23/11/2025
Giving a treat will reward bad behaviour.
Are we sure about that?
Because it is not as simple as it sounds.
Let’s clear something up that comes up with almost every dog owner I meet.
A lot of people worry that if a dog barks and we give them a treat, we are rewarding the barking. It sounds logical on the surface, but dogs are not little machines choosing behaviours for points. They are emotional beings trying to cope with the world, just like us, just like toddlers, just like anyone who has ever sat in standstill traffic on the M4 wondering why they left the house in the first place.
Here is something from my own experience.
When Nero came to live with us, he was frightened of children. This was proper fear, not mild uncertainty. If a child appeared, Nero would bark. That barking was emotion. It was his way of saying that he did not feel safe.
So we fed him while he looked at children. A tiny treat for glancing in their direction. Bit by bit he learned that children made good things happen. There were many layers to his progress, but over time Nero went from nervous barking to happily trotting next to kids on family walks. Giving him treats did not reward the barking. It helped him feel safe enough that the barking disappeared.
Now let us compare that to something completely different.
You are eating a sandwich.
Your dog barks at you.
You give them a bit because you want to finish your lunch in peace.
That barking absolutely got reinforced. They learned that barking at humans makes snacks appear.
And here is where it gets interesting.
Many owners worry about giving treats in the wrong moments, yet they miss the everyday situations where behaviour actually gets reinforced.
Here are examples that genuinely reinforce the behaviour you do not want:
• Dog jumps up, human says “no” while physically pushing the dog away.
The push, the eye contact and the attention of any kind can be a reward.
• Dog pulls all the way to the park.
They reach the park and get to run free. That arrival is the reward.
• Dog drags you over to greet another dog.
You allow the greeting. The greeting is the reward.
• Dog steals tea towels or socks and you immediately chase them.
The chase becomes the reward.
These situations build behaviour far more consistently than offering a treat to a frightened dog ever will.
Now for a big one. Crate training and leaving a dog alone.
People often tell me they have been advised to ignore a puppy crying in a crate or to avoid returning to a dog barking when they leave the room. The idea is that going back will reward the noise.
This is complete nonsense.
A puppy crying in a crate is not doing a performance. They are lonely or frightened or confused. A dog barking when left alone is not being clever or manipulative. They are worried. Emotions drive those sounds.
And here is the real problem.
If you ignore them until they fall silent, they do not learn confidence. They learn that no one comes when they need reassurance. Their anxiety rises.
If you go back to them as soon as they need you, you are not rewarding noise. You are supporting emotion. You are helping them feel safe. You are preventing escalation. You are building trust, which is the foundation for all independence later on.
No one ever solved fear by ignoring it.
Not a toddler crying at nursery.
Not a young person overwhelmed on their first day of school.
Not a puppy panicking in a crate.
Emotions are not behaviours.
Fear is not a strategy.
Comfort does not create a spoiled dog.
Comfort helps a dog feel secure enough to learn.
So yes, if your dog barks at your sandwich and you hand it over, that behaviour will grow.
But if your dog barks because they feel scared or unsure and you offer a treat or go back to them, you are not rewarding the barking. You are helping them cope. You are reducing the need for barking altogether.
Different emotion.
Different context.
Different outcome.
If you are reading this on a quiet Sunday afternoon and thinking that this suddenly makes sense, you are not alone. These things are confusing until someone explains them properly. If it helps you, it will help someone else too, so feel free to share.
