Rewards- when, why, what!

It is very important to reward our pets for offering behavior that we like. Using rewards very liberally in the beginning that are valuable to your pet, sets the pet up to choose to offer that behavior more reliably and often, and continuing to reward them when you can after they have learned what you expect, with things that might not have as high of a value, will still encourage them to choose to offer those behaviors.  

An often overlooked or unknown reason for the use of treats involves core emotions. Every living thing has "core" emotions hardwired in to help them to survive. The fear emotion helps you to run from danger.  The rage emotion helps you to fight when you can't run, or need to protect. Lust helps with procreation, and nurture helps us form attachments to children, lovers, and other important things. I will do another post on the ways in which we might deprive our pets of their core emotions in a misguided effort to give them everything we can, eagerly engaging OUR core emotion of nurture, but for now, this post focuses on the seeking emotion, which is one of the most important core emotions and the most widely deprived for modern pets! The seeking emotion helps us find the basic resources we need for survival and some that help fulfill other emotions. Like mates for lust, and ways in which to protect, or nurture. This is the one that motivates us to build homes, provide food, water, and ranks up there in survival with the fear and rage to truly keep us alive. When we deprive our pets of the seeking emotion, they will find ways to engage it, because it MUST be engaged. This is the root of so much destructive behavior in pets, like digging and chewing, and opening cupboards and pulling all of the contents out! Having controlled and constructive ways in which to engage the brain to engage the seeking emotion naturally reduces the need for them to find ways to do that on their own. 

The types of rewards you use are so very important. Many people underestimate the value.  Consider that you are not as willing to work for lesser pay, or if you have no choice, you are probably not willing to work as hard for something that doesn’t pay off as well. Animals work for food or survival. Dogs, and even other pets, no longer have to work for survival, so it is our job as their caretakers to find ways to satisfy that emotion of seeking. It is natural to find the resources that are most rewarding and work harder to earn them! So find what makes your pet the happiest! 

Types of rewards

1. Food. An obvious choice, but what food? You must try different things to see what turns your dog into a drool machine! THAT is the food that will work the best. Sometimes, though, small amounts are OK of some foods, but larger amounts are dangerous. So use that food for SUPER good behaviors or to motivate something that is harder to teach. You also do not want your pet to become fat, so using tiny pea sized pieces of foods that are typically soft, like real meat or cheese is crucial. They go down fast and have higher flavor so the pet wants more! Food can be used to lure a dog into position by placing it by their nose and getting their attention really quickly! This is why many obedience and show competitors use liver in the show ring. I encourage people to be creative, and try different things. I once had a dog who would do anything for celery! As soon as you pulled it out of the fridge and pulled off a stalk he was there and performing all kinds of tricks to earn some! Commonly loved food rewards include cheese, eggs, ground or shredded beef/chicken/turkey/lamb/pork (some dogs have allergies so be sure to know if that is the case and plan accordingly) or venison, flakes of fresh cooked fish meat or skin (but no bones!) or canned tuna or sardines, canned pumpkin or yams squeezed from a food tube, peanut butter, small crackers, slices of fruits (citrus not advisable) or berries, and cooked or frozen veggies.    
2. Toys/play. Many sport or stunt dog and detection or police dog trainers use this as a reward. The dog is rewarded by getting to fetch a ball or frisbee, play tug, or chew on a favorite toy. For most training purposes though, starting first with food is easier because it is hard to lure a behavior with a toy. In sporting or stunts, the dog may be focused on chasing the toy so well, it can be tossed over a jump or through a hoop or used to elicit a behavior like spinning. 
3. Affection. Some dogs simply want affection. Happy voices, body rubs, and noodling work well with dogs who are very motivated by affection.
4. Negative reinforcement. Not to be confused with reinforcing something negative, this means that we REMOVE something the pet does not like to reward them. Very effective for certain problem behaviors like aggression or fear. This is best used with a skilled trainer to help you.

The best thing about using rewards when training, are that they open the door for your pet to make positive associations with behaviors. Using aversion or forcing often builds negative associations, and damages the trusting relationship that the rewards help establish with your pet. Leadership is important, but benevolent leadership is always valued more than dominant leadership regardless of the species! Benevolence grants options and choices. Force and dominance remove those things, can cause pain and fear (leading to rage in cases where avoidance is not available) and shut down the ability to think for many species. And in some cases, the unpleasant consequence of engaging in the behavior we have paired a negative association to (shock collars, prong or choke collars, or hitting and yelling) is not nearly as motivating as engaging in the behavior is, because it is satisfying one of those core emotions! 
​