Dog Trainers / Dog Trainers Illinois / Dog Training / Dog Training Tips

Take Treats NICELY and GENTLY – Puppy Dog Training

- by MarkW2002 - 33 Comments.

Teach your dog or puppy to take treats nicely and gently.

Set yourself up for success by teaching a calm settle first before playing the games if your dog takes treats extremely hard

Here is a video link to the tutorial on the settle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wesm2OpE_2c
This is the first step that I would do with dogs who get extremely excited about food.

What you will do is have food on you all day, and when you see your dog relaxed and not thinking about food, you can present food between your dog’s paws. Then ignore your dog until he once again is not thinking about the food and looks very calm. He most likely will eat the treat with less gusto than if he had waited for you to take the treats from the fridge to the training area and then feed him in a state of anticipation.

Game 1

Choose a time to train when your dog is relaxed. Slowly move to put a treat down on the ground under his chin. If your dog touches or paws at your hand, slowly withdraw your hand and begin again. The behavior you are looking for is the dog patiently waiting for you to release the treat before going to eat it.

Game 2

First begin with a low value treat while your dog is calm. Slowly move to give your dog a treat. Bring your hand in close enough that your dog doesn’t have to stretch out his neck to get the treat. When you feel only your dogs lips and tongue and not his teeth let go of the treat. If you feel hard teeth, hold on to the treat, or slowly remove your hand and represent it slowly.

Practice with the dog in different positions in relation to you, to help the dog generalize the behavior.

Game 3

This exercise is for people who struggle to get their dog to take treats softly. So if you have success with Game 1 and 2 this game is not necessary.

Hold a treat between your fingers, that you can easily hold onto if the dog tries to take it with his teeth. Wait and see if the dog licks the treat. If he licks the treat let it go. If he doesn’t keep waiting or try to hold the treat in a different way that might give him the idea to lick it. You can first have your dog lick a thin layer peanut butter off a spoon to give him the idea of licking instead of biting.

Once your dog is reliably licking the treat out of your fingers, you can say your cue “Lick” or whatever cue you wish, like “Gentle”, before your dog licks it out of your hand.

It’s important to add the cue after your dog is calm and has started to take treats softly. Most dog owners say “gentle” every time they think their dog might take the treat hard, which is when the dog is excited. It is a much better idea to associate the cue when the dog is calm and the dog is already offering the behavior.

First play these games with low value treats and then higher value treats. Practice these games with the dog in different positions in relation to you as well as in different training locations, to help the dog generalize the behavior. When you first begin you can play the games after your dog has had a meal and is less interested in food.

Adding the clicker and marker words

When the dog is successfully taking treats softly you can start to click or say your verbal marker before giving the treat. First test to see if your dog is taking treats softly. Then practice the same games, but this time click or use a marker before moving to present the treat. Most dogs will get excited by hearing the marker and so most likely will want to take the treat hard at first.

What to do in training sessions to prevent the dog taking the treat hard as you train your dog to take treats softly:

Feed your dog with the treat in the center of a flat palm like you would feed a horse
Put the treat down on the ground
Toss a treat to your dog or on the ground (This might excite the dog, so only use this for behaviors you want your dog to be excited during)

Brush up sessions

If you notice your dog regresses to taking treats hard in training, either stop the training session or feed your dog in a way he cannot take treats hard. Then plan to do brush up lessons on taking treats calmly later when your dog is more relaxed. Suddenly beginning a “take the treats nicely” lesson when the dog takes a treat hard in a training session could possibly train your dog that he can make the training game easier if he simply bites your fingers.

Suddenly taking treats hard is a sign that the dog is excited or stressed. So it is actually a good way to know how your dog is feeling and that you might need to change your training plan.

Related Posts

How to train DROP IT

Chihuahua tricks – dog tricks

Stop Barking at Noises – Professional Dog Training

About MarkW2002

View all posts by MarkW2002 →

33 Comments on “Take Treats NICELY and GENTLY – Puppy Dog Training”

  2. This is very helpful! My dog takes treats very nicely when we’re not in a training session, but she gets very excited and “sharky” during a training session. I like the idea of capturing that gentleness when it’s natural to her instead of trying to tell her to be gentle when she’s already excited.
    Follow up: Do you find that the gentleness generalizes and you don’t have to cue the gentleness? I don’t like the idea of having to cue her to take a treat gently after she’s successfully done whatever I asked her to do in the training session.

  3. My dogs are very good with taking treats, but my Jack Russell, even though she’s gentle, she likes to take my whole hand instead of just the treat, lol.
    I don’t really mind it since she doesn’t bite hard, it’s just a little silly of her.

  5. Thanks, this tutorial is very complete. Good description too. We have a high drive cairn terrier. Thanks to you she has learned to take treats nicely. Sometimes we have to remind her but not often. She is wonderful and plays frisbee.

  7. Really , i would like to thank you , you are so percise , you really want us to understand and to succeed.
    Thank you very much.
    I think by these training sessions you will help dogs not to be abandoned by their owners.
    I wish you happiness

    1. Thank you Katy, I try my best. I realize I do need to focus not just on the information but also improve the quality of my videos so people are more likely to watch them and follow the information.

    1. Thanks I appreciate it. I am frequently told my videos are boring and not entertaining, but I made them for people searching to sit down and get information not be entertained. But obviously I learn as I go and over the years I learn more and more how to present material so it can be useful and understandable but I am still learning as I go.

  9. Superb video, thank you as always! Question: Our 10-week-old lab is doing quite good considering how much he loves food. We use most of his daily kibble for hand-feeding, either during training (capturing calmness) or just for bonding.
    However, whenever I give him more than 1 piece at a time, he inhales it all with hardly any chewing. Should I avoid handfeeding larger portions?

    1. It shouldnt cause a problem if small kibble is swallowed whole. It would if it was a small dog. One thing you can do if you were worried would be to soak the kibble in water so it expands and is soft?

  11. I didn’t even know this could be taught, so thank you so much for such thorough information! I tried this with my dog and she keeps sniffing and licking my hand when I try to put the treat down. Do I have to take it away slowly and keep trying until she doesn’t sniff and lick my hand?

  12. Whenever I get frustrated and down with training I always come back to your videos and you always have the answer, thankyou for existing and having all these amazing videos , I wouldn’t have a clue otherwise 🙏🙏🙏

  14. Thank you so much for these videos and giving me the tools and confidence to teach my new puppy 💕 I like to share these videos with people

  15. Thanks so so much for this!! 5 months and just realized how he has started lunging at the treat when he’s excited maybe because he has his new big teeth and doesn’t know how they work yet? Lol we will practice this later today after he’s calmer as he just saw rain for the first time and thinks he has to bark at it:)

  16. My dad taught this to our american pitbull without realizing. He would literally try to eat your hand as well with the treat. So my dad would just tell to not do that again. And he actually listened to him.

  19. @Dog Training by Kikopup Love your video’s, they are so great, and come very highly recommended by the K9ti. It would be so awesome however, if occasionally you could show how these training sessions look with puppies who DO bite and lunge and jump. If my pup goes for my hand and grabs onto it without letting go, how do I successfully remove my hand slowly and calmly? Lately it feels as though my pup is never calm enough to do this without jumping and biting. He’s either hungry and just wants to lunge to get the food, or not hungry and totally not interested in the treats at all.

Leave a Reply