BY FRAN JEWELL
For many years, the use of food has been an accepted way to train dogs. Now, however, I am finding more and more people questioning this. I think it is GREAT to question tradition or new training methods and to be a critical thinker. I question things frequently, and I can be a “devil’s advocate” in a lot of situations.
I think the first thing to understand about dogs is that they are all pre-programmed to be opportunistic. As descendents of wolves, they will choose the easy path to get what they need or want. The wolf pack will choose the smallest, or weakest or sickest prey – not the biggest. With dogs, they will make choices to do what is easiest or most fun for them.
What this means is if a dog gets food freely at home – if food is left out for them all day – they are not going to work for it. If dogs receive love and petting freely – anytime they solicit a pet from you – they usually are not going to work for it. Dogs will work for things they value, whatever that is.
It is the rare dog that will work for you “because he loves you,” unless you do not give love freely all day long. This usually is not a possibility for most of us if our dogs live in our home with us, especially if we have children.
When training dogs, we must realize that they need a “paycheck” for the work they do, just like we expect a paycheck for the work we do. That paycheck depends on what motivates the dog and what we can CONTROL. If the dog has free access to the thing we want to use for a paycheck, the dog is going to take the easy route and take whatever that is without working for it.
Food becomes a very powerful paycheck for us in training because: 1. We can control food; 2. Food is a necessity for dogs; 3. Controlling food puts us in a leadership position with the dog, which is a very positive thing; and, 4. Food is easy for most people to control and deliver well with good timing.
There are lots of other things dogs value that work as paychecks; however, many of those take a lot of skill and excellent timing, which can take some determination to master.
Asking the dog to work for you because he loves you, unfortunately, is not always realistic. Yes, there are a few dogs that will do that, but when we understand dog behavior and that at the base of all this is their nature to be opportunistic, then we can begin to be more effective at building a relationship with our dogs. Canine opportunism can be a positive thing in training when we use it skillfully and to our advantage!
Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit www.positivepuppy.com or call 208-578-1565.