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Pet Treats

Pet treat training is one of several methods of motivational training which encourages your pet to do what you want by bribing him or her with something they want. It is an easy way to teach come, sit and even take your medicine. And it can be used to speed up the process of house training and also to correct bad pet habits.

When choosing the right dog treat for your training session with your dog, you have to consider taste, texture, size and even color.

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Choose a soft dog treat for training your pet. You want to make sure you have something your dog can gulp down quickly without choking. A treat in which he has to stop and chew will slow you down and lessen the impact of the pet reward. If the dog treat is too hard, he will often cough it back out or choke on it.

Try to find treats which are extra tasty and special. Think of something your dog will only get for your training sessions, and something he or she really likes. The treats are a reward for a job well done and a motivator to do better. He or she will be best motivated by really strong tasting treats. Variety is also a great idea for food motivated dogs because they will get to anticipate the treat coming.

Using Treats for Training Pets

Positive pet reinforcement can include food treats, petting, praise or a favorite game or toy. Since most dogs are food motivated, food treats work very well for training dogs.

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A treat should be irresistible and enticing to your pet. Experiment a bit to find out what dog treats work best for your pet.
It should be a very small pea sized treat or soft piece of food. This is so he will immediately gulp it down and look to you for more. Do not give your dog something he has to chew or that breaks into pieces and falls on the floor, this will cause a distraction from the training.
Keep a variety of different treats handy so your dog will not become bored getting the same treat over and over again. You can carry the treats in a book bag or pocket.
Every time you use a food reward, you should also use a verbal reward or praise. Say something like, Good Boy in a happy and positive tone of voice. Then give your pet a treat.

Limiting Treats


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To keep your pets from becoming dependent on treats for behavior that is expected of them, we recommend you limit treat giving to the learning phase of training only. When teaching the Sit command, place the treat by your dog's nose and then lower their bottom to the floor while you give the Sit command verbally. When she sits, reward her with the treat. You should repeat this process until you are confident she understands what behavior is expected when you issue the Sit command. Again, make sure if you are using treats for training, only use the treats while training and not for regular behavior.

Treats are a great pet motivator; however, you do not want your pet to become dependent on them. After learning the behavior two to three times with a treat in training, you want to use the hand signal you used when giving the treat but without the treat in your hand. Once your dog does the behavior with just the hand signal, then have two or three treats in your pocket with which you can instantly reward your pet for a job well done.
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