Rewards are the equivalent to a dog being paid a salary, and no one likes to work from free right? Giving your dog the right reward at the right time not only makes it more likely that they will choose to offer that behaviour again but also keeps their motivation high to work for longer.
What you offer your dog is extremely important. My dogs are fed a raw diet, but I find it difficult to reward my dogs with this food, so instead they are taught to love kibble in training sessions. But depending on what I am training and where, I may have to increase the value of the food I am offering, so I may change to a higher value food such as chicken, hot dogs, or JR pate if I'm training in a difficult or busy place or what I am asking my dogs to do is difficult for them.
WHY USE FOOD?
Well as much as we would like to think that verbal praise or a pat on the head is enough, to your dog it just isn't. Food is a valuable resource to a dog, whereas verbal praise isn't. If we really want our dogs to do something then offering them food in exchange for that behaviour is valuable to the dog and worthwhile to them.
Remember also, your dog may value other objects as well as food. My dogs are actively encouraged as puppies to find playing with me rewarding too. I have had dogs that have loved everything from balls, to tuggy toys, to clam toys to plastic bottles. So long as it's safe for your dog to have, then anything goes
WHERE DO YOU REWARD YOUR DOG?
The correct placement of food is also very powerful in improving the chances of your dog offering the behaviour you want again. If you want your dog to go into a crate for example, then tossing some food inside it will encourage your dog to go in on their own.
If you're training agility, putting a toy, or a clam toy with food inside at the opposite end of a line of jumps, where they can see it, will encourage your dog to go through the jumps to reach the reward.
If I want my dog to stay close to me, such as walking to heel, then I keep the reward in my hand close to my body to encourage the dog to stay nearby.
REWARDS HELP BUILD DRIVE IN AGILITY AND ENCOURAGE THE BEHAVIOURS WE WANT
Every time you reward your dog at the correct time and place, you increase the likelihood that your dog will offer that behaviour again, which is ultimately what dog training is about.
Remember you get what you reinforce.
Throwing a toy forward will encourage your dog to race forward to the toy and not look back at you for the reward [vital for agility]. Knowing what your dog really wants, means they will run faster to get that reward as it is special to them.
WHEN SHOULD YOU REWARD YOUR DOG?
As already said, rewarding the behaviours you do want will mean your dog is likely to offer that behaviour again. When teaching a new trick or behaviour I will use rewards quite frequently and will break down what I want the dog to do into small achievable steps until I can get the dog to do the entire exercises. So if I want my dog to turn on the spot to the left, I will only ask my dog to turn say a quarter of the way and reward, then I will ask for a little more until my dog can spin a complete 360 degrees in one go, but I wouldn't ask my dog to spin 360 degrees on their first attempt.
As your dog understands what you want them to do, then you can start and reduce the frequency of rewards and also start to chain behaviours together. So I may ask my dog to spin to the left and then to the right before they get a reward if I was doing the above exercise.
WHAT IS THE BEST REWARD TO USE?
This is where you need to spend time with your dog and listen to what they want. Make sure you explore your training using different foods and toys. As previously mentioned some foods are higher value that others to your dog. Higher value foods mean your dog is more likely to listen to you and also offer you the behaviour you have trained them to do again.
In some situations you may find that your food loving dog may not eat or take the reward in some scenarios. This is highly likely because the environment you are training your dog in may be too stressful for them. Reactive, nervous dogs are unlikely to want food when other dogs or whatever they fear is close to them. By changing where you train your dog and managing the environment so they feel safer will mean you are more likely to get your dog to eat food.
Also a very toy or food driven dog, may get too aroused when playing with a toy or for the food to the point where they may not be able to focus enough to train as they are too focused on the reward. Again you need to manage what your dog receives as a reward to lower their arousal level in order to gain focus on you their handler.
Some dogs are motivated by food alone, some are motivated by toys alone and some can use both. Only you and your dog can know which is best. Make sure you spend time when training your dog to find out what they really want. The easiest dog to train is the dog that wants something enough.
Happy training.
If you enjoyed this blog and wish to find out more how reward based training can help you and your dog, then call me on 07914 775166 or email me tracypeach99@hotmail.com and find out how together we can get your dog or agility training on track
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