05/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1PME2oGn4Q/?mibextid=wwXIfr
This is something that has been popping up a lot recently so I thought I'd do a quick post on it 😁
A very common approach to resolving challenging or undesirable behaviours with our dogs is to ‘pair with food’
We pair the scary thing with food to create positive associations
Or we ‘just give them treats’ when the triggering thing appears or is happening.
Or even ‘hand feed a fearful dog so they will learn to associate you with food and feel less fearful.’
And I am not here to say that those approaches don’t work, or that I don’t use them.
I absolutely do… But
Solving behaviour challenges isn’t always as simple as pairing something with food treats… if only it were that easy.
Which is why, I get a lot of people saying to me ‘I've been pairing the scary thing with food... why isn't it working?’ or ‘I’ve been hand feeding my fearful new arrival for 6 weeks now, but they’re not making any progress’
A dog who is mildly anxious or a bit unsure about something - Just pairing treats may be the solution.
But for a dog who loses their mind at something way in the distance, or is anxious or afraid of getting in a car.
Or a dog who is struggling with family members - overwhelmed, chronically stressed and already existing way over threshold.
Simply attempting to pair those things with food is unlikely to be very successful… there's usually far more going on and a lot more to consider than simply trying to pair the ‘thing’ with tasty food to create a positive association.
Using food to change an emotional response through desensitisation and counterconditioning is an incredibly valuable technique. But it still has to be done the right way, for that dog, in that moment and within that situation.
But even before you get to that stage, there is so much more that needs assessing and addressing first to ensure the DS/CC process itself can be successful.
🐕 Physical Health
🐕 Environmental safety
🐕 Emotional capacity
🐕 Optimal learning state
🐕 Temperamental preferences and motivations
All the while, paying close attention to everything your dog is telling you, so you can create the environment, conditions and layers needed for the technique to actually work.
Natural world dogs in particular can be sensitive to even the slightest pressure of an agenda. For these dogs even giving the food treats themselves can cause a problem, so we have to come at it a different way.
Conversely, some of our overseas rescue dogs are highly food motivated meaning they may override their fear because food is on offer, but underneath the fear is still present. For these dog’s food needs to be used very strategically to make sure it’s creating the right association and not just causing conflict.
Desensitisation and counter conditioning done in the right way is an incredibly valuable ‘tool’ for helping a dog learn to feel differently about something.
But it’s not the only way to achieve the same outcome - and it may not be the right technique to be using for that dog in that situation.
If just giving treats solved behaviour problems...I’d be out of a job 😬
Pairing with food is absolutely a valuable technique. But it's important to keep in mind that behaviour change is a process. One that includes ensuring a dog can learn emotionally and creating the conditions that support that learning, whether that includes food or not.
Have you tried pairing something with food to help change how your dog feels about it?
How did it go? Did it work for you? Or did you find there were other things affecting progress too?
