One of the most used puppy training tips is the use of food for encouraging and rewarding your puppy when they do something right, or in an attempt to get them to do what you want them to.
Having said that, not all puppy trainers agree as to whether you should teach new commands to your puppy with the aid of tasty tidbits. The underlying thought is that your dog then obeys for the food and not because it wants to obey you. My opinion is that the dog listens to you because this results in something positive.
Puppy training is all about teaching good habits and breaking and ignoring bad ones. Using food certainly encourages a puppy (and grown dogs as well) to repeat a habit, because it remembers the treat at the end of it.
Whether that good feeling comes from a hug or a dog biscuit does not really matter. However, a dog biscuit or a piece of cheese cannot take the place of contact with you. In addition to the tasty morsel, a cuddle or a friendly word is also necessary. You can phase out the giving of tidbits during training without any problem as soon as your dog knows the commands.
Not all dog sweets and biscuits are suitable for training sessions, however. Biscuits that require a lot of chewing by your dog are not very convenient, nor are large treats. Small pieces of brown bread, either fresh or dried, pieces of cheese, small dog biscuits, and small doggie sweets are, however, very suitable.
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