Treat deliveries

By Emily Larlham

Train each type of treat delivery as a behavior unto itself, before adding them into training sessions.  For example: To throw a treat at a dog’s face for him to catch when he is not expecting it can be very punishing and distract from the training task, even if the dog does get to eat the treat afterward.  So practice all the different ways you will deliver treats outside of training sessions, so your dog becomes familiar with them and won’t find them confusing, distracting, or punishing.  Some young puppies will at first be confused about simply taking a treat out of your hand, so you will need to work on that first to save you both frustration during training.

Different ways to deliver a treat (can you think of more?):

  1. Feed to dog’s mouth (fast and slow delivery)
  2. Slowly place on the floor
  3. Roll or flick across the floor
  4. Toss behind or in front of the dog
  5. Spit from your mouth (not my style but some trainers use it!)
  6. Produce the treat from different locations- from a shelf in your house, the fridge, another room, your sleeve, your pants, or your pocket.
  7. Release your dog to get the treat from a crate, from another person, from a dish, or from a remote-controlled treat dispenser

Treat bag: You can keep treats in a plastic baggie in your pocket, or you can buy or make a treat pouch.  I like to use the type of pouch that has magnetic flaps that close on their own rather than a bag with a drawstring.  As with the latter type of bag, the treats are not easily accessible when the drawstring is closed, and they fall out when you move if you forget to close the bag.  Pouches with metal hinges can break easily, so I prefer treat bags that have a strong magnetic closing feature.

Treat jars: You can have jars of dry treats at opportune locations (make sure they are out of reach from your dog though!).  These can be used for when unexpected guests come over, and to address the problem of your dog only performing behaviors if he knows you have treats.  If a treat jar is always at hand, you can ask for a behavior and then rush to get a treat out of one of the jars, so your dog never finds you predictable regarding when you have treats and when you don’t.

To sum up, varying the way you give treats makes you more unpredictable and interesting to your dog.

Expert tip: The way you deliver a treat can either excite your puppy or calm your puppy down.  For example, if your puppy is usually unmotivated when doing tricks, you could get him more excited by throwing or flicking the treats during the training session.  On the other hand, if you have a very excitable puppy or a reactive, over-aroused dog, you can move your hand as slowly as you can to put the treat on the ground.  The slow movement will help to calm the dog down.  Sniffing the ground for the treat can also help to calm your dog, as well as keep your dogs eyes off of the distraction for a small portion of time.  Staring at something when restrained or behind a barrier for too long can make dogs and puppies over-excited or frustrated.

Here is a video of 3 examples of calm treat deliveries (great to use for over-aroused, shy, and reactive dogs):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM2xyrQ-414

 

25 dog and puppy training tips25 Dog and Puppy Training Tips:
For each month of the year, I will release 2 training tips that will be accessible for free at dogmantics.com.  If you simply cannot wait for the information to be published online, you can buy the collection of all 25 training tips in an ebook format here: 25 Dog and Puppy Training Tips

This is a list of all the tips included in the ebook, and that will be eventually available online:

  1. Teaching a dog previously kept outside to be calm inside the house
  2. The problem with ignoring unwanted behaviors
  3. Fading a lure
  4. Adding a verbal cue or changing a cue
  5. Dogs and babies
  6. Socializing tips- Our world can be a scary place!
  7. What to do if your puppy bites you OUTSIDE of a training session
  8. Changing your thinking from “I don’t like” to “I need to work on”
  9. What to use as reinforcement
  10. Treat deliveries
  11. Teaching your puppy appropriate greetings on leash
  12. Teaching “All done” for training sessions and dinnertime manners
  13. Variety is the spice of life… and training!
  14. Teaching your puppy to walk off leash
  15. Don’t let your dog free feed
  16. Don’t only work on one behavior at a time
  17. Separation training tips
  18. Monkey see, monkey do- Take advantage of social facilitation
  19. Always remember to release your dog!
  20. The importance of handling
  21. Chewing
  22. Teaching “Drop” and “Get it”
  23. What to do if your puppy sits and refuses to budge on a walk
  24. Generalizing
  25. Training your dog to do absolutely… NOTHING!

Happy Training!