Treats!
This topic comes up again and again, I have done lives,
videos, posts but thought I would also write about it as it keeps coming up!
Treat is the easiest way to reward your puppy or dog for a
job well done! The way dogs learn is ‘the behaviour that gets rewarded, gets
repeated’ so if we reward the desired behaviours, they are going to happen more
frequently!
So far so good, but what is an acceptable treat? Would my
dog not get fat if I treat them all the time?
If we were to ask our dogs they would tell us what they view
as a treat, what is higher in their hierarchy and what is ‘take it or leave it’.
I am going to link a video at the end on how I ask my dogs what they like (let’s
just say, Monty didn’t do what I expected him to do!).
All dogs are different and where some might love veggies/fruit,
some might think that you are trying to kill them if you offer them a blueberry
(so it is definitely not a treat!).
As a rule of thumb (but not always), their daily food is likely
to be lower on their priority list than things like freshly cooked chicken or
sausages.
So, identifying your puppy’s ultimate reward is the first
step to a successful training session.
Then I would look at the difficulty of the behaviour: does
sitting in the living room with no distractions have the same difficulty level
as recalling from chasing a squirrel or playing with other puppies?
Those two have completely different difficulty levels. Imagine
teaching a child their times tables - I would compare sitting in the living
room to being able to compute 2x2, and recalling from playing with another
puppy to 9x8! Therefore do they deserve a different reward?
I say, yes, absolutely!
So there we have it, we need to have a selection of lower
and higher value treats for different situations.
Lower value treats:
Something that your puppy values but maybe doesn’t go
completely crazy for. It is something that is very easy to handle and something
that does not need to be kept in the fridge, so you can have ‘treat stations’
around the house.
So, for easy behaviours in low distraction environments, we
can use part of puppy’s daily food allowance. I recommend to my puppy class attendees
(those who feed dry food) to take a handful of kibble from puppy’s daily food
allowance and put it in a Tupperware pot to use as treats – these are your
absolute guilt free/calorie free (as they are going to be consumed anyway)
treats for easy behaviours in low distraction environments.
High value treats:
Something that your puppy really loves and is prepared to
work extra hard for. It needs to be something that they don’t get very often,
so it is special, like Christmas! These treats are likely to be kept in the
fridge, as you are not going to be using too much/too often. These are for
difficult behaviours that you want your puppy to be able to do in distracting
environments. Think recall away from chasing wildlife/running towards a road –
you want the reward to be appropriate for the level of difficulty!
Some of the things that I use as high value treats – cooked meats
(think leftover roast), hotdog sausages, cheese, commercial meaty pet treats (we
favour JR Pet Products pate at Dogs be Dogs HQ).
So, what makes a good treat?
1. Something that your puppy likes and will work
for;
2. Appropriate for the difficulty of the task/level
of distraction;
3. Something that is easy to handle;
4. Something that is easy to break into smaller
pieces if needed;
5. Something that you can get hold of easily!
Availability and affordability are important when it comes
to treats! I am sure my dogs would work very hard for smoked salmon (so would
I), but it would not be sustainable. Similarly, I could bake liver cake on a
budget, but who really has time to do it often (ever)?
So one of my lifehacks is to check out the deli section of
your nearest supermarket for any ‘close to expiry date’ goodies! You can then
stick them in the freezer and defrost when needed. Over the years my dogs have
had anything and everything from chicken, ham and luncheon meat to corned beef,
pastrami, and even prosciutto!
A question that comes up fairly frequently is: “Would my dog
not get fat if I feed them all those treats?”. And my answer – no if we are
strategic about it! For the situations where we do not need high value treats,
using part of puppy daily food allowance (remember those ‘free calories’?) will
most likely suffice.
Another solution is using treats that are easily breakable,
so you use only tiny pieces!
As a rule of thumb, up to 10% of your dog’s daily food can
come from treats (Purina has it on their website, so they can provide a
reference for the number ).
And quality is definitely overrules the quantity here
(dog’s sense of smell is a lot stronger than ours and their sense of taste is
not quite as good). [Horowitz, A. ‘Inside of a dog: what dogs see, smell, and know’, Thorndike Press, 2009.]
So, when it comes
to a perfect treat… have a selection of the treats your dog will ‘work’ for,
make sure they are easily breakable, use part of their daily food allowance
(please note, they do not need to work for every bit of food, just some), and
have fun training with your dog!
Here is a video of Monty selecting his favourites. He had a
choice of commercial dry treats, cheese,
blueberries, wild boar pate, cucumber and corned beef. Place your bets before
you watch it what was his least favourite ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ig8OKXIvIg
What is your dog's favourite treat? Let me know!
