Praise & Treats

[05EVOMR]

Hi y'all-

I noticed every now and then someone talks about praise and treats, when the dog does something correct give praise and treats, what happens when their is no treats? will the dog disobey?
myself from day one I never gave treats if Daisy did something good I only and to this day just give a lot of affection and a lot of tummy rubs when she performs the correct job.
I feel that after awhile the dog wont perform if the treats are not available, so I never practiced treats when it came down to training.
What do you guys think about this?

[SaranBear]

Treats and praise are both rewards. The idea is that the behavior is positively reinforced via a reward. Once the behavior is established the reward does not need to be provided every single time the behavior is performed. If the reward is intermittent it will actually extend the "life" of the behavior. It's a matter of determining which reward is most appealing to your dog.

[TR Young]

Well, if you have trained your Daisy to perform her tasks without treats, then you have done something that is unusual, although not impossible. Good job.
When we say "praise and treat", we mean that to start out in training, you need to let the pup know that they pleased you and that you are providing a food reward. As the pup progresses through their training and the commands become second nature, you start tapering off the treats. After a while, all you will be doing is praising your pup, and they will still perform their tasks. Adding a treat now and then just keeps you in the 'driver's seat', so to speak, letting the dog know that you are still the giver of All Things Good.

[Ayoka]

My trainer likens treats to a dog "working for pay"

In Bear's obedience class we use treats and a word marker "yes" (some people use clickerrs) to teach the dog what he/she is supposed to do and get things really ingrained into their minds. When they have it down with treats, then we start randomizing treats and expecting longer stays etc (but still use "yes") so that they learn to do the work with & without treats. I belive I read something somewhere that said that the randomising actually reinforces the behaviour rather than discourages it. I don't think I will EVER get rid of the treats completely, but I do expect to use fewer as time goes on.

Many competition rings don't allow food rewards so dogs in those environments work in the ring without reward but I'm sure that in any other situation/environment they do get rewards.

Also I think that some dogs will work for different levels of rewards...some are ok with praise and pets while others need something more like a toy or special treat. Bear is so food motivated that he will work for his kibble while other dogs in our class won't even respond to freeze dried liver!

If your method is working I'd say you don't need to change it but I don't think that means that there is anything wrong with using food rewards.

[hokisteph5]

The trainers I've had have also recommended rewarding with treats on a random basis. They suggested giving a treat three times for the same behavior and then not giving the treat on the fourth time. The danger is in always giving a treat or showing the dog one because then the dog may not do a command unless it sees the "reward."

[05EVOMR]

Originally Posted by hokisteph5

The danger is in always giving a treat or showing the dog one because then the dog may not do a command unless it sees the "reward."

That is the main reason why I never encouraged treats, say sometime you are in a place and you have no treats, then what?

[GypsysMom]

with my dogs when I do basic obedience without treats I hold my hand in a way they think I have them and they preform the command I give them Then I praise with love and petting

[LUVMYROTTNBOY]

I see no problems with treats. Our trainer has us using premium treats when we start a new behavior or we are in a distracting area, and then we begin to work the treat out. She had me make a list of 20 things my dog loves or enjoys that does not involve using a treat and we are to mix a combination of those items and treats as we see fit during our training. Usually once my dog has a behavior down, like sit stay platz etc. he does not expect a treat but I do make sure to give him a non food reward like an ear scritch every now and then.

****One important side note on the non-food rewards, we always do our best to give him a full 20seconds of constant praise which sounds short but its a long time really to scritch and ear and say good boy etc.

If your worried about calories or cost you can try skiping a meal for the dog and instead feeding him/her its food during a training session around meal time.

I think training should be fun for the dog. This is the method I use, and I can say it has worked wonders with my boy, in the past month I stoped him from chasing a squirrel and had him return with his recall command, and when a relative let him out of the house we were visiting I stopped him, and did a re-call to get him, he ran full speed straight back to me just as he was trainied, Im very proud of him and hope to never ever need to use that command in a real situation like that again.