[Lizzie07]

I'm not exactly liking your vet very much. How many performance titles has he put on his dogs? When did he go to school and how much continuing education has he had in behavioral issues? How many dogs has he trained?

I do a LOT of reading about training, have agility titles on three dogs, and no where, not one place, in one publication or anything else have I heard of using "butt paper." I have heard of taking a rolled up newspaper and whacking your own head with it if you dog misbehaves and you don't catch him at it.

The only time you need to worry about treats causing a dog to become overweight is when you aren't smart enough to adjust their meals accordingly. I have to eyeball my dogs all the time to determine how much to feed them. It's a curse, frankly, that not only do I have to watch my own weight, I have to watch the weight of my six dogs as well, but I do probably over use treats.

You shouldn't have to treat a dog everytime he does something right. As a dog is learning something new, yes, you have to treat more frequently, but as he starts getting it, you vary the treats with praise, good praise, maybe along with a nice back scratch. Give the treats intermittently. Luring is fine to use if you are training something new, too, but as the dog learns the command, you shouldn't have to continue to lure.

The best training you can do, hands down, is positive training. It doesn't necessarily mean giving treats. If your dog loves toys, and isn't very treat motivated, use toys. If you want to work on the "Come" command, using a toy, tell the dog to come, (if he doesn't know the command, squeak the toy to lure him) and when he gets to you, give him the toy and play with him a little, along with giving lots of praise. If you're making it a training session, take the toy, wait for the dog to move away from you or go to another room, tell him to come and squeak the toy again. Again, give him the toy and have a little play session as you give lots of praise.

The key to positve based training is to make the dog believe that nothing is as fun or great as doing something for you. Don't punish or do something negative (be it a bath, nails or cleaning ears) after you give a command of any kind. Why would a dog come to you if he thought he would get punished or have something he didn't like happen to him? Dogs are way smarter than that. Always think about what you are expecting and if there is anything in it for the dog. Make being with you worthwhile.

When I train for agility, if I take my dogs out to the back yard to practice and they "blow" me off, usually my novice dogs, then the training session ends. Yes, it frustrates me, but if they can't play my way, they can't play. If I have to get them to take them in, I just go get them. I say nothing, I sure don't call them. The next time, if they do the same, again, we quit. If they don't want to do it, they aren't going to. I don't beg them to work with me. You'd be amazed at how fast they realize that the point in going out to where the agility equipment is located is to do agility and that its more fun to play with me than it is to sit in the house alone. If I have to put one dog up and have fun with another, then I get the another dog. What I won't do is reprimand a dog in any way. I want them to WANT to do something for me and enjoy being with me. That's MY reward.

Training is no fun if the dog isn't having fun. Supposedly our intelligence is greater than a dog's, so we should be able to figure out a way to get a dog to do something for us without punishment or threats, that is the basis for positive training. Make not doing it less rewarding than doing it, but don't punish, whatever it is you want a dog to do.