When and how, should you reward your dog?

Insert pic of Hiccup lying in front of fire

In other articles I have suggested that you should reward your dog for doing nothing in situations where a reaction would be troublesome. I also suggested that you should not be complacent about your dog’s appropriate responses to your wishes, in case lack of appreciation leads to lack of compliance. This raises the questions of when, and how, should you reward your dog?

The second question is easy to answer; it depends upon what turns your dog on. The majority of dogs seem to respond well to the praise and affection they receive for responding to a signal such as come, down or sit. The efficiency of praise is determined by the enthusiasm with which it is delivered. A lack luster response to your dog’s reaction to your signals deserves apathy. Of course this is mediated to some extent, by your dog’s sensitivity and its breed. Obviously it takes less to develop an enthusiastic retrieve in most Labradors than Greyhounds and it is perhaps easier to effectively praise a sensitive and reactive Border Collie.

Most dogs seem to respond better to praise given in a high pitched voice. For some, however, praise is not enough and it is easier to motivate them with tidbit rewards or the production of a toy from a pocket. Sadly, there is a resistance to rewarding dogs with food because it is thought that dogs should obey through respect. This is short hand for getting a response because the dog anticipates the punishment the owner will inflict upon it if it does not do what is required. So the behavior that leads to the avoidance of the owners displeasure is the one the dog chooses. This is stressful for the dog even if praise follows because it is anxious about what will happen if it makes a wrong move. A possible reason why people continue to use this approach is the feeling of power and control it gives them. A rational, although misguided reason why some people resist the use of the rewards such as food or toys, is the belief that it is tantamount to bribery. It would be bribery if you stood in the park and waved a titbit in front of your dog or rattled a biscuit tin to encourage your dog to come back. This is not what I am suggesting. What you should do is produce a tidbit or toy from your pocket the moment your dog comes to you. This will make your dog likely to run to you next time you call it.

If you reward your dog with a tidbit every time it returns to you, however long it takes to return, it will learn that it can investigate the tempting smells, before sauntering back. To prevent this, be selective. When your dog has learnt to come back for a titbit, switch to rewarding the very best responses, which will result in faster recalls. When your dog’s recalls are all of lightning speed, switch from rewarding constantly, to rewarding intermittently. Intermittent rewards are a powerful way to manipulate behavior. In fact, for the recipient, it can become addictive. It is the principle behind gambling and some people become compulsive gamblers, convinced by the payouts they get every so often, that the next one will be the big one. If you think you are immune to this phenomenon, remember that the state lotteries have thousands of $10 prizes every week, so either you or someone you know wins every so often, just to keep you, sorry us, at it. Therefore to further develop the best responses in your dog, reward it randomly - sometimes after three recalls sometimes after five, sometimes after two and so on.

Always remember the most important principle is that you should give rewards at the time your dog does what you want. For example, there is no point giving your dog a reward when you get home, for not pulling on the lead when you were on the walk. The rewards must be at the time your dog walks nicely.

Problem behaviors often occur, or get worse, because dog receives rewards that the owner is not conscious of. The rewards may be the owner’s attention or an effect. A common example of the former is a dog that barks for attention. The more the dog is told to be quiet, the more its barking is reinforced by the owner’s response. The fact that a dog performs a behavior for attention may not be readily apparent. For example it may seem that it is barking for another reason, perhaps when it hears people passing the front of the owners’ house which, being a territorial behavior, is natural enough. However once the dog learns that its owners tell it to be quiet, its barking becomes obsessive. This happens because the barking is rewarded twice, once by the fact that the people go away, and secondly because barking gets the owner’s attention. The problem, if it is severe, may require specialist help from a behavior counselor. The latter part can be addressed by not talking to, or even looking at your dog when it barks, and rewarding it as soon as it stops. In the past you may have tried ignoring your dog because someone suggested that you should, but felt that it did not work and this may have meant you were not consistent. Hopefully you will now realize that you were intermittently rewarding the behavior with the responses that you did give.

Sometimes a dog’s nuisance behavior is rewarded and perpetuated by the effect it seems to have. For example, many dogs are excitable when their leash is put on. This is obviously because of the association between the leash going on and the start of the walk is so strong. The excitement can be irritating because the dog’s activity means that the leash is difficult to put on. Owners irritation and attempts at control is interpreted by the dog as the pack’s excitement and gets more excited.

If this happens to you try this experiment: get your dog’s leash and reach down to put it on your dog. When your dog gets excited stand up and move the leash away from your dog’s head and neck, without saying anything. When your dog has settled, or sits quietly, reach down to put the leash on. If your dog gets excited repeat the action of moving the leash away. Your dog will eventually realize that excitement results in the leash moving further away, rather than going on and the start of a walk. Due to the fact that your dog wants the leash on, it will eventually choose to remain quiet or sit down, to get the reward of the leash.

With a bit of lateral thinking, you should be able to apply the principles outlined above to develop the behavior you want to occur in all of the situations, you and your dog encounter.

Return to Article Titles Page>>>

Please note that techniques are advised upon in good faith and no liability can be held in the event of damage or injury to persons, property or animals as a result of correct or incorrect implementation of the techniques described.