Those are the 2 words that I say the most to my clients. I once heard the difference between a trainer and a pet dog owner is that a trainer rewards 20 times more frequently than the pet dog owner. I haven’t done my own study on this, but certainly know that as a trainer, I reward dogs frequently when I train.

Frequency and Value of Rewards:

It is important to remember that when we are training a dog a new skill (even something as simple as a Sit), we must reward very frequently. In fact, I often tell clients to reward the behavior every time for the first 6 months. When working on a new behavior (and by that I mean, within the first 6 months of training a behavior) it is common to expect too much, too soon. It is important to assess the environment of the dog and adjust the frequency of rewards accordingly. If we are changing the environment from where we taught the dog a skill, we are automatically adding in more distractions since this is a new environment. When we change the environment and when we add distractions, we must increase the frequency of the reward and sometimes the value of the reward (bits of cheese vs. boring dog kibble). Many times they are not being “stubborn”, their environment may just be too stressful, exciting or distracting for them to execute the requested behavior.

I will also recommend that the value of the reward be increased when we are working on a “problem” behavior, a phobia and when working with the dog outdoors. When working with a dog-reactive dog, we often find that rewarding with chicken or peanut butter allows the dog to be able to pay attention to his handler as well as perform the requested skill, such as loose leash walking or a “Paws Up” in the presence of another dog. So, it is important to find the reward with enough value to accomplish what we want in the environment that we are in. If a dog will not eat something that normally would be considered VERY high value, then the environment is too distracting, too scary or too intense. We then need to change the environment.

After a skill has been trained for about 6 months, then the frequency of the reward can be decreased. The goal however, is not to discontinue the reward all together as many clients ask, “When do I stop treating?”. Our dogs must be rewarded or they will eventually stop doing the behavior as they get rewarded more by their environment instead of us. The rewards can be changed to a variable schedule where we reward a skill on the first try, then the 3rd try, then the 8th try – no pattern. And at times, we jack pot the dog by giving a handful of rewards for doing a simple skill, such as a sit. So if the dog doesn’t know when or how much he will get, he will work harder for you. Remember, rewards can also come in the form of praise, toys, play, food, or anything the DOG finds enjoyable. So no matter what you use, REWARD THAT!