Getting Dog Behavioural Advice

Reward Training

This is one of the most popular types of dog training at present, and works through rewarding your dig with a tasty treat whenever he does something he is supposed to. This is usually coupled with praise and fuss, enabling your dog to associate that particular action with goodies and lots of love from his owner. It works in the same way as aversion therapy, but the other way around. With aversion therapy, humans are trained to associate something they should not do with something bad, hence this is supposed to discourage them from doing it again. Reward training will teach your dog to associate something he should do with something good, hence encouraging him to continue to do it.

Some people can make this type of training ineffective by giving their pets treats at inappropriate times rather than just throughout training. This will make your dog think that treats will come his way whatever happens, rather than when he has done something good. Some people are not too keen on this method of training because the dog is clearly reacting to the prospect of a treat rather than out of respect for his owner.

One thing to remember about reward training is that it is just that – reward training and not punishment training. You should never smack or shout at your dog for not doing something you want him to do,’ simply reward him when he does do it and remember to give him lots of praise.