Dog Awards: Considerations And Advice

We know that our dogs work for love, and through the many things they do alone, they seek our smile and our approval. Even so, sometimes we want to go a little further and look for greater motivation, and we need to reward them in some concrete way. What can we use as prizes for dogs? Are there multiple options? Which prizes are healthier for dogs?

Today, let’s answer all these questions:

When to use prizes for dogs

We can use prizes for dogs on many occasions. Normally, we use them when we are teaching something like sitting or pawing. Once you’ve learned this, we simply stopped giving them prizes. However, there are many other moments that we can take advantage of to reward our pets. These aren’t the only times we can give a dog a gift. Others are, for example, when:

• Anticipate our orders and do something that pleases us. For example, if we normally ask him to get off the couch and sit down, we can reward him when he gets down as we  approach him, but we haven’t ordered him to come down yet.
• You are repressing the bad behavior within yourself and choosing to behave well. For example, when there is food on the table within your reach, and although you keep looking at it, you don’t try to eat it.
• We are teaching him something new and, even so, he still cannot do it properly, but he is getting closer. If we want to teach him to lie down, before he goes down fully we can reward him when he starts to squat.
• When in the park come towards us, called or not. Leaving what you’re doing and coming towards us should always be a reason for rewards.
• Although we didn’t call him, we can reward him because he is attentive to the owner.
• Because yes. Because we have a good dog that normally behaves well and we want to thank him for being so affectionate, loyal and patient with us.

when to award

We must be careful to reward only what we would like him to repeat . It won’t do any good if we reward our dog after he barks at another dog or picks up trash, for example. We have to identify what behaviors we like and focus on them.

The timing of the award is important. However, it is more important than the prize itself. Rewarding at the right time indicates to the dog, without confusing him, that at that time he did something we like. Only then will he be able to repeat this behavior. We should reward the moment he did something right. If we wait a few seconds, it will be more difficult for him to make this association.

What not to use as a prize for dogs

When we give awards, especially when we are teaching him something new, these awards should be healthy , suitable for the dog and with a certain value for him, that is, if we want to teach our dog to sit, lie down and give the paw, we must first spend a few days practicing the orders.

Sweets should be good for your health. They cannot be unhealthy foods, because we will have to reward you many times. Of all the prize options we have at his disposal, let him eat all the ones he needs without getting fat or feeling bad.

The prizes will have to be small, but suitable for each dog. We cannot cut a sausage into equal-sized pieces if we are going to reward a Maltese or a Belgian Shepherd; likewise, we must take into account that the teeth of a young dog are stronger than those of an elderly dog.

And most importantly, they have to like the awards. We can’t give something that our dog doesn’t like as a prize, because it won’t be a prize and he won’t want it. The more difficult the order we’re going to give it, the tastier the prize must be to make it worth it.

What to use as a prize for dogs

Normally, as prizes, pieces of food are used, but without reducing the daily ration: extra-premiums do not replace the regular feeding of the animal.

The value of the prizes will depend on the taste of each dog, but normally you can use:

• sausages for human consumption
• Cured cheese pieces or rinds
• Boiled ham or cubed bologna
• Industrialized biscuits for dogs broken into very small pieces.
• Wet food or pate for dogs.
• Ration better quality or different flavor than what you normally eat

other awards

We can give as a prize other things that are not edible and that the dog likes a lot. For example, you can easily reward (and in fact we do this almost daily) pets whenever the dog likes to receive them. There are pets that love toys a lot and just by being able to bite one they are given prizes.

The tip to choose good prizes for dogs is to know the pet’s tastes. We can try many different things and see how he reacts and which he likes the most so that we can choose which ones are more effective and select the healthier ones.