There are, in essence, two schools of dog obedience training. Aversive dog training (traditional methods) and reward dog training.

In reward dog training, food is sometimes used as a motivator for work and success. This is not unlike the wage bonuses we receive for a job well done.

However, some people view the use of food rewards as dog bribery.

Is Using Food Dog Bribery?

The Free Dictionary defines bribery as “the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an illicit advantage”. This is in contrast to reward which is defined as “something given in return for a service”.

Reward is the broader definition, and bribery is perhaps a specialized instance of reward where the “service” returned is illegal or illicit. Based on these definitions, it seems that bribery is not quite the appropriate term to use for food motivated dog training. Last time I checked, Sit, Down, or even Play Dead are not against the law. Even the Hump command is strictly legal.

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary bribe is defined as “something that serves to induce or influence”. This is a more general definition, that comes much closer to the definition of reward. However, I would argue that all of dog training is about applying a stimulus in order to induce or influence the dog to stop bad behaviors and keep practicing good behaviors.

Whichever definition we choose to use, it is clear that briberyhas many negative connotations, whereas rewardis more neutral or positive.

So is using food in dog training something negative?

There are three main reasons why some dog owners consider using food during dog training to be bribery -

Food Dog Training Myth 1

The dog is doing it for the food and not for me

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Popular movies and television shows, such as Lassie, portray good dogs as dogs that live to only please and protect their masters.

Good dogs know that there is little else to life besides pleasing humans and doing exactly what humans tell them to do; except in those instances whereby they cleverly thwart the villains on their own, in anticipation of their master’s needs.

Surprisingly, real-world dogs are very different from their media counterparts.

In the real world, dogs are not slaves. They have their own needs, that are often very different from our own. They like rolling in skunk, chewing on our designer shoes, and eating their own poop.

Just because a dog has needs, does not mean that he has no loyalty to us. Dogs are very loyal to their pack/family. They will often protect family members with their lives and do all that they can to ensure pack success.

However, dogs think differently than we do, and communicate differently than we do. Protecting the family, and ensuring pack success, may not always mean the same things to them, as it does for us.

Loyalty is about a strong attachment or bond and NOT about blindly following commands without thinking for ourselves.

Working for food is NOT some sort of canine betrayal.

It is simply an efficient way to facilitate dog training and to build a stronger bond with your dog.

Different dogs have different temperaments, so to train each of them effectively, we must identify which rewards work best. Food rewards work for some dogs, while others may prefer toys, freedom to explore, dog play, praise, or visiting with dog friends.

Dogs that are highly motivated by praise, and human interaction, are probably closest to the Lassie ideal. Herding dogs fit well into this category because they have been bred to work closely with us. Some example herding dogs include Collies (Lassie), Border Collies, and Shetland Sheepdogs.

While these dogs may be people motivated, they also have needs of their own. In particular, herding dogs are bred to work, and they need to engage in interesting joint activity with their human owners.

Well trained herding dogs can achieve much together with their human counterparts. However, if left alone at home, unchallenged, and untrained, these same dogs will quickly become bored and frustrated. They will escape, chew up our belongings, or redesign our house and yard.

In other words, all dogs are motivated to work by a reward/bribe.

The only difference is that some dogs are motivated by the work itself, or the praise, whereas other dogs are motivated by food or dog toys.

This has nothing to do with long-term love, or long-term loyalty; just shorter term motivators for a job well done.

Food Dog Training Myth 2

The dog becomes unreliable or a liability

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Ok, so now we know that real-world dogs operate based on their own needs, and are not unthinking, human slaves. The question then becomes:

Is it better to only motivate your dog through non-food rewards?

Obviously we do not want to be fumbling with food when our dog is running into traffic, or preparing to jump into a filthy lake.

A dog that is trained purely based on human interaction and praise, and not on food, will presumably be more reliable because you always have praise with you, whereas you may not always have food.

In a perfect world, it will be much easier on us if our dogs were highly praise motivated. However, most dogs are less motivated by human interaction, and a lot more motivated by food.

In these cases, food will greatly enhance and expedite the dog learning process.

Once your dog has learnt a particular command through many training repetitions, you can slowly phase out the food rewards and only treat him intermittently.

Some trainers claim that as soon as you reduce the amount of food rewards, your dog may not respond as well to your dog training commands, or may not even respond at all.

This is NOT true.

Scientific studies on animal behavior and dog behavior show that an animal will continue to respond even when you cut back to intermittent rewards. This was explained in detail by Ferster and Skinner in their book Schedules of Reinforcement.

Note that you should only start to slowly phase out the food rewards after your dog has properly learned the command/behavior. Remember to use a variable schedule of rewards rather than a fixed schedule.

Instead of using rewards (food or otherwise) to motivate your dog to work, you can also use an aversive stimulus.

With reward dog training you give your dog a reward when he does something right, and take away a reward when he does something wrong. With aversive dog training you apply something unpleasant/aversive when your dog does something wrong, and stop the aversive stimulus as soon as he does something right.

There are a variety of aversive methods but the most common are the leash jerk, and the muzzle slap. The leash jerk requires a collar and leash, while the muzzle slap can be executed with your own hands.

The advantage of these methods is that they can be applied on your dog wherever you are, without having to carry around any food or rewards. Aversive methods frequently use pain and fear as their chief motivators, which not surprisingly, turn out to be very strong short-term motivators. As a result, your dog may be more reliable initially when it comes to following commands. However, responsiveness to commands usually degrades over time as the dog gets habituated to the pain stimulus.

Aversive methods are also very risky, and may end up damaging your dog physically and mentally, as well as cause serious dog behavior issues such as dog aggression. Aversive techniques may also hurt your bond with your dog, and erode his trust in you.

As a result, most aversive techniques should only be used as a last resort, and only under the direction of a professional trainer.

It is always strange to me that opponents of reward training would talk endlessly about how giving food to dogs is inappropriate, but applying pain or some other negative stimulus is somehow considered to be the ‘right‘ thing to do.

In fact, reward training is very effective and carries a lot less risk than aversive training.

Food Dog Training Myth 3

The dog becomes obese and unhealthy

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Finally, some dog owners worry that their dogs may become obese or unhealthy if they keep receiving food “bribes” throughout the day.

This can be easily managed by using your dog’s daily food rations as his work reward rather than presenting the food to him on a silver dog platter. In this way, he will not be eating more than he did before. If there is food left over, you can stuff it in interactive food toys and let him work for that as well.

In the wild, wolves and wild dogs spend most of their time working for their food. A domestic dog that also has to work for his food, will be exercising his body and mind in a positive way, and will be less likely to get into mischief on his own.

If you choose to use dog treats in addition to your dog’s daily kibble rations, then make sure to reduce his kibble intake in accordance with the addition of treats. Only give your dog healthy treats that do not contain fillers and unnecessary additives.

Do not give your dog too many treats and always feed your dog a balanced meal.

To Bribe or Not to Bribe?

Food is a strong motivator for dog behavior modification, and it makes sense to use all the tools at your disposal. There are truly no real downsides to using food, and very many upsides.

You must feed your dog anyway, on a daily basis, so just make him work for the food rather than giving it to him for free.

Should food be used in dog training? Absolutely.

Why?

Food makes learning easier, quicker, and a lot more fun. Food will also help to create a stronger bond with your dog that is based on mutual trust and respect.

Is using food bribery?

If by bribery you mean something bad or wrong, then absolutely not. If by bribery, you mean “reward”, then just use the word reward! *grin*

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