Training
Using Treats in Training and How to Wean Them Off
There are two elements to rewarding your dog – the treat you give your dog and the timing of when it is given. By far, the timing of the reward is the most important element here – any reward must be well-timed or it loses its meaning. To be able to reward quickly and easily, you need to have plenty of treats in your pockets or an easily accessible treat bag/bait pouch. If your dog tends to focus too much on a bait pouch, wear a vest with pockets and make sure BOTH pockets are loaded so you can get a treat quickly with either hand. Fumbling around or dropping the reward ruins the effect, so practice getting treats quickly and smoothly out of your pockets without your dog around if you feel you need to.
You need a large variety of treats when you are training, all different shapes, sizes, textures, and flavors. One reason for so many is you need to figure out what your dog REALLY likes – the treats he will go over a cliff for! Experiment with a lot of different treats and see what really gets your dog motivated, and then segregate those “high dollar”/high value treats for harder work. Those are going to be used more often when you are asking more from your dog – harder commands, holding it longer, doing it faster.
A comment I hear a lot from people is, “My dog is great when I have treats, but when I don’t have anything, s/he won’t do anything.”
In the early stages of any training program, you are handing out treats with wild abandon – you are basically a walking Pez dispenser. But as time goes by, you need to start backing off on how often and when you reward your dog. If you intend to compete in anything besides Conformation, you cannot have any treats or toys with you in the ring at all – not in your hands, your mouth, or your pockets. And there will always be times when you need your dog to do something and you don’t have any treats on you.
All that being said, how do you get your dog to do stuff without an instant treat? That little word called “timing” is the trick. As you progress in your training, your dog is going to have to start working harder. He has to hold the position for a couple of seconds at first, and then longer as time goes by, and you will gradually work up to longer and longer times for your dog to hold a command.
For the purposes of this article, let’s assume your dog knows the command Sit so I’ll use that for our example, and remember it applies to any position you give the dog, not just Sit.
Have a treat in your hand and tell your dog to Sit. Do not give him the treat until he is sitting and sitting all the way down – no hovering allowed!
Do not repeat the command. Once he is firmly sitting, have him hold the sit for a few seconds. If he moves out of the Sit, put the treat away and put him back into the Sit without repeating the command.
Remember to keep your hands still while your dog is sitting – moving your hands around will distract and confuse your dog, so be aware of what you are doing when working with your dog.
Lorraine's Zak in a Sit-Stay at Dry Falls
Now another very important aspect of training – your release word. Most people use “OK”, but you can use anything you like. Whatever word you choose, make sure you know it well because you should be using it A LOT. The release word has two functions: Telling your dog when he is done with the current command and telling him he is NOT done until he hears it. Sounds like splitting hairs, but the whole point of it is this proper sequence: Sit – good sit - - - - - - - - - - OK! When you say “OK!” your dog can move, but he should not move away from you. So, when you reward your dog, reward him close to your body – you want him to still stay near you.
“OK” means you are done with that Sit but it doesn’t mean you are done working and it certainly doesn’t mean run away and play. And note – your dog does not get the treat until after you say the release word. What you are doing now is delaying the reward until the dog has done what you want for as long as you want. But don’t be unfair – do not expect your dog to sit for longer than he can hold it. And how long that can be will depend on where you are, what is going on around you, how much training your dog has had and how much work you have put into that particular command. So many variances!!
Tell your dog to Sit again and this time he does not get the treat at all. Once he has stayed in the sit for a few seconds, release and verbally and physically reward. Tell him Sit again and this time have him hold it a few seconds longer and this time he gets a treat when released. Then do some other training things and go back to the Sit. Our breed is not fond of repetition, so don’t work on the same command for long periods of time – do one thing a few times, move on to something else or take a break, then go back to it and do it 2-3 times. Make sure your dog gets a high dollar treat now and then when he does it quickly and well the first time told. If your dog does it perfectly after a couple of times, take that and end on that note.
As time goes by, your dog needs to hold the position longer and longer. And occasionally, he doesn’t get a treat at all, just a release and praise.
Also, it is ok to have more than one way to release your dog. I use OK, but I also will clap my hands sharply together and say YES! when I am really pleased with something Zak did. That is another form of release.
The key here is building up the time your dog will hold a command until you release him. In order to do that, go slowly and make sure your foundation is solid – if your dog consistently breaks before you release him, back up a few seconds and build up your time more slowly. It is really easy for us to go too fast for our dogs. It is more important to build that foundation really well, and it may take more time than you think. There is no shame at all backing up a few steps if your dog needs it. Remember, training is not just about having a well-behaved dog; it is also about building your bond with your dog and forming a team with him.
Training is the best way in the world to make a bond with your dog and making training fun for both of you is the key element in training.
Don’t complain, train!
Respectfully Submitted,
Lorraine Pedersen
Rowdy Red Dog Training, LLC
