Positive Reinforcement Training

Tip of the Day.

One problem with so called dog trainers is the information they put out seems to be as different as the people themselves. There is an old joke that the only thing two dog trainers can agree on is that the third guy is doing it wrong!

We need to apply some common sense in our training. Some trainers say no food reward, and some say it is ok. For me personally, I say go with what works! I do use food as a reward, but I tapper that food off as tricks are learned, and then apply the food reward to new tricks. We need to think of training our dogs like having an emotional bank account with them. Every time we use a negative reinforcement we are making a withdrawal from that account, and every time we use positive reinforcement we are making a deposit in that account. At the end of the day we want our account to be in the positive. So, food reward is a great way to avoid negative corrections. I can get a dog to lay down by pulling on the command collar after the dog does not respond to my command within one to two seconds, and they will go down. However, if I use food to lure the dog to the ground he still lays down and gets a treat at the end causing the dog to have a positive experience instead of the correction, and that is money in the bank!