Training Question #1- training w/o treats

S

snkoyle15

Forums Enthusiast
k. so how do i do this? Gizmo will do sit, down, and roll over beautifully, as long as i have a treat ready for him. if i dont, he will sometimes still sit, but forget the down and roll over. Most of the time he just looks at me like "yeah i know what you want but i aint gunna listen!" and walks away. lol a lot like my 1.5 hr old daughter does:yes:. i'm wanting/needing to work the sit/down and stay with him, but i want to be able to train him without treats. we are also still having troubles with "come" unless we have a treat handy. i want to be able to give the commands and him do them without needing a treat. dont get me wrong, i have nothing against treats and will still give them sometimes, i just dont want to have to have them to get him to do what i want. anyone have any suggestions?
 
start pretending like you have a treat in your hand and ask them to do something, then after they do, feed from other hand. After doing it few times, put treats on the counter and ask for behavior right in front of it. then start leaving treats in different places around the house so dog does not know but can expect treats magically appear.
 
I was always taught to use multiple rewards so the treat isnt the end all be all. You can verbally reward and treat or pat and treat or pat and praise. I was also taught to quickly start weaning off the crutch so it doesn't become an integral part of the behavior. Once they get it, they maybe get the treat every other time, then one in three, then one in five, etc. By then the dog should also enjoy the other forms of reward, and when you aren't treating, should be offering praise or petting or tugging or whatever else is rewarding.. But ultimately praise is always easy to use anywhere, anytime.
 
I used treats to train basic commands, but now mine know that a command is a command. We intersperse treats erratically -- it works better that way. They ALWAYS get praised, but they don't always get goodies.

In Rally, Beckon doesn't get treats until he finishes a run. Then he gets LOADS of praise and a goodie. Result? I am proud to say that beckon is learning the Rally Advanced signs all off-leash. I have no idea how he learns it, because we never practice excpet in class once a week. It's like he thinks about it all week and then, seven days later, says, "Yeah. I get this." And all without treats until the run's end. Thank you, George Alston!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top