Alright y’all, am I the asshole?
I went to see a mobile vet with my newly adopted dog, Eden. He was (and still is) cute, fluffy, and came with a bite record towards people and dogs. Body sensitive, healed injuries to his front legs, and the softest fur I’ve ever touched. It’s a confusing dichotomy.
When Eden and I stepped into the camper-turned-vet-clinic, there was the wonderful veterinarian we had been working with–but also another person I didn’t know. He was present the whole time, and, I learned later, turned out to be the owner of the area where the vet regularly parks. At the time, I had no idea what his purpose there was. Was he shadowing? Or driving the vet? Was he just a really lazy assistant? No clue. Not my focus as long as he didn’t try to interact with Eden.
Eden needed to get vaccines and a check up before being officially adopted. I let him go onto a lifted up platform, and started handing him treats. I wasn’t interested in timing or markers, I was simply handing him treats with regularity. He ate, tentatively. The vet started to go over his back. As she looked him over, the additional person suddenly said, “Stop giving him treats.”
I said “No, thank you,” and kept handing my dog treats.
I wasn’t expecting a comment about it, or what to take from that interjection, or why he thought I cared about his opinion? He said nothing for a while. Eden continued to eat food and eye the veterinarian, but let her do her thing. We went through the exam without any issues and when the vet was done the treats went back in my pocket.
Later, while the vet was getting Eden’s medication refilled and his forms completed, I felt this punch of guilt about my response. Had I been rude? Was this guy trying to help and I just shut him down? Or (more of a hit to my pride) did he think I was inexperienced and didn’t know what I was doing?
So I said hello to the person and launched into explaining my purpose for giving Eden so many treats.
“If he stops eating, I know he’s over threshold and more likely to bite. That’s why I gave him all those treats during a situation like this. If he stops eating we’ll likely need to pause or consider putting a muzzle on.”
The guy shrugged and we made small talk about something related to the camper, since I had zero idea who he was still. The veterinarian gave me Eden’s refills and his paperwork and we left and went home. And then it hit me how absolutely rude the guy’s comment had been to comment about it at all. “At least ask me why,” I said to Eden… and also to my partner when I got home… and also to my mom when I called home… and to my best friend over dinner. It wasn’t bothering me, obviously.
Well??? Who’s the Asshole??
I’ve had clients visibly blanche when they see me dole out treats for exercises. I’d be encouraged to use less food when filming a dog’s progress to seem more… impressive? Even my dad, who genuinely respects and appreciates the work I do, will roll his eyes about using treats with his dog.
When I asked some colleagues and fellow dog people if they’ve felt stigma about using food, the results were mixed. But when people did experience some stigma that was direct, it often sounded like this:
“Am I going to run to get food every time I need him to do something?” “When do I stop using treats?” “How long do I have to train with food?” “Yeah but what happens when I don’t have a treat on my person?” “It feels like bribery.”
Positive Reinforcement is…? Cookies?
“Am I going to run to get food every time I need him to do something?”
Okay let’s clear up one concept first.
Reinforcement is not just food. Reinforcement is any consequence that increases, or strengthens, the behavior it follows. Dog trainers talk a lot about food when we teach skills like introducing a marker/clicker. It’s a fair assumption that most dogs will work for food. It’s also a fair assumption that most people will work for food**.
But! Training with food sometimes is not reinforcing. Why? Cause we don’t get to decide what is reinforcing for the learner (dog/person/rat/etc). We’re going to back track to my elementary school days for a minute and take advantage of the fact that I have a twin brother for our examples:
- For dinner, my mom made my twin and I buttered noodles; my twin loved it and I would rather eat almost anything else. My dad made my twin and I spicy stir fry; I was in heaven, but my twin picked out the single vegetable he liked. He wouldn’t eat anything else until offered the leftover butter noodles. The goal was for the kids to finish their meals and put some kind of nutrient in our bodies, so technically both goals were accomplished.
- Getting home from school, I sat down with my mother and spilled the tea. She knew more about the dynamics of an elementary school playground than she could ever possibly care about. Getting home from school, my brother went straight to the bedroom and played with legos, or blocks, or video games. The purpose for us as kids was to decompress from learning and the adrenaline-fueled interactions with our peers, and to get into the rhythm of being home. But if you had forcibly switched either of our experiences post-school, there would have been tears and yelling and bad moods all around. Even if you filled either experience with unlimited cookies. So I’ll repeat:
We don’t get to decide what is reinforcing to the learner (dog/person/rat/etc). Whether that is a primary reinforcer like sleep or food, or secondary reinforcers like access to the environment, access to sniffing spots, the clicker (or whatever marker you’re using), or the sound of a crinkly plastic bag.
**We spend roughly 12.8% of our money on food in 2022, and that’s only beaten out by transportation to get our food and housing to store our food. We work for food too, dude.
Okay, but Specifically the Food Part?
“It feels like bribery.” What is bribery!? Bribery is defined as attempting to make someone do something for you by giving them money, presents, or something else they want, usually somewhat dishonest or illegal. (Thanks Cambridge Dictionary).
Last I checked, asking for a ‘sit’ isn’t horribly nefarious?
There are plenty of dogs that can’t do skills without the treat being present, especially in the pet world, but that may mean less about the use of the treat and a little more about the training skills of the person using it. Using food to help create a clear 1:1 can be a handy communication tool between us and our dog. Recognizing the plentitude of rewards in our environment can help people feel less ‘bribery-y’ and also flex those observation practices!
For example, training a recall can be challenging, but is a great example of what reinforcers can look like.
My go-to recall training technique starts with creating enthusiasm and excitement for the key word (“Here!”, “Come”, etc). A really popular way to do this is having a super high value reward in your hands, and also to add motion to our recall word by running away and having a little chase game. But! Let’s consider our environment and what happens after the recall is done to add more enthusiasm!
Let’s use my dog Ghost as an example. When in the backyard, I love practicing recall. But, I don’t recall Ghost to go inside! She loves to be outside, especially in the woods. Sniffing, exploring, chasing, all the best things are outside! So when we practice recall, after she comes to me, she may get some cookies but the better reinforcer, from what I can observe, is that she gets to stay outside.
Now let’s use my dog Eden as an example. I love him dearly, but he is what we call an inside dog. Too hot, too cold, too hard, too soft; let’s just say, the couch by the AC is his favorite place to be on any given day. When we’re in the backyard, and I practice recall… That’s right, we’re going inside!
The food hangs out as a happy in-between, especially if I ever am wrong in my assumption of what will be rewarding for my dogs. Did I accidentally call Eden away from a very exciting bug mystery? Did Ghost have a hurt paw and walking up the stairs into the house started to hurt without me noticing for a little bit? The food is a happy in-between if I can set it up–but in the same way that I really enjoy writing, but the paycheck is an added bonus to make sure I complete it efficiently.
Responding in Our Community and IRL
While this is a conversation on food specifically, this section is structured towards any level of unsolicited advice!
Unsolicited advice and conjecture always comes as a bit of a surprise to me. Sometimes it happens in the wide world, or the vet office, or even what was originally thought to be a learning environment. Taking classes and courses, working around colleagues or other dog lovers, means opening up the way you train directly to a bunch of eyes that may have thoughts about what you are doing.
Whatever the comment, keep in mind your goal and what you’re looking for. I’ve felt pressured to adjust my goals based on other’s comments, or other’s eyes, expectations, judgements, etc. Unless you have expressly asked for help or opinions, no one has the right to assume you were looking for advice just for being in public. This goes for using food, or any other aspect of training!
When it comes to dealing with people who don’t agree or have their opinions coming in, how can we respond? How do we make space to learn and not also fall into the same problem that person has; judging what someone else is doing without understanding why? Well, in short, you don’t need to.
Here are some responses when you’re not looking for further conversation on the matter:
- That’s not what I’m working on right now.
- I don’t feel the need to do that with my dog right now.
- No, thank you.
Let’s say this is an environment that we are discussing or able to discuss longer. Or it’s a coworker, or a friend:
- I can explain my process later but right now I would like to focus on what I’m doing.
- If you want to demonstrate what you’re describing, you can with your dog. But I want to finish working with my dog first.
- I don’t think we have similar goals in mind.
The Importance of Community While Learning
Training with treats can sometimes come across as aligning with a certain ideology in the training field when, really, it is not as divisive as many people imagine.
Consider how you would like to hear critique and who might be the most beneficial person to deliver it to you. Even though in my example I knew why I was rewarding Eden with food, there were plenty of times in my life I didn’t know! Asking questions and wondering if you were doing the right or wrong thing is an inherent part of this training journey. It wouldn’t hit so hard if we didn’t believe it a little when we heard it, especially as young trainers!
But finding others in our community to work through the learning pains can help us navigate the experience when comments or critiques negatively affect us. Finding a community of people who are willing to give and receive constructive feedback can help us feel safe enough to assess why we are using food or whether we’re applying training techniques in a productive manner. I would hope this article encourages people to cultivate supportive communities where they can ask more questions instead of limiting their learning to only their perception. And build the skills to recognize when comments like, “How long will I need to use food?,” have pretty simple resolutions when we’re looking through an enrichment and welfare lens.
Why didn’t I include saying, “Shut up,” as a response? Not because it isn’t a valid response (it can be). But because my goal with this article is to talk about how we can guard ourselves from stigma while also improving our relationship with the person offering the criticism when possible. That being said… Some people will not be interested in the reason behind your actions. Some people will not be open to conversation. Some people will not be in your life long enough to deserve your level of introspection, growth mindset, or concern.
And if that is the case, the ethical and kind response to their request that you “stop giving your dog treats” can be a plain and simple:
“No.”
Now What?
Write out responses and ways to handle situations, before you have to encounter them out in the wild. I have below the responses I had listed earlier in the article for easy reference and so that you can start to build your own list!
- That’s not what I’m working on right now.
- I don’t feel the need to do that with my dog right now.
- No, thank you.
- I can explain my process later but right now I would like to focus on what I’m doing.
- If you want to demonstrate what you’re describing, you can with your dog. But I want to finish working with my dog first.
- I don’t think we have similar goals in mind.
Consider practicing saying all of these out loud! May sound silly but practice makes perfect, and could also help you move through conflict a little easier if you feel confident in what you’re saying.
Happy training!
Taylor