How to Use a Remote Treat Dispenser for Dog Training

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A remote treat dispenser lets you reward your dog from across the room. You press a button, the machine makes a sound, and a reward drops out next to your dog. That makes it easier to reward a dog for staying calm on a mat or waiting by the door while you are somewhere else. This guide covers how to introduce the sound, how to use the machine for mat settling and calm door greetings, how to fade it out, and when a dog that becomes fixated on the device needs a step back or a professional’s help.

How we wrote this: the advice comes from Whole Dog Journal’s guide to remote treat dispensers and how to use them, Dogs Trust’s settle training guide, and Battersea’s guides to clicker training basics and teaching a dog to greet people. Product facts come from our product pages, which cite the makers and reviewers. We put their advice in our own words and mark our own tips with “in our view”. All were checked on 2 November 2026. We did not test any dispensers for this guide, and we do not show prices or ratings. This guide is about training, not about what to feed: for food and treat choices, see our sister site In The Kibble.

What a remote dispenser is good for

Whole Dog Journal describes remote rewarding as rewarding a dog when you cannot be, or do not want to be, right next to it. Its trainer author uses dispensers for agility, for long sit and down stays at a distance, for door manners, and with behaviour clients. A stay is a good example: the machine can reward a dog that holds a down every few seconds, without you walking over each time.

In our view, a dispenser helps most when your own position gets in the way: when walking over to reward a dog on its mat makes it get up, or when you need your hands free to open the door to a visitor.

Step 1: pick a dispenser that suits your dog

Whole Dog Journal says a good remote dispenser sounds a tone the moment you hit the button and releases the reward straight after, with as little delay as possible, because better timing makes clearer training. It also wants a tone you can turn down for dogs that are bothered by noise, and warns that some machines are loud as they dispense. Two from our catalog:

• PetSafe Teach and Treat Remote Reward Trainer: a remote dispenser with a quiet motor. Our product page lists a remote range of up to 30 yards, a collapsible target and training videos in the box, and notes it is not for unsupervised use. Whole Dog Journal found nervous, sound-sensitive dogs warmed up to it faster than to a louder machine, though its reward timing was slower.
• Arf Pets Dog Treat Dispenser: a dispenser your dog works itself by pressing a button. It suits an indoor button game more than precise distance training, since the sound comes from the button rather than the machine.

Our best remote treat dispenser for dog training guide compares the options in more detail.

Step 2: teach your dog what the sound means

Whole Dog Journal explains that remote dispensers are introduced through classical conditioning: the dog learns that the sound means a reward is coming. Battersea describes the same first step for a clicker: in a calm place with no distractions, make the sound and follow it with a reward, and repeat until your dog starts looking for the reward when it hears it. Battersea gives the reward within 3 seconds of the click.

A simple routine, in our view:

1. Put the dispenser on the floor where your dog can reach the tray, with you sitting close by.
2. Press the button while your dog is calm and let it find the reward. Do this a handful of times in a short session.
3. Stop while your dog is still keen, and repeat over a few days until it turns towards the machine at the sound.

If the sound worries your dog, go slower. Whole Dog Journal suggests turning the tone down for sensitive dogs, and says a loud hopper startled some nervous dogs at first. Battersea’s tip for a scary clicker is to muffle it or switch to something quieter. In our view, place the machine a little further away until your dog is relaxed near it. If you already use a clicker, our guide on how to clicker train a dog covers the same idea of a marker sound.

Step 3: reward calm on a mat

Dogs Trust’s settle training starts somewhere quiet, with your dog on lead and a blanket on the floor. You reward settling on the blanket without talking, then gradually reward only more relaxed behaviour: lying down, then sighing, shifting weight or resting the head. Next you slowly increase how long your dog must stay settled before a reward, by a couple of seconds at a time, before adding distractions.

A remote dispenser fits this well. In our view:

1. Place the dispenser right beside the mat, so the reward lands where you want your dog to stay.
2. Start next to your dog, as Dogs Trust describes, but reward with the button instead of your hand.
3. Once your dog settles reliably, sit a little further away and keep rewarding calm from there.
4. Build time, then distance, then distractions, one at a time.

Battersea’s clicker guide also breaks mat training into small steps: reward a look at the mat, then a step towards it, then one paw on it, building up to all four paws and then a sit or down. If your dog gets up, Dogs Trust says to wait quietly until it settles again before rewarding.

Step 4: use it for calm door greetings

Battersea notes that a dog’s excitement often starts before a visitor is even inside, with the doorbell. Its advice is to work on the doorbell first: ring it, reward your dog if it stays calm, and if it reacts, wait until it settles and then reward. Then slowly delay the reward by a few seconds to build calm. With a friend at the door, it suggests asking your dog to sit a little away from the door and rewarding it for staying there as the person comes in.

In our view, a dispenser placed by the dog’s mat, a few steps from the door, means you can open the door and still reward your dog for staying put. Practise with a helper ringing the bell many times before you try it with real visitors.

Step 5: fade the machine

The goal is a dog that settles and greets calmly whether or not the dispenser is in the room. In our view, once a behaviour is solid:

• reward less often, and on a less predictable pattern,
• start mixing in rewards from you, such as calm praise or a game, instead of the machine every time,
• practise some sessions with the dispenser out of the room,
• keep the machine for new or harder steps, such as busier rooms or more exciting visitors.

Dogs Trust’s settle training makes the same point from another angle: the aim is for your dog to learn to relax on its own, without being told what to do.

If your dog fixates on the machine

Whole Dog Journal notes that some dogs paw at a dispenser for rewards, especially early in training. In our view, that is a sign the machine has become the focus instead of the behaviour. Try this:

• only press the button when your dog is doing what you want, never to stop barking or pawing,
• keep sessions short and put the machine away out of sight between them,
• never leave your dog alone with the dispenser; PetSafe states its unit is not for unsupervised use.

Stop using the device and talk to your vet if your dog becomes frantic around it: barking, pawing or staring at it for long periods, guarding it, or being unable to settle when it is in the room. Your vet can check for anything medical, and refer you to a qualified behaviourist who can make a training plan for your dog.

FAQ

How do you introduce a remote treat dispenser to a dog?

Teach the sound first. Whole Dog Journal says dogs learn through repetition that the sound means a reward is coming. Start in a quiet room with the machine close, and go slower for a noise-sensitive dog.

Can I use a remote treat dispenser for a dog that jumps on visitors?

It can help you reward calm at a distance. Battersea suggests working on the doorbell first and rewarding your dog for staying calm and sitting a little away from the door as the visitor comes in.

Will my dog only behave when the dispenser is there?

Only if you rely on it forever. In our view, fade the machine once a behaviour is solid by rewarding less often and mixing in other rewards.

Can I leave a remote treat dispenser out when I am not home?

Not the PetSafe unit: our product page notes it is not for unsupervised use. If you want to watch and reward while you are out, a camera with a built-in treat tosser is made for that; see our best pet camera guide.

More on reward-based training: how to clicker train a dog and our best dog treat pouch picks.