Dogs learns through repetition and reward. The easiest and most efficient way to reward your dog is by using treats.  That is why they are the go-to for trainers and dog owners.

Even though treats is the most popular way to reward your dog they are not, by far, the only way.  In fact, there are so many ways to reward our dog we do it everyday by accident. 

What we can do is use these non-treat rewards to our advantage.

The best alternative (and easiest) is our attention.  Do not underestimate the value of your verbal praise and attention.  This is something we always carry with us so we never have to wean off our verbal praise like we do with treats.  

In this episode, I go through a bunch of examples to get you started.  The key is to look at your dog’s environment and see what motivates them, what makes them happy, and then use that to reward them for good behavior .

It’s time to think outside the (treat) box.

Enjoy!

Photo by Leio McLaren (@leiomclaren) on Unsplash