Ever wished you could reward your dog without being right next to them? If so, you may be interested in a remote-controlled dog treat dispenser.
What is Remote Rewarding and What is it Used For?
Remote rewarding involves rewarding a dog even when you can’t (or don’t want to be) directly next to them. Remote rewarding can be used to teach a wide variety of behaviors where the handler isn’t physically close to the dog, from driving forward in dog agility to building duration sit and down stays at a distance, to helping with door manners.
Remote-controlled treat dispensers are invaluable in dog training. For example, as an agility instructor, I might put a remote rewarding device at the end of a tunnel. I’d then send the dog through the tunnel, clicking the button on the device’s remote to dispense a treat while the dog is in the tunnel. The device will make a beeping sound, then dispense a few treats. The dog, if conditioned to the sound of the device, will drive towards the device, learning to take the agility obstacle independent of the handler’s motion.
If the dog doesn’t go through the tunnel and goes around, the handler simply doesn’t click the button on the remote, and the dog doesn’t get reinforced. Remote rewarding via a dedicated device makes it easy to manage dogs making mistakes.
As an example for non-sports behaviors, remote controlled treat dispensers can also be used to teach duration static behaviors. For example, you put a dog in a down stay and set the device to dispense a treat every 5-10 seconds on a fixed or variable interval. Your dog gets reinforced for holding the down stay continually, without you having to be right next to them rewarding them. This is helpful for dogs working on their door manners — you can go answer the door while the dog gets rewarded for sitting or lying calmly on a bed or mat and not rushing the door.
Traits We Want in a Remote-Controlled Dog Treat Dispenser
Sound: Remote reward dispensers need to have a sound for ease of classical conditioning (helping the dog associate the sound with food). The tone should be adjustable for noise-sensitive dogs, and it’s best if it can be turned off for initial conditioning as well. Some treat dispensers also have hoppers on the inside of the machine that make a loud noise, which should be taken into consideration for sensitive dogs.
Reward timing: Ideally, a remote rewarding device makes a sound when you press the button, then immediately dispenses a treat. Many remote-controlled dog treat dispensers have a slight delay between the time you press the button and the time the sound plays, and from the time the sound plays to when the treat is dispensed. Less delay equals better reward timing, which equals more clear and consistent marking and rewarding for the dog.
Multiple uses: From separation anxiety to sports skills to duration behaviors, a versatile remote controlled treat dispenser is helpful for a variety of uses. We tested all the options on this list for different uses and chose the ones that were the most adaptable to multiple training needs.
Ability to use multiple types of treats: We prioritized the dispensers that allow you to use multiple types and shapes of treats. Some options had dispensing mechanisms that were too small, too large, or too inconsistent to use with a variety of treats.
Ease of cleaning: Since you’re constantly putting food in them, remote rewarders need to be cleaned frequently. The best options have dishwasher-safe internal pieces and are easy to wipe out.
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The Best Remote Controlled Dog Treat Dispensers
| Rating | Product and Maker | Price | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Treat&Train Remote Dog Trainer | $169.99 | 3 cups | Behaviorist created and backed by scientific studies and research, the Treat&Train easily has the best reward timing of the remote dog treat dispensers tested. |
 | PetSafe Teach & Treat Remote Reward Trainer | $189.96 | 3 cups | Though the reward timing on the PetSafe Teach & Treat was much slower than the Treat&Train, the Teach & Treat is much quieter when dispensing treats and is a good option for sound-sensitive dogs. |
| Petcube Bites 2 Lite | $99.99 or $27.49 withh $9.99/ month subscription. | Holds up to 100 treats | If you’re regularly away from home and need to keep an eye on your pet, the Petcube Bites 2 Lite is an easy-to-use option. It connects to an app so you can see your pet while you’re gone and you can toss treats remotely, too. |
| Arf Pets Dog Treat Dispenser | $59.99 | 6 ounces | The Arf Pets Dog Treat Dispenser is best for teaching your dog to hit the button, then go to the dispenser to get a treat. although it’s more budget-friendly than other options on this list, it’s not as versatile. |
| Petgeek Automatic Dog Treat Dispenser | $58.99 | 6 ounces | This Petgeek model appears nearly identical to the Arf Pets model except for its logo and accent color. If you’re going for either of these options, buy whichever is on sale for less (or whichever color you prefer). |
Best Remote-Controlled Dog Treat Dispenser: Treat&Train Remote Dog Trainer
Created by the late renowned animal behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin, the Treat&Train is backed by Dr. Yin’s own research and multiple scientific studies on its efficacy. Though it was intended to be marketed towards the novice pet owner to help with house training, door manners, and other common behavioral issues, the Treat&Train has also been used in high levels of dog sports and behavioral modification as well.
The Treat&Train, like other remote reward devices, is introduced through classical conditioning, so dogs learn that the beeping sound means food is coming. It has a huge range of uses and easily had the best reward timing of the options we tested.
When you press the remote button, the tone goes off, the hopper moves and immediately dispenses a treat into the catch tray. The Treat&Train fits a large variety of food and comes with two different dispenser discs that can be swapped out based on the types of treats you’re using. The discs are easy to clean and can be put in the dishwasher.
The low-profile design of the Treat&Train means that dogs are less likely to knock it over, even if they get demanding and start pawing at the machine for treats (which occasionally happens in early training).
I tested the Treat&Train with my agility and rally clients, as well as with behavioral clients working on separation anxiety, demand barking, and door manners. Though the loud hopper noise startled some nervous dogs initially, this device was by far the most versatile and featured the best reward timing, which are arguably the two most important points to consider when purchasing a remote-controlled dog treat dispenser. I also love that it comes with a large library of instructional videos to help aid your training.
Best Remote Dog Treat Dispenser for Noise-Sensitive Dogs: Petsafe Teach & Treat
The Teach & Treat shines through quiet dispensing. While the hopper of the Treat&Train makes a fairly loud noise while it dispenses, the Teach & Treat is nearly silent. I utilized both devices during my client sessions, and for the nervous, sound-sensitive dogs, they warmed up faster to the Teach & Treat.
The Teach & Treat is also easy to fill and clean and holds a lot of food. However, this device has a longer delay between the marker tone and the actual dispensing of the reward (about 1.5 seconds). The hopper disc hole that allows treats to be dispensed is also a thin oval shape that doesn’t allow all shaped treats to fit through it, and the price is about $20 more than the Treat & Train.
Best Dog Camera Treat Dispenser: Petcube Bites 2 Lite
If you’d like to be able to keep an eye on your dog and occasionally reward them while you’re away from home, the Petcube Bites 2 Lite is a solid option. This dog treat camera connects quickly, offers a livestream of your dog, gives you phone notifications when a person or pet is in frame, and allows you to toss treats via the companion app on your phone.
The Petcube app is easy to use, though some useful features, like barking alerts, are behind a subscription paywall. Multiple treat sizes fit in this dispenser and it didn’t get jammed during testing. However, the “toss” feature is a bit inaccurate. To dispense treats, you drag a bone icon across your screen in the app. Sometimes the Bites 2 Lite launches 3-4 treats across the room, and sometimes it drops one single treat out of the dispenser hole, so it’s hard to be consistent.
This dispenser also tosses treats with a good amount of force, so an unsuspecting dog could get hit with a piece of food if standing too close. My Border Collie mix wasn’t a fan of the forceful tossing. However, my Collie, who loves to catch treats, simply stood in front of the dispenser and played a fun game of trying to catch oncoming treats in her mouth.
Best Dog Treat Dispensers for Indoor Exercise: Arf Pets Dog Treat Dispenser or Petgeek Automatic Dog Treat Dispenser
The Arf Pets Dog Treat Dispenser is a unique way to give your dog indoor enrichment and exercise, making it especially helpful in extremely hot or cold weather. The main purpose of this dispenser is to teach your dog to press a button, which makes a noise and then dispenses treats from the machine. My tester dogs had a lot of fun learning to press the buttons and running to get their reward.
I like that the machine is lightweight and can be plugged in if the batteries die or if you don’t have batteries to use. However, there were a few major downsides.
First, the opening on the internal hopper is small and hard to fill. While the opening size of the hopper that dispenses the treats can be adjusted, it was difficult to truly control the amount of treats being released. Even when using treats that were all the same size, sometimes the hopper released no treats and sometimes it released 10+. The inconsistency makes rewarding specific behaviors difficult.
The marker sound on this device comes on the button instead of the machine itself, which is useful for dogs when they’re pressing the button themselves but was too confusing when trying to use this machine for sports or behavioral remote rewarding. My tester dogs often targeted the sound of the button first, then went to the dispenser when the treats dropped.
Though it’s lightweight, this is also a downside. Many tester dogs easily knocked this dispenser over during testing.
The Arf Pets and Petgeek dispensers appear exactly the same, down to the included accessories. Although we couldn’t confirm it, these two products are likely white labelled and made by the same manufacturer. If you decide to buy one, we suggest purchasing whichever is on sale or cheaper at the time, since they’re otherwise identical to use.
