Having studied the principles of clicker training and the "purely positive" ideology that often is associated with it, there are a couple conclusions I feel are often left out in regards to training a dog purely positively.

Yes it can be done. Often times if you have a dog that is sufficiently motivated, you can simply go out with a bag of treats and just mark whatever the dog does that you like. From there you can shape the offerings into specific behaviors that can later be named (sit, down, stay, etc).

Unfortunately, the key word is that the dog has to be sufficiently motivated.

Some dogs, such as my own Belgian Malinois 'Malachai' could be trained as such. He is entirely motivated by what I call, "making mommy happy". He's incredibly aware of my moods and at 28 inches tall, he can easily be walked on a flat collar by my giving the right praise or a no-reward marker such as "no". He actually can go long durations without reward and his reward doesn't have to be food or a toy. He just likes to make me happy. He's what a fellow trainer termed a "smart, sensitive dog".

The purely-positive camp of trainers would have you believe that just because dogs like my own exists, every dog can be trained with a clicker and treats. After all.... you can't use compulsion when training a whale but whales are definitely trained through clicker training methods.

So what is the missing link and how can you train your own dog in a "purely positive" fashion?
 

The missing link is the closed economy. A closed economy is just a fancier way of saying that if you want to eat, you have to work. No work - no food!

Its actually a great way to get results from a dog that has a low food drive. Often times I have owners tell me how finicky their dog is and its no surprise when they tell me that food is available all day long and if the dog doesn't eat, they just add something more yummy to it.

I went into more detail on how to increase your dog's food drive in my article, The Food Factor. The closed economy is not just a method of food deprivation. It also often includes some time of sensory deprivation as well.

So think about that whale at sea world again. He only gets fish when he performs and if he's not training, he is in a stimulus-devoid pool to swim around in. Of course he is motivated to work! Wouldn't you do tricks too if you were locked in a dark cell until someone came by with your food tray and gave you a task to do.

The implementation of a closed economy depends on what you want and need out of the dog. So whether you will simply make the dog work for every kibble or go a step further and make changes to the environment is up to you. I've seen severely people aggressive dogs do incredibly well when all their meals come from people and any time they are not interacting with people they are confined in a crate in isolation. Although definitely extreme and not necessary for the average pet dog, it does make sense for a dog that is on death row anyway to go through a few days or weeks of sensory deprivation if it means they can ultimately live a normal life.

A few final words on the closed economy is to be sure that the dog is given plenty of opportunity to work for its food. You have to be on a very consistent program with measured out meals so you can keep track of how much the dog is or is not eating. If you aren't seeing results and are instead seeing dramatic weight loss, its probably time to see a veterinarian to rule out medical reasons for the dogs lack of work ethic. Using a closed economy should create an INCREASE in the dog's motivation...not a DECREASE. Anybody using these methods must be very in tune with the dog or they could certainly make the relationship with the dog much worse.