Do specific treats carry more 'learning' weight in training?

I can't imagine a dog would have any understanding of half treat vs. whole treat. No dog I've ever owned, at any rate. Which treats represent higher value is completely up to the dog. My dog would rebuild my truck's engine for a Bil-Jac Liver Treat. He likes imitation bacon flavored dog treats better than he likes real bacon. Go figure.

frankyk said:

For example, if I were to offer my dog a half Bil-jack vs. a full Bil-jack for doing something, would she know the difference?

How about a Bil-jack vs. a hot dog?

Basically, would I be able to train my dog faster by using more "expensive" or 'higher' value treats or a treat is a treat to a dog most of the time?

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I don't think a dog will notice a half vs whole. But I will "jackpot" a dog for doing something REALLY good. Which is when I give two or three treats.


I do think some treats hold a higher value than others.

I think it depends on the dog. As I look back on the training failures I've had with Brutus I think I would have much more success if I jackpotted him basically for every success. I taught him to crate on command just by feeding him his meals in his crate on a regular basis. If I applied this to other training, I probably could (given enough time) teach him a few things.

The size of the treat doesn't matter but, they're certainly more motivated when the treats are tasty and smelly. Dogs learn by 'pictures' and it's far more important to give clear, consistent pictures of what you want....they learn very quickly when the picture is always the same.

I call treats like chicken, steak, etc. "Million dollar treats" I use them for stuff like teaching heeling, jackpots, leave it, etc. You use them for difficult behaviours and as a special reward.

You only jackpot the perfect, or almost perfece, attempts. Right now my puppy bitch is learning a fast kick back stand from a sit. Tonight she jumped up before I could get her up, that got a jackpot and we stopped for the night.

Hot dogs, cheese, pupperoni, bil jac are good treats.

Kibble is plain ol' treats.

Any treat that the dog likes and which can be consumed quickly and easily without creating crumbs (which the dog will likely want to hunt) is a good reward. I prefer small semi-moist treats when I can (because that's what my dogs prefer), though I use dry treats if I'm keeping them in my pocket.

I think there are "tiers" of treats. My dogs prefer real meat to moist treats (like bil-jacs, natural balance rolls, etc), and moist treats over kibble. I choose my treats accordingly...best treats for the most difficult/important things, least valuable (but easiest to handle on my end) for keeping up known behaviors.

I don't like training with dry treats. I think it takes the dog too long to consume, but that's just my opinion and I've been known to be impatient.

The thing you have to remember with jackpot treats is that if you give them all the time, they're no longer jackpot treats. They're just treats. It's like telling a kid every time he brings something home from school that it's the greatest thing in the history of the universe and the kid is the greatest kid in the history of the universe. When the kid comes home one day and he's depressed because another kid made from his picture you telling him that he's the greatest kid ever means nothing because he hears that every single day.

I think some treats do hold a higher value if the dogs REALLY wants them. My griff will do anything for a bite of cheese! It's like he has an on switch when I get a piece from the fridge....lol. My middle rott isn't food motivated but will work for treats, but you get the ball out and his on switch is flipped....lol. You can see it in their eyes

Personally, I think it works best to use a variety of treats - yes, even in each session.

Reserve the treats your dog likes VERY best for their best efforts, the most perfect behaviors. Mix up the others, os that the dog never knows if he's going to get something 'okay, yum' or something "OMG YAY' this time.

Experiment- don't be afraid to try lots of different treats. I *would* start out with a good mix that's at least 50% things of only moderate value- if you start off with ALL high value treats, you're left without much of a selection if you need something even HIGHER value for an extra distracting environment or extra difficult behavior.

The dog helps determine the value of the reinforcer. When it comes to treats I keep em small and yummy (the smaller the treat, the slower you hit the "full' mark).
What I used for Cracker:
For basics (sit, down etc under low distraction) a piece of kibble is fine.Under higher distraction we used bits of freeze dried liver (like in class..high distraction env.)
For stays, sit and down at a distance etc we started with liver and jackpotted for long durations and distances.
For RECALL the big guns came out..starting with liver, higher distractions earned chicken moist rollover..and for calling off prey she got beggin strips, cheese, steak and the occasional chance to CHASE that dang squirrel (on cue).