When should you stop giving your dog treats?

Reduce the amount you give as your dog gets more proficient – but think about how hard the training is for your dog and match the number of treats to its complexity

Making progress with a client’s dog

At a client’s home yesterday they were making great progress with their dog. We were teaching him to walk nicely on lead instead of pulling them over.

We were using our usual and effective fix-the-lead-then-reward-your-dog-where-you-want-him-to-walk method and the dog was responding beautifully, to the amazement and delight of the owner.

Then we got the question I wish we had £1 every time it is asked – “When do I stop giving treats?”

Perhaps you think that dogs should do what they are asked either because the dog “should” do it because they love you: if they don’t perhaps they don’t love you enough.  

But food and love are not mutually exclusive. Just because I love chocolate doesn’t mean I don’t love Himself if he doesn’t give me any. And vice versa – woe betide me if Easter had not produced a chocolate egg. 

Studies have shown that dogs respond positively to food rewards

Study after study has shown that dogs learn faster when given food as a reward during the early stages of training. Researchers have also found that “foodie” dogs will stop responding well quickly once food is stopped, though the response is slower to reduce in dogs who aren’t so bothered with food.

Pet dogs, feral dogs and even wolves have been shown to respond better and quicker when trained with food.

So when do you stop giving treats?

This is common dog training mistake number 4. My answer is – never. Though you should significantly reduce how many treats are given as your dog becomes proficient at the task. How much you reduce the treats and what level you reduce them to depends on your dog’s level of competence and their training history.

And it also depends on the task itself, how difficult it is for your dog and how much effort is required.

For example: I never give Gus a treat for a simple sit now, but I might give him one for doing a set of many positions one after the other. I will still give Gus the odd treat when he is walking nicely by my side so that I maintain that behaviour. But I’ll give him a reward most times when he comes back when called because I want that behaviour to remain strong. And I will up the number of treats if I see any response to a cue becoming weaker. 

Match the number of treats to the difficulty of the training

In summary – use treats wisely – but never stop them altogether.

If your dog is struggling to learn something or seems to have forgotten things they were previously competent at, why not come to our Perfect Pet course? Or if you are ready to take your training to the next level, join PiiP, our follow-on Putting it into Practice course.

Whatever you do, keep using food as a reward for your dog.

Keep training and stay safe,

Carol