Best reward when teaching commands?

[aronoiiel]

When you begin teaching commands to your husky before teaching them to pull what would be the best reward? Food or praise or a mix? I'm going to start Kiana with command training today (Gee, Haw, and such) and was wondering what the appropriate reward would be so she knows she did the right thing?

[husky princess]

this took storm no more than a week to learn them. we just went out on walks and kept turning the corner and he soon learnt the gee/haw. as i approached the corner i would say Storm gee, storm haw...when he went in that direction i verbally praised him. it seemed to work for him. he is also really good at 'on by' except when squirrels and cats are involved!!

Storm is so good at his commands when he is part of a larger team he responds to the command before the other more experienced huskys

[HuskyCouture]

definitely lots of praise, and when she does it right say good (whatever the command was) so they're associating it nice slices of cheese always help

[sutsibe]

Probably more praise than treats for direction training so that you can keep up the flow and energy of the exercise! You don't want your dog/team stopping for a treat after every turn...

When using treats, make sure to not give too large an amount each time you treat! Smaller bits means they have more value, and they won't fill up so quickly - and the treat won't lose value as quickly, either. Not to mention the fact that the calories add up quickly!

[aronoiiel]

Sweet thanks guys I really want to avoid treats because I don't want her to stop every two seconds she does something right for one LOL so I limit treat training.