Training without treats..

[Dujoiedevie]

The best reward for your dog is your acceptance. Your voice, your smile, your touch. Be strict, be fair.

I tried to train my youngest female with treats. She did well as long as the food was there. I tried corections, she gave me and it din't work. I tried basically every reward first, except myself.

Then I had training with packdrive. Me and she came as one. Now she obeys willingly, enjoys it and I enjoy it, too!

Result:

And thats without any tricks or treats, just packdrive!

Jenni

[Trixybird]

Brilliant, keep up the good work Jenni x

[MazY]

Originally Posted by Dujoiedevie

And that's without any tricks or treats, just packdrive!

That's very interesting indeed. I made a conscious effort about a week ago to spend time with Blondi (GSD) on the floor, at her height, for at least twenty minutes each evening. During that time, she can't do anything wrong, and can't be reprimanded. It's pure out and out bonding time. If she wants' to muck about during that time, so be it.

I can hand on heart say that I'm really starting to reap the rewards now. Her attention towards me has improved incredibly, and that, in turn, helps in other areas too, such as walking, where over the last couple of days, she's been much (and I mean much) more focused on me.

I'd be really interested to hear more about this.

[Moobli]

I made the mistake of training my GSD solely with treats. She was great when I had food but when I didn't she just lost interest completely. I won't ever train with treats again. My collie has been trained by my voice, with toys, play time, touch and his favourite thing ... herding sheep

[zero]

both mine arn't really food orientated outside of the house so we can't rely on treats. The best thing I like to see is when I am beaming and really proud cuz they are doing something well you can see that they get proud too and really happy and I love that

[Moopink]

Aston is my first dog,and I wanted to train him to the best of my ability,so when he was younger we took him to obedience classes,and the ones that I went to were all treat based training and I found it pointless,he would only listen if I had a treat.

Now I try not to use treats ALL of the time,but it's still difficult as he has it in his head that he will get a treat.
I must admit that he is getting better now and does listen to me most of the time,but when we are outside that is another matter altogether!!!

[teenytiny]

Within the last few days I have changed my attitude to training. I have been training my pup to do his business in the garden and if he does so...he gets a treat...NOT anymore! What made me change my mind...well he expected the treat everytime and was squeezing tiny amounts of wee out and then sitting waiting for that treat!!

Now, I just praise him and give him a really good stroke. It is working and by the looks of it, he enjoys it more than the treats i was giving him

He does still get treats but he now gets them when he's been excellent at play and listens to my commands, for instance if he nips and i tell him NO if he stops he gets a treat.

[Zetacharlie]

I had to wean my dog off food treats as the KC Silver and Gold Good Citizen Obedience exams dont allow them. I do use them for recall if required but dont need them as much these days

[Minihaha]

Originally Posted by whimsey

Just wonder if anyone in here can mention 10 ways to reward their dog without giving treats (food)

Why would you want to, treats work well for those who use them correctly so why not use them ? Many dogs are not toy orientated. If training without treats works for you that's fine.

The best reward for your dog is your acceptance. Your voice, your smile, your touch. Be strict, be fair.

If you are training a puppy it knows little of acceptance, this has to be learnt. Once a puppy has learnt to listen and pay attention with treats the other things follow.

Treats should not be used indiscriminately, I have seen doing this described as being like a one armed bandit that pays out every time. You give treats to a puppy to encourage it to do that which you wish it to do and once you have achieved this objective you treat only occasional or for an extra fast response , then not at all, use praise only.

He does still get treats but he now gets them when he's been excellent at play and listens to my commands, for instance if he nips and i tell him NO if he stops he gets a treat.

I would not use treats to stop a puppy biting I would teach it bite inhibition instead