We all have that mental checklist we go through when we’re getting ready to walk the dog: phone, keys, poo bags…and for me at least, treats! Clients often ask me when they will be able to stop taking treats out on walks or rewarding their dog for good behaviour – perhaps influenced by certain outspoken trainers who have accused those who do use food of being ‘lazy’ or ‘soft’. But is using treats in training really equivalent to ‘bribery’? Should dogs just do what we say because they ‘want to please us’? And is it really such a hassle to carry treats on walks? In this post I’ll be addressing some of the commonly held beliefs about using food rewards in training, as well as explaining why I choose to continue rewarding my dogs – and always carry food on walks!
Why using food in dog training isn’t the same as bribery…except when it is
Let’s start with perhaps the most common misconception about using treats in dog training, namely that this is equivalent to ‘bribery’. I imagine this stems from visions of those dog owners who, in a desperate attempt to get their errant off-lead dog back, end up shaking a bag of treats and shouting ‘wossis!’ (don’t worry if that sounds like you – we’ve all been there, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do). But in an ideal world, a food reward should always come after the dog has performed the required behaviour. For example, we ask our dog to sit, they sit, and then we produce the food reward – ideally that food reward should not be in your hand to start with, but hidden away in a pocket or treat pouch. In other words, just like offering a public official money to sway a decision in your favour is not the same as that official receiving an agreed salary for their work, waving a treat around to try and get a dog to come to you is not the same as feeding them a treat after a successful recall.
Now, you might be thinking: surely the dog will always know I have treats on me because they can smell them, so they’re never really hidden! And you’re probably right – after all, dogs do have incredible noses. Ultimately, though, the dog knows that if they want one of those treats to move out of their hiding place and into their eagerly awaiting mouth they have to do something first. All that said, some owners do end up in a situation where their dog will only respond to cues if they know that there is a food reward in it for them. That’s why it’s really important to start fading out food rewards once your dog has really got the hang of a certain behaviour. For example, when your dog is reliably recalling every time, you can start giving them a treat for every second or third recall and only verbal praise for the rest. In technical terms this is called ‘intermittent reinforcement’, and evidence shows that it is much more effective at maintaining behaviours in the long term than continuously rewarding the dog every time.
There is one scenario, though, in which I will happily accept the accusation of bribery: and that is in the case of a training technique called ‘luring’. This is exactly as it sounds: you hold a piece of food in front of your dog’s nose and move it around so that they follow it. Luring is an incredibly useful technique for teaching heelwork, fun tricks and even simple things like recall – but there’s a catch. As mentioned above you want to fade out the piece of food as quickly as possible so your dog doesn’t become reliant on it and it doesn’t inadvertently become part of your cue. So once your dog is able to do five successful repetitions of a behaviour in a row with a lure, the next step is to do the same hand gesture without the treat in it, then make that gesture less and less obvious until your dog only needs the verbal cue. So yes, I do sometimes use a form of ‘bribery’ – but the end goal is always to reward after the dog has performed the behaviour.
Dogs and the ‘desire to please’
Another commonly held belief is that dogs should ‘obey’ us because they want to make us happy, not because there is something in it for them (i.e. a treat). Indeed, certain breeds are often praised for being more ‘biddable’ (though anyone who has ever owned Border Collies will know that this label doesn’t always stick) while others are accused of being ‘stubborn’ or ‘wilful’. Let’s examine this a moment. Both human and non-human animals are fundamentally programmed to do whatever is in the best interest of their survival. Even in today’s modern society, we go to work so that we can earn money to buy food, shelter and clothing and stay alive. Yes, many of us get enjoyment out of our work, but ultimately we probably wouldn’t continue doing it if we didn’t get paid! The same is true of our dogs: if they learn that doing X behaviour consistently gains them access to an essential survival resource – i.e. food – they will continue to do that behaviour. If it doesn’t pay off, on the other hand, it is unlikely to be repeated.
Although human praise and affection can be perceived as rewarding by many dogs, it does not in itself meet a basic survival need. The reason dogs wag their tail when we say ‘good boy/girl!’ is that they have a strong history of associating those words with something that is an essential resource. Food makes them feel good, and by consequence being called a good dog makes them feel good. When you see impressive videos online of dogs walking immaculately to heel with apparently no reward but their handler’s approval, what you often do not see is the many hours of reward-based training that went into building up that dog’s enjoyment of the activity (or in some cases, unfortunately, the punishment they received whenever they got it wrong). That’s not to say that our dogs don’t value us; I attach great importance to helping clients build a strong bond with their dog so that they are able to work as a partnership. I think it’s important to be realistic though – ultimately our dogs hang around because they are dependent on us to provide them with access to the food and clean water they need to survive.
Practicality of using food on walks
Many people seem to perceive carrying food with them on dog walks as a hassle. On the one hand, this is because of physical hurdles like picking the treats up in the first place or figuring out where to put them. On the other, there appears to be a mental hurdle to carrying treats on walks in the sense that people want to be able to ‘just walk their dog’ and don’t see it as training. I can totally empathise with both of these concerns – not everyone has reached the stage that I have where miscellaneous pocket meat is par for the course! Moreover, although our dogs are always learning, and training should take place throughout the day, both we and our dogs need some downtime occasionally. If you're struggling with the concept or practicalities of taking treats with you on walks, check out these top tips:
Get a good treat pouch - the easiest way to carry and easily access treats is to use a treat pouch. There are so many different types out there though, so how do you choose the right one? First of all, I tend to go for silicone treat pouches as they are easy to wash after they’ve been used to hold wetter foods like cooked chicken or hotdog. I also like mine to come with a belt (or at least belt loops) so that I can wear it over the top of a coat in the winter. Think about the opening too: you want it to be big enough that the treats are easily accessible, but not so big that they fall out when you bend over! My all-time favourite treat pouch is The Trainer’s Pouch but they’re pretty pricey – this budget version from Amazon works just as well.
Store your treat pouch and treats in the same place as your lead and poo bags – I’m all about reducing mental load for dog owners as much as possible. If you keep everything you need for dog walks in the same place, you’re much less likely to forget your treats (or your keys, for that matter)!
View walks as training sessions…but take some time off too – your daily walks are a great opportunity to reward your dog for behaviours that you like and practice key skills like loose lead walking. I always carry a handful of treats with me so that I can reward my dogs for a particularly great recall or navigating a difficult situation. However, it’s important to take a break from training sometimes! In these instances I take my dogs to a secure field or a location where I know they will find it easy to respond to cues so that I don’t have to be thinking about training all the time.
What’s the verdict – bribery or just common sense?
Personally, I will always use food to train my dogs and will continue to reward them for good behaviour on walks. I find that this produces the best and most robust results, without the need for harsh ‘corrections’ or punishment that can damage your relationship with your dog. We expect a lot from our dogs – walking on a beautiful loose lead when surrounded by loads of distractions is not part of their natural behavioural repertoire – and I think they deserve to be paid for their efforts. It can feel like a bit of a hassle to start with, but once you get used to it having treats around just becomes part of your normal routine. Besides, the results will be rewarding for you as a human too; there’s nothing more satisfying than enjoying a relaxed walk with your attentive, relaxed and above all happy canine companion.
If you’re struggling with using food rewards in training – maybe your dog isn’t interested in food, or you can’t get beyond the luring stage – get in touch today to see how I can help!
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