The challenge for you, the owner, is to use the treat responsibly and only for rewarding positive behavior. When attempting to teach your dog a command or trick, use a treat as a primary inducement to get him or her to do what you want while supplementing his or her response with a secondary inducement, eg the sit command. It is the association between these two actions that helps your dog commit to memory what it is you are trying to convey to him or her. Eventually, the properly trained dog will respond to the command only. Occasional reinforcement with the treat will help retain that association.
Dogs learn through experience.
It is the repetition of actions, commands, corrections and praise that your dog will eventually become trained to do the things you want, and those that you do not want. Only when the dog realizes that it is beneficial to do or not to do certain things can it be said that he learns. Giving praise and treats help teach him or her what is right. Tina Wissen's Design Center LLC 1999-2001. All Rights Reserved.