Mike Schoonbrood said:
.............I don't see a problem with food, you can proof a dog that is weened off food and still use food during training, everything I do with my dogs should be fun or it's pointless for me to do. ......
That's my own goal: I want the dogs to love training and have fun. Treats, for me, enhance the marker at the beginning. (But for me, there's nothing wrong with treats, period. It's just that in the instruction phase, they're just solidly a part of that phase when I train.)
I do carry treats around ...... I like it when my dog is happy and pleased at pleasing me, and a treat just makes it more so.
When I say "treats are for the instruction phase," and "I then wean the dog off treats," I mean I *always* use treats for the instruction period, then I phase them out. I don't mean that I never give treats again after that. :lol:
Mike, your example of kind of re-doing ob. work is very interesting to me. It sounds like a positive/therapeutic way to change the whole experience for the better after a not-so-hot experience at first. It's a new idea to me, and my gut reaction is quite positive. I would like to hear more as it progresses, if you feel like it.
We all say (and have experienced) that dogs live in the moment, unlike us. What you're doing sounds like a nifty way to redo the whole ob thing.
When you say "bribe," that's not quite how I look at it. For me, bribe and reward are not synonyms.
Again, I really appreciate these thoughtful responses.