Everybody needs motivation to learn, get things done, and sometimes, just to get out of bed in the morning. Our dogs are no different. Teaching them new behaviors or to maintain ones they’ve learned, in other words to listen to us, requires motivation. We at Love Wags a Tail dog training believe in motivating dogs through food. Not treats. Food. Good food that gets us noticed and gets our dogs and our client dogs to work for us. Reward based motivation creates a pet who will not only do as we ask, but will offer behaviors in hopes of getting that delicious reinforcement we train with.
I was training one of my client dogs in the front yard the other day. I had a bait pouch full of freshly baked training food, akin to tuna fudge but I used canned dog food as the meat source instead of tuna. A neighbor walked by with her two dogs, an old Greyhound and a year-old Golden Retriever. As we talked, it was apparent the Labrador I was training and the neighbor’s Golden Retriever wanted to play. So I opened the gate and let the Golden inside, so the two pups could enjoy some wrestling.
During this time, I asked the owner of the Golden if I could give the dog some of my dog training food. The answer was yes, so I asked both dogs to sit, and gave them training food as their reward. I also offered some to the Greyhound, who was waiting patiently outside the fence. He’s not a social butterfly, so was more comfortable watching than participating in playtime. But shortly after I gave the food out, my neighbor’s Golden was my best friend and followed me around the yard asking for more by flinging his paws on my shoulders! Hello doggy!
A week or so went by, and the neighbor walked by again. When the Golden and Greyhound saw me opening the fence to drive to town, though up the street, they came running towards me. They weren’t on leash. After a brief hello, and to check if I had any of that good training food, they barged into my yard to have a romp around. There were no other dogs around, so the Greyhound had a pee or two on selected objects while the Golden went to a spot I’d had an Easter tuna fudge hunt for the dogs days previously. There were select few morsels left, but he was out to find them.
That is motivation. The Golden and Grey enjoyed their first visit to the Love Wags A Tail homestead, and when they saw me, took off running away from their owner, who had been calling them back to no avail. They’d probably hoped to get some more of that delicious training food, but found out I wasn’t stocked, and took off to their second motivation, the yard itself, which was full of dog and training food smells. They were doing what any of us do, choosing to behave via our favored motivations. That’s the bottom line to dog training. Motivation equals behavior.
To send your dog to the Love Wags A Tail humane boot camp board-and-train dog training program, for motivational learning with our cast of characters, contact us with your dog training, behavior modification wish list for more information.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for south Florida, Broward, Fort Lauderdale, Lee county
