Reward Dog Training

Reward dog training allows you to control your dog's behaviors by controlling his most desired resources, including food, affection, toys, freedom, play, access to people, access to other dogs, and much more.

For reward dog training to work well, you must first identify what your dog likes. Then, you encourage desired behaviors by giving him a reward (positive reinforcement), or discourage undesired behaviors by taking away a reward (negative punishment).

Some common myths about reward dog training -

1. Reward dog training does not work with dominant, stubborn, or aggressive dogs. My Shiba Inu is all of those things and reward dog training worked much better on him than aversive dog training. Aversive training just made him more aggressive.
2. Using food in dog training is just bribery because the dog should be doing the command for me. This is just silly. Dogs, like us, are motivated by a variety of things. Some of them are more food motivated, while others are more people motivated. We should use the rewards that are appropriate for our dog. Note that with aversive dog training the dog is not doing commands just for the human either, but rather to avoid the aversive stimulus or punishment.
3. Reward dog training does not show my dog that I am the boss or pack leader. The truth is, reward dog training allows you to become a better pack leader than aversive training. In fact, alpha wolves primarily control their members by controlling the pack's resources - which is basically reward dog training.

Helps to build a relationship based on trust.

One of the biggest advantage of reward dog training, is that there is little danger of losing your dog's trust; even if you make many dog training mistakes. If you do not do dog obedience training for a living, you may not always execute your dog training methods perfectly or even close to perfectly.

Many mistakes will be made while you learn how to effectively train your dog.

If you are using reward dog training, a mistake may get your dog a bit confused as to why he is getting a reward. A string of continuous mistakes may inadvertently encourage unwanted behaviors, such as jumping, but that is about as bad as it gets.

Aversive dog training, on the other hand, can very easily cause loss of trust. It may even lead to aggression.

In fact this University of Pennsylvania 2009 study shows that 1 in every 4 dogs that are trained with aversive methods exhibits aggression during training.

"... 25 percent of dogs trained with “aversive” techniques react to their training with an aggressive response of their own. Dogs trained in a more positive, encouraging manner, by contrast, showed almost no aggressive behavior."

Will not damage your dog either physically or mentally.

With reward dog training, the worst that happens to your dog is the removal of a reward. He may look at you cross eyed but he won't go home with a hurt trachea or other bodily harm. In contrast, this type of physical damage can occur when certain aversive methods are not implemented properly.

Note that prolonged use of choke collars may cause harm to your dog even when the collar is fitted and used properly.

Helps to create a dog that is happy and eager to work.

When you only use reward dog training, your dog will be eager to work because work time means reward time.

Aversive dog training, on the other hand, may decrease your dog's interest in working. Your dog may decide to just lie around and sleep because it is safe and comfortable to do so.

Leash training or dog training is not much fun and very stressful because he keep receiving physical corrections even when he does not understand what is required of him.

May not always solicit a prompt response to your commands.

For most dogs, a reward may not be as strong a motivator as an aversive stimulus (e.g. leash jerk, slap on the muzzle, alpha roll). Some dogs may dislike an aversive stimulus to such an extent that they fear it.

Fear is one of the strongest motivators for dogs and most dogs will respond more consistently and more promptly to it compared to a reward.

Consistent and prompt response to commands becomes important when your dog is involved in a life or death situation, for example when he is running into traffic.

May sometimes require creativity to out-think your dog.

With reward dog training, you may need to get creative and come up with your own obedience training methods. This is especially true when you are trying to stop bad behaviors such as jumping, leash biting, or biting.

While there are many reward methods for stopping these behaviors, they may not always work with your dog. I.e. your dog may decide that the reward from the bad behavior outweighs your offered reward. As a result you may need to experiment with a variety of methods and reward systems before finding one that works well.

In contrast, fear is more universal as a strategy. The same aversive method, for example the leash jerk, can be applied to a wide variety of situations.

May require that you bring along some food or toys when on walks and outings.

Remember though that dogs do not care about the monetary cost of a reward. Many dogs consider sticks, pine cones, and leaves to be quite exciting and awesome. If you find yourself in a situation where you need a quick reward, some may be readily available in the trees and bushes around you.

It is sometimes possible and very desirable to use the dogs and people you meet during walks as rewards for your dog. For example, if he doesn't jump, he gets to go up and meet the new person. Once he starts jumping move him back, do a sit, and restart the greeting.

As your dog training lessons progress, you can begin to phase out the food rewards. Be careful to phase the rewards out slowly so that your dog stays motivated.

May cause your dog to gain weight.

Obesity can sometimes become a problem if you give your dog too many dog treats.

This issue can be easily resolved by using part of his regular meals as training rewards, using smaller sized treats, and switching to low calorie food and treats.

I started out with aversive dog training but now I only use reward dog training because aversive methods made my Shiba Inu develop even more behavioral issues including aggression.

In my opinion, it is much better to start with reward dog training because it is safer, builds a stronger bond with your dog, and is easier to implement without adverse side effects. Reward dog training takes a bit more time, and may not be as visceral as aversive dog training, but it is more comfortable, fun, and effective way for dogs to learn.

Reward dog training is just better dog kung fu!