[Hallowell12]

I have done the puppy kindergarten for Zoe( 5 months) using treats and positive reinforcement. She listens very well..but still needs some work on a few things such as "come".
My husband has now taken an interest in training and does not believe in using treats. He had a golden 20 years ago that he trained.
I would appreciate any advice!

 

[Sunrise]

FWIW: 20 years is a long time. I have been training goldens for longer than that and my methods and thoughts have changed substantially.

Training with treats and toys gets the dog wanting to work with you and makes it very, very hard to cause the dog to become afraid of you. If your husband chooses to train with correction, have him recollect that dogs did not start training until they were at least 6 months old back in the day. If he is just opposed to treats, what about tug? Tag games etc? These can be used very successfully in place of treats.

Treats and toys are(should be) faded very quickly to being rewards, and can be replaced with rough em up games if you husband really dislikes rewarding with food or toys.

Please be aware that your dog will also be entering an independent phase where her recall will probably disappear under distracting circumstances. This is part of puppyhood, and a well motivated dog will quickly get over the need for speed and/or selective hearing when that critter runs by or that neighbor is grilling steak.

 

[Hallowell12]

thanks!

Thank you!
We really want to be on the same page for training.
Tug is okay? I know they love it .
Susan

 

[Jige]

I use alot of praise when I train. I am not opposed to using treats I just hate to have them around everytime I work my dogs. I find that praise and lovin gets the same results.

 

[Sweet Girl]

What about looking into clicker training?

 

[Stretchdrive]

Training has evolved a lot in the past 20 years. When I look back to how I trained my first dog(a rescue GSD) 15 years ago, vs the methods I know now, it is amazing. Sadly many pet dog training courses either go totally positive, or are correction based, neither of which is balanced. I use toys, treats, praise, and play without props in my training these days I have gotten great results. Training is a continuting education thing, we need to keep learning, and trying new things. Dogs wanna have a good time, just like people do, so I say stick with your guns on the toys and treats thing.

 

[Sweet Girl]

I use alot of praise when I train. I am not opposed to using treats I just hate to have them around everytime I work my dogs. I find that praise and lovin gets the same results.

I was sort of the same way. I used treats in classes, but once we were on our own, I often used big praise and love over treats, too, for the same reason. (Though I endured the requisite first few months of pockets full of kibble). I found that extreme consistency, and throwing small parties at every success, worked really well.

 

[Megora]

I''m with Stretchdrive... prefer to use a mixture of things. Including treats.

I do use corrections in our training... but I prefer a balanced approach, which mainly uses positive methods (treats, play, praise) to work with a learning dog.

 

[Ranger]

I do a mixture of praise, treats, and play...but with recall, I ALWAYS reward with a high value treat. Ranger for the most part isn't interested in praise. Play is usually a little 'meh' and even boring cookies don't do much for him. Recall has always been his achilles heel as he is a definite bolter once off leash. So, to reinforce the habit of ALWAYS coming to me when I call out his recall command...there's always something tasty and better than what he's doing. Recall treats are usually sardines, wet dog food, or his nirvana: canned green tripe.

Anything else I can teach either with praise or play...but I don't chance it on recall.