Weaning off of the Toy or Food in Obedience - Page 4

Rather than weaning the dog off a toy I would prefer not to start training with the toy in view. I look for the behaviour in the dog, mark the behaviour, then produce the reward. Teaching heeling by placing the reward under your arm is bribery, you are teaching focus on the toy, not on the person. The dog is confused when you then change the rules, now you are punishing the dog for the behaviour you encouraged in the first place. I know a lot of people train this way and with good results but I would rather reward the dog for the proper behaviour from the start, no need to bribe, confuse, or punish the dog for behaviour I taught it to do in the first place.

Blitzen, I will send you a PM

Markobytes, I hope you don't mind my sending you a PM. I'd really love to hear more about starting a dog without reward in view. 

Many times I posted on this forum .       Many times people come here for  " how to  " advice. My biggest concern is that there is no : how to " ... , no methodologies suited for every dog / person. There lies understanding about who and what the gs is , how it learns , and how we should teach and interact with it. Many posts have merit but many... MANY , ....  miss the mark regarding teaching , interacting and living with your gs .

    My previous post was a QT way of giving insight... but , I have the feeling many still don't understand. Shouldn't matter if an article is in sight , out of sight ,. non existing  !!!!   Case in point... some dogs work to posses .. some dogs it is the act of possessing ... different needs for different dogs.  So , your relationship , yourself , your dog , all determines how you interact and perform.   How can I get through to you all ... Dogs don't need rewards ... they need .. what they need to live life , to survive , to fullfill needs. There is a qualatiative and quantative  DIFFERENCE  comparing Reward verses supplying the resources , the NEEDS of the dog. Needs ,  which underly Motivations , determined by genetics ... can be physical , emotional etc etc.  One aspect I alluded to was the genetic make up of your dog. I here is a link with articles to help you grow in consideration understanding your gs , starting with , who your dog is , the genetic make up .  I often would tell helpers , decoys ... if you do not understand the dog... you have no business train ing it . Ditto for owners ... by not understanding your dog , setting your relationship ... then how in the world do you hope to teach it.  Link  :   http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/genetics-is-everything/

Principles  translate to all sport , training , teaching etc ... Good Luck ... And do find someone in your area , if you can , that really really knows what they are doing..

 BTW... you touched an object - it's out of sight , YA??? .. now it is out of sight before you interact with the dog ..RIGGGGHT........ so, did you ever stop to think : you have the article scent on your hand ..,. foolishnes...        you mean to say ... the dog doesn't smell the article scent on your hand?? HUH .. did you people ever track your dog ...        oh .... no shoes on the track , yet you expect the dog to track the footsteps left by ones shoes, ??? GEE ... people as I wrote, give me a break with all your foolishness and lack of understanding. Shoes aren't there , yet the dog knows they were there.

     If you like , take some time , please visit the link ...