Using Food in Training

For some reason, many people have been led to believe that using food rewards when training their dog somehow diminishes the quality of the training. I often hear statements like, “A treat is just bribing the dog”, “Dogs that are treated during training get fat”, “Your dog should just listen because you told them to”, “Once the food is gone your dog won’t listen anymore”, “Dogs shouldn’t eat people food”, etc. However, when utilized correctly, food can be one of the most valuable parts of any training program.

The desire to acquire food is one of the most basal impulses animals experience (on par with reproduction). For this reason, in the study of learning theory food is termed a primary reinforcer. In simple terms, acquiring and consuming food makes animals feel “good”, and I’m sure many of us can attest to the truth of that.

Now, let’s revisit some of the statements mentioned previously in regards to the use of food in training.

“A treat is just bribing the dog”

Possibly! Food can absolutely be used to bribe your dog to perform a behavior. For example, shaking a bag of treats in the air to convince your dog to come when called is a bribe. You are “showing the goods” before the dog has performed the behavior. However, using food to bribe is not the proper way of using food in training and sets your dog up to have additional problems in the future. Most notably, your dog will become reliant on “seeing their prize” in advance of performing a behavior, meaning that if you ever need your dog to perform without the presence of food you are in trouble!

“Once the food is gone your dog won’t listen anymore”

and

“Your dog should just listen because you told them to”

Yes and no! Again, the truth in these statements lies in how you have utilized food in your training and if you have followed the proper steps for weaning your dog off of consistent food rewards.

The reality is nearly any behavior you request of your dog is “work” in the dog’s mind. Sit before going through a door = work. Down-stay while you eat your dinner = work. Come inside from playing in the yard = work. If the behavior isn’t something the dog naturally wants to do or naturally finds rewarding, it is work!

Let’s discuss what we consider work in our daily lives, our jobs. We may enjoy our jobs (I know I certainly do), but it is work for us. There are plenty of downsides to our jobs, restricted schedules, limited free time, managing demanding clients, cooperating with coworkers, etc. So, what keeps us coming back? The pay! If we weren’t getting paid we would not continue showing up for work. In addition, if we aren’t being paid  enough for the difficulty level of our job we move on to a job that pays better if available. This holds true for our dogs as well! If you continually ask your dog to work for you and either provide a payment that isn’t adequate or don’t provide payment at all, eventually your dog will quit working! However, this isn’t to say that you can’t reduce the frequency at which you pay your dog.

Learning theory outlines a concept called reinforcement schedules. A reinforcement schedule is a guideline that determines how frequently you reward the learner during training. Typically, when starting to teach your dog a new behavior you will want to utilize a continuous schedule of reinforcement. A continuous schedule of reinforcement rewards the dog for each successful performance of the behavior. Again, this reinforcement schedule is great for starting a new behavior because it allows the dog to more rapidly develop the  connection between the new behavior and the reward, thus driving the dog’s motivation to continue to  perform the behavior. However, many people linger on this reinforcement schedule for too long causing their dog to become overly reliant on being rewarded every single time they perform the behavior.

Proper training will involve the quick abandonment of a continuous reinforcement schedule once the dog understands the baseline behavior, and progression into an intermittent reinforcement schedule. While there are multiple sub-types of intermittent reinforcement schedules (and all have a proper time and place for use), the ideal choice for maintaining your dog’s performance long-term without heavy reliance on food rewards is the variable reinforcement schedule. A variable reinforcement schedule randomizes when your dog is rewarded for performing a behavior, meaning your dog is unable to predict when they will receive a food reward and when they will not. Ultimately, this randomization will keep your dog guessing and helps maintain consistently high motivation to perform a behavior. This concept is often equated to people playing slot machines. The reward from the slot machine is random! We never know if the next lever pull will yield a payout, but we will continue to play because we know that we will eventually receive a big reward! Once we receive that big reward we are energized with positive emotions which fuels us to keep pressing our luck for even more payouts! It’s an addictive cycle that keeps us coming back for more, and this cycle also applies to our dog’s when on a variable reinforcement schedule.

“Dogs that are treated during training get fat”

Maybe, but like each of the previous statements, only if you are not utilizing food correctly!

When you reward your dog during training you will find that a little can go a long way. Your dog will work just as hard for half a treat as they do for a whole treat because your dog is working for the novelty and quality of the food, not the quantity.

Your dog’s training treats should be no larger than a pea, so ditch the milk-bones!

Five opportunities to reward

Vs.

Ten opportunities to reward

The images above show standard chewy training treats. You can effectively double the number of times you can reward your dog without increasing the number of calories your dog is consuming!

However, for some dogs, this technique alone will not prevent weight gain. So, there are additional options to help prevent unnecessary weight gain without having to sacrifice the use of food in training.

The first option is quite simple, continue using special treats during training, but cut back your dog’s regular meal portion if weight gain is occurring. If you determine that a cutback in meal portion is necessary begin  with reducing their portion by 1/4 of the total amount and slowly increase over time until you reach the preferred amount. It is important to not cutback too much at once because you want to avoid the dog’s body kicking into “starvation mode” in which the body resists burning calories in response to the rapid decrease in food intake. Starvation mode makes weight loss very slow if they lose any weight at all and causes the dog to experience increased hunger.

The second option is to use your dog’s regular meal portion as their food rewards during training. If your dog finds their daily food enticing enough they will normally be happy to work for that as their reward. However, sometimes dogs are not overly enthused at the prospect of working to earn their kibble, as it is often not palatable and not very novel. In these cases, it is possible to “charge” up the value of the kibble so that it is more enticing. Fill a baggy with your dog’s kibble meal and mix in a food that is smelly and high value (hot dog, chicken, tuna, etc.). Then, leave the kibble to soak up the flavor of the high value food. After being soaked in the high value food you will most likely find that your dog is excited to work for their kibble as they now believe it to be “special”!

“Dogs shouldn’t eat people food”

False. Nutritionally, “Dog food” is just a lower quality version of “people food”. While there are some human foods out there that are hazardous if consumed by dogs there are many more human foods that are great for dogs and present good opportunities to inject something high value and novel into your training program.

An extension of this incorrect belief includes the myth that if your dog tastes human food they will start begging for your food while you’re eating. The likelihood of your dog begging for food off your plate has no relationship to the use of human food during training.

First, dogs are opportunistic feeders. If food is present, they are naturally inclined to attempt to acquire it, especially if they see their human eating it. It is very likely that your dog would beg for the food you’re eating even if you have never given them human food.

Second, the probability of your dog developing a habit of begging lies within the context in which they are given human food. A dog that is given human food during the occurrence of human mealtime rituals (cooking in the kitchen, dinnerware being present, sitting at the dining table, clanking of silverware, etc.) is more likely  to develop a habit of begging for food during human mealtimes just by pattern of association. So, if you want  to decrease the odds that your dog will develop a habit of begging during your mealtime simply ensure that you don’t provide them with human food during that time. Only provide human foods in the proper context, as rewards for cued behaviors.

With all of this being said, it is necessary to be sensible when incorporating human foods into your dog’s food rewards. Always introduce new food slowly, begin with small quantities and gauge your dog’s physical response. You don’t want to see GI upset or an allergic response upon introducing new foods. Further, depending on the human food you are using it can potentially be very dense in calories meaning you will need to use it sparingly to avoid weight gain.

Generally, other than using human food to boost the value of your dog’s kibble, the best recommendation is to save human food for behaviors that your dog finds especially challenging. The more difficult the work is, the higher the pay should be!