What Is the Best Way to Train a Dog?

Should you use treats to train your dog? Will your dog only listen when food is available? Should you correct your dog when they don’t listen? And can corrections coexist with a happy, confident dog?

With so many conflicting opinions about dog training, it’s difficult to know which approach is best.

Most dog owners aren’t preparing for obedience competitions.

They simply want a happy dog that listens when it matters.

So how do you create both motivation and reliability?

Should You Use Treats to Train Your Dog?

Yes—but how you use them matters.

At Breyers Canine Academy, we use positive reinforcement and shaping to build motivation, engagement and confidence.

Shaping allows a dog to discover a desired behavior rather than being constantly directed into it.

Imagine teaching a dog to Sit on a mat. Instead of immediately showing the dog what to do, we give them an opportunity to experiment.

The dog thinks, tries different behaviors and anticipates earning a reward.

That anticipation is important.

The pursuit and expectation of a reward involve the brain’s dopamine system. Part of what makes learning motivating isn’t simply receiving the food—it’s discovering how to earn it.

When the dog finally Sits on the mat, they receive the reward.

Through repetition, we’re creating positive associations with the behavior itself.

Once the dog confidently understands the behavior, we can give it a name.

We don’t just want a dog that knows how to perform a behavior. We want a dog that feels good about performing it.

Will My Dog Always Need Treats?

No. Food is a teaching tool, not something the dog should require forever.

Early in training, rewards are frequent because we’re developing motivation and understanding.

As the dog becomes more skilled, food rewards gradually become intermittent, meaning the dog doesn’t receive food every time.

But we don’t simply remove treats and hope the dog continues listening.

First, we establish clear expectations and accountability.

When Is It Fair to Correct a Dog?

Before correcting a dog, we ask one important question:

Does the dog clearly understand how to perform the behavior?

At Breyers Canine Academy, we don’t introduce leash pressure while a dog is still figuring out what a command means.

The behavior comes first. The pressure comes later.

Once the behavior is understood, we introduce gentle leash pressure at a level that does not cause discomfort.

Initially, this isn’t a correction. It’s communication.

Think about a mother holding her young child’s hand while walking. A gentle movement of her hand communicates, “Come this way.”

She’s providing direction, not trying to cause discomfort.

That’s how we initially want the dog to understand leash pressure.

For example, a dog that already understands Sit can learn to associate gentle directional leash pressure with that behavior. When the dog Sits, the pressure disappears and the dog earns a reward.

After enough repetition, the dog understands both the behavior and the communication.

Only then do we introduce leash pressure for accountability.

First teach the behavior. Then teach the communication. Then build accountability.

How Do You Teach a Dog to Listen the First Time?

Accountability develops through three stages.

Stage 1: Listen the First Time to Earn the Reward

When the dog responds immediately, they earn a reward. If they knowingly ignore a familiar command and require a correction, they complete the behavior but don’t earn the reward for that repetition.

The lesson is simple: Listen the first time. Avoid the correction. Earn the reward.

Stage 2: Listen the First Time to Continue Playing

Once the dog has a strong history of responding reliably, expectations increase.

If a known command is ignored and a correction becomes necessary, the training game can end.

Now the dog loses both the reward and the opportunity to continue playing.

Stage 3: Listen the First Time to Maintain Freedom

Eventually, the same expectations apply to everyday life.

Making appropriate choices allows the dog to continue enjoying walks, exploring, interacting with family and other privileges.

Food rewards become intermittent, while access to enjoyable activities becomes increasingly valuable.

Eventually, good behavior earns something bigger than a treat—it earns freedom.

Why Does Breyers Canine Academy Use E-Collars?

We use e-collars when appropriate for three primary reasons:

Efficiency. Timing. And bridging the gap between on-leash and off-leash behavior.

Dogs sometimes become dependent on physical information coming through the leash.

They may perform commands reliably while connected to their handler, but what happens when the leash comes off?

An e-collar allows communication without physically guiding the dog through a leash, including when the dog is farther away.

That helps us progress from on-leash understanding toward off-leash reliability.

The goal isn’t to replace the leash with an e-collar. It’s to teach the dog that the behavior still applies when the leash is gone.

How Do You Introduce an E-Collar?

Many owners associate e-collars with uncomfortable corrections.

That’s not how we introduce them.

When an e-collar is appropriate, we begin at a very low level selected so the sensation does not cause discomfort.

Initially, the sensation may be so subtle that the dog doesn’t appear to notice it.

We pair that sensation with opportunities to earn rewards.

Through repetition, the dog begins recognizing that the sensation predicts something positive: an opportunity to earn a reward.

We then pair the communication with familiar behaviors such as Sit, Heel or Come.

We aren’t using the e-collar to teach behaviors the dog doesn’t understand.

And simply recognizing the sensation isn’t enough to begin accountability.

Before progressing, we want the dog to clearly understand the communication, know how to respond and demonstrate happy, confident behavior.

When Does the E-Collar Become a Correction?

Only after understanding and confidence have been established.

The e-collar follows the same accountability progression already taught through leash communication.

First, the dog learns to listen the first time, avoid a correction and earn the reward.

Next, reliable responses allow the dog to continue playing the training game.

Eventually, appropriate choices allow the dog to maintain freedom, while food rewards become intermittent.

The communication tool changes, but the expectations remain consistent.

Understanding first. Accountability second.

Will My Dog Only Listen When the E-Collar Is On?

No. The goal isn’t to replace dependence on treats with dependence on an e-collar.

As the dog develops a strong history of responding reliably, corrections should become less necessary.

We don’t remove the e-collar simply because the dog performed well once. We first want consistent behavior across different situations.

Then we gradually give the dog opportunities to demonstrate reliability without depending on the tool.

Can a dog maintain trained behaviors when the e-collar is no longer there?

Yes.

That’s what we’re working to establish: a dog that has learned how to behave whether the e-collar is present or not.

Does My Dog Need a Command for Everything?

No. Knowing commands and knowing how to behave aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Consider someone entering your front door.

You could repeatedly tell your dog to Back, Sit, Stay or Stop.

Or your dog could learn that an opening door means giving the person space.

At Breyers Canine Academy, we also teach dogs to recognize environmental cues and make appropriate choices without requiring constant verbal instructions.

A well-trained dog shouldn’t need to be micromanaged through life.

Why Does My Dog Listen at Home but Not in Public?

Because changing the environment changes the difficulty.

A dog that performs beautifully in the living room may struggle around unfamiliar people, dogs, smells and distractions.

We don’t automatically expect the same performance in every new environment.

New environment. New distractions. Rebuild before raising expectations.

As understanding and confidence develop, accountability and freedom can increase again.

Does Breyers Canine Academy Use Positive Reinforcement or Corrections?

We use both motivation and accountability, but at different stages of learning.

Positive reinforcement and shaping develop motivation and understanding. Leash pressure is introduced as gentle communication after the behavior is learned.

When appropriate, e-collar communication is introduced through low-level stimulation paired with rewards. Corrections are introduced only after the dog understands the communication and responds confidently.

As reliability increases, food becomes intermittent, corrections become less necessary and freedom becomes increasingly valuable.

Our training progression is:

Discovery → Motivation → Understanding → Communication → Accountability → Freedom

Where Does Breyers Canine Academy Offer Dog Training?

Breyers Canine Academy provides private, in-home dog training throughout Dallas and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

We serve Dallas, Uptown Dallas, Downtown Dallas, the White Rock Lake area, Highland Park, University Park, the Park Cities, Richardson, Plano, Addison and surrounding DFW communities.

Our training addresses real-life behavior in the environments where dogs and their owners spend their time—from household manners and neighborhood walks to public behavior and off-leash reliability.

What’s the Ultimate Goal?

We don’t want a dog that only performs because there’s a treat in your hand.

And we don’t want a dog that only performs because they’re trying to avoid a correction.

We want a dog that enjoys performing desired behaviors, but also understands that they must perform those behaviors.