Civil Pooch - Positive Dog Training by John Buginas, San Francisco Bay Area

Positive reinforcement training is working with praise and rewards to reinforce the behavior you want your dog to do. We work to find what motivates your dog to do the things you want them to do. These rewards can include food, but may include anything else that your dog finds motivating. You have to be creative. Some motivators might be:

• Food
• Exciting food
• Tug games
• Activities, like taking a walk
• Playing with toys
• Sitting on your lap

We may also work with taking away things your dog likes as a way to reduce problem behavior. This may take the form of carefully planned 'time outs.'

It's also important to control access to things that motivate your dog. I do not recommend 'free feeding' and suggest that your dog be required to work for ALL food, toys or fun things.