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I get asked this question a lot when I go help people with their dogs. "At what point is it okay to stop treats?" This is a question that I think raises lots of eye brows and can be a source of argument between Dog Trainers, Dog Behaviorists, and Pet Owners. One way we can begin to put this argument into perspective is what motivates your dog? What does it absolutely love? What can it absolutely not live without other than food and water? These are the questions you need to ask yourself when working with your own dog? You cannot completely get the dog to a point where you'd never have to use a reward again. The dog knowing it made you happy is a reward. Is it high valued? Depends on the dog, situation, and what it considers the motivation. Make it known that the your dog is reacting to you and watching you almost the entire time you are with them. This is in return, you constantly are sending communication of rewards unconsciously. If you are startled by the door and it's 2am the dog lets out a more serious bark. You pause and then the person goes away. You then start to breathe and pet the dog saying good boy when it's still alert. This is an example of an unconscious reward. You're technically going to the dog for comfort. The dog registers as you liked what I did. Same scenario happens the next day only this time it's your mom or your kids friend. Your anticipation can act the same as uncertainty. The stress of it is the same.
The person knocks this time the dog acts maybe a bit more intense since it was rewarded not only through affection but through your body chemical change. Now it doesn't want anyone to come in and when that person walks in with out heeding the warning you hear a growl. You now are angry, frustrated, or unsure with the dog as if to say the dog should've known the difference in circumstance when in reality it's what the dog will associate that experience with. After you scold the dog the dog then says now i'm confused and the only reason why it's confused is that you scolded, when the previous night it was rewarded. So in the dogs eyes what would it do next? This is simple for the first time both parties felt great. The thing, person went away and everyone was happy. The second time the person walked in the door and the dog was scolded. To the dog it understands that maybe the person coming through the door is why he got scolded not the actual act of growling at someone they know. You see the dog is always learning from you, and asking what you need from them. This is an example of how we can unintentionally reward the dog for a behavior we don't want. When you train this way you are telling the dog what role it needs to play in the house. If you're conscious of what is happening and how you are interacting then you have real power to mark the emotional state of the dog. To me this is the real art of creating friendship and bond. It's centered on real life. What do you need from me in particular moments. We must always take on the role of protector but understand our dogs will ultimately protect us most of the time when danger is near. The reason being you are their source of life in their minds.
Now when we work with our dogs on the basics, like sit, and stay how do we stop the treats? This is an example of a "working behavior". When I put those in quotations I want it to sink in. Work means payment of some kind. Attention usually can get the job done if the dog is aware that you are going to play a special game that only happens when the dog does a series of tasks. Treats are great because they help shape and stream line the process of learning the language with the relation of the action. This I call working type behavior. Not necessarily companion driven. It can be if the motives are pure. What do I mean? Well are you coming from a place of hierarchy or are you coming from a place of partnership? I believe all dogs should have some type of understanding of obedience. What I believe is more important is not whether they sit and stay but where they're at mentally. How are they able to cope with stressful environments. Are they progressing along or continuously regressing? When we use obedience it's usually a way of redirection and less about acceptance. We have to redirect first so the dog can relate the experience to something else. If your dog becomes aggressive in a stressful social situation. The obedience helps redirect and give the dog something else to focus on. Then ultimately the dog has to pick up the acceptance of that particular challenging experience. Ultimately I don't think we care if our dogs sit, stay, lye down, or come when called. I think if our dogs would accept what is happening around them then dog owners would be just as happy with that. Well that coin could get flipped. What if we act normal around our dogs 24/7 even if something causes them to react a certain way we don't like? This is to me is the challenge of every dog owner. To never take the dogs reaction personal. When you don't take it personal you will hardly waiver from your center. In return not giving one way or another you approve of the behavior it's giving. If it's something you don't like it will give you the opportunity to fix and help the dog through that experience almost instantaneously. The reason being there is no change in you. The change comes with dopamine and oxytocin are released from you and the dog during that particular challenge. That is when real emotional change happens.
Ultimately there will never not be a time that the rewards to your dog will ever stop. If you work obedience cues you will always have to replace the treats with something the dog finds valuable in return the cues become reliable. You can use a special toy or activity to take place of the treats but ultimately something to replace the initial reward. When it comes to environmental experiences it ultimately will depend on how well you separate yourself in times of stress and if you can ever naturally be you. At the end here, is the dog registering you and your emotions changing and how you communicate that back to your dog is the most important lesson. This will ultimately help you build your bond.
"Through the understanding you can have acceptance."
