USING REWARDS TO REINFORCE BEHAVIOR AND GENERATE ENTHUSIASM FOR TRAINING

 

All animals have a “price” for which they will perform—there is always something the dog will work to get.  It is called a primary reinforcer.  In your kitchen, he might do a 10-minute down-stay in exchange for a carrot piece, while in the park it might be near impossible to get his attentions with anything less than liver.  Determine which foods your dog likes best, and use them as treats during early training sessions at home.

 In seminars and group classes I often see dogs refuse plain kibble or lower quality dog cookies.  They might continue to offer the behavior, but by refusing to open their mouth for the treat they are indicating they believe their performance was worth something better.  You can practically see them rolling their eyes at you.  Sometimes they'll not take the reward because the environment is too distracting and it feels really hard to do the behavior right now.  Remember, at any moment our dogs are doing the best they can, given the training we’ve given them, and the environment they are currently in. If the better treat is never given, they quit playing, and the behavior stops being offered. They've lost their enthusiasm for training.

It is good practice to start shaping sessions with a variety of treats.  They should have assorted tastes, textures, aromas, and sizes (and you should know where each fits within the dog's perceived hierarchy of treat desirability).  You can feed a “jackpot” by strewing the pieces across the floor with theatrical flair, or you can slowly dole them out to the dog, prolonging the delight.  Reserve big (more valuable) treats for big efforts, and do a lot of tossing of food or toys when you reward (adding in that little element of chasing the reward is fun for the dog).  These varied techniques for awarding reinforcement serve to increase the dog’s interest in the trainer and to prevent him from becoming fixated on one hand, one spot location, or one treat type.

As learning progresses, treats of lesser value may be used at home while that special treat is reserved for working away from home, in the presence of distractions, or for a new behavior or harder level of an existing behavior.  As training away from home progresses, you can afford to use treats of a lower value during these sessions- because the dog has worked in this environment before, it's not as hard now and you can reserve the higher-value treats for the next level of difficulty.  Can you see why it's important to have a training plan that's explicitly and systematically raising (one at a time) the levels of distance, duration, and distraction?  If you don't know where you are on that progression of difficulty for each one, you can't do as good a job of using the various rewards as effective tools in your training program.  

 If your dog has a favorite toy, toss it after a successful training session or when he has surpassed previous levels of performance. Reserve the best toys and food for the hardest work and remember that throughout the clicker training process, you have the power to end the game if your dog is not making an effort.  Scrutinize why your dog isn’t making an effort- is the environment too much? Ending the game will be perceived as a punishment to dogs who love to train.  Instead of just ending, try to lower the difficulty and do one last instance where you are absolutely setting your dog up for success—end on a positive note.