Treats.. how did I ever get by without them?!

[Swiftwind]

I hardly ever, ever use treats when training my dogs (maybe that's why it took Abby over 3 years to learn to pee & poo outside?).

I've been trying to teach Abby to drop her toys and was having only a little luck. Tonight I suddenly remembered food is a good motivator (how did I ever not think of this!). She learnt 'drop' in less than a second! I was actually amazed - she caught on very quickly. What was funny was that when I told her to "drop" she would actually drop her toy and drop to the ground (lying up.. you know, sphinx pose). Afterwards, the 'drop' command also worked wonders without the use of food, which I'm happy about.

Now this opens up a whole new door as to what I can teach my little peabrain.. it's quite exciting!

[Rivsky]

LOL - it's great when a dog realises there's something in it for them when training!!!

At dog school someone was having a disagreement with the trainer about using food to motivate their dog (you know one of those "the dog should do it because I want them to" kind of situations) and some brilliant person came out with "well would you go to work for free?" I love that because it's so true!

Looks like you and Harley are going to have some fun treat training now!