5 Rules When Using Rewards

 Rewards are a way of reinforcing the behavior you want from your dog by giving or doing something they enjoy.  Not all dogs enjoy working for food.  Some dogs work better using play as a reward for instance.  If your dog prefers play as a reward, one way of training with your canine companion is to build up the play first so that it can be done in different environments and distractions.  Then those competing environmental distractions in different areas become less attractive to your dog.  

However, there is a structure and rules to using a reward to be an effective training tool.  The expectation of a reward needs to motivate a behavior or position from your dog.  So you need to consider when you give the reward, how you give the reward, and how often you give the reward.

Here are 5 rules that I use when using rewards:

  1. A puppy can start training and being taught basic things with rewards right away.  The age of the dog does not matter when you are planning on using rewards. This is usually the first way you start teaching your dog or puppy.
  2. Always remember that your dog must not only enjoy the reward but also be motivated to train for it to be reinforcing.  Food is not the optimum reward for all dogs.  Know what drives your dog before you begin training.
  3. Timing is an event that is important when presenting the reward to your dog.  If you give the reward too soon, you may be reinforcing an unfinished behavior.  If you give the reward too late, your dog may not link that reward to the behavior they just performed.
  4. Rate of Reinforcement in the beginning may be after every behavior at first.  Also, when you change the environment and distractions, you may go back to rewarding frequently.  However as your training progresses, you may need to reinforce less frequently with the reward.
  5. Targeting and presentation are important to avoid injury and to correctly present the reward to your dog.  Targeting means you want your dog to target the reward and not your body or clothing.  Presenting the reward well will teach your dog what you want them to target instead of your body or clothing.

This is a short article on this topic.  Please let me know of any questions that you may have.

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