Treats

Why Treats?

Just as we need encouragement and payment in exchange for our efforts to do a job, your puppy also needs a payment for a job well-done. Your puppy is not able to think and plan for the future. She will not learn a new skill just because it may help her get a more interesting job in the future.

Your puppy lives in the present and will focus where ever she finds a payoff--right now! Your puppy's environment provides her with lots of payoffs--interesting smells, movements to follow and tastes to try. It is a challenge for humans to be more interesting to their puppies than the environment is.

But humans are clever! We can provide our puppies with great smells, unpredictable movement of toys and extremely tasty treats. We can introduce activities that provide a puppy with puzzles to solve. When you are unpredictably fascinating, your puppy will find it worth her while to give her attention to you. Be careful though. If you are also unpredictably punishing, your puppy may not give your attention to you, as the uncertainy of unpleasant experiences out weigh the possibility of wonderful experiences.

A puppy who looses interest during a training session is probably finding the payoff to be too little for the amount of effort required. Lower your standards so that your puppy is successful (receives payment) more often. As she gains confidence in her actions, through many successful trials, you will be able to slowly raise your standards again.

Which Treats?

When shaping behavior it is best to be able to have as many trials as possible, with very little time between the trials. Small bits of food can serve as convenient payments during a shaping session. You want your puppy to be able to eat the treat quickly so that you can go on with the next shaping trial. You also want the treat to be valued enough by your puppy so that she will continue exploring the learning puzzle.

Some guidelines for food treats:

• Soft, moist treats can be swallowed more quickly than crunchy ones.
• The smellier and tastier are more valuable.
• You can use less of a treat that your puppy really loves.
• Less than 10% of your puppy's calories should come from treats.
• Use the most valuable treats for the most difficult learning tasks and situations.

Possible treats:

• Semi-moist Dog Food:
  • Ken-L Ration Special Cuts
  • Ken-L Ration Tender Chops
  • Purina Butcher's Burger
  • WalMart Ole Roy's Dinner Rounds
  • Roll-over (a Canadian Dog Food sold through mail order catalogs like Cherrybrook)
• String cheese
• Cheerios
• Bread
• Nuked Hot Dog slices
• Liver Brownies
• Raisins
• You can also nuke boiled beef liver; cooked chicken
• Your puppy's regular diet

Food is not the only thing you can use as payment for a job well-done. Tummy rubs, a game of fetch and other activities can also be used as a payoff. As you get to know your puppy you will become more and more aware of what will motivate her. As your training relationship with her develops, knowing what motivates your puppy will be very valuable for you.