Food Rewards?

[emc]

What do you folks think of training a dog with food rewards? Many trainers use it but I've heard so many times that you shouldn't use food as a reward when training because that will teach your dog to listen to you only if he sees that he will get food.

Rewarding a dog with just praise would be great but with some dogs food seems to be the only motivating factor. I know with my puppy I needed to use food to get her attention, I combine the food treat with praise and once she understands the command I use everyday things as a reward for her obeying, for instance, when playing she gets the ball after she lies down, she gets to go on my lap after she sits first and so on. So far it seems to be working because she's listening even though she doesn't always get a food reward.

I still use food on new commands and intermittingly on ones she knows, especially the "come here" command, I want her to know that coming to me is worth her while. Anyway what's your take on this, how do you go about training a dog that only seems to be motivated by food?

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[Misty_Pearl]

Pearl just began puppy kindergarten yesterday and right now we are using food rewards. Later it will be just praise.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I do use food rewards when they're young but gradually stop as they get older. By the time they're 8 months they don't get any more food rewards. My dogs work for lots of praise and/or a toy. Everydog I've ever had, even if they were very food motivated loved to work simply for our praise. It made them feel so proud that they were able to make us happy...lol

[sammy101]

When Kodie went to Obediance class, the trainer only used praise,not treats. Like you said, she said that the dog with only respond to food. She only used food to teach the down command though. I would rather use praise, not treats.

[tessa_s212]

I use treats and toys to train everything. I NEVER train a behavior with corrections. Corrections ONLY come after the dog has FULLY learned the behaviors(which if properly trained, they should RARELY need any type of correction).

The whole thing about treats making an unreliable dog that will not work without treats is a complete lie. It is sad that trainers are still stuck in their old ways and refuse to acknowledge new, better training methods.

[K9karen]

I'm almosty too embarrased to admit....When I adopted Logan, i used praise as a reward. However, I was getting worried and frustrated that every time she went out for an outie, she never did a thing. She gets easily distracted with the squirrels and russling leaves and people walking by. So I started giving her a "Lite" dog cookie after she did her duty, and within 1 day, she learned that everytime she comes back inside, she jumps up and down, looks at her cookie jar, barks her "Rrr Rrr" and gets a cookie. So now she gets praise AND a cookie! Yes, I'm wrapped.