward the behavior when we see what we want. So for loose leash walking, you might suddenly change direction and pat you leg; when the puppy catches up to the heel position, you mark it with a “Yes!” and deliver a treat. You helped create the behavior, and the dog CHOSE to do it (even if he wasn’t conscious of it at the time). You also may reward the dog for choosing to leave a particularly difficult distraction, such as another dog. This rewards choice and conscious thought, which is what we want in a guide dog.

Luring is using the treat specifically to guide a behavior. We use this in the early stages of the “Come” command by showing the puppy the treat and using it to move him towards us (and to encourage the hand-target). Luring can also be helpful in managing specific situations. I often use the example of the puppy in the mall: a raiser had to walk a puppy through a crowded food court with tidbits all over the floor. This puppy was a known scavenger, and that situation was asking a lot of him. The raiser was able to show him a treat to help keep his head and focus up off of the ground. He received a treat after successfully working through the food court with attention on his raiser. In later passes through the food court, just a light tap on the treat bag would be enough to remind him to focus on the raiser. This helped to set the puppy up for success when repeated corrections were failing (especially if the dog manages to grab a french fry anyway... a dog who manages to get periodically rewarded before his raiser can react will continue the behavior).

7. Progressive rewards

Finally, when using food reward training, you want to be constantly raising the bar. For example, with “let’s go”, you are initially treating frequently and as soon as the dog “recovers” to the heel position. You may end up with a dog who pulls, comes into heel position, takes the treat, then goes back to pulling. This is normal! That’s a sign that the dog is thinking, and he is moving towards our desired behavior. In order to make it clear to the dog that you want more, and that the treat does not end the behavior, start delaying the delivery of the reward. Ask the dog to take MORE steps before you treat. Give several treats in a burst so that the dog wants to stay with you, rather than immediately leave. After a treat burst, ask the dog to keep attention on you and reward only after sustained attention. Make your walks more interesting by making a figure-8 shape or changing directions suddenly. This is more likely to give you attention from your pup than walking in a straight line, and then you will be able to delay your rewards.

When you are seeing the dog make a conscious choice (like walking past a dog distraction), only give them a treat when they behave without input from you. So if they turn away from the dog distraction willingly the first time, but the next time, you have to give a leash tug to get them to ignore the dog, withhold the treat until they succeed again WITHOUT much handler input. Always raise the bar as a training session continues.

You don’t have to be a constant treating machine. Have a training session with treats (“Let’s go” or the “come” command) when you first get to an exposure with your puppy to set them up for success. Then head out on your exposure. You have the treats with you in case you need them, but you don’t have to be constantly using them. You can also stop in the middle of a lengthy fun walk, break out the treats and have a mini training session. Then continue your walk.

Using treats can seem complicated at first, and like there is a lot to keep track of. But the great thing about treat training is that the dog is usually willing to meet you halfway. Even if your timing is off, or you fumble with the treats, or you’re not quite using the leash properly, food rewards help the dog to ENJOY training. We want a dog who wants to work and who thinks training is fun.