Dog Health Questions: Dog Training... is There No Right Way?

So I just got this dog from an animal shelter, a male, one year and seven months old, Australian Shepherd, but I've never had a dog before. I've been looking online, in books, as well as here, for advice on how to train, but there's doesn't really seem to be any... right way. One person says to use food as rewards, one says to never use food. One says to use clickers, one says clickers have never worked for them. One person says to ignore any behavior you don't want the dog doing until it realizes it can't get attention that way, and another says to actively discipline a dog that is doing behavior you don't approve of. One person says that using toys are the best training rewards, while another says that toys make the dog too excited. Is there no... "right" way? It's really all quite confusing. I don't want to start training with food if that means that the dog will stop listening when I stop the food. I don't want to ignore the behavior if it would be better to tell him "No". I have no idea what to here, it's all really confusing. I just want to make sure I give my new dog the best possible home and treatment.

What To Look For In Dog Training Ebooks

Recommended Answer:
First of all, good job for adopting!!!
There's no right way to train a dog, each way has flaws and not flaws. Australian Shepherds are really fast learners and great dogs.
Here's How I trained mine to jump a hurtle, but the technique can be used for anything:
First I had my friend stand on one side of the hurtle and had him call my dog, by name, I also threw over a treat. I repeated this until he seemed to get it.
Then we did the same thing but I added a vocal command. Then I noticed that he seemed to respond more when my hand moved, so I made a distinct hand movement whenever I threw the treat that I always coupled with the vocal command.
After that I only rewarded sometimes, but he still did it.
Then my friend stopped standing on the other side.
We just kept repeating it and he got it.

this method works better for teaching trick, here's a way to stop bad behavior:
If you see him doing something bad, then you can scold him and (depending what it is) put him out side or leave him alone.
If you don't see him, you can't really do anything.GOOD LUCK!

Passive and Active Dog Training Techniques

• Use food or toys, its called positive reinforcement. It's the most effective way to train. Trust me! It's the best training mehod out there..


• Im sorry, but I dont know exactly how your dog will learn, although I do know that you need to make your dog 'want' to listen to you. This CAN be done with food. When doing it with food, once the dog is doing the right thing, just start to give him smaller and smaller amounts of it. Soon enough your dog will be happy with just a pat, and will end up always doing it for no reward.
  
  Hope your succesful :)


• No, there is NO one right way.
  
  That's exactly why someone as totally inexperienced as you, NEEDS classes! There's more than one method, in fact, you can use more than one method with each dog at different times in its training. But you don't have the knowledge to know what that is.
  
  Clicker training does work and it works really well - but not for all dogs. You don't ignore any behaviour you don't want, you need to know how to correct based on the dog's temperament. Toys are good training rewards, again, for some dogs.
  
  I've trained the dozens of dogs I've had over the years with food as rewards. Each and every one of them still listens when they've been weaned off the treats and only get them sporadically.
  
  Now do you get why you need someone to teach you how to train your dog? Go to classes.


• If you're a beginner, then positive reinforcement is the best and easiest way to train your dog. They generally aim to please. so if you praise em for good things, they'll learn that way. If you punish them for bad things only, then they'll just get sad and learn to hide any bad things they do. Only scold with a firm no and only if you catch em in the act of doing something bad.


• Every dog is different. You have to be very patient with dogs. Maybe get a pro to help you.


• Ed..
  Welcome to the insanity of dog ownership...lol Yep.. 1000 different suggestions and what works for one dog fails with the next. There is NO ONE WAY and if someone tells you that...they're wrong.
  
  If I was to give you ONE BEST suggestion it would be to go sign up for a basic obedience class. Find out what's near you...and what's in your price range (some can be expensive and some more affordable) and dive in that way. Since you've never owned a dog before a good trainer will get you pointed in the right direction...not to mention it will be GREAT experience for both of you! You can find a lot of good books, but there's nothing like some hands on "show and tell" to help you out! In dog training... timing can be everything.
  
  I use tiny food treat rewards (and verbal praise) to get what I want for starters...but then once the dog is fairly well trained I don't ALWAYS treat them for a proper response.. I WILL give them great praise rewards...so...it's kind of like weaning them off of the "will work for food only" response.
  
  Above all...get to know your dog...let your dog get to know you.. BE CONSISTENT... have fun... keep it light... teach him where to potty (again...be consistent) and congrats for adopting!
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• Every dog is different with individual temperaments and drives. You need to figure out what training technique works best for you and your dog.
  
  Positive reinforcement using food and toys are great for teaching behaviors if the dog is food or toy motivated. Clicker training is great for marking behavior, though food bribing with a clicker never produces a fully trained dog that is proofed under distractions.
  
  Ignoring works for some dogs. For others you have to correct the dog. Dogs that have high prey drive aren't going to be bribed into listening to you, because you're depriving them of your attention or a cookie when they're chasing a rabbit into the middle of traffic. The joy of fulfilling their instinct to chase is a much greater reward to the dog than a treat and scratch behind the ears could ever provide.


• basically you have to try the way you like and works for that dog
  my dog was trained with treats. sometimes she got them, sometimes she didn't.
  she will look at you like, i didn't get it last time why should i do it.