Praise or treats? New evidence

Do dogs prefer praise or food rewards?

New research, summarized in this piece in the Washington Post, suggests they may prefer praise:
http://linkis.com/washingtonpost.com/1NxYj

This is a surprising finding, given that previous studies have consistently suggested they are motivated more by treats -- specifically, treats > petting > verbal praise. Those findings were based on how well dogs learned tasks. This latest study used MRI to take a peek at what was going on in the dogs' brains.

The new study has obvious weaknesses but it's certainly an interesting finding. The truth may be that what motivates dogs most depends on a host of things that these studies haven't taken into account.

Would have said treats no question. Now with my current dog have to say praise. As with all training you have to learn what motivates your dog most. My girl is the first dog I had that would rather be praised than feed.

My guess is it would also depend on the stage of training.

Did they try cheese?

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Would have said treats no question. Now with my current dog have to say praise. As with all training you have to learn what motivates your dog most. My girl is the first dog I had that would rather be praised than feed.

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Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

Interesting study. I think every dog is different. My setter could care less about treats. She wants praise. Now the JRT could care less about what I think ' "Give me the cookie!"

edited : for spelling

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Originally Posted by terrym

Did they try cheese?

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Gouda.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by terrym

Did they try cheese?

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LOL.

In all seriousness, one of the questions we need to ask about this new result is just what the treats were. I haven't read the paper yet, only the WaPo summary.

This is an interesting question actually. Ultimately the treat thing is somewhat of an inconvenience compared to praise, especially in a hunting scenario. Actually not sure treats during a hunt would even be good. My dog doesn't stick around for treats or praise if hunting. He charges on for the next bird.

I was doing some work with the new pup today and reflecting that the "R+" trainer's answer to "my dog won't sit and pay attention to me when we're in a field" would be "more treats, so you're more interesting than all those smells!" Which of course is the last thing you would want in a hunting dog. :)