You have just completed six weeks of basic obedience training, diligently using positive reinforcement methods. You did your homework religiously, with treat in hand, and bait pouch on. You cued your dog into specific positions, and they did it, if not every time, 90% of the time.
Now that your dog is a basic obedience graduate, you decide to work on Sit, Stays with your dog. This time, however, you do not wear a bait pouch. You stop holding treats in hand. Excited, and expectant, you cue your dog to Sit. Your dog stares at you blankly. Maybe your dog even turns around and refuses to give you eye contact. You begin to think: Seriously, will my dog only listen to me if I have food in my hand? Positive training methods are a waste of money.
Sound familiar to anyone? This is a common complaint that people make about positive reinforcement training methods. I more than understand this line of reasoning because I have thought these same things before. The problem is not positive reinforcement in and of itself, though. The problem is that we, as unknowing dog handlers, do not truly grasp how our dogs think, learn and communicate.
Dogs are pretty smart creatures who are aware of their surroundings and how we carry ourselves. By this, I mean our own body language and the signals that we are giving to our dogs. Are our movements fast or slow? Are we standing up tall, confident and calm or are we bent, hunched and leaning over our dog? They pay attention to the shoes we are wearing or not wearing. They pay attention to whether or not they are wearing a leash, and the type of leash that is attached to their collar.
When I was completing my professional certificate for dog training, I was working with a lovely rescue dog in my neighbourhood. Her owner would put a green flat collar on the dog ten minutes before I would arrive for training. She typically only wore this collar for our training sessions. She quickly began to associate that the green collar meant Kate would be coming over soon. This beautiful dog would be waiting by the door before I even arrived. After each training session, the collar came off and was put into a bin, which was then placed in the closet in the kitchen. This signaled to her that the training session was over.
The same thing applies with treats. Dogs pay attention to how you are holding the treats and whether or not you are even holding a treat at all. If you always hold a treat in your hand before you cue your dog to perform a specific behaviour, your dog will begin to associate the treat in your hand as part of the cue. So if you remove the treat from your hand, and your dog doesn’t listen to your cue, your dog isn’t being too stubborn or too wilful. Your dog simply isn’t used to performing the behaviour while your hand is empty.
Does this mean we need to throw positive reinforcement out the window? By no means. We just need to be aware of what we, as handlers, are doing.
So what can we do to teach our dogs that they should listen to us, whether or not we have delicious treats in our hand or bait pouch? Here are a few useful tips:
1. Many trainers use food lures to guide the dog into the desired behaviour. Whether or not food lures should be used is a topic for another day. However, if you do decide to use a food lure, be sure to use it appropriately. This includes making sure that the food lure is not over used and it is properly faded out from the training regime.
2. Use a variety of reinforcers to reward your dog. A reinforcer is something that your dog enjoys, and it is something that you give to your dog after they have performed the behaviour. A reinforcer can be a treat, toy, verbal praise or physical praise (tummy rub, head scratch). A reinforcer can also be allowing your dog to have some freedom: being able to sniff a tree that they really find interesting, or being able to walk forward (without pulling).
One thing to keep in mind about reinforcers is that the type you use should suit your dog’s energy level and the distractions around your dog at the given moment. If a dog finds a particular toy or food too exciting, you might find it hard for your dog to focus on you. For example, my dog Millie LOVES her spiky, squeaky dental ball. Using this ball for Sit, Stays while outside is perfect because I am in an environment with squirrels, chipmunks and other small critters (Millie is a Retriever/Labrador Retriever mix, which means she has a high prey drive). Using this toy indoors, for heels, not a chance. She gets way too hyped up, and I need to put the ball away.
3. Do not keep food in your hands as you are cuing your dog. If you use a bait pouch, or treat bag, only reach for a treat after your dog has responded to your cue. Also, try not to use the bait pouch during every single training session. Instead, place the treats in a different area, like on a table or counter. After your dog performs the behaviour, you would mark the behaviour, get the treat and then reward with the reinforcer. Marking the behaviour is telling your dog that they have done exactly what you asked them to do. Some people choose to use a clicker as their marker, while others use their voice.
4. Train in different areas in the house. If you only train your dog in one room, but never practice in different rooms, your dog will begin to associate that room with training, which means they might not listen to you in other rooms. Once your dog is a whiz kid inside, take training outdoors. Get your dog used to training in various places and at various times.
5. Try different reinforcement schedules. Some trainers use continuous reinforcement. This means that they reward the dog for every single correct behaviour. It is a great way to help dogs learn cues easily. The one drawback is that once you stop rewarding your dog, your dog stops listening. Because of this, you do need to gradually move to an intermittent reinforcement schedule after using a continuous schedule. With intermittent reinforcement, your dog is still rewarded for performing the right behaviour; however, they are not rewarded every single time. You wait after your dog performs a few separate behaviours before rewarding. From there, you can continue to vary or gradually phase out the reinforcement schedule.
Is it too late for your dog to start listening to you again? Not at all. Just start implementing these five tips today. Soon your dog will realize that whether or not food is nearby, listening to you leads to a happy, rewarding life.
Need some help with training your dog? Head over to my FAQ page, learn more about my services, then contact me to book a consultation.
Comments