We've all done it. In a moment of difficulty getting your dog's attention, you've reached for a treat, shown it to your dog, then asked him to do something. That worked so well that you start showing your dog a treat before asking him to do everything. Problem solved, or problem started? 

Did that treat routine pull you down a rabbit hole of unintentional consequences? Your dog won't perform a behavior without seeing a treat — uh oh! What happened? Since this treat routine was repeated and practiced, your dog sees your treat hand as part of the cueing picture. You’ve trained this! You trained this and you can change this. 

You're going to use a new routine to replace the old one. Take your bag of treats and let your dog see you place them on a table, counter, or bookshelf. Standing right next to the treats, cue your dog using the same verbal/visual cue as when you held the treat. After your dog does the cued behavior, for example "sit", reach into the treat bag and quickly feed your dog for remaining in the sit. Repeat this exercise ten times. If your dog sits quickly at least eight out of ten times, you're ready to take one step away from the treat bag and repeat the exercise. If not, stay put and practice until you have 80% success. As you continue to move one step away from the treat bag, there will come a distance where you cannot comfortably reach back to the treat bag. This is when you tuck a treat into your pocket, cue your dog, and feed from your pocket. Repeat this until you have 80% success. 

From now on, you're no longer going to fall back on showing your dog a treat in your hand. If your dog doesn't sit when cued without seeing the treat, walk away from your dog for 10 seconds. Return and try again. 

We all fall into routines that work for us. Fortunately, we can use new routines to replace the dysfunctional ones. Please let me know how this works for you!