Hubby and I are having a difference of opinion. He thinks I shouldn’t need to give the dogs treats every time I ask them to do something.
Example:
When dinner is ready, we put the dogs on their mats and go into the kitchen to prepare our plates. Tonight I brought Delilah in and lured her down with a carrot. I waited a minute, told her to “Stay” and went into the kitchen.
We were having my new favorite dinner (Nachos) and it took a bit longer than normal. Apparently it was too long for Delilah; she got up very quietly and came to sit at the edge of the kitchen.
I heard the slightest jingle of her collar and turned around and noticed her.
“Oh, it was too long for you sweetie,” I murmured with a slight chuckle.
As I walked back to her place with her, hubby said just loud enough for me to hear, “No she just wants to do it her way.”
Does he know how to piss me off, or what?
After dinner I was telling him about my friend Ann and her frustration with her new puppy and trying to get him to “Stay.” Someone watching Ann with her puppy made the following observation, “How dare you put him in a down and walk away.” In the puppy’s eyes he doesn’t know what Ann wants from him.
Which is why I put Delilah in a down and waited a minute before walking away.
Hubby then said, “I noticed you used a carrot to put her in her down tonight, you know you have to stop using treats with her at some point.”
I tried explaining that I don’t usually give her a treat when I’m putting them on their places, but his attitude is really frustrating me.
He’s not a real firm believer of the positive reinforcement school of dog training. I haven’t had time to finish reading my clicker training book, so I wanted to throw this out to blog land and ask you all for your thoughts and advice.
Have you disagreed with your spouse/significant other about the best way to train your dog? If you’ve encountered resistance, how have you handled it? If you use the positive dog training method how do you work it with your dog? Do you train every day? For how long?
I KNOW this is the method that will work best for training Delilah, I just need to figure out the best way to do this.
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