A trainer has told us that under no circumstances give a dog treats as the dog will not be obeying the command for you, just the treat!!

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I do agree with that. We'v never used treats to train any of ours and we'v had no problems at all.

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

Well I did use treats for toilet training my puppy. She was eating it (yuk) so if she knew she was gonna get a treat she would just run straight over as it was obviously a better option and it seems to have worked.

I thought the advise was to use treats thats why I did I spose diff people do things different ways

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I use treats with training - its up to the individuel how to train your own dog.

Views vary on this i use treats ive always got raw carrot in my pocket no callories and tasty . Some like to train with praise and attention being the reward , simlar to the way the police train as an officer wont always have treat available so its rewarded by a favourite toy or ball , I guess at first it may be an idea to do the treats but then reward this way less often as the commands start to sink in then you can just use praise alone

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You could say the same about praise or play as treats, they are obeying the command because they want the praise or to play.

It doesn't matter what you use to reward them (treats, praise or play) so long as the dog see's it as a reward that's all that matters.

Some dogs are more responsive to a particular reward but that's not to say you can't use a different one, it might just take more effort to train them.

We train ours using a combination of all the rewards. It's good if you can do it just for praise or as well as both or one of the others because you can give them it anytime, anywhere. It's not always possible to have treats or a toy to hand!

I went to puppy shaping class and then to puppy foundations.
Puppy shaping is for pups as soon as they are vaccinated so they are very young, we used treats there, but when we got onto puppy foundations (pup was about 6 months then) we used toys and praise more than treats.

Still use treats for some things and just praise for others.

I think its all about finding the balance of what works for you and and your dog!

Many thx to you all for your advice!!
When we take our pup out for a run off the lead we dont have to use any treats, he is quite happy to sit and fetch his tennis ball and thats all we need, as long as we have a tennis ball he will obey!!
At home if he is being naughty and we want him in his crate it's sometimes easier to entice him with a treat, maybe carrot or apple!!
I think we will carry on with both treats and balls lol!!

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That sums it up perfectly!

I use treats, i clicker train using positive methods so it goes hand in hand. Whether the dog is obeying the command for the treat or for you is beside the point i think, as long as its doing what you've asked then thats the main thing, isn't it?

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