Training is modifying dog's behaviour in order to complete tasks. The essence of it is to teach a dog to do something we want it to do. It can be only "Give paw" or complete drill for certain activity such as discovering explosive devices or drugs.
Teaching a dog to give paw is fine, but, if we teach it plenty of tricks or if it spends most of its life performing given tasks, it turns into training and a dog becomes trained dog.
Supporters of training will defend their opinion that it is in accordance with dogs' nature. It is somewhat true, because humans designed breeds that showcase certain tendencies in accordance to their wishes and taste, contrary to healthy dog traits.
Humans, by taming the nature, did and still are creating breeds more suitable for certain aspects of training – whether it is the matter of attacking or defence, jumping through hoops, running after mechanical rabbit, fighting other dogs and animals... Therefore, by selecting, breeds were created that showed predispositions to undertake certain tasks that humans set. This is why a suitable breed and conditioned principle very easily lead to a dog that completes a task. You will hardly come across a Poodle that tackles an armed human, or a Mastiff that begs.
A dog needs proper upbringing but training is conditioned. If a dog is disciplined, it does not need training. If it is trained but not disciplined, then discipline is just an illusion of control and discipline. Humans think that when a dog starts looking for drugs it means that it is under control, when the truth is that it does it because the conditioned reflex is misused as well as the strongest urge – urge for food, or urge to survive, which is connected to the smell of narcotics. There are certain methods that will make a dog extremely obedient , but such obedience is false image of dog's stability as well as of loyalty and devotion for a person that gives commands. The dog is doing it mechanically.
Many supporters of training defend their opinion with a thesis that dogs like to work. Dogs do like to work. But they need work that is closely related to their true nature. Certainly, certain breeds will have a strong urge since humans embedded those completely unnatural instincts by selection. But if it is already the case, we need to find a positive simulation for it, simulation that will not harm the dog or any other dog. Therefore, we will not stop greyhounds from excess running – on the contrary, they should be running. But we should not push them into sports. They should not be turned into professional athletes and by doing that go to the extreme. If a dog has strong instinct to sniff and pursue – we have to provide it, but we must not abuse that propensity in order to turn it into machine that will look for explosives. With breeds that were created to fight other animals there is one problem more. It is more difficult to find simulation for what humans embedded into their features, on the other hand it is completely immoral, and even forbidden by law to let them get into fights. This is why it is dangerous to own a dog with fighting genes.
Unfortunately, humans get more excited about trained dogs and not by ones that are mentally and physically stable although without knowledge of any tricks.