Should I Use Food to Reward My Puppy?

The power of reward based training

Reward based training, or positive reinforcement as you may have heard it called, is a proven method for training dogs.  It is an in-depth scientific topic and takes skill and timing to get it right, but in its simplest form, it involves rewarding your puppy for desired behaviours. This, in turn, encourages them to repeat those actions.

In dog training, we call it getting paid for doing a job.  A puppy who gets paid for doing things we want them to do is going to keep repeating those behaviours. After all, none of us want to work for free. Using food to ‘pay’ your puppy is an amazing way to motivate them because most puppies are fairly motivated to eat. A very tasty treat can be a really powerful incentive for your puppy to learn new or some of the more difficult skills we want to teach them.

Not only helpful in motivating our puppies, using food to pay your puppy when they have done something you want them to do is a really great way of helping them make the connection between the behaviour and the reward; although you’ll need to be putting the principles of clicker training in action in order to do this, which is something I can help you do when you train with me.

1. Be consistent: At first, use treats consistently when your puppy performs the desired behaviour. This consistency helps reinforce the behaviour more effectively. You can reduce the amount of payment over time, but initially we want to be paying them a decent wage.

2. Timing matters: Reward your puppy immediately after they perform the desired action. This helps them associate the treat with the behaviour we want.

3. Value matters: If you think about food rewards as payments for a job, it is unlikely that your puppy is going to want to perform a hard skill repeatedly for a payment of 5p. If I paid £20 or even £50 quite often for the same skill, my puppy is going to really want to do it. This is what puppy trainers mean when we talk about high and low value rewards. When it comes to food, a low value reward might be the food you feed them every day. They might work for this, but their motivation might be low or may dwindle completely over time. Foods such as ham, steak or chicken, to name but a few, are generally considered higher or high value rewards for puppies. I like to save these kind of payments for really hard skills, such as recalling outdoors when other dogs are around. A hard ‘job’ requires a decent payment. All dogs differ in their preferences, tastes and tolerances, so play about with what your puppy loves and save the good stuff for the hard skills.

4. Portion control: Use small, bite-sized treats to avoid overfeeding, I aim for food that is no bigger than my little fingernail. Training treats should be small, just enough to please your puppy without filling them up.

5. Reduce gradually: As your puppy masters their new skills, gradually reduce the frequency of your food rewards. Doing this effectively takes skill and it is something I will teach you when you train with me.  You can eventually replace food with praise, play or even fuss to maintain the behaviour without always relying on food, although topping up their wages every now and then once they’ve learnt something is never a bad idea. Over time, simply performing the desired behaviour that has a history of reinforcement behind it (reward history) is rewarding in and of itself for a dog. But you’ll need that history behind it first, especially during puppyhood.

1. Dependency: Proper training involves gradually reducing treats while increasing other forms of reinforcement, as above. This helps your puppy learn to respond to commands without always expecting a treat.

2. Weight Gain: Size matters when it comes to the food you use to train your puppy. Remember, nothing bigger than your little fingernail.  I particularly like to use a portion of my puppy’s daily meals by taking a handful out of the bowl each time and using this for training.  You can also choose low-calorie treats, such as puppy safe vegetables and ensure they’re part of your puppy’s daily calorie intake. For example, if I have completed a lot of training in one particular day, I will reduce the amount of food my puppy gets for one or two of their meals that day. 

1. Toys: Some puppies are highly motivated by toys and toy play can be a fantastic way of rewarding your puppy when teaching them new skills. It can super-charge their energy and motivation to get involved too. I like to have a few special toys that my puppy loves set aside for training only and not for general play. This way, my puppy is super excited when I use them.  How to use a toy as a reward and how to play with a toy with your puppy the right way are actually quite skilled behaviours, which I will teach you when you train with me.

2. Praise: Our puppies definitely feed off our energy and they absolutely love getting feedback from us. A cheerful “good boy!” or “good girl!” can be rewarding for your puppy when training them, although you generally find that food rewards and toy play are the better options. I love letting my dog know, through my tone of voice, when I am so proud of and happy with her and she absolutely gets a kick out of knowing she’s an amazing girl.

3. Play time: Engaging in a fun play session without toys can be a fantastic reward and a way to burn off some of that puppy energy. I love a good old game of hide n seek and seeing whether my puppy can chase me. Some dogs find playing in a paddling pool or sandpit really rewarding. Just watch that the excitement doesn’t encourage excessive biting from your puppy. Overly tired or excited puppies do tend to bite.