Q: Do I need to carry dog treats forever?
Dogs vary in their learning ability and reinforcement needs.
“Must I carry treats forever” is a great question, and one I get asked a lot. Since we’re dealing with the behavior of a living organism (your sweet dog), the answer is: It depends.
Let’s remember why we use food rewards in the first place. Really great food rewards (think diced cheese, hot dogs, meatballs, freeze-dried liver or lamb, etc.) are inherently motivating for your dog, since all dogs need to eat to survive.
During training we give your dog a small reward the moment she performs the desired behavior. This reward lets your dog know she did the right thing and increases the odds she’ll do it again as she comes to associate doing the behavior with something delicious.
Over time, we reduce the amount of food rewards we use in training as your dog masters a behavior such as laying on her bed while you bring in the groceries or when she sits politely to meet people.
All dogs are motivated by food rewards, so try a few different kinds to see which are most exciting for your dog.
I have had client dogs who would follow me anywhere for a meatball, and others who spit It out!
On the other hand, teaching some dogs a behavior such as loose-leash walking can be a challenge that necessitates a long-term use of rewards. Dogs vary in their interest in exploring the environment, so some may naturally stick closer to their person and pull less, while others are straining hard to follow their nose. For such a dog I’d recommend having a treat pouch full of nonperishable rewards hanging right by your leash so you always remember to bring it and can reward polite walking on every outing.
Our dog Petey is a sniffer and explorer, and we always bring food rewards on leashed walks in case we want or need him to walk near us.
Behaviors, once learned, need to be kept fresh through the occasional use of food rewards, even for something as simple as a sit. Once your dog knows a behavior well, reduce the rewards but once in a while surprise her. If food rewards are entirely eliminated, there’s a danger that a behavior will “extinguish,” meaning your dog will stop doing it because it’s no longer rewarding to her.
Training with food rewards is also shown to increase the human-canine bond, and that’s always a good thing!