Many behaviorists operate on the "ABC principle" (A) stimuli or antecedents to a behavior, (B) the behavior itself, and (C) the consequences. If a trainer focuses only on consequences, without giving proper attention to stimuli or antecedents, the behavior portion sits exposed on one side, like an open-faced sandwich.

A dog's brain will focus on all three parts of the ABCs, forging orderly links. It connects every action to immediate consequences, then connects back to what happened just before the action occurred. Recurring stimuli, such as hand signals and vocal commands, eventually are reorganized as precursors for what happens next. Dependable stimuli trigger dependable behavior.

When trainers use treats, the goodies are usually in their hands, pockets or bait bags. Having the reinforcers easily accessible allows their hands to be used as teaching aids. This method is fast and it works. For example, a dog that follows a hand holding food can learn hand signals at the same time. Trainers describe this as "lure training." Psychologists use the term "beacon home." Your grandmother probably described it as "holding a carrot in front of a donkey."

Many of the antecedents that treat-trained dogs learn are precisely those that we all want our dogs to learn. They recognize hand signals and they pick up voice commands. They are attentive, motivated and eager to move from one behavior or exercise to another. They concentrate on stimuli that trigger specific actions that result in reinforcement. In their minds, these critical stimuli become what scientists call "discriminative stimuli." It's how they learn the difference between sit and down, heel and come.

Problems develop when dogs create links in their ABC's that you never expected. They will form discriminative stimuli of their own if a powerful antecedent is consistency present. What could be more powerful than the smell of food on your clothing and hands?

If your dog has made such a link (not all dogs or this connection), its behavior will change when you cease to smell like treats. It might have learned that the smell of food must be present with commands or signals to perform a behavior. Your dog is not being arrogant, independent, demanding or obstinate if its performance deteriorates when food isn't present. Rather, it's just trying to make sense of ABC sequence of events when the previously necessary antecedent is missing.

"So there," says the no-food-allowed trainer. " In the previous paragraph, you agreed that a treat-trained dog only works for food!" That's not so. The problem is not what your dog eats (the reinforcer), it's what your dog smells (the stimulus)!

Your dog has connected a stimulus and a consequence. It learned shortly after birth that the smell of food precedes eating food. This is link that was in place long before you cut up your first hot dog as a training treat. Only recently did your dog teach itself this for it to be reinforced by liverwurst, you must smell like liverwurst! Luckily, that's a false perception that's not tough to fix. You'll have to help your dog make a new ABC connection.

Your goal should be to slowly decrease the smell of food on your person while keeping your dog's performance at a high level. This is called "fading a prompt." You're weaning your dog off of stimulus (how you smell), but you are not weaning it off its treats.

The easiest way to do this is to begin with the consequence part of your dog's ABC. Just as his brain connected a behavior to a consequence and then linked it back to a stimuli, you are now going to arrange things so his brain can make the same kind of connection.

Start by paring any conditioned reinforcer you use often (such as "Yes!") with treats, only the food will not be on your person. This must be done independently of the performance of any exercises. Fill a bowl with goodies, wash your hands and use tongs or a spoon to pass out your reinforcers. Put the bowl on a table near you, say "Yes!" repeatedly to reinforce the behavior of being in your presence and offer your dog a treat. It will learn that treats no longer pair with the conditioned reinforcer on you in the same way as before. You don't smell the same, but the treats are still there. (At first, your dog will probably wait for the "Yes!" and then glance at the bowl. Be patient. It could be days before he relearns his ABCs.)

As soon as your dog learns this, you're ready to start fading your dog's prompt on actual exercises. If you've diminished the smell of food on your person as part of your conditioned reinforcer, you'll be able to say "Yes!" for the behavior of being in your presence and follow this immediately with a single obedience command (such as sit) to get the desired response. Repeat saying "Yes" and offering treats with your tongs or spoon. Continue practicing a bit longer every day, gradually adding additional exercises and stopping before you see an attitude shift. Your dog will learn the new antecedent connection that how you smell no longer makes a difference. On some days you may smell like sausage factory and on others you may not, but the reinforcers will always be there.

If you want to test your dog to see if it still considers the smell of food on you as a necessary antecedent to performance, start a typical practice session without touching a single treat. Keep all other stimuli the same, including the actions of putting on a bait bag or curling your fingers. Go as far as you can before you see the first flare of its nostrils or other changes. How far did you get? Start over with the goodies in place and analyze the difference. Watch its nose! Our human noses don't have a clue what's going on, but your dog's nose knows.