Which Do Dogs Prefer - Treats or Praise?
Ever wonder what can motivate and reward your pet the most? This study looked at the brains of 15 dogs as their owners either praised them or offered a treat.
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
A 2016 study attempted to answer the question of whether dogs prefer treats over praise, or vice versa
Emory University researchers used fMRI scanners to observe the neural activity of 15 dogs presented with the opportunity for praise from their owners, or tasty treats
Most of the dogs (13 of 15) showed the same or more brain activity when they were praised; only two dogs showed a consistent preference for food
An earlier study to determine whether dogs prefer petting to praise concluded that petting is the clear and consistent winner
Many dogs are so food-focused their humans are pretty sure they’d sell them out for a tasty treat. And it’s no wonder, since most dogs seem more motivated by food than anything else in the world. This food obsession is why training treats exist. It’s why dog trainers almost always advise using treats to help shape a pet’s behavior.
So, if you’ve ever asked yourself, “Does little Buddy (or Belle) love me, or just the food I provide?” you’re certainly not alone. But there’s reason to take heart given the results of a small study that evaluated which thing dogs prefer more — food rewards, or praise from their human.
Some Dogs Value Praise At Least as Highly as Food Treats
For the study, a team of Emory University researchers used fMRI scanners to look at the brains of 15 dogs as their owners either praised them or offered a food treat.1
The dogs were first trained to associate three different objects with three different outcomes. A pink toy truck meant a food reward; a blue toy knight meant verbal praise from the dog’s owner; and a hairbrush meant no reward. The dogs completed 32 trials for each object while the fMRI machine recorded their brain activity.
Unsurprisingly, all 15 dogs reacted more strongly to the truck and the toy knight than the hairbrush. Also:
Nine of the 15 showed similar neural activity in response to both the truck and the toy knight, indicating they found both treats and praise equally motivating
Four dogs showed an especially strong reaction to the blue toy knight, suggesting they were apt to be more motivated by praise than food
The remaining 2 dogs showed a consistently stronger reaction to the pink toy truck, indicating a preference for treats over praise
Result: For most of the dogs (13 of the 15), the areas of the brain responsible for reward and decision-making showed the same or more activity when they were praised than when they received a treat.
Most Dogs Seek Human Interaction for Its Own Sake
In the second phase of the study, the dogs were put in a simple maze constructed with baby gates. There was a bowl of food at the end of one path in the maze, and their humans sat with their backs to them at the end of a second path. Most of the dogs took the path that led to their owners and received praise.
The dogs who headed for the food bowl were the same ones who showed a preference for treats over praise during the fMRI scan. Emory neuroscientist and lead study author Gregory Berns summed it up this way:
“We are trying to understand the basis of the dog-human bond and whether it’s mainly about food, or about the relationship itself. Out of the 13 dogs that completed the study, we found that most of them either preferred praise from their owners over food, or they appeared to like both equally.
“Only two of the dogs were real chowhounds, showing a strong preference for the food.”2
One of the chowhounds was a shorthaired terrier mix named Ozzie. Ozzie chose food over his owner’s praise 100% of the time. (Fortunately, his owner understands that Ozzie’s a foodie and loves him anyway!)
Conventional wisdom holds that dogs are primarily “Pavlovian machines” says Berns. In other words, their only motivation is food, and the humans in their lives are simply a means to an end. However, a more current view is that dogs also seek human contact for its own sake.
“Dogs are individuals and their neurological profiles fit the behavioral choices they make,” says Berns. “Most of the dogs alternated between food and owner, but the dogs with the strongest neural response to praise chose to go to their owners 80 to 90% of the time.”
“It shows the importance of social reward and praise to dogs. It may be analogous to how we humans feel when someone praises us.”3
The counterpoint to Ozzie was a Labrador-Golden Retriever mix named Kady, who was quite consistent in her preference for praise. This will make perfect sense if you’re familiar with these breeds, as they tend to be exceptionally motivated by a desire to please their humans.
That’s why there are so many Labs and Goldens involved in therapy work, whereas dogs who aren’t highly motivated by praise may be better suited for work requiring a degree of independence, such as search and rescue.
Earlier Study Measured the Value of Petting vs. Praise
If you’re surprised most of the dogs in the Emory study seemed to value praise and treats more or less equally, you’ll probably be much less surprised at the results of an earlier study that proves your furry companion loves to be petted.
Researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Arizona set out to determine whether dogs favor petting over verbal praise, as well as whether it mattered to the dogs who did the petting or praising — their owner or a stranger.4
The researchers worked with three groups of dogs – shelter dogs, family dogs tested with strangers, and family dogs tested with their humans. Each dog was brought into a room on leash to meet two assistants sitting in chairs.
For the first two groups of dogs, both assistants were strangers, but for the third group, one assistant was a stranger and the other was the dog's owner. One of the two assistants greeted the dog with praise; the other greeting involved petting.
The dog was then taken to a point in the room an equal distance from both assistants, the leash was removed, and the dog's voluntary interaction with each assistant was measured in 10-minute sessions.
During each session, the assistants offered either praise only, or petting only for five minutes. Then they switched roles for the remaining five minutes. The dogs were measured according to the physical closeness and amount of time spent with each assistant.
Petting Was the Hands-Down Winner
The results of the experiment left no room for doubt — every single dog preferred petting to verbal praise. Not only did the dogs spend more time with the person doing the petting, but they did so even when it was their owner doing the praising, and a stranger doing the petting.
And when the assistants switched places halfway through the session, the dogs continued to hang with the petting person. It's possible that one of the reasons dogs dig petting so much is because their heart rate and blood pressure are lowered by the experience.5
So, whether it's shelter dogs or family dogs, and whether they’re with their own humans or strangers, they choose petting over praise every time. They can't get enough of it. And while verbal praise temporarily interested the dogs, it didn't rank much higher than no interaction at all.
According to the researchers, these results confirm that petting provides positive reinforcement for canine behavior. Being petted is likely a naturally occurring reinforcing stimulus for dogs, whereas praise alone isn't effective and may need to be paired with petting or food.6
Healthypets Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own veterinarian or doctor. Dr. Karen Becker cannot answer specific questions about your pet's medical issues or make medical recommendations for your pet without first establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Your pet's medical protocol should be given by your holistic veterinarian.
Dogs don't read books or theory. STOP projecting your needs on them. They are way more basic.
In learning theory, there is this little thing called "motivating operations" at play. Motivating operations means that the value of a particular reinforcer depends upon its "level" in the current situation (so motivating operations can change over time--sometimes rapidly). If you consistently pet your dog, attend to your dog, then praise looses some of its effectiveness as a reinforcer. The dog is "full" of praise. On the other hand, if your dog just had a huge meal, treats are going to loose their effectiveness as a reinforcer. Think of finishing up a huge Thanksgiving dinner and vowing you won't eat for 2 days because you're so full. So "it depends" on the animal's motivating operations. If you've been gone all day and your dog has been stuck in her crate, praise and attention are going to be powerful reinforcers (more than treats). If you had to skip your dog's breakfast (say, for a minor medical procedure, although I can't think of a minor medical procedure that would require you to skip your dog's meal), by dinner time, food is going to be a powerful reinforcer ("Give me a break here, lady. I don't want you to pet me right now, I want you to feed me right now"). So like too much else in real life, "it depends". Never an easy answer. In this case, the dog is in a somewhat "strange" environment (in an MRI machine) and the owner's attention is probably going to be more valuable than treats in a somewhat stressful situation (even though these dogs have been trained and don't seem to be anxious in the MRI machine, it's still a pretty unnatural environment for a dog and that in and of itself may be inherently a little stressful, not to mention the noise of the machine--again, dogs are given auditory protection and have been desensitized to the sound of the MRI machine, but it's still a highly unnatural sound for most dogs. This may explain why, in that situation, praise is a preferred reinforcer. I have a little girl who is afraid of loud noises. If we have a thunderstorm, she won't eat treats, but she will soak up attention from us. Luckily, her fear isn't too extreme and a Thundershirt and some management (closing curtains, turning the lights on if it's dark, having the TV or music on) and lots of cuddling do the trick with her.