Praise only training

[Rott-n-GSDs]

I am not a "pro" dog trainer and I can grasp the concept of different consequences for different behavior. It's not that difficult. Humans are not robots, and neither are dogs. There isn't a "one size fits all" cookie cutter technique for everything.

Originally Posted by codmaster

On the other hand, your comment sounds like your solution to some bad behavior is just to avoid the situation/temptation - is that true or did I misinterpret your suggestion of "Don't leave any food out"?

So if I follow this approach, if my dog guards his food, I don't let anyone or other dog around him; if he barks at strangers, don't let any strangers around him; if he won't come when called, don't call him, etc. etc. etc. Or have I misunderstood what you said when you said, if the dog counter surfs, don't correct him; just don't leave any food or anything the dog likes on the counter?

Again, this is absolutely ridiculous thinking and you're taking it to the extreme. I would guess you are intelligent enough to know that and are simply being sarcastic and purposefully "over the top" in your answer. Either that, or no matter what undesirable behavior your dog offers, you crank the heck out of him. To each their own, I guess.

IMO and IME, the best way to train is to avoid setting your dog up to fail. If he barks at strangers, start small and don't bombard him with strangers, work in a low distraction area with a single stranger rather than a giant crowd of people. If he doesn't know proper recall, don't expect him to come when he calls, but instead teach him to come and reward him for doing so in a controlled environment before expecting him to come in a distracting one.

But, yes, don't leave food on the counter for a counter surfing dog to find. If the dog jumps up on the counter, eats the food and THEN you correct him, he still got to eat the food. He got what he wanted in the first place, so what you're teaching him is to eat the food quickly before you get there. The fact that he gets corrected doesn't matter, because the reward already occurred.

But I suspect that any of what I say is going to be disregarded by you, because you obviously are set in your own training methods and everyone else's are wrong... and that's just fine. Personally, I'm still a "newbie" to the training world and am soaking up and learning as much as I possibly can. I'm just relating what worked for me, for friends' dogs I've worked with, and what makes the most sense to me.

Originally Posted by RocketDog

MHO, which is probably not worth much here, but...there are different ways of training, just as there are different ways of correcting. Most of them have their time and place. What works for one behavior may not work for another. But whichever method is chosen, it must be used with fairness, consistency and probably most importantly, with belief behind it.

Actually, it's worth a lot. Great post.