Why do we use food to train a new behavior with dogs?

A question I am often asked when referring to reinforcing the dog’s desirable behaviour with a treat, or using a clicker and following up with a treat is: “Do I have to use food to train my dog?”

You don’t have to use any particular tool to train your dog. Professionals like food because it is one of the most powerful motivators in animal training. The reality is that you get more strongly conditioned behaviour if you do not limit yourself to praise alone.

Another advantage of food is that you can use it to target the dog into position. Food, therefore, has two roles: as a target (“lure”) and as a reward. Training with positive reinforcement allows the dog to relax and learn and strengthens the bond between you and the dog. Over time, you can expect “more for your money”, that is more behaviours for fewer treats. You will also become skillful at incorporating other rewards into training.

Aren’t I actually bribing my dog by luring him into position with a treat?
You can’t bribe a dog for doing something he doesn’t even yet have in his repertoire! Put yourself in his place. Imagine that someone said “palana”. What would you do? Nothing, because you don’t understand what that person wants you to do let alone why you should do it. Physically placing your dog into position slows down learning and has negative side effects. Using a target allows you to elegantly obtain the correct behaviour.

Will I always have to food reward my dog?
Certainly not as frequently as for a newer behaviour, but yes, maintenance of established behaviour with (concealed) intermittent rewards is a must. There is no free lunch in behaviour. Think of it this way: you have to feed your dog anyway. You can give it all to him for free in a bowl or you can reserve part of his daily caloric intake and make him earn it! Also, don’t forget that there are other rewards besides food: everyday things such as play, sniffing, walks, door opening, car rides and access to other dogs can also be used to reward established behaviour.
Dogs are just like us: if they can’t win, they won’t play, so it’s our job to make the dog successful. Even if you like your job, you expect to be paid and if you’re not, you quit…

This post is courtesy of:

A responce from petStop regarding a tip featured in Dog Fancy Magazine

Dear Dog Fancy,

I felt it necessary to write and rebut the “Tip” on Page 17 of the July 2012 issue.  Debbie Swanson suggested snapping a digital picture of the lot number and date code off the bag of dry food before throwing it the container you store your food into.  I’ve been in the retail pet supply business for almost twenty years and if there is one lesson I’ve learned it’s to NOT store your pet’s food in any type of food storage container.

Especially hazardous are any type of plastic container.  Allow me to explain my reasoning:

First off regardless of the brand of dry food you feed, the bag it comes in has been designed to hold the food safely for a year or more.  You are paying for that safety when you purchase the food.  When the food is used up out goes the bag.

With plastic the fats tend to adhere.  Fats go rancid very quickly.  It’s not long before fresh kibble picks up the rancid odors and not much longer before rancid fat actually adheres to the otherwise fresh food.

Using Ms. Swanson’s own reasoning, “….lot number and expiration date in case of a recall.” May be helpful if you have a problem but leaves you without the ability, in most cases, to return the food to your retailer.  If a customer brings me a food to return in something, other than the bag it was purchased in, I am unable to refund or exchange it or even return it to our distributor for credit.  I am faced with the decision to absorb the loss or make it the customer’s problem.  Both are bad choices.   Also, it leaves the manufacturer unable to properly test the food since they have no idea if it’s from one lot or several without the original packaging.  Also, since so many dog kibbles look alike it may be impossible for anyone to determine what product is being returned.

Another issue is freshness, as the food is used up the volume of air increases in the container as opposed to simply rolling up the bag.

Here is a common, almost daily scenario.  A customer comes into the store saying their pet is tiring or bored of their food(s).  They have tried switching brands and formulas.  They will say the pet is fine for the first couple of servings then the pet is no longer interested, yet still seems hungry or will only eat it if forced to.  Assuming there is no health issues this is almost always a storage issue.

Another scenario, the customer comes in and has been to the vet several times with their pet complaining of diarrhea and or vomiting.  The vet has run all the usual tests, with negative results.  The vet has made all the usual food suggestions such as cooking for the pet some plain chicken and rice or canned food to help up the hydration, which works because the container has been eliminated.  They pet owner now goes back to their normal food and the problems start up again.

It is not uncommon for customers to argue that they’ve been doing it this way for years and never had a problem before.  Or how come the vet didn’t mention this as a possible issue. I offer up this suggestion, try our way.  Purchase the food that has historically worked the best for your pet. Leave it in the bag, do not use the container at all and see what happens.  It costs you nothing the experiment is free, if I’m wrong you can go back to doing what you’ve always done.   Rarely has anyone come back to tell us we were wrong, and it is very common to hear we were right.

There is zero advantage to food storage container, especially plastic, none.  I realize some need the protection of the container from the pet or other critters having access to the food.  In these situations we suggest getting a container that will hold the bag with the food in it.  You can roll up the bag tight and get it sealed in the container.  Our store’s philosophy is, “the food should never come in contact with anything other than the bag it came in until time to serve it.”

Alan Gardner

Owner

petStop

Bellingham, WA

www.petstopinfo.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/petStop/167732099970013