We do use positive reinforcement, in the form of praise, love, affection, whilst showing leadership not only will your training move ahead in leaps and bounds but your emotional bond and partnership with your canine friend will be growing stronger as each session progresses.
Usually when you hear "Positive Reinforcement" it is training while bribing your dog with treats, food or a toy. This is a method and does not work in real life situations. These real life situations are when there are distractions present in the form of a cat running by or another untrained dog running by on the beach and/or no treats to bribe them with. When our clients have been in this position in the past the need for food / treats goes up the beach with their new friend. Why would you want bribe your dog using treats when you can get them to listen to your voice and listen to you out of love and respect
We also train detection dogs and some of these dogs are trained on food but these dogs have a real addiction to food and will do anything including searching for a scent and sitting to get that reward. We will asses 10 dogs to get 2 of these dogs that are suitable for detection work the rest are simply not motivated by food so are rejected and placed into families |