Treat training a puppy: the three mistakes that keep them glued to the food

Your puppy sits beautifully while there is a treat in your hand, then forgets you the second it is empty. That is not stubbornness. It is three small mechanics, and the same short lesson shows all three being made and fixed.

We watch a lot of dog training so you do not have to. We scanned thousands of public training videos for the clearest demonstration of these three mistakes, and this excellent lesson from McCann Dogs shows every one of them, the mistake and the fix, in the space of a few minutes. Rather than send you off to watch the full eighteen minutes hunting for the useful bits, we have pulled out the three moments that matter. Watch them in order.

07:28

Mistake one: rewarding the moment they get up

Watch the same treat delivered two ways. She shows it arriving first while the puppy is still sitting, then arriving as they stand up to meet the hand. That second delivery just paid the standing up.

The treat rewards whatever the puppy is doing at the instant it lands, not what you meant to reward. Half a second late and you have taught the opposite of what you wanted.

04:13

Mistake two: your hand moves before the word

Her hands stay still at her waist while she gives the cue, and she only reaches for the food afterwards. The puppy is listening to the word rather than watching the hand.

Reach for the treat as you speak and the puppy learns to read your arm, not the cue. Say the word, then move.

10:10

Mistake three: never taking the food out of your hand

This is the one the title is really about. The signalling hand stays empty and flat on the floor after the mark, and the treat is brought to it from the pouch. The hand keeps its meaning because the reward turns up there.

Keep a treat showing in that hand every time and you never fade the puppy off the food. They work for what they can see, and stop when they cannot.

Here is the catch none of these clips can solve for you. You can watch someone else keep their hands still and fade the food perfectly. You cannot watch your own.

While you are training you are looking at your puppy, not at whether your hand drifted before the word, not at whether your mark landed on the sit or half a second after it, not at whether you are actually fading the treat or only think you are. Those are the three mistakes above, and they are invisible from where you are standing.

There are thousands of training videos you can watch. What none of them can do is watch your hands, hear your marker, and see the reward reach your dog. You cannot watch your own timing while you are training. 4muddypawz can: film one short session, upload it, and find out if your hands are moving, where your "Yes" actually lands, and whether the pause before the reward is right. Start with a quick diagnosis of your dog.

Start with a quick diagnosis

Watch the full lesson from McCann Dogs and try the same session with your own puppy.

Featured video by its original creator on YouTube. We point, they teach.