Teaching a hand target with freeze-dried salmon

Salmon treats for target training are paid from the hand that is not the target. Present an empty flat hand, let your dog touch it with the nose, say yes, then deliver one small bit of salmon from your other hand. Weigh and break the day's salmon before you start, and let each touch spend one bit of it.

How do you teach a hand target with salmon treats?

A hand target is a nose touching your open palm on request. It is a small, quiet cue, and it needs very little gear: your hands and the bits. Here is one way to run a first touch:

1. Get the salmon broken into bits while your dog waits elsewhere.
2. Keep the bits in your pay hand, down at your side.
3. Present your other hand, empty and flat, near your dog's nose.
4. When the nose touches your palm, mark it with a click or the word yes.
5. Pay one bit from the pay hand, then put the target hand away.
6. When you are done, close the pouch and wash up.

Our salmon starts raw and is then freeze-dried, which brings in the bag's hand washing line for both hands, target and pay alike. The bag says: "Wash your hands after handling it." Do it after the breaking and again when you finish.

Keep each touch its own small event. Present the hand, get the touch, pay, put the hand away. Then start the next one from the top. The order stays the same every time.

Which hand should hold the salmon?

The one that is not the target. The target hand stays empty, flat and still, and the bits wait in the other hand. Think of it like driving a manual: one hand on the wheel, one on the shifter, and each has a single job.

In this exercise the salmon is only ever the pay. The bag says: "Feed as a treat or meal topper." A touch earns a treat, one bit from the pay hand at a time.

Pick a side and keep it for the first sessions. Swapping which hand is the target changes the setup, and a trainer can tell you when and how to do that. This page does not cover it.

How small should a touch reward be?

Small enough to pass over without a pause. Per the listing, a medium sized piece breaks down into small, quick rewards, so one piece covers several touches. Your dog is being paid for a nose touch, not fed a meal, so each bit only needs to be something you can hand over without a pause.

If your dog has a small mouth, our blog on salmon treats for small dogs goes through breaking pieces down further. The bag adds one thing for any size: "Provide fresh water and supervise while feeding."

Nothing here says salmon makes a dog keener to touch. We have no fact that says so, and on this page the bits are just the payment. You will see for yourself whether your dog reaches for the palm.

How many touches fit in the treat allowance?

Start from the weight, not the count. On our product page, the treat budget calculator turns the daily calories you enter into a weight of salmon, in grams and ounces, at its one fixed setting of 10 percent. You break that weight into bits, and each touch spends one of them.

How many bits that makes is up to you, since the number depends on how small you break them. The real calorie number and the real share come from your veterinarian. If those differ from the calculator, go with the vet.

Once the weighed share is spent, stop paying in salmon for the day. For a general session plan, see salmon training treats; the guides hub gathers everything else.