Training with treats or toys?

I've trained my border collie using a clicker and treats, she's now 3 and i thought id start doing some more training with her today after a gap of about a year though she seems more interested in her toys now. very ball obsessed. Because I've never done any training using toys before i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice, or maybe I've just left it too late to re introduce new 'tricks' any advice you have would be great thanks

I have a ball obsessed border collie but I find it far easier to train her using treats, even though she will ignore treats and opt for a toy. This is because she gets too focussed on the toy and starts to look round for it if she knows I have one somewhere. If a toy isnt present, she is happy to work for treats, I just find the presence of a toy too distracting for her.

On the other hand, I have another dog who will also work for a toy reward, he'll do anything for a tennis ball, but he doesnt get distracted so easily.

It is never too late for a dog to start learning new things, mine are approaching their senior years now and are still learning 'tricks'.

thanks for your reply, might keep going with the treats and just make sure all her toys are out of sight next time lol

Your dog should work for both treats and toys, even my super ball obsessed dog will work for treats.

I prefer to be able to use both as food calms, toys excite so there are times when one is more appropriate than another.

Jinty will work for both but I tend to TEACH with food, and reinforce with both because she REALLY loves toys and if she doesn't fully KNOW the behaviour, she will just guess guess and guess!

she does work for both, just wondering if there was any advice that could be given on using toys?

i do do this with Maggie, she is always asked to do something when playing with toys, not so much on walks though apart from recall

Choose a toy and keep it "special" - just for training. Jinty's is her Kong Wubba. Make sure you only reinforce when she gets something RIGHT rather than just the effort..... and I often have the toy out of sight when working with one unless she's just earnt it.... (in pocket, stuffed in trousers....hoody...)

Its good to be able to use both
As SB says I find treats are good for things they have to calmly think about and a ball for speed

You can also use a ball as a jackpot - have it hidden so she has no idea its there, train as normal with treats but when she does something a bit extra good the ball appears

I also find I have to take smaller steps training things with balls when starting out teaching them to work with a ball
If they have always had a ball chucked for free then you can find it takes a bit of work to have them do anything that isnt being infront of you a few paces away - heelwork for a ball takes a LOT of self control for my boy (I didnt start training with toys with him till he was older because he wasnt interested in them before)

Its never too late tho

I often reinforce effort, as when training I am looking for approximations to the final behaviour.

I do not expect anything to be RIGHT when a dog (or a human) is learning.


This is why I have a hierarchy of reinforcers..............