YouthPastor said:
We use treats for advanced training - agility, K9 Good citizen etc...
But for basic obedience - we do not. The main reason is that Dogs understand a pecking order. That has never been "taken out" of their physique. Someone has to be the Boss.
We use positve and negative reinforcement. If the Dog does what it is asked to do - it gets praised/petted. If the dog does not do what it is asked - it gets corrected (and praised.. ie tell it to sit - it does not - you make it sit and then praise it).
In addition, using treats "can" result in you needing to carry treats with you. What if your dog does not want the treat? What if your dog is running toward the road and it does not want a snack?
There are a couple other training facilities in are area that do use food - there is a big difference.
let me say though that some dogs do fine using treats.
so with basic obedience - the dog obeys because it understands who the alpha dog is - but also - because of the positive and negative reinforcement.
With agressive dogs - many vets and the other dog training schools will send them to us. He has yet to have an agressive dog that if the owners will be firm and consistent, that has had to be put down.
In no way do we ever hurt ot hit the dogs.
I guess we have a different philosophy on training dogs--nothing wrong with that! I get good results in basic obedience by using a treat to lure the dog into a sit or down, the dog gets the treat and praise. When the dog understands the command, I start using less treats--maybe a treat every other time, then every 5 times. Correction occurs only when the dog understands the command, and chooses to disobey. I've never had a problem with the dog understanding who is boss; we start establishing that from day 1 with NILIF. The dog must earn everything it gets. We don't feed the dogs without putting them in a down-stay first. They don't get petted until they sit.
When I'm training, I carry a "bait bag." I don't mind doing so. If I have a dog who isn't food motivated--my GSD sometimes isn't--I use something else; a toy, or play time, as a reward. We haven't had a problem with the dog running to the road and not coming back, because we train a solid recall. Maybe we've just been lucky, or the dog hasn't been that motivated to keep running. But I have always been able to call the dogs to me. The few times they've slipped out the door or the gate, I've always been able to call them back. They are never let off leash until that recall is solid. We teach the recall by teaching them that being with us is the greatest thing in the world. They are never corrected when they come to us. They are given treats and praise. We teach the recall with treats--reeling in the leash, till they're in front of us, and then treats and praise. And then gradually, removing the treats. But they are always praised and loved on when they return. Both dogs will do anything to hear us say, "Good Dog!"--the treat is a bonus.
Our Airedale mix was adopted from the shelter as a 15 month old, completely untrained, utterly wild dog. He was housebroken--that was the extent of his training. Using treats really helped, especially with the Airedale mix. He is food motivated, so using the treat helped him focus on us, rather than on the dog next to us, or the bird overhead, or the leaf blowing across the ground. Our GSD (a rescue) wasn't even housebroken at 10 months old. He is a very "soft" dog--a verbal correction "Ah-Ah!" will stop him in his tracks. A collar correction, when we first got him, made him shut down. Using treats helped him learn that a correction wasn't the end of the world. He works far better with all positive reinforcement, and very little correction. The Airedale mix is a "harder" dog, and takes hard correction better, and sometimes he needs it! He has the terrier's independant nature.
I am not a professional trainer at all. I'm learning as I go. And I'm not posting this as a criticism of your methods! I'm just finding that I have 2 very different dogs, who respond to training differently, and what worked well for one, didn't for the other. (And the Harrier I used to have was a different dog yet!)
