How Many Treats?
When training your dog, you probably don’t spend much time thinking about the exact number of treats you use during a session. However, tracking this can sometimes provide interesting insight into both your dog’s learning process and your own training habits.
When dogs are first learning something new, there is often a high rate of reinforcement. As behaviors become clearer and more reliable, you may notice changes in how often rewards are needed. Tracking treats can help you spot patterns you may not otherwise notice.
One simple exercise is to count out a set number of treats before your session, such as 50 small treats or pieces of kibble. Next, decide how long your training session will last, for example, five minutes, and choose one core behavior to focus on during that time.
When the session is over, count how many treats remain and subtract that number from what you started with. The result gives you an estimate of how many were used during the session.
If 50 treats seem like a lot, remember that training rewards should usually be very small. Regular kibble often works well, too.
Give it a try and see what patterns you notice. You may use only a few treats for familiar skills, while brand-new behaviors or more advanced criteria may require much higher rates of reinforcement.
