When it comes to dog training, one of the critical factors for success is motivation, and food is often the go-to motivator for many dogs. While many people give their dog treats as rewards, this is not always the right approach.
Treats are generally seen as being high-value items by the dog and not every situation warrants a high value reward.
Using high value rewards can in some instances have its drawbacks. Due to being high value, some dogs can become overly excited or distracted by them, making it hard to keep their attention during training. On the other hand, if used too frequently, dogs may become spoiled and accustomed to only 'working' for high value treats. Treats are also generally high in calories and expensive leading to potential weight gain and a hole in your wallet.
While treats have their place, using your dog's regular food as reward can be a great choice in many occasions. While still motivating, it allows you to better control the caloric intake of your dog allowing for better weight management while allowing for longer training sessions.
Let's go over cases that may help you decide when to use regular food vs treats for training.
The Case for Regular Dog Food
Training in low-distraction environments - if you're working with your dog in a controlled environment with limited distractions (such as your home), regular food should be sufficient as reward for your dog to keep their attention on you. In low-distraction environments, it is likely that you are the most exciting thing from your dogs perspective and thus it will be focused on you and motivated sufficiently by their regular food.
Working for their meal - being hungry increases your dog's motivation to obtain food. Having your dog work for their meal is a great way to ensure their focus when using their regular food as rewards. One way to approach this is to put your dog's breakfast or half of their daily food allowance into a treat bag and use that as a reward during training in the morning or throughout the entire day. That way they are motivated due to hunger and work to earn their breakfast. If there's anything left at the end of the training session they get that in their bowl. Obviously this is difficult to do with raw food, but works great with freeze dried raw.
Reinforcement of daily habits - your dogs regular food should be more than sufficient work on reinforcement of the commands they already know. Doing this is a great way to maintain their learned skills without going crazy with calories.
Long training sessions - using regular food for training sessions is a great way to ensure your dog does not become obese. I like to combine this with point 2. above, where the dog is working for their meal.
Budget friendly - some treats can be pricey. Using your dog's regular food as a source of primary 'treats' is a great way to keep costs low.
The Case for High-Value Treats
High distraction environments - using high value treats can help while working or training in higher distraction environments. This helps to ensure what you're doing is more exciting than whatever else may be happening around. High value treats can give your dog a little extra motivation to stay engaged with you rather than turning their focus to whatever else might be happening around.
Extra motivation - using high value treats can give your dog a little extra motivation. This is closely related to the point above but also provides extra encouragement when you're asking your dog to do something new or challenging.
Creating positive associations/behaviour modification - If your dog is scared, anxious or unsure of situations, high value rewards can be used to help create positive associations and guide them towards more positive or better behaviours. You have to however be careful not to reward them for an unwanted behaviour. High value rewards can be used to reinforce your dog's good choices in challenging situations as a way to show them how to behave appropriately.
Fine tuning behaviours - high value rewards can be helpful during advanced training for fine tuning behaviours. This can help ensure that your dog tries their best. I guess this is partially linked to point 2 above.
Occasional jackpot - throwing in occasional high value treats among regular food rewards can help add variety, increase engagement and allow you to provide extra reward when your dog performs really well at something. Having high value treats available amongst regular food rewards can be really helpful in your training.
Choice between regular dog food and high-value treats boils down to the specifics of each training situation and your individual preference. Trust your instincts, know your dog, and remember – it's often a combination of both that works best.
Using regular food or high value treats for training is neither universally preferable nor undesirable; it's a matter of what works best for you and your dog. Many dog owners actually use a combination of regular food and special treats to balance the advantages and disadvantages of both.
How do you like reward your dog during training?
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