Alpha Training vs. Treat Training
Alpha Training vs. Treat Training
Dogs are pack animals by nature and by God's design. In every dog pack, there must be an alpha leader. You become a member of the pack as soon as you bring your dog home. If you do not become the alpha leader of the pack, your dog, by nature, feels obligated to take on this role. This can result in various unwanted behavioral problems.
The alpha leadership role is obtained by developing mutual trust & respect and through effective communication with your dog. Learning to "speak dog" is the first step in developing mutual trust & respect. If your dog doesn't clearly understand your expectations and if he doesn't trust & respect you, he will challenge your alpha status. Remember that every moment you spend with your dog you are training him!
If you are treat-training your dog, he learns very quickly to manipulate you to get what he wants - food. He is not willingly performing obedience exercises for you - he is working only for the food. In essence, you are nothing more than a "pez dispenser" to him. No one, not even a dog, respects or trusts someone they can manipulate or push around.
Sadly enough, treat-training is one of the most common methods used by those who know little or nothing about real canine behavior. Why do they do it? Because it's easy to get a dog to learn a few simple tricks for a food reward - so easy in fact, even a young child can do it. That's how chain pet stores have their "trainers" teach your dog - they hire someone who may have little or no experience in canine behavior, give them a couple weeks of training, then turn them loose to essentially mold your dog's lifetime character, personality & behavior. The majority (at least 90%!!) of problem behavior cases we see involve dogs who were trained using treats. If you train using our leadership principles & consistently follow through, your dog will most likely never develop a problem behavior!!
Alpha is always humane, patient, fair & trustworthy. Alpha is always clear in their expectations and never holds a grudge. Effective communication & proper timing are essential in developing the trust & respect necessary in building the human-animal bond you desire with your dog. Trust Alpha K9 to show you how!