Once the dog understands, we don’t need to use food for each repetition. Sometimes food doesn’t appear until after the sit is completed. Other times it doesn’t appear at all, with praise as the substitute reward. If the dog decides not to comply because he spots a butterfly, we redirect his attention back to us with a well-timed leash pop. We show the dog the contrast between “what if I do” and “what if I don’t.” In all respects, this is compassionate, yet it removes the dog’s option to outright refuse or quit.

The most obvious limitation of the purely positive dog-training movement affects people whose dogs are not food-motivated. While most dogs are willing to work hard for a treat, some dogs are stressed during the learning process and may not want food at that time. And some dogs “eat to live” rather than “live to eat”—such dogs may have limited or even no interest in food-based training. In these situations, owners are sometimes advised not to feed their dog before a training session. While we believe it is ethical to train before a meal—rather than after—we do not believe it is morally correct to withhold food from a dog simply to render him more susceptible to food-based training. Understand that we don’t wish to paint with an overly broad brush. It’s only a minority of purely positive trainers who will deprive a dog of needed calories. But food just doesn’t work for every dog, and in those cases it is important to use something the dog really cares about to motivate him, such as a favorite toy.

It is a fact that not all food is alike. And to the dog, the relative value of all food is not the same. Some dogs don’t have much interest in a pellet of kibble, but they’d do backflips for a dried liver treat. As balanced trainers, we may occasionally use food to show the dog that what he just did is great and that we highly approve. So we keep a variety of high-value treats available; sometimes in desperation, when working with an especially picky dog, we’re not above using bits of chicken or beef from our own refrigerator. When no food at all is interesting to a dog, we simply substitute verbal markers and praise. If we find the dog really likes toys more than food, we might tuck a squeaky toy in our pocket to use as a reward after a particularly good performance. But lack of food interest will not get a dog out of his lesson in our form of training.

The reason we have spent so much time talking about the three major branches of the dog-training tree is because, as a dog owner, you’ll face a confusing array of choices when you shop around or consult the Internet. The tough trainers will talk a lot about your need to establish dominance. The purely positive crowd will promote clicker and food-based training, which aren’t bad but will further stipulate that you must never correct your dog. (They probably won’t say correct because it doesn’t sound harsh enough. They’ll substitute punish instead.) And in the end, you’ll either feel caught in the crossfire or you’ll go with whatever method sounds like more fun. Fun and food sound best to most people. Therefore, you’re most likely to start with purely positive training. That’s what many of our clients do, but eventually they come to us because they need training with more reliable results.

If you have a puppy or a young dog and you’d like to start obedience classes, there is certainly nothing wrong with seeking out a local dog trainer. Just read the reviews and testimonials to make sure the training is not going to be harsher than what you expect. And you can even go to a nearby pet store, many of which offer puppy and training classes. Big-box stores understandably want to avoid controversial techniques, so they tend to steer clear of any training that involves correction. Even so, you’re likely to learn some valuable basics on which you can later build. But when you need training that works in the real world—a world in which the squirrel is often going to be more attractive to your dog than the cookie—it’s your job as pack leader to show your dog that obeying basic commands is important. Every intelligent dog will eventually wonder, What happens if I don’t come? And you must correct your dog in a way that not only helps him comply but also motivates him to do better next time and earn a reward.

MARC Larry came to me with his border collie, Maggie. Two prior dog trainers had told Larry he should never walk her off his property because she attacked other dogs whenever she saw them. Both trainers tried to distract Maggie with food in the presence of dogs. The thinking was, if Maggie began to associate other dogs with food, she’d be less reactive. Or maybe she’d forget she wanted to kill the other dogs and would take a snack break instead.

Now, the food-distraction technique may indeed work for dogs that aren’t very serious about their aggression. But Maggie wasn’t fooling around. In fact, the second trainer was bitten when she, along with her treat, got between Maggie and another dog. I simply taught Maggie the rules of heel. I did so in a way very similar to what the monks describe in How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend. Eventually, I added dog distractions, but at a distance where they were minimally troubling to Maggie. Over time, we moved the distractions closer and showed Maggie that the rules applied no matter what. In a few weeks, Maggie was able to go for long, uneventful walks with her owner… off their property.

Many trainers today worry that correcting a dog is wrong. Such trainers are more married to their process than they are to actual results. They pronounce a dog like Lucy the horse-attacker or Maggie the dog-attacker as untrainable. We say thank goodness the pendulum has begun to return to the middle ground. Educate a dog on what is required. Show him the reward for compliance. Help him when he is confused. Respect his intelligence when he experiments with refusal by correcting him in a way that doesn’t cow him, but helps him understand you’re not giving in. Then reward with praise and, yes, sometimes with a treat when he does what you ask.

A good pack leader is not afraid to lead.