Essentially, we can use anything that your dog values, and give them access to this to increase the likelihood of a particular behaviour occurring again.  This is what treats, toys, play, access to other dogs, petting, going in the garden to bark at the birds etc all do.  This can all be considered as ‘reinforcers’ – things that increase the chances of a behaviour occurring again.

Reinforcers are very dependent on your dog – what do they like? What do they value? Play with you? Treats – what sort of treats? Play with another dog? Play with a toy? It can be so many things! We often use food as its convenient to carry and most dogs will enjoy it (depending on what it is).

This is dependent on 2 things – is your dog in a calm, thinking state (so able to learn) and have you got the sequence right? If your dog is in an emotional state (staring, lunging, barking, growling, whining etc) – your dog is not ready to learn and so treats can’t increase the likelihood of behaviour occurring again. If the sequence for learning is not right i.e the treats appear first, then learning doesnt take place as we expect. Often having food/a toy in your hand causes the dog to anticipate what is about to happen which can lead to behaviour showing frustration – the dog stares at you, starts to whine or huff, then jumps up at you or escalate further still into lead chewing, grabbing your clothes or shoes etc.

If you are using food as reinforcement, you need to experiment with what your dog likes. Ideally a range from low value (dog biscuits) to high value (cooked chicken, sausage or cheese). Obviously this varies depending on your dog and what they can safely eat.

Top tips

• Practice having your treats in a pot on the worktop or table. Don’t have them in a plastic bag or in your pocket (bags rustle and hands move towards pockets without us thinking).  Rustling and moving hands can then become the prediction that treats are coming, rather than the dog thinking about what they are doing which is making the treats come.
• Alternatively, stand/sit with your hands behind your back. This stops them inadvertently giving signals that your dog will learn to respond to
• Use your marker word or clicker to ‘mark’ the behaviour which you want the dog to repeat – at the moment that it happens… THEN – reach your hand towards the pot/bag of treats, take one and pass it to the dog – slowly and calmly

DON’T give a treat when the dog is looking at you expectantly, or even when the dog is thinking about the treat – this can very quickly lead to frustration as the dog anticipates the food is coming but not quickly enough.

Here’s a great video to explain more