#216 Dog Training's Double Standard: Treats vs. "No"

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Have you ever caught yourself asking when you can stop using treats in dog training? While this question appears in nearly every training consultation, its counterpart—when can I stop saying "no" or correcting my dog—almost never comes up. This striking contrast reveals a fascinating bias in how we approach our relationships with our dogs.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
So here's something that I've always found
interesting.
Clients will almost always ask,When can I stop using treats?
But you know what they almostnever ask?
When can I stop saying no?
Or when can I stop correcting orpunishing my dog?

(00:25):
And I think that says a lotabout how people view training.
Treats feel like something extrato most people.
You have to buy them, you haveto carry them, remember to use
them.
And for some people it can feellike bribery.
Corrections, on the other hand,feel natural.

(00:46):
They just roll off the tongue.
You don't have to prepare, youdon't have to hold anything in
your hand, you just react in themoment.
So people assume rewards aretemporary, but corrections are
permanent.
And part of that comes from theway most of us were raised.

(01:07):
In school, at home, even atwork.
We're used to hearing don't dothat or stop that way more than
we're used to getting rewards.
So it just feels normal thatdiscipline sticks around while
praise or rewards should taperoff.

(01:28):
There's also that feeling ofcontrol.
When you say no or physicallystop your dog from doing
something, you see an immediateeffect.
You feel like you did something.
And rewards don't always lookthat obvious in the moment.
They're shaping habits in thebackground.

(01:48):
And that takes patience.
But humans love quick feedback,and corrections give us that.
And then there's this underlyingbelief that a lot of dog owners
carry, which is my dog shouldjust do it because I said so.
So if you're thinking your dogshouldn't need treats, then of

(02:10):
course you'll be eager to askwhen you can quit using them.
But for some reason we don'thold corrections to that same
standard.
We don't ask when we can quitsaying no, because deep down we
assume we'll always have to.
And the funny part is it'sactually just the opposite.

(02:32):
With reward-based training, whenyou're consistent, you can fade
the food out over time.
You replace it with liferewards, like access to play or
freedom on a walk, or just thehabit of doing the right thing
because it works for the dog.
But if your whole system isbuilt on corrections, you don't

(02:55):
usually get to phase those out.
They end up being part of yourdog's life forever.
So the next time you catchyourself wondering when you can
stop using treats, it might beworth flipping the question
around.
Why aren't we asking the samething about corrections?