As I was thumbing through some local dog-training ads, I saw one that specifically mentioned "No food used during training." My jaw dropped when I read that! Being a trainer who believes in positive reward methods and uses food liberally in training, I was shocked that a trainer would use that as an attention-getter.

It shouldn't surprise me that the concept of using food in training confuses folks, heck it obviously confuses even some trainers! Many people mistakenly believe if you use food as a reward, the dog is working for the food, not for you. Or if you use food in training, you