Why using treats in training Border Collies?

May 24, 2021
border collie treat training

I know that there are a lot of trainers out there that don’t want to use treats and say ” I don’t believe in it” like it has anything to do with faith and nothing to do with science.

They think that using treats will make your dog wanting treats and not learning to do things for you, like dogs are brainless robots that will only see the treat without learning the behaviour they are performing for.

They are afraid that the dogs will get fat, because they probably tried and their training didn’t work even after bags and bags of poor quality treats.

They have theories of the dog being a wolf, wanting to be leaders and the dog will follow, not knowing that dogs don’t originates from wolfs.

The reality is they don’t know how reinforcement works. They don’t know the science behind it. They have no clue how to remove a reward after using it and never heard about reinforcement schedules.

I use treats, with my dog and with my cats and I’m proud of being that type of trainer as I know it works, I can show you on my own dogs.

I would never teach you something that I can’t do with my own dog first, without the presence of a treat in my hand!

I don’t normally write about other trainers but I felt some clarification was needed, since I have seen so much wrong recently that scares me.

For good quality treats, follow this link and register to become a Waggy on Your Dogs Club website using this code for a 15% off YDC108

Martina Miradoli Border Coolie Expert Dog trainer

Hello, my name is Martina Miradoli and I specialise in training Border Collies.

I’ve owned Border Collies for many years and have trained them, along with other herding breeds in every sport and activity available.

This has allowed me to gain invaluable experience and an understanding of these unique dogs and the behavioural challenges that we may have to face as owners. 

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