Obedience

Working dogs have always learned to obey commands related to the work that they historically performed, such as when a sheepdog moves a flock of animals in response to a shepherd's whistled directions, or a hunting dog searching for (or chasing down) quarry or leaving the treed quarry at the hunter's command.

It has been only in more modern times, as the dog has become more of a companion than a hired servant (paid in food and a dry place to lie down) who lived in the barn with other livestock, that obedience training has become a separate and specific skill (for both the owner and the dog).

In the twentieth century, formalized dog training originated in military and police applications, and many theories on how to train a dog came out of the same mentality that created boot camp for soldiers.

In the middle and late part of the century, however, more research into operant conditioning and positive reinforcement occurred as wild animal shows became more popular-- Traditional methods of teaching animals behavior (as with dogs) proved irrelevant when, for example, a trainer had to instruct a dolphin or an orca. These aquatic mammal trainers used clickers (a small box that makes a loud click when pushed on) to "mark" desired behavior, giving food as a reward. The improvements in training methods spread gradually into the world of dog training. Today most dog trainers rely heavily on positive reinforcement to teach new behaviours, although some will use punishment when teaching the dog to perform under distraction. Every decade sees new methods and new attitudes reach mainstream training classes.