02/21/2020
A lot of times I’ll hear people say “I don’t want to use treats to get my dog to do something for me, I just want them to do it because I say or because they choose too” okay, but how do you get a dog to choose to do the right thing? You teach it first. you give them an incentive, a motivation, a reason. no matter how much I LOVE my job. if my boss came in one day and said hey Ariana I know how much you love your job so I’m not gonna be paying you for it anymore. do I have an incentive to wanna continue to go to work ? not really. no matter how much our dogs love us, care for us, want to please us they need an incentive to make the choice we want them to make. what is it that motivates your dog? Is it food, a toy, a walk, play, attention, praise and touch; whatever it is, you use that to pay your dog.
Traditional trainers will call food bribery. However when you understand how a dog thinks and how their brain actually reacts to food you may re-consider. did you know that food and even the anticipation of it releases the chemical dopamine in a dogs brain? Dopamine is that feel good chemical it’s the chemical that’s brings about happy and pleasurable feelings. well food does that for dogs...sometimes it does it for me to if I’m being honest 🙂 but for dogs this is crazy important! Food can actually override emotions that the dog is experiencing when presented at the right time or even presented to a very fearful but hungry dog it can change a dogs experience and perspective because it’s pleasurable to the dog.
So don’t be so quick to fade it out or knock it all together just because you don’t want your dog to be so “dependent” on it. As a dog owner/trainer it is ALWAYS our job to understand how are dog thinks and how they are feeling. WE are our dogs advocate, leader, teacher, and the most important thing is the bond you create between you and your dog. THIS is what makes positive training so important.
keep the positive training movement going!
