Using treats or your dog’s food is a great way to give them praise and understand what they did was what you wanted. Use your dog’s food as treats if your dog has a sensitive stomach or prefer using regular treats as a “high value” treat for when you’re in new environments or learning a new command. 

Make sure you wean your dog off treats once they start to understand the command. You want to make sure they know the command and will do it without treats. Once they understand the command you can hold them accountable for knowing the command because in real-life situations, you won’t always have treats with you. 

Lesson Summary

Using treats or your dog’s food is a great way to give them praise and understand what they did was what you wanted. You can:

• Use your dog’s food as treats if your dog has a sensitive stomach.
• Prefer using regular treats as a “high value” treat for new environments or learning a new command.

Remember:

• Wean your dog off treats once they start to understand the command.
• Make sure they know the command and will do it without treats.

Once they understand the command:

• Hold them accountable for knowing the command.
• Realize that in real-life situations, you won’t always have treats with you.