Have you ever asked yourself
whether or not using food is cheating when training your dog? If you have, then
I can promise you that you are not alone.
It’s something that many
people never actually get clear in their minds and yet it is one of the most
powerful topics to understand and also very simple to master!
What I am about to explain
in this article will almost certainly surprise you but also make total sense.
It will contradict some of the things that you have heard through the
grapevine, but getting tips from other dog owners at the park is not always the
best place to get your dog training advice
from. Once you have read
this I’m sure that both you and your dog will have a better understanding and
appreciation for each other.
Firstly, let’s look at the
comment that you should never use food to get your dog to respond to you
because your dog will then only listen to you if you have food in your hand.
This is simply not true.
Doggy Dan, the world famous
dog trainer from The Online DogTrainer,
tells me his dogs listen to him whether he has food or not, yet he trained them
all initially with food rewards.
If you would like to take a
look at Doggy Dan’s complete dog and puppy training site for $1 then you can
do.
Dan gives everyone a $1
trial of the site for 3 days! To get YOUR access now just CLICK HERE
The reason you can start by
using food is because once your dog has learnt to respond to your command
without thinking about it, you simply fade the food out gradually.
Fading the food out is such
an important concept, and is also referred to as using ‘random rewards’. In a
nutshell you simply start giving your dog the treat from inside your hand so
they can’t see it. Then you slowly start to reward only every 2nd and then
every 3rd time. Eventually you can space out the treats until they become random
rewards.
In a separate article I’ll
explain how to boost your results with the random rewards and leave your dog
totally focused and awaiting your next command without using up all your food
too fast! So look out for that one…
The second myth about using
food is this: dogs should just be happy to work for you without any food
rewards. I have heard this said and I have noticed that it’s nearly always said
by people who have not owned or trained many dogs or by people who are quite
happy to use a lot of force, fear and aggression in their training. In a way,
this approach was the “old school” way – that dogs should just be obedient or
else.
Well the way I see it is
this… How long would you work for nothing? Not long I am guessing! And for many
dogs that’s exactly how they see it.They get bored working so
hard with absolutely no reward in return.
Now not all dogs need food
treats, some dogs are just so happy to please and with them the rewards are
optional. However put very simply, dogs are all different. There are those
who’ll do anything you ask with a smile on their face, and those who are always
thinking about their next meal. With a dog who just wants to please there may
be no need to use food rewards once they have understood what you want.
On the
other hand, dogs who do not care for your pats, cuddles or their ball when they
are racing around the park playing with other dogs are the ones that will
seriously benefit from some very tactical food training.
By now you’re probably
thinking that you always end up giving your dogs food treats, but that couldn’t
be further from the truth! As I mentioned earlier when you understand how to
fade out your food treats and use a boost-effect to maximize the use of your
treats (which is another topic I’ll cover soon), you too will find your dog
responding to you lightening fast every time.
So next time you are out
with your dog feel free to use food as a reward when they do something good and
don’t worry about anybody telling you otherwise.
But also remember to start to
fading out the rewards over a long period of time. There is no rush though, and
we are talking months not days!
Eventually you may end up
only using the food rewards every 5th time, then every 20th time…
And by the way, if you’re
worried about them eating too much, simply take it out of their dinner so their
total amount eaten during the day stays the same.
Hopefully that helps clear a
few things up about the use of food. It’s always going to be the number one
reward for most dogs. Soon I’ll explain how to boost the effect of using food
rewards and also go into a little more about exactly which food treats will get
the best results.
Again I can promise you that
this simple trick will make you smile. Of course if you are wanting a total dog
training solution, reading about it can only get you so far. If you want to see
it all in action, with videos then I suggest that you check out Doggy Dans complete dog and puppy training website.
And remember, Dan gives you a $1 trial of the site for 3 days! To get YOUR
access now just CLICK HERE
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