Why is Gesture Eating so Important?

Recently I did a consult where the dog was barking excessively at trucks passing by or the air conditioning turning on, the man walking his dog, just any noise. This dog has been in the home for 3 years now, so it would seem as if the dog should have acclimated by now, right? Well, not at all. After the consult was completed, I went home and later checked in to see how the dog was doing. I was met with a barrage of comments regarding the “gesture feeding,” and how there is no way this act can help thwart behaviors, especially any and all behaviors. Gesture feeding is simply eating a cracker in front of the dog BEFORE the dog eats. It’s just that simple, ten seconds to do. The point in this is to get into the mind of the dog and show them that YOU are the Alpha and YOU eat FIRST! No matter what training method you use, it takes time and 100% effort. Needless to say, the owner decided not to take the advice, and very little issues have been resolved. That makes me sad because this training truly works when 100% of it is put into place.