Why U Should Not Lure With Treats

Luring Your Dog to Do Thing Using Treats Isn’t a Good Idea, But Why?

Eazy Dog Training Obedience Class in Inner West Sydney Runs on Saturday Mornings!

First, let’s talk about luring. Using treats when training a dog in a positive way is crucial, but it doesn’t mean luring your dog with treats to get them to obey. When I talk about luring, I mean a situation where the owner shows/holds the treat in front of the dog to get them to do things. This becomes problematic very quickly.

You Need to Start with Luring – But Also Stop It Quickly!

When we teach a dog a new behaviour, we might need to use luring to get them to understand what we want. For example, to get a dog to sit down you need to place a treat in front of them and then lift it up a bit to get the dog to follow it and lower their bum on the floor in the process. This is completely fine, and needed for the start! But after a dog has learnt that sitting down gets them the reward, we need to modify the training. From then on you shouldn’t use luring to get him down!

Associate a vocal cue

After the dog knows that sitting gets them a yummy treat, we need to focus on associating a vocal cue to sitting. This way the dog learns that a vocal cue ‘sit’ and sitting down when he hears it, gets him the reward. So the vocal cue becomes the lure!

If you continue using a treat in front of your dog/showing him the treat every time you train or need him to obey, your dog quickly learns to obey the treat, not you! They learn that they should only do things when they’ve seen the treat. This leads to unreliable obedience. It’s like you’re saying to your dog “See, here is your reward, you will get it if you do this for me”. Your boss doesn’t need to show you your wages to get you to work, right?

Eazy Dog Training Obedience Class Inner West Sydney

If you wish to gain reliable obedience skills, join my obedience class in Inner West Sydney on Saturday mornings at Sydney Park. We focus on impulse control and focus and fading out treats and hand signals. This way you’ll have a dog who obeys you because they want to!