@procakes223 Yes. 4 month old. High value bacon and sweet potato treats are gold in our house. 
So do y’all have treats on you basically 24/7?
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annaboleyn
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@procakes223 Basically yes, but keep in mind reinforcement can be done with many things beyond food. With my dog especially we are at the state where we are transitioning out of treats all the time. Instead I use environmental rewards as my main form of reinforcement outside of specific training windows or reward randomly with food. As in I might ask for six behaviors while praising and then reward with food on the seventh, and then the next behavior give him two food rewards but then not reward for the next four behaviors beyond praise and pats.
I also use toys and play for rewards and access to fun things. So for example there is a water fountain that leaks from the side at the park when you press the button on it. My dog loves the trickling water and drinks it as it falls out of the bottom of the basin of the fountain. I will train with this water fountain for five minutes as a reward.
To make it easy keeping treats in jars or ziplock bags around the house. It’s super helpful. Like no matter what I have treats of some kind in my bedroom, living room, car and kitchen area. I keep a bag of “trail mix” (bunch of mixed in dry snacks) in my training bag and always have a bag of string cheese and hotdogs in my fridge. Whenever I leave on a walk when I don’t use food I always at least grab a string cheese to use to reward and reinforce behavior.
If there are concerns for weight it helps to always break snacks/treats into small pieces. Mix in kibble with treats so they get their smell and use the kibble primarily. (Like my dog is a fiend for whip cream. I spray a little over a table spoon of whip cream in my dogs kibble and mix with water once a day) I will use his entire meal for a training session out of the house as a super high value reward.
You can also make healthy home made snacks pretty easily too. I use to do a super small portion of peanut butter mixed with yogurt, water and baby food And then I would put it in a squeeze bottle. I would give him canned tuna/salmon/anchovy (I always got the ones canned in water not oil) baked skinless chicken and boiled chicken liver. Most of these are fairly low calorie treats that are pretty easy to use and most don’t even require any cooking.
I also use toys and play for rewards and access to fun things. So for example there is a water fountain that leaks from the side at the park when you press the button on it. My dog loves the trickling water and drinks it as it falls out of the bottom of the basin of the fountain. I will train with this water fountain for five minutes as a reward.
To make it easy keeping treats in jars or ziplock bags around the house. It’s super helpful. Like no matter what I have treats of some kind in my bedroom, living room, car and kitchen area. I keep a bag of “trail mix” (bunch of mixed in dry snacks) in my training bag and always have a bag of string cheese and hotdogs in my fridge. Whenever I leave on a walk when I don’t use food I always at least grab a string cheese to use to reward and reinforce behavior.
If there are concerns for weight it helps to always break snacks/treats into small pieces. Mix in kibble with treats so they get their smell and use the kibble primarily. (Like my dog is a fiend for whip cream. I spray a little over a table spoon of whip cream in my dogs kibble and mix with water once a day) I will use his entire meal for a training session out of the house as a super high value reward.
You can also make healthy home made snacks pretty easily too. I use to do a super small portion of peanut butter mixed with yogurt, water and baby food And then I would put it in a squeeze bottle. I would give him canned tuna/salmon/anchovy (I always got the ones canned in water not oil) baked skinless chicken and boiled chicken liver. Most of these are fairly low calorie treats that are pretty easy to use and most don’t even require any cooking.
lewisnutting
New member
@procakes223 Yes, there are treats around the house for easy access, and I carry around my treat pouch a lot. I feed tiny freeze dried treats, so high value, but low cal.
@procakes223 Yep! I’ve got a treat pouch like a little purse that also holds poop bags. I also have one that clips to my belt. I also have little bowls of treats everywhere around the house I spend time, kitchen, living room, on my desk.
calebzane15
New member
@procakes223 Oh a second tip to reduce treat frequency is to train tricks together. So down, stand, spin, sit or whatever. Start with only two then move up. Sometimes need to reintroduce luring for that as well
shadow7580
New member
@procakes223 We have kitchen treats, front door treats, car treats and every one of my jacket pockets is filled with treats. And my puppies are 2 and 5....
myheart2yours
New member
@procakes223 Yep we do. It's like the treat parade over here. Our dog has just realised if he lies down anywhere - elevator, outside, dog park, coffee shop, restaurant - then he gets absolutely all the goodies. We didn't even teach him down, he just started offering the behaviour suddenly and we jumped to reward it so now he is showing off everywhere we go and offering down! Win for us, win for him.
elizabeth77
New member
@procakes223 Yes. Had to upgrade to pajamas with pockets.
procakes223
New member
@elizabeth77 Lol! I did already put some moist chicken meat in my sweatpants pockets out of desperation the other day. I ordered a treat pouch last night!
elizabeth77
New member
@procakes223 I try for drier treats haha. Gotta be careful when doing the laundry! And all my coats smell like liver.
@procakes223 Super glad someone asked this because I didn’t realize I had the same question
@procakes223 I have had not great experiences using treats as the main reward, especially with more intelligent/stubborn breeds. I had a border collie that would do anything I asked... as long as I had a treat. If I didn't, he just looked at me like I was crazy. Fortunately, he was a naturally a well-behaved dog, just not much into tricks without treats!
With out current dog we use/d praise, love and play at home and will only take treats when we go out hiking etc.
The only time we used treats for training our current dog (other than out and about as a distraction) is when I was teaching him to catch treats. It is a great tool for getting them to take pills and I have used that on all of my dogs through the years.
With out current dog we use/d praise, love and play at home and will only take treats when we go out hiking etc.
The only time we used treats for training our current dog (other than out and about as a distraction) is when I was teaching him to catch treats. It is a great tool for getting them to take pills and I have used that on all of my dogs through the years.
selenacrowden
New member
@procakes223 No. I just had dedicated training time when I first got mine. My apartment was small enough (~825 SQ ft) that i could get to treats within a reasonable amount of time. It wasn't perfect for training, but it was certainly fast enough to make progress and not mentally drain me. On walks I typically always do.
rambovsrocky
New member
@procakes223 I have a container by the front and back door, one by my living room chair, one on my computer desk and another on my dresser next to her crate. I also keep a few freeze dried treats in my jeans, hoodie, winter jacket and windbreaker!
@procakes223 Yes I had training treats in my pockets at all times.
@procakes223 I don't always have treats on me, but the dogs I hang out with know which pocket to check.
@procakes223 All of my pockets have crumbs from treats. I try to keep them in a baggie but sometimes, I just grab some and shove them into my pocket. It’s just one of those things you learn to accept - fur everywhere, keeping things off the floor, crumbs in pockets, having to take walkies regardless of the weather …
@procakes223 I take a helping of his kibble out of the stuff set aside to go in his bowl and keep it in a bag on my person, so I can constantly treat him without overfeeding him or going over my food budget for him. Always a few extra high value treats in there if he does something new or something I really want to reinforce (or if I just want to see his wee happy wiggle)
@procakes223 Yes! Our trainer had us stop giving formal meals and use all his kibble as treats to shape the behavior we wanted. We measured his food so we knew how much he had, and to make sure he got about half in the AM and half in the PM. He got kibble for chilling while we were working, we did short training sessions for kibble - sit down up stay come with kibble after each during the work day, kibble for not barking at kids on the street, kibble for watching us with distractions. Felt like a vending machine, but it's certainly helped with his behavior and our bonding. Now a few months in, we still have kibble everywhere and whenever we leave the house, but he gets less (kibble every few tricks), so he gets small meals to make up the difference.