Reward delivery

We sometimes find when we’re training our dogs, they seem to be focussing only on where the reward is coming from. It can be particularly obvious if we’ve used luring to create a behaviour.

Actually cats too, and I’ve had some painful bite & claw injuries from an overly zealous kitty trying to get rewards before I’m ready.

Luring a behaviour is a whole other post, but in general you use the reward to literally lure the dog/cat into the shape you want to make. The way you hold the reward in the lure often influences the hand signal that becomes part of your cue, and you then fade out the lure… and this is where sometimes we find the subsequent reward delivery can cause the dog to lose focus or lose position.

For example, you may be using food to lure your dog into a drop/down position. We start holding the food in front of the dog’s nose and slowly moving it down and forward, and can give the treat immediately the dog is in position. We then move to no treat in our hand, but use the same hand position to get the dog to drop/down. We can no longer deliver the treat immediately when in position, and may find the dog creeps up, looking for the treat.

This is where the reward delivery comes in. We can now use our other hand to have the treat ready – this allows you to immediately move in with your other hand to reward in position. You can also drop treats on the floor, so the dog does not break drop/down position.

Similarly with place training, you can put the reward on the bed/mat place which reinforces the correct location. For standing on a platform you may throw the reward a couple metres away, encouraging movement and motivation to return to the platform and stand. And for targeting your hand, pressing the treat directly into your palm may encourage a firmer target.

It’s not just for lured behaviours either. The possibilities are fairly endless and can make a huge difference to the tightness of your dog or cat’s positions and cues. For every cue you are working on, consider exactly where the reward may be best delivered to maximise your results.

Mark the behaviour, reward in position.

Call me, I can help.