To treat or not to treat…that is the question.

Food is one of the most misused dog training tools out there.

Unfortunately, the general public has been conditioned to use food for practically everything when it comes to their dogs; leaving many feeling frustrated, confused, stressed, etc. when things don't go as intended (on both ends of the leash).

When used appropriately, food / "treats" are excellent dot- connectors, bridge-crossers, and motivators. Yes, use in brain training (obedience). Yes, use in an effort to convey you're a friend not foe and bridge that gap. Yes, use in the more performance-based, task and purpose- oriented styles of training (e.g. agility, detection, search and rescue, etc.).

With *behavior*, I'm much more reserved in how I use food (if at all), and here are the main reasons why...

1. Food / "treats" is often used to "get compliance". When used in this way, it's called "bribery". It's like bribing a child with a cupcake every time we ask them to do something. We also start conditioning a sense of entitlement. A "what's in it for me" attitude.

Compliance should occur not because we have a piece of food in our hand, but because we have cultivated a solid, sound *relationship* with our dogs. There's a level of respect that's present. *We have relevance.*

Food should not replace what clear communication or relationship should be. We do not want any behavior to be "food dependent", nor do we want people to be "food reliant".

2. Food is often used to "distract" dogs from certain types of triggers, being anxious, or actually having to deal with the discomfort of something. For a select few, this may do the trick (the determining factor being whether or not food is still needed as the desired choices and behaviors continue to be practiced). For the great majority of dogs, this does not work. Much like a human learning how to overcome anxiety... we don't do this through distracting them with pizza or ice cream. The attention may be diverted onto something other than the anxiety.... but the source of the anxiety is still, very much, present and will get reactivated. It will bubble up again. We also don't want to be "feeding the anxiety"... reinforcing it... as in the case of dogs, either. Them gaining something of pleasure when they're practicing certain states of mind, making certain choices, or exhibiting certain behaviors. This sends a very different message.

and

3. Most of the behaviors we're struggling with with our dogs are excitement-fueled and excitement-induced. Even "aggression" and "reactivity" are overly-aroused, overly-escalated, excited states of mind.... they're just not-so-good shades of it. Food tends to excite the brains in a lot of "pet" dogs, and this is for a few reasons: 1) most don't have a "job" to do or a sense of purpose, so food/ treats become the absolute highlight of any given day, 2) food is usually given with a lot of excitement behind it and high-pitched voices (I call it "talking like a Smurf"), and 3) food's always received when the dog is practicing high states of arousal and excitement (that we've - usually unknowingly - conditioned), thus reinforcing this state of mind.

So, the take home message in this is: be mindful of how and when food and "treats" are being used. *How* it's used, *when* it's used, in what contexts, even how it's distributed (with calm or with excitement) absolutely matters. Of course, time and place, but you get my drift. ; )