Food Versus Affection - Which is the Better Training Reward
Rewards are an excellent way to get the desired responses you want from your dog. They greatly helps in the training process. There are a couple of ways you can reward your furry friend: food or affection. Both are effective, but which is better?
Food Rewards
Dogs love to eat, so food is a very enticing reward. Most dogs, upon seeing a treat, will respond very quickly in order to get it. There are a couple of arguments that say using food can actually be detrimental to training, but their effectiveness depends upon your approach.
Some say that dogs come to expect treats and will only obey commands when they get treats. Taking away a treat is removed when the command is learned means the dog will no longer listen. Dogs, however, are eager to please. While they may enjoy the treats, slowly phasing out their use decreases the likelihood the dog will always come to expect it.
There are some who say using treats will result in overweight and unhealthy pets. This can be the case if you use too many treats in conjunction with their regular diet. Rather than using a bunch of treats, you may consider breaking up treats into smaller pieces and using only a portion of the whole treat as a reward. Or, you can use some of the food in their regular feeding, so you don't risk overfeeding your pup.
Affection Rewards
Dogs also love affection. They will do almost anything to please their people. This makes affection an excellent reward as well. Affection also has many benefits.
First of all, the affection should be calm. Becoming overly excited and loud could actually incite your dog to get overly excited and may cause him to jump around and defeat the purpose of training. A simple smile, scratch behind the ear and pat on the calm "good dog" is all some dogs need to encourage repeat behavior.
Affection is also easy to give. It doesn't require you to remember to bring treats everywhere you go. You can never give too much of it, and it won't potentially make your companion a little chubby.
When it comes to food versus affection, both have their merits. Some dogs respond extremely well to affection, such as working dogs, while others may need a little more enticing. For those that need a little extra push, food is an excellent motivator. Every dog is different. Which reward is best is the one that works for you and your pet.