Stop using treats?

Both mine, are food orientated when it comes to doing as I ask. With casper I purposely do not always give him a treat for doing as I ask. My theory being that I may at some point run out while out with him, so want to teach him that sometimes there is no treat but he will do as I ask anyway just incase there is one. Miley is obviously needing them for everything as she is still learning the very basics. But I've been wondering if there comes a point where it's reasonable to not give treats at all for obedience? Obviously my two will always have their bones when I get back from the pet shop, which are then always out for when they feel like chewing on them, and also they will continue to always have their kongs when I'm going to be out all day, so it would never be a total withdrawal of treats, but just curious to see if others think the obedience treats should stay for life or only up to a certain point/age?

Well i have stopped taking treats out on walks now like i used to. She doesn't seem to mind but will occasionally look up for one if she has does something i taught her. Just special rewards she gets them kind of treats for now unless non fat.

Not sure what others do thats just me.

I trained mia with amd without treats but did this. So she wouldnt expect a treat all the time and i thought i may have ran out not had pennies to get her treats

You need to be careful not to stop too early. You want behaviours really superglued into their brains before you stop completely. And even then, I'd treat from time to time.

Here's the really nerdy bit (you might have noticed I'm a training geek!). If you treat all the time it works. If you never treat you end up with there being less motivation. But then you get something in the middle called a variable schedule of reinforcement (told you it was nerdy), which means sometimes you treat and sometimes you don't. It's actually the strongest because you end up with the same effect as the guy on the slot machine who might win this time...

Don't mix up reinforcing treats with yummy stuff at home. Reinforcing a behaviour is immediate. It's the 'what' in the 'what's in it for me' principle. You can't say to a dog, 'be a good boy and you'll get your Kong when you get home' as you'd do with a child. It has to be 'if you come to me you'll get a treat now'.

I always have a treat pouch with me. Although all 3 have pretty good recall unless there is something mega exciting like a bunny 2 feet away, they do sometimes get treats for coming, especially when it was a bit harder like if there's a dog ahead or something.

What works really well as well, though, is to reward with other things if it's appropriate. Chaos loves a tuggy rope, and this morning I took it with me as a reward as well as treats and we mixed it up a bit. He absolutely loved it.

So no, you don't have to treat all the time but you do need to make sure your dog has good motivation so he's doing stuff because he wants to, rather than because he has to.

I agree with the other posts. Treat every time untill your confident that when you ask for a certain behaviour you get it. Used to treat all the time when out but never do these days. Doesn't stop Flo looking up at me with expectant eyes when sat at the kerb though

I'm not planning on stopping just yet with his obedience treats, mainly because he seems to be rebelling a little at the moment and I've found I'm having to give the treats to get even a basic sit out of him! But I do know that is probably either down to the excitement of Miley arriving or his age (14 months) so I'm not concerned about that right now and I know that showing him a treat gets him doing as I ask. If he doesn't see the treat I could ask him four or five times and he still might not do it, so I've really had to go back to the beginning with him recently. Once he seems to be over this boundary pushing phase I will go back to randomly not giving a treat just to keep him on his toes as to whether doing as I ask will get him a treat on that occasion. I'm yet to find a toy that he will work for. He seems to have a favourite for a few weeks then decides to execute it in true staffy style and I find parts of it all over the place for a good week after execution but even those favourites are not enough of a bribe to get him to do as I ask. It's food or nothing with this boy

Gizmo's still hit and miss with recall, but he's a lot more obedient nowadays that there's a 50-50% chance of cheese. I have a two for £3 thing of grated cheese and one is for him - it's only half-full and I give him a couple of lumps at most depending on level of acheivment.

There's nothing more satisfying than your dog behaving well in exchange for pettings and cuddles and a tiny bit of cheese in front of a group of owners who use shock collars. Particularly when their dogs have just completely ignored them.

Great advice from Liz, I still take treats out with me even now Vin is nearly 4.Funny thing is I have always made him sit at pavements before we cross road, he then begs has treat but now he still begs but doesnt want a treat Fussy git

We always carry treats with us and use them from time to time.

We use treats but she doesn't always get them. A little praise and a rub of the lug or neck area is just as good to them.....Sometimes.