I have two dogs with the Bronze Award and one of which has the Silver Award too. I like them and I offer them at my training school too!
We use treat based training, but we always point out (and keep repeating it!!!) that treats should be a reward, not a bribe. In other words, the treat should not be used as a lure permanently, but given as a reward once a job is well done! Ideally, if using luring as a training method, it should only be lured a few times (no more than 10 times) until the dog understands what to do, then the treat should not be held in the hand anymore (though the hand will still make the same movement), but taken out of the pocket, once the dog has completed the exercise! This means that a dog starts "working" without having to see the treat - and therefore also in an exam situation.
I feel that if treats are used as a lure too long, the smell and sight of the food become actually part of the cue/command... This means that if the treat is not there, it is often not so much the fact that the dog won't do anything without the treat, rather than he doesn't understand the cue/command because half of the cue/command is missing without a treat!
So if your dog does not do exercises without a treat, start off practising like mad by using a treat the first two times you ask your dog for example to sit, then the third time you just pretend you have a treat, then when the dog has done the exercise, you take the treat out of the pocket. The dog will soon learn that he doesn't need to see/smell the treat to get it after the exercise!
I agree with Mark of course that the main aims are how your dog behaves and progresses in every day life, but being a competitive person myself, I like tests and things...
And I also feel that the Bronze/Silver etc Awards give owners something to work for - and they often do more training for it!
If at the end of the Bronze course you feel that you or your dog is not ready, just do the course again until you are! Your dog has been thrown into a new situation, with new dogs and people around... give him time to get used to it. Practice in new places with distractions frequently if you can, so your dog gets used to listening in any type of situaiton to you. Every dog can pass the Bronze in my opinion!
Oh, and last but not least, the KC allows owners to have treats ON THEM, but they can only be used and given after an exercise is done, not during. But just having treats on you often helps if your dog knows (see above) that he will get them after a job well done.
Vera
