Rewarding your dog

Rewards are for letting your dog know he did the right thing, and ensuring that he'll want to do the right thing again.

The best reward for most dogs is a treat. Usually, the smaller the treat the better. And the more immediate the reward the more effective it will be.

If you can't give the dog his reward immediately you should tell him he did right, so he'll understand, and expect his treat. In my opinion you should tell him he did right by saying "thank you" or "yes". Save the sweet talk for times when you're playing or cuddling. See Vocabulary for details.

When you're trying to teach a new behaviour you should praise and treat every time he does what he should. In fact at the very first you should P&T with even minor attempts to get it right.

The attempts need to get better in order to deserve a reward. Even a small improvement is very good.

Once he has done it correctly several times the rewards for merely trying should go away. He has to do it correctly to get the reward.

As soon as he has a fairly reliable understanding of what it takes to earn the reward you need to start getting forgetful. Tell him he did it right, but forget to give him the reward. Ask him to do it again and remember this time.

You should gradually wean him from the treats.

At first he should have treats for 9 out of 10 successes, then 8 out of nine, then 3 of 4, then only one in 4.

When he gets to one in 4 and the treats are tiny he'll have to do it right an awful lot of times to get full of treats.

When you forget to give him the treat you should still remember to tell him he did it right. If you say "thank you" every time, he'll learn to associate "thank you" with doing right and maybe getting a treat. This will be very valuable knowledge.

This part is important. Remember to start backing off on the treats as soon as he understands what he's supposed to do. He will learn it better, and faster, and remember it longer. Trust me on this. Plus you can save the cost of the treats.

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Auntie Donna's Dog care and training tips

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