hello dog lovers my name is Saro and in
this episode I'm going to explain what
motivates dogs in general what kind of
motivation works with dogs you may say
of course treats but I'm going to try to
change your mind and prove you wrong by
the end of this video if it's your first
time here make sure to subscribe to my
channel so you won't miss quality
content like this in future in my last
video I talked about what motivates dogs
and I said you are the one who motivates
your dog so in this video I'm going to
go a little bit deeper on this subject I
wanted to do this video for a long time
but I couldn't because of few reasons
one of the reasons it was because many
people and many dog owners are too
attached to the idea of training their
dogs with treats it's like drinking water
it's a normal thing I want you to open
your mind and think outside of the box
but let me give you a personal story
that it will explain why I started this
journey of dog training about how to
train them without using treats tools
force or domination
it all started 16 years ago when I
brought home Jonah the beagle
my first dog at 9 weeks old I
took few weeks off from my work to look
after him and take care of him I didn't
realize that those few weeks that I took
off work will become the most important
and significant weeks of our lives which
also it changed my life during this time
I spent a good quality time with Jonah I
learned a lot about him and he learned a
lot about me
I also learned that he was trying to
connect with me he was trying to bond
with me I was being
his mentor and I started to accept him
as my son also attended puppy training
classes where we were supposed to use
treats to train our dogs unfortunately
Jonah didn't respond to treats he
didn't care about treats he was not
motivated with treats he was focused and
interested in other dogs other people in
playing with other dogs in interacting
with people so my homework by the dog
trainer then was to go home and find
what motivated my dog my homework wasn't
to practice on a command or behavior it
was to find what would get my dog to
focus on me I had to find a food or
treat that will make Jonah to focus on
me I was very successful at home when I
was playing with him I even managed to
teach him some commands and also tricks
that made me wonder why wasn't I
successful in the classes with Jonah was
I a bad dog owner was I a failure was
Jonah and lemon what was wrong with I
then I realized that it wasn't only me
or Jonah that were not focused I
actually noticed that everybody in the
class including dog owners and the
puppies were not focused I'll have a
separate video about why I don't suggest
to attend group puppy classes so I
started to explore what motivated dogs
that's how my journey to dog training
and dog psychology started Jonah was
motivated by me spending time with him
caring for him focusing on him playing
with him valuing what he meant to me and
what I meant to him and also what I
was asking him to do was not forced to
him and also it wasn't something that
out of ordinary or impossible to do he
didn't give much value to food but you
may say that was Jonah not all dogs are
like that more
on that in few minutes during the time
that I was off I focused on Jonah I
noticed that Jonah was motivated by play
or praise or both when I played with him
it was the best thing that happened to
in those moments that I played with him
he was in heaven those moments became
minutes those minutes became hours and
after hours of repetitions
he became better and better which
resulted in a dog that he was connected
to me mentally spiritually and
emotionally those two things play and
praise directed me to engage with him
those two made me to interact with him
he actually loved that I was interacting
with him it was pure it had no package
attached to it purely coming from my
heart to his heart I didn't have to
invest in any tool or technique I just
had to invest in us in our relationship
in our connection and just spend time
with him and repeat so the reason dogs
in general are motivated by play and
praise is because you're investing time
with them that's what I call quality
time not many people do that they don't
focus on them they focus on their phone
or digital environment that they are
you're also focused on materials not
emotion most people most dog owners are
focused on what kind of food to use what
sizes of food to use what brand should
you choose so I want you to understand
and get excited about the idea that dogs
are not food motivated you're looking at
this idea from completely different
point of view you'll even determine how
your dog is going to behave before you
even give your dog a chance to prove you
wrong I'll give you an example for
instance currently we know that exercise
is not the only way of losing
weight there are so many other things
there are factors in getting results we
can't say that only by moving your body
you will lose weight we know that 80% of
results come from nutrition what you eat
and what you put in your system and the
rest depends on exercise so in dog
training you can't just look at it from
one way there are so many ways these
days and this is another new way of
looking at dog training so let's say
dogs are food motivated but I have
worked with thousands of dogs and I
have come across many many many dogs who
are not food motivated so there are two
types of dogs those who are food
motivated and those who are not good
motivated so let's start first with
those dogs who are not food motivated
that's easy
probably they are motivated by play or
praise or both and if a dog is food
motivated then that means that that dog
it gives food and tremendous importance
so do we need to use food for that dog is
it psychologically fair to taunt that dog
with food like saying if you work for me
I'll pay your salary
many dog trainers use that terminology
and we all know what happens when we
work for a salary or work for somebody
we don't really give our hundred percent
it's a job after all
but think of it this way what happens
when you do what you love you give your
hundred percent and love what you do no
matter if you get paid for it or not
tell me do you love what you do I love
what I do I don't feel I have a job I
feel like I have a passion and I get
paid for it you also need to make your
dog to feel like it has a passion for
you and love doing things for you
whether it gets treats or not not
because it is forced to do something for
you or your dog gets something out of it
training dogs is more than just teaching
them to sit and stay it should mean
trust me bond with me
be part of my life be one with me so
think about it do you think that you
need treats to train your dog try to
look at it from different point of view
using treats may look like you're
getting results but think of the
negative consequences that you're
projecting in your relationship focus on
the big picture the long-term result the
relationship that you're building with
your dog and all the packages that
comes with that which includes not what
you want to see or have at the moment
treats give you what you want but not
what you really need you need to think
of it in a long-term relationship this
is not the last video that I'm going to
talk about this topic so make sure to
subscribe to my channel so you won't
miss the future content do you agree
with not motivating dogs with treats have
you been having a hard time to motivate
your dog's how do you motivate your dog's
do you think motivating dogs with treats is
right or wrong until next time have fun
with your dog