Go Hunt Everywhere

When training, the decision between using treats or not is important.  Your dog needs to be rewarded when she does something right.  The question is, "How?"

Rewarding with treats sets an expectation in your dog that she will get a treat every time she does what she is told. 

When your dog complies for a stranger and that person doesn't have a treat to give, it can become a problem.  Your dog may stop performing or consistency will drop off. resulting in setbacks in training.  Besides, what are you going to do in the field?  Carry a pocketful of treats to trade for birds?  Your dog won't leave your side - treats are easier to find than birds.

There are other ways to reward your dog without using treats.  A pat on the side or scratch behind the ears is plenty to let her know she's done well.  "Good girl" along with that pat or scratch helps reinforce the behavior, too.  You always carry praise with you - it doesn't weigh anything and you can't forget to put it in your pocket.

I train without treats.  My dogs get treats "just because." I use a combination of praise and correction in training.  I praise the "good" behavior and correct the "bad." If a command is followed, the dog gets praised.  If not, I enforce compliance.  This can be done a few ways, all of which have to do with a collar.  For training, the choice between flat collar, pinch collar, and choke collar is extremely important.  I will cover the relative pros and cons another time.

To sum it up, treats are great - we all like them.  I don't think they should be used in training.  There are other ways to reward your dog.  Give your dog a treat because you want her to have one, not because she did a "trick." She'll keep doing the trick to get the treat - she'll get fat and you'll be buying a LOT of treats.