Food treats work especially well for training your dog.
A treat should be enticing and
irresistible to your pet. It should be a very small, soft, piece of food, so
that he will immediately gulp it down and look to you for more. If you give
him something he has to chew or that breaks into bits and falls on the floor,
he’ll be looking around the floor, not at you. Small pieces of soft commercial
treats, hot dogs, cheese, cooked chicken or beef, or miniature marshmallows
have all proven successful. Experiment a bit to see what works best for your
pet. You may carry the treats in a pocket, fanny pack or see the treat
dispenser available at OfficialDogHouse.com. It attaches to your belt or
around your neck and offers one hand operation. Each time you use a food
reward, you should couple it with a verbal reward (praise). Say something
like, “Good boy” in a positive, happy tone of voice. Note: Some pets may not
be interested in food treats. For those pets, the reward could be in the form
of a toy or brief play. When your pet is learning a new behavior, he should be
rewarded every time he does the behavior (continuous reinforcement). It may be
necessary to use “shaping,” with your pet (reinforcing something close to the
desired response and gradually requiring more from your dog before he gets the
treat). For example, if you’re teaching your dog to “shake hands,” you may
initially reward him for lifting his paw off the ground, then for lifting it
higher, then for touching your hand, then for letting you hold his paw and
finally, for actually shaking hands with you.
Intermittent reinforcement can be used once
your pet has reliably learned the behavior. At first, you may reward him with
the treat three times out of four, then about half the time, then about a
third of the time and so forth, until you’re only rewarding him occasionally
with the treat. Continue to praise him every time, although once he’s learned
the behavior, the praise can be less effusive - a quiet, but positive, “Good
boy.” Your pet will learn that if he keeps responding, eventually he’ll get
what he wants. If you have a dog who barks until you reward him by paying
attention to him, you’ve seen the power of intermittent reinforcement. By
understanding reinforcement, you can see that you’re not forever bound to
carry a pocketful of goodies. Your pet will soon be working for your verbal
praise, because he really does want to please you and he knows that
occasionally, he’ll get a treat, too! There are many small opportunities to
reinforce his behavior. Give treats before petting him (helps prevent jumping
up on people) or before giving him his food.