The Treat Lady is Here! Why and How to Use Food Rewards Correctly

“He is just doing it for the food.”

“Here is the treat lady!”

“Do I have to walk around with food all the time?”

“I don’t want to have to give my dog a treat every time he listens.”

“My dog is not food motivated.”

“My dog listens to you because you have chicken.”

The above statements are wrong, ignorant, and disrespectful. Imagine I hire a carpenter to build me something and make fun of him because he uses a hammer? Imagine I tell a race car driver, that it is the car that wins? Imagine if I told a photographer that the picture was great because of the camera? My work is training dogs and my tools are many - one of which is food.

I know the above statements are not made to insult me; people simply do not understand and appreciate the skill-sets involved in my field of work. I also know that these statements are made because people feel insecure and concerned that I can get their dogs to do things that they cannot. It doesn’t always feel good when your dog responds better to me than you. I know. I get it. But…it’s not the food. It’s how I use it. Anyone can pick up a paintbrush, but an artist makes art. I wish more people would acknowledge the art and skill involved in dog training and stop minimizing what I do. In an effort to educate and assist, I am going to tell you some very important things that I do that get YOUR dog to work for ME and if you take it to heart, it will work for you too.

“He is just doing it for the food.”

There are basically four ways that dogs (and people) learn. Positive Reinforcement (we add something nice), Positive Punishment (we add something not nice), Negative Reinforcement (we take away something nice), or Negative Punishment (we take away something not nice.) Something nice often depends on the dog - except for food -they all like food. Something not nice also depends on the dog - but all dogs avoid pain and fear. The rest is in the details and the other two ways to learn really need to be thoughtful and situations need to be created in order to use them consistently and correctly.

I choose Positive Reinforcement more than any other method to train a dog for many reasons. All dogs like food. Food is easy for me to use. Food is easy for you to use. You are going to feed your dog anyway. Food rewards have no negative side effects (when given in the appropriate amount for each dog.) Food is cheap and readily available. Food can be weaned as the behavior gets stronger. When used correctly, food rewards can be removed completely and the behaviors will remain. I enjoy, as well as most dog owners, giving food to my dog. It takes very little skill to use food rewards. It is safe, effective and fun for any age human to use food and train a dog. Food has been used since the beginning of time to form relationships and to control other living things.

“Here is the treat lady!”

This is just stupid. Do you want me to show up unprepared? Do you know who I am? I am not showing up with a collar, so how else do you want me to train your dog? This just tells me so much about you!

“Do I have to walk around with food all the time?”

The more you reward your dog immediately after it does a behavior you like, the faster it is trained. So, really, this is up to you. I like to reward as many behaviors as possible, as quickly as possible, so I am willing to wear food in a pouch, so I am prepared. I know this is a short-term situation, so I don’t have an issue with it. If you don’t have a reward ready, your dog won’t learn as fast. Simple stuff.

“I don’t want to have to give my dog a treat every time he does what I ask.”

OK -I get this. I don’t want to work everyday to make money. There are lots of things I don’t want, but I have to do to get results. Read above about how to train a dog. If you don’t want to feed it a food reward, there are three other ways to train, so you may want to call someone other than me or start studying and getting some dog training skills! My question to you is why not? Why don’t you want to give your dog a reward for good behavior? Usually this thought is related to a myth like, I want my dog to do it because she wants to please me. Don’t get me started….I want my husband to do things to please me too, but guess what?? He has his own life and agenda and I am lucky if I get what I want once in awhile. What most people know about dogs is from TV and movies and if you need to be told what is wrong with that, I will need to write another blog post.

“My dog is not food motivated.”

If this were true, your dog would be dead. You are not using the right food and in the right way. Often, owners leave food down all day, allowing the dog to eat when it wants. This is not healthy, normal, or good for training. Feeding your dog meals, means he will become hungry at predictable times in the day and you can optimize on this. A hungry dog will work for food. Most “treats” sold in stores are crap. Dogs like real, fresh foods. Use real meat like chicken or turkey and stay away from processed dog treats. Dogs are natural and respond best to natural things. Train your dog before a meal or use his entire meal for a training session. Vary the food reward - eggs, fish, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and blueberries are things that most dogs love. Don’t be a victim of advertising. Dogs like food! Your dog’s meals and “treats” should equal his daily intake of food. It’s what you feed and when you feed it that makes a difference in behavior and allows you to make great strides in training without your dog gaining unnecessary weight.

“My dog listens to you because you have chicken.”

This is true, but there are so many other reasons, in addition to the chicken, that make your dogs listen to me. I am consistent. I have great timing. I know what I am doing. I know when to feed and when not to feed. I do not load my hand with food, bait your dog, or tease your dog with food. I have a measured way of using the food rewards. I know the four stages of using food to train a dog. I feed the right amount - I don’t use more than I need, nor am I stingy when your dog needs the reinforcement. I have clear body language. I know how to train a dog!! If you have ever thought that I can only train your dog because I have chicken, then why hire me?? Go get yourself some chicken and you can do it, right? NO! I have many skills, one of which is using food rewards -even the way i deliver the treat is a skill. I hear this almost every day and i cringe at it. I know your thinking behind it, so I ignore it, most of the time, but Good God! I have three certifications, 10 years experience and thousands of happy clients. If it was just the chicken,…….

So here is the summary.

If you want to train your dog quickly, have food rewards handy. Think about your dog’s daily intake of food and what you want to accomplish with it. Most dog bowls contain anywhere from 50-200 pieces of food -that could reinforce 50-200 behaviors per day! Vary the food reward to keep your dog motivated. Stop thinking like a human with an ego. When your dog does something you like, feed it. When your dog does something you dislike, walk away.

And lastly, please be kind to me. I ignore a lot of rude comments. I hold my tongue more than you know. I go over and above to help you, even when you sabotage the process. If you didn’t need me, you wouldn’t have called, so please don’t belittle, question and insult the way I do my job. I listen to my mechanic because I drive a car, but know nothing else about it. Without him, I wouldn’t be able use my car. I appreciate his skills and trust him to care for my car. I don’t argue with him, talk down his prices or dare to think I could repair my own engine. My prices are fair. I know what I am talking about. I will do whatever is needed to get you to be happy with your dog.