Dog Training Tip: How to Get Compliance Without Food

A common issue for many dog owners is that they feel like they have to bribe their dog to behave. Compliance is reliable with food in their hand, but without food? All bets are off. Once your dog knows what the commands mean, you will teach her that just because you aren't holding food in your hand doesn't mean that she won't get a reward.

To start, prepare the food rewards and place them somewhere that you will have easy access when you need them. At the very beginning, it's OK if she sees the food, but as you progress it is better to be more sneaky about it so that she isn't just behaving when she sees food.

You can start with a very easy command, one that she is the most likely to respond to. A good one is usually to ask the dog to come over to you (assuming you are inside with no distractions). When she comes to you, give her lots of praise and then - BAM!- a piece of food magically appears out of nowhere! She will think that's pretty cool. After she eats the food, show her your empty hands, and then ask her to sit. If she does, reward with lots of praise and then make another piece of food magically appear out of nowhere. If she doesn't sit, you can try repeating the command a few more times, but don't overdo it. If you're not getting compliance after a few tries, end the session and try the whole routine again later.

It's handy to keep some treats within easy reach so that throughout the day, you can randomly surprise the dog with a reward for good behavior without her knowing that rewards are an option. The key here is to keep the dog guessing. Think about it like a slot machine - slot machines work on the principle of intermittent reinforcement. You never know when you're going to win, but you know at some point you will, so you keep playing. That same principle is key in dog training.

In addition to having the food out of sight, you can mix that practice up with letting her know you have the food, but not rewarding every single correct behavior. So instead of sit-reward-sit-reward and so on, the pattern is sit-sit-sit-reward-sit-sit-reward-sit-sit-sit-sit-reward etc. Remember that slot machine? Keep the dog guessing.

Remember too that food isn't the only reward that you can use to get compliance. Praise, affection, attention and toys can also be used (and should be incorporated as much as possible). You can also use life rewards, like getting to go outside, allowing the dog to go sniff something particularly enchanting, allowing her to chase a squirrel on a walk, having access to spaces in the home like the bed or sofa, etc. Determining what motivates your particular dog (other than food!) will be very helpful to you in the long-term and provide you with lots of other options for rewards besides food.

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