Having options to reward your dog allows you to reward your dog appropriately for the difficulty level of a specific command or behavior. It’s ideal to have +2 tiers of rewards, but it’s necessary to have at least two tiers of rewards. One of low-medium value and one of higher value. These can be two toys, two treats, or a treat and toy.

These rewards need to be more worthwhile than our dog’s attraction/aversion to their nearby distractions. We often use kibble for low, hot dogs as our medium and small pieces of cheese for our higher-value treat. Bacon is another great choice for high-value dog treats. Use bacon (or another equally high-value item) when working on distractions and challenging triggers for your dog.