This will make all the difference when training. Now there are lots of ways in which we can reinforce (strengthen) our dogs behaviour, using various reinforcers, such as toys, praise, games, cuddles etc. We reinforce our dogs a lot without even realising (which is nice : ).
It’s important to remember that every dog is an individual, just like us, and what might be a super reinforcer for one (mine would be chocolate), may be a much lower reinforcer for others.
So step one is to identify, what really floats your dogs boat. Bear has had a lovely time during these trials to establish what is his absolute favourite.
I like to look at reinforcers in monetary sense. For an easy behaviour, such as “Sit” in the home with no distractions, you might feed a piece of kibble. This might be like me giving you 50p.
However if I asked Bear to “Come” in a field with distractions (dogs, people, picnics, fox poo), 50p Kibble wouldn’t do it, as the fox poo is £100 to him. Fair enough, we would ALL do the same, orientate to what we find the most reinforcing.
And this is the trick, to be and/or offer the most reinforcement to our dogs, so they choose us, over anything else. This relates to our video: Does Your Dog Have Selective Hearing?
Asking Bear to come away for what he finds highly reinforcing (fox poo), I need to go all guns blazing with my reinforcement, it needs to be better than £100 fox poo, yum…
So I use, and would recommend, a variety of reinforcers for the right job. I split my treats our into three categories. 50p ‘Kibble‘ for the easy stuff, £10 ‘Training Treats‘ for the intermediate training and the sexy £1000 ‘Recall‘ treats for coming back or whatever your dog finds difficult.
I feel I have to point out that the money analogy is a metaphor and I don’t expect you to spend £1000 on sexy ‘Recall‘ treats (a client did ask once).
Variety is the spice of life, right? So ensure you vary your ‘Training‘ and ‘Recall‘ treats, which will also help keep your dog guessing, “what delicious treat will it be this time?” and strengthen the behaviour your asking for even more.
Try to ensure the treats you use are healthy and have a high protein content. Avoid heavily processed treats, such as Bakers, Pedigree, Wag etc.
I have hand selected some of the best treats on the market and divided them into ‘Training‘ and ‘Recall‘ treats. Always reduce their meal depending on how many treats you give to balance their intake. Check out our articles on Dog Food and Is Your Dog The Optimum Weight.
So next time you’re cursing your dog for not paying attention or doing what you want, ask your self, is what you’re offering more or less reinforcing than what they’re doing, in their eyes? Use the right treat for the right job and I guarantee you’ll achieve better results.
For loads more advice and training, check out our Online Courses. Let us know how you get on and what is your dogs £1000 treat? x