Training your dog can sometimes be a challenge, especially if you’re trying to teach him to stop doing something he loves. The key to success is finding a reward your dog will be excited to work for. Treats are a sure-fire way to make the training process efficient and stress-free.

WHY USE TREATS?

Food is a primary reinforcer — something your dog doesn’t need to learn how to like. By using treats for training, he will learn to respond to cues because it’s a rewarding experience for him. For example, you can quickly use treats for teaching him a new behavior. Try holding a treat in your hand, then place your hand in front of your dog’s head or nose to entice him to follow it. In this case, the smellier the treat, the better! This method is a force-free way to move your dog into the desired position and can be repeated numerous times. Your dog will quickly learn to sit or follow you if you reward him with a small treat each time he’s successful.

AVOID MAKING TREATS A BRIBE

When you’re just starting to teach your dog a new behavior, you can use a treat to make the behavior happen, or as a reward. When using a treat as a lure for training, it’s important that you switch to a prompt — using your hand in the same way, but without a treat — and then fade out the hand as soon as possible. Many dogs get used to following a lure, so the transition to a prompt is easy and seamless. However, you want to avoid creating a situation in which your dog refuses to respond to a previously taught cue until you show her you have a food treat. By fading out the hand lure during the training process, you will avoid the problem of having your dog only respond to food as a bribe.

FINDING A HEALTHY TREAT FOR YOUR PUP

Using treats can help build the good habits we want in our dogs, but the trick is to make sure the treats are healthy. When sourcing a healthy product, checking the ingredients is very important. You want to avoid any treats that list dyes, by-products, corn, and propylene glycol as main ingredients. Instead, look for those that have meat as the first or second ingredient, along with vitamins, vegetables, and fruit. Farm Fresh Pet Foods, soon to be Tilted Barn Pet Company, offers natural, pepperoni-style dog treats made with clean and simple Canadian ingredients from the human food market. Smoked beef, bacon and lamb are the headliners, along with oatmeal, liquid honey, a small amount of brown sugar, garlic and sea salt. Because the treats are made without any preservatives or casings, the brown sugar is used to hold the treats together in a soft stick form that is easy to break into smaller pieces for training. The honey is hydrophilic, which means it binds to water molecules and inhibits mold growth. Tilted Barn treats are very aromatic, making them perfect to capture and keep your dog’s attention. With their clean and wholesome ingredients, all dog parents can feel good about using them for a high-value training reward!