A professional dog trainer, depending on her style, commonly uses food treats during dog training to encourage her canine students. Using food treats during dog training is a wonderful and efficient way to motivate a dog to try new behaviors. There are many types of treats that are available in stores today, but always use a treat that is healthy for your dog and one he finds irresistible. When using training treats, try to keep the size as small as possible, such as the size of a pea. During dog training sessions or classes, some dogs fill up on treats too quickly which decreases their interest level for participating in the dog training exercises. It is recommended that you have a variety of treats in your bait bag because you never know which one will encourage the desired behavior in a highly-distractible situation.
Using dog training treats during the learning phase of a new behavior will usually dramatically increase your chances of success. Once a dog understands the desired behavior, you can fade out the dog training treats over a slow period of time. If, at any time, the dog becomes confused or frustrated, you can always reintroduce a favorite treat to reignite the dog’s interest in the dog training session.
