Hi, Josh here - I’m Oscar’s dad, which is to say, I’m his owner. Lately Oscar’s mom, Anya, and I have been debating various training methods we use on Oscar. I’ve been saying we should do less treat/reward based training even though Anya has managed to get Oscar to do some pretty spectacular things (see video below) using treat based training. Let me see if I can explain what bugs me about it.

Now, when we’re training a dog to do something, say, “sit”, the most frequent training method I’ve seen is to get the dog to associate the behavior, sitting, with receiving a reward - which is usually in the form of a verbal acknowledgment (or a click from a clicker trainer) and a food treat. Eventually, the reward can be weaned back in frequency, and hopefully the dog will still perform the behavior. Instead of a food treat, we can also toss a toy or play tug of war as a reward for the dog.

So what, you may ask, is my problem?

Here’s the thing: Oscar is a very “good” dog. He’s very smart, very sweet, and very spoiled. He knows a ton of commands: sit, stay, lie down, sneak, spin, rollover, kiss, jump, shake, high five, stand, and Anya is even trying to teach him how to read - stay tuned for that one.

The issue is that he knows darn well when he’s going to be rewarded for his tricks, and performs them with considerable speed and zeal when the reward is pending (ie, when Anya gets the bag of treats out). He will still perform the tricks pretty well if he doesn’t see the treats, but not nearly as reliably or enthusiastically.

Now, I don’t know what exactly I’m hoping for - is it possible we could have taught him all of these tricks using only verbal praise and excitement as a reward for the tasks?  Probably not. 

I don’t think that the solution is to “hide” the treats so that Oscar never knows when the treat is coming - although perhaps it’s as simple as that. I guess what I really want is for him to do the tricks because he KNOWS it’s the right thing - because he knows it’s what we’re asking. Unfortunately, I think I’m quite likely anthropomorphizing here, and exhibiting a fundamental misunderstanding of the dog psyche.

What are some reader opinions on this topic? Has anyone had success with non-treat based training? Has anyone been able to successfully wean back the treats and still receive the same enthusiastic response from their dog?