Clean Run - March 2018 - 26

rewards ready and accessible. Plan a
short session-know what behavior
you will be rewarding-and count out
your treats if you're using food. When
you are delivering the last treat, end
the session and play with the dog.

his reward. It seems so simple, doesn't it? With some thought and practice it can
become second nature and will vastly improve your dog's understanding.

Quickly delivering the reward is a mechanical skill and should be practiced.
For example, if I'm teaching my young
puppy to sit and stay until released,
I want to work the behavior on both
sides. When the dog is on my right, I
have my treats in my left hand, freeing
my right hand to quickly deliver the
treat. When I move to the other side,
I move the treats to my right hand,
freeing my left hand to deliver the
treat. So, simple yet so important. The
same goes for toy rewards-before
you bring your dog out to train, don't
be afraid to practice throwing a toy so
you're sure you can deliver it exactly
where you need to.

Let's say I've just completed a short agility sequence with my young dog and he
was brilliant. I offer a toy and we begin to tug. The tugging lasts for 5, 10, or even 30
seconds. I've made the reward an "event" that involves me. Some of the reasons that
tugging is such a great reinforcement for your dog is that it involves you and, just as
importantly, it becomes an event for the dog that lasts more than just a moment.

PRINCIPLE #6: DOES THE
REWARD PLACEMENT SUPPORT
LEARNING?
Another powerful principle of an effective reward system is placement of
the reward. Do I want the reward to be
delivered while the dog is stationary or
while the dog is moving? Do I want the
reward to come when I am close to my
dog or when I am far away? Do I want
the reward to be associated with driving to me or associated with completion of an obstacle? Ask yourself, "Is the
placement of the reward supporting
what I'm teaching my dog?"
Assuming your dog finds the rewards
you are offering valuable, think about
where you are placing the reward. If
I'm teaching my dog to stay in a down
position, I will deliver the food very
low and possibly on the floor between
his feet. By contrast, if I deliver the
food above his head, he is going to lift
up to get the food and be rewarded
for lifting up. If I want to teach my dog
to be independent in the weave poles,
I will deliver the reward on the ground
at the end of the poles. By contrast,
if I always deliver the reward from
my hand, I will encourage the dog to
never take his eyes off me while in the
poles because that is where he'll get
26

A video is available at https://tinyurl.com/ya6d9xf2.

PRINCIPLE #7: IS THE REWARD AN EVENT THAT INVOLVES YOU?

But if my dog won't tug and I've chosen to use food as a reward in this same situation, I still want to make it an event. To make this happen I can:
*

Keep my dog moving as I deliver the food reward.

Offer an abundance of verbal praise.

Offer more than one food reward.

Even if you are using a food-dispensing toy like a Lotus Ball, join your dog as he
gets the food from the toy and continue to praise him. This builds your relationship, keeps you part of the reward event, and expands the length of the reward.

BUILDING BEHAVIORS FOR THE EFFECTIVE USE OF TOY REWARDS
Toys can be an extremely effective reward for your dog. In particular, playing
tug of war is a great way to build your
relationship because it is a team activity and taps into the dog's prey drive.
But it's not so much fun if your puppy
ignores the toy when you offer it as a
reward; or won't bring the toy back to
you once thrown; or won't release the
toy to you after tugging. To avoid these
pitfalls, think about training toy rewards
as a series of behaviors. Build the behaviors slowly over time, making each
behavior a fun game for the dog. Following is a set of games which I recommend
mastering in the order they are presented. Once you have mastered all of the toy
games you will have a high value reward-that involves you-for training a host
of agility skills.
Toy Game #1: Tugging Is Fun!
For puppies, choose tug toys that are sized to your dog and soft to the mouth.
Using a long toy or a toy on a string works nicely with young puppies. You are
tapping into your dog's prey drive so think of your puppy as a predator and the
toy as prey (like a rabbit), and follow these three simple "rules of nature" to build
value for tugging with toys:
1. The rabbit runs away from the predator so encourage interaction with the toy
by moving it away from the puppy-don't shove it toward the puppy
2. The rabbit runs on the ground so mimic that by keeping the toy low to
the ground.
Clean Run | March 18

https://www.tinyurl.com/ya6d9xf2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - March 2018