10/10/2026
🐾 𝘿𝙊𝙂 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂: 𝙄𝙏’𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙐𝙎𝙀. 𝙄𝙏’𝙎 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙈𝙊𝙏𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙂! 🧠
Yesterday, I came across an advert from a dog training business.
The first thing that caught my attention was:
✅ “No prong collars. No e-collars.”
Brilliant! 👏
Then I read:
✅ “We only use positive reinforcement.”
Even better! I was genuinely excited. Unfortunately, finding businesses openly committed to force-free, positive reinforcement training still feels far too rare here in the USA.
And then I read their next statement.
❌ “We don’t use treats.”
I’m sorry… I BEG YOUR PARDON?! 🤨
You ONLY use positive reinforcement, but you’ve decided that food is completely off the table?
Now, let me explain why I found this so confusing.
➡️𝙋𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝘾𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙑𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙁𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝘼 𝘿𝙊𝙂’𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙊𝘼𝙏!
Despite what some balanced trainers would have you believe with their favourite dismissive phrase, “cookie pushing”, positive reinforcement is not synonymous with handing out endless treats.
It is about something far more important.
🧠 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙧, 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪.
➡️Positive reinforcement means adding something following a behaviour that makes that behaviour more likely to happen again.
And here’s the important bit:
THE DOG determines what is reinforcing. NOT the trainer.
🐾 If FOOD is highly motivating for that dog ➡️use food!
🎾 If TOYS are highly motivating ➡️use toys!
🐕 If PLAY is what gets that dog excited ➡️use play!
❤️ If AFFECTION and physical contact are genuinely enjoyable and reinforcing for that dog ➡️use affection!
🗣️ If verbal praise has acquired reinforcing value for that particular dog ➡️use praise!
🌳 If being released to SNIFF, EXPLORE or RUN is what the dog wants most at that moment ➡️use access to those activities!
There is no universal reinforcer that works equally well for every dog, in every environment, in every situation.
And something that motivates a dog in one context may have very little value in another.
🙌That’s precisely why understanding motivation is such an important part of being a competent dog trainer.
So when a business proudly announces that it NEVER uses treats, I have questions.
Because, to me, that suggests one of two things:
👉 Either there is a misunderstanding (or lack of deep understanding) of how positive reinforcement actually works.
👉 Or the trainer has decided that their preferred method of reinforcement matters more than the preferences and needs of the individual learner.
Neither is particularly reassuring.
And before someone says, “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥!”
Of course they shouldn’t HAVE to.
But that’s an entirely different conversation from deliberately refusing to use food when it happens to be the most effective, appropriate and enjoyable reinforcer for that dog.
LET’S PUT THIS INTO HUMAN TERMS. 👇
💰 EXAMPLE 1: THE EMPLOYEE
Imagine you’ve just started a new job.
Your employer wants you to work hard, learn new skills, take on additional responsibilities and consistently perform well.
You are offered two possible rewards.
Employer A says:
“We understand that different employees value different things. Some appreciate bonuses, others value extra holiday, flexible working or professional development. We want to understand what motivates you.”
Employer B says:
“We don’t believe in financial rewards. We will tell you you’re a good employee, and that should be enough.”
Now, verbal appreciation might be lovely.
But what if you have bills to pay? What if financial security is your biggest motivator?
Does that make you greedy?
Of course not.
It makes you an individual with particular needs and priorities.
And refusing to acknowledge those priorities doesn’t make Employer B more ethical or enlightened.
It simply makes them less responsive to what motivates you.
🎓 EXAMPLE 2: THE STUDENT
Imagine two children learning a difficult new skill.
One absolutely LOVES receiving stickers and collecting stars.
The other couldn’t care less about stickers but thrives on opportunities to play their favourite game.
A good teacher recognises those differences and adapts their approach.
A less effective teacher announces:
“We don’t use stickers here. Everyone gets verbal praise, whether they find it rewarding or not.”
Would you call that individualised teaching?
Or would you question why the teacher is so committed to their own preferences instead of understanding what helps each child learn?
🐕 EXAMPLE 3: THE DOG WHO LOVES SNIFFING
Imagine a dog whose absolute favourite activity is sniffing.
You ask for a simple behaviour, the dog responds, and you immediately release them to explore an interesting scent.
Wonderful!
You’ve used something that dog genuinely values to reinforce a behaviour.
No food required.
Now imagine another dog who is highly food motivated but has very little interest in toys or physical affection.
You ask that dog to learn a challenging new behaviour.
You could use small, tasty food rewards to make the learning process clear, enjoyable and worthwhile.
Or you could refuse to use food because you’ve decided that “we don’t do treats.”
Who exactly benefits from that restriction?
Certainly not the dog.
⸻ ⸻ ⸻ ⸻ ⸻ ⸻
🧠 HERE’S WHAT THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING TELLS US.
💯Reinforcement is defined by its EFFECT on behaviour, not by what the trainer intended.
You can tell a dog “GOOD BOY!” a hundred times.
⚠️But if that praise doesn’t increase the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again, it isn’t functioning as positive reinforcement in that situation.
You can stroke a dog after every successful recall.
⚠️But if that dog doesn’t particularly enjoy being touched, or would much rather be exploring, your affection may have little reinforcing value.
⚠️And in some cases, unwanted physical contact can actually be unpleasant.
⚠️Just because YOU think something should be rewarding doesn’t mean the DOG experiences it that way.
🙌This is one of the most fundamental principles of behavioural science.
And it’s something every professional trainer should understand.
🔎 MOTIVATION IS ALSO NOT STATIC.
A dog’s preferences change depending on their emotional state, environment, physical needs and previous experiences.
A dog who loves food at home may refuse even their favourite treat when frightened or overwhelmed.
A dog who loves chasing a ball may have no interest in playing when exhausted.
A dog who normally enjoys affection may not want to be touched when worried or uncomfortable.
And a dog who happily works for verbal praise in a familiar environment may need a different type or value of reinforcement when learning something difficult.
This is why good training requires observation, flexibility and the ability to adapt.
Not rigid rules about what rewards a trainer will or won’t use.
✅AND HERE’S ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT.
Food isn’t just a convenient training tool.
When used thoughtfully, it can help create positive associations, support confidence-building and make new learning easier.
For fearful and reactive dogs in particular, food can be extremely useful in carefully planned desensitisation and counterconditioning programmes.
It isn’t always appropriate, and it should never be used to lure a frightened dog into a situation they would otherwise avoid.
But dismissing food altogether means unnecessarily removing a valuable option from your training toolbox.
And for what?
To prove that you can train without treats?
🙌DOG TRAINING ISN’T ABOUT PROVING HOW CLEVER THE TRAINER IS.
It’s about helping the dog learn.
It’s about understanding what makes that individual tick.
It’s about recognising what they enjoy, what they find difficult, what they need and what makes learning worthwhile for THEM.
A good trainer doesn’t begin with:
❌ “This is how I reward dogs.”
They begin with:
✅ “What does THIS dog find rewarding, and how can I use that to help them succeed?”
Because the goal isn’t to make every dog fit your preferred training method.
The goal is to adapt your teaching to the learner.
And sometimes that means toys.
Sometimes it means play.
Sometimes it means sniffing, exploring or social interaction.
And yes…
Sometimes it means a pocket full of chicken. 🍗😂
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
🐾 The best reward isn’t the one that makes the trainer feel good about their methods. It’s the one that actually works for the dog.
And if we genuinely believe in kind, ethical, science-based dog training, surely understanding and respecting the learner’s motivation should be one of our most basic priorities?
Train the dog in front of you. Not the dog you think they should be. ❤️
