06/09/2026
🌿The Silent Way🌿 - Teach with understanding
I dont train my dogs.
I don't train with food rewards at all.
Many people think its not possible. That a dog must be trained. And with treats.
And that I must have totally mad and unruly dogs.
I don't.
I teach. I let them think and figure it out. Let them understand what works.
🌿
I go to the door and hold the handle and wait. Until the dog starts thinking... what could open that door?
He tries. He paws, he whines, he jumps. Nothing happens. Then for a moment he stops and thinks. He sits. He looks into my eye.
— the door opens > [click/marker]
An outsider would call the opening door as the reward. I see it differently.
It is the achievement itself.
The thing he wanted was to go out. The way that worked was to sit calmly and seek EYE.
And the click marked it as THIS IS IT.
That is the difference between training and teaching.
Training says: Do this FOR me and I will pay you. The brain remembers the sausage, not the thinking. Remove the sausage and the behavior dies. You get a dog that watches your hand.
Teaching says: Figure this out WITH me and we achieve what we both wanted anyway (going outside for a walk).
The marker does not say "good boy, here is payment." It says "that thought — that one — that was IT"
Dopamine then locks in the thought, not the food. And because doors, gates, car doors and walks exist everywhere, the behavior exists everywhere. No pouch needed.
FoodReward can mark obedience. It rarely marks understanding.
When the reward is the achievement itself, you don't get a marionette that moves when you command and feed it.
You get a partner who looks at your eye in the unknown, because looking at you is what opens worlds.
And once the process
Task - Thinking - Marking - Achievement is clear, the marking is only needed once.
👉AND - all is done completely non verbal. Silent.
🌿
Mega - on photo - waits for me to open the door.
