Training your dog is a great way to bond while also ensuring safety and obedience in any situation. With more and more people looking to properly care for their animals and understanding just how vital training is, training techniques are spreading like wildfire. One popular way to help reinforce good behaviors is by giving treats. Let’s take a look at how to use treats for dog training and what products work well!

How to Train With Treats

Training a dog with treats is easier than you may expect. In general, you have to give the command and reinforce the good behavior that is following the order by rewarding your dog with a treat. This act works so well because your dog will begin to understand that doing what you want earns them a yummy snack.

Training with treats is also much better than methods involving negative reinforcement since it nurtures the bond between owner and pet. It also helps to ensure your dog feels safe and comfortable in your presence. Plus, they are much more likely to listen with the looming promise of one of their favorite snacks hanging in the air!

What Types of Treats Work Best?

Generally, you are going to want something small or easily broken into small pieces. Since your dog will be getting many bites during the training process during every single session, you will want to ensure that you are not accidentally overfeeding your furry dog pal.

You also want to ensure the treats are healthy, as you do not want to give your dog empty calories. Doing this can contribute to canine obesity that can have harmful and lasting effects on their overall health, which no pet owner wants. Healthy foods with optimal portion options are the way to go when choosing treats for your pet’s training sessions.

Putting It All Together

While training will vary based on your specific dog’s attention span, patience, and stamina, there are some things you should know about using treats and training your dog to make sure you and your furry friend are on the path to success!

Choosing the Correct Space

Dogs, like human children, are easily distracted. When we are teaching them, or at least attempting to teach them, they can be thrown off by lots of noise around them or other distractions. Due to this, you should make an effort to find your pup a quiet, relatively calm space to learn. Consider it his or her very own doggy study hall. No one wants to do homework with construction noise or ten other playful pups running around, so try and find a calm and temperature environment, allowing your dog to focus.

Understanding Your Dog’s View of Treats

Everyone has something they cannot get enough of. Some humans like chocolate and wine; other people like video games to unwind. The concept is the same with dogs. There is something out there that your pet will adore enough to work for.

Generally, pungent treats are going to be more effective for most pups since the strong smell will grab and hold their attention. You could even consider getting some wet treats or special treats (just for training) to really amp up the importance and special occasion appeal of training sessions. Making it fun is key in ensuring your pup can learn and retain commands.

Giving the Treat

When giving the reward for a job well done, it is important to consider how, when, and where to give the treat. If your dog is sitting after following your command to sit, giving him a treat right after he sits down is the perfect timing. If you do not give the treat while he is sitting, he could become confused. Think about it. How will he know if the treat is a reward for sitting or walking away if you give it to him after he is already up and moving again?

You have to plan out treats and only give them when the task has been successfully completed. Those puppy dog eyes are hard to turn down, but giving extra treats when no command has been given or followed sends even more mixed signals. Consistency and timing are key in training with treats!

Treat Ideas

As previously mentioned, dog training treats work best if they are easily portioned and are healthy in ingredients and nutritional content. Because of this, many people choose to use their dog’s regular food since it is bite-sized and generally has good nutritional base levels. If your dog will accept this, then, by all means, give it a try.

If you want to go the treat route, there are tons of options that work perfectly. Shop our wide Pure Harmony collection.

Tricks for Treats

No matter which dog training treats you pick, getting your pup trained up and ready to follow commands is a great way to keep them safe in all situations. A properly trained dog can venture out with confidence and makes for a fantastic companion! Subscribe to stay up to date with resourceful information about pet health.