Did you know many dog breeds can pick up on training tactics pretty quickly? It’s true. In the past we were conditioned to show our dog’s what to do by using treats. The idea was that they would learn with positive reinforcement like praise and a treat whenever a correct action is taken.
Today, dogs are shifting to more companionship roles and becoming integral members of the family, so there is an argument that some of these older tactics could be becoming outdated. Instead using science backed ideas like non-treat based reinforcement and rewards to help your dog learn the correct actions.
One recent report in the Science section of TIME looks at how new tactics like early socialization, enrichment tools and better understanding your dog are changing relationships and training methods. Knowing their needs can help correct negative actions. An example is a dog that is whining all the time. Instead of looking for a negative way to try and scold them into removing this trait, stopping to find out the source of their whining and what you can do to help stop the possible discomfort causing them to make this noise.
New toys and other reward systems that get dogs to engage and test their abilities to complete a task are also gaining in popularity. Kibble in a bowl with a maze, or with flip boxes that reveal a treat after doing the work to get to it and locate it helps train dogs in new ways.
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