What Treats REALLY Motivate Your Dog? Find Out With a Food Preference Test

Chow hounds at the food bank. photo: AdobeStock

A popular concept in animal training is the use of choice, and there’s a good reason for that. Animals whose choices are respected and acknowledged are more willing participants in training, more likely to do what you ask, and generally have a higher quality of life. You appreciate it when your own choices are respected. Why would your dog be any different? 

Choice in dog training evolved from an ethical standard called LIMA, an acronym for Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive. Let’s look at the first half of the acronym: least intrusive. This term is based on the principle of less restriction, meaning the animal is not coerced into doing anything. Trainers who adhere to this ethical standard will strive to give animals the most choice possible. 

Now let’s examine the second part of the acronym: minimally aversive. This   means avoiding anything that causes fear, anxiety, stress, or frustration. This goes beyond just avoiding aversive tools, like prong collars, shock collars, and choke chains. It also means avoiding situations that increase levels of fear, anxiety, or stress. In short, we want to skillfully set up the training environment and deliver positive reinforcement at a high rate so that the animal doesn’t feel frustration or anxiety.

One of the areas where we can and should provide choice for the animals in our care is in the foods we use during training. When we use food that the animal prefers, we are more likely to have a better training session that the animal enjoys and that means we can enjoy training more, too. 

So how do we conduct a food preference test?  Here’s the process:

First, select 10 different types of treats.  I often use a combination of fresh food, like boiled chicken, and dehydrated single protein treats, like lung, heart, and muscle meat.

Here’s an example of a spreadsheet to track your dog’s food preferences. photo: Mara Velez

Next, set up your data tracking mechanism.  I use an Excel spreadsheet, but you could also just track the data on a piece of paper.

Then, lay out your cache of treats. Now you are ready to audition the treats with your animal. 

The easiest method is to offer each treat 10 times, pairing it with a different food choice each time (obviously, this will take multiple days - you don’t want to overfeed your dog in just one or two sittings). Offer the two options, one in each hand, next to each other in front of your dog's mouth so that it will be just as easy to consume Treat A as it is to consume Treat B. Your dog will consume both, of course, but will choose one first then the next. Be sure to switch hands for each trial so that you can eliminate a left- or right-handed bias. On your tracking sheet, note the food that the dog took first for each trial. Once you collect all the data, rank the treats on a scale of 1 to 10 (see a video of the procedure here.

If you’re working with your dog on any behavior modification -  for example, helping your dog feel less fearful when they meet new people - use the top-ranked foods for training.  When you are doing any other type of training sessions, for example teaching basic skills like a hand target, use the lower-ranked items.

But preference tests aren’t just for food. You can also use this concept to test your dog's preference for anything that you do together. Ask the question, “Would you like to do a training session, engage with a Kong, or do some nosework?” Of course, most dogs won’t know these words, but when a dog is choosing an activity or item, they will spend more time on that task, will be fully engaged, and will come back to that task with frequency. If the dog is not interested in the task or item, they will often sniff and walk away or spend a few seconds on it, and then move on to the next thing. Lay out as many options as possible at the same time, and allow your dog to choose. Note the activities that they choose regularly and offer those with more frequency.  Here’s a video that illustrates this concept.

When I work with dogs in the shelter, I often ask these types of questions, “Would you like to have this enrichment item, meet another dog, or do a training session?” The key is to allow them to choose and refrain from prompting them toward one thing or another.  Dogs in a shelter setting have very limited options during the day, and as a trainer who adheres to the LIMA ethical standard, I like to give animals as much choice as possible when it is safe and appropriate.  

Choice is important to all animals, humans and dogs alike. How can you give your pets more choice in their daily lives?  Start with a food preference test!