Training to Stay in the Black and Avoid Behavioral Bankruptcy
Part I: Surprise rewards for trained behaviors
Two of the most common misconceptions about training with rewards or positive reinforcement are the sentiments that a cookie can’t compete with a squirrel and that your dog will only listen when you have food or a toy in your hand. However, when training correctly with positive reinforcement, the cookie is not competing with the squirrel, it’s the totality of cookies that have been paired with the signal to come back to the handler that is influencing the dog’s return. And if training has been done thoughtfully and creatively, it's not just food bits that function as “cookies," it’s anything your dog enjoys in that moment. When our dog does some behavior and it is followed with a pleasant consequence, think of that as a deposit in your dog’s general Behavioral Bank Account. An unpleasant consequence following a behavior is a withdrawal from that account. These can be consequences from us, the environment, or internal to the dog. For example, your dog checks in with you while on a walk and you pull out a toy and play a fun game of tug before sending him back out to explore again. Or, your dog is sniffing around in a field, catches and pursues an interesting scent, and flushes a bunny that he then chases. Or, your dog feels the pressure of a full bladder and relieves that pressure by urinating. The best way to build a strong Behavioral Bank Account for everyday life behaviors is to ensure you set up truly memorable, positive consequences. In this article, we will focus on behaviors that your dog already offers or for which you already have a significant training history. To that end, let's look at options for creative reinforcement of behavior as it happens in real life.
Every formal positive training session we do with our dogs, deposits “money” in their behavioral bank accounts. When we are first teaching of behavior we typically reward every repetition. This puts a lot of deposits in their bank account, but it also limits the dog’s contextual clues for what is expected. It’s often us standing or sitting in front of them, with food on our person or in a treat bag, and asking for a behavior repeatedly. So it makes sense that dogs would struggle to generalize this to a very different picture. Enter spontaneous or surprise reinforcement. Surprising a dog with desirable consequences when they perform a behavior we request or when we capture a behavior can be extremely powerful. It can in effect pay dividends on that reward! Some common everyday behaviors that most owners have worked on or that dogs offer naturally include standing with 4 feet on the floor, sitting, lying down, checking in with their person when outside or loose in the house, lying on a dog bed, being handled or examined by a human caregiver, and coming when called. These are great behaviors to focus on for building the bank account.
Disclaimer: Know your dog and your risk tolerance. Everything we do involves some level of risk; only you can decide what is appropriate for your dog.
Below are examples of creative reinforcement strategies--the processes we use to increase the likelihood a behavior will occur again in the future. Some of these can be in place all the time, ready for you to pull out and use, while some require prior setups. The power of spontaneous rewards is that they appear suddenly within the context of regular life rather than in a dedicated training session. It’s the difference between letting your dog watch you put food in a food bowl
before having them sit and wait to be released, and having their food bowl secretly prepped and waiting in the next room, asking for a sit, and releasing them to run with you to the next room to a surprise meal.
In the examples, I often use a generic marker “Yes!” Before running to or pulling out the reinforcer. This works best if your dog already has a strong history of using the word “yes!” as a marker.
Special thanks to Courtney Stevens and her dogs Mischa and Larka for helping bring the examples to life.
Shredding—treat bag or paper bag or box: Your dog is a little antsy in the morning while you are getting ready or checking emails. Ask for a sit or "catch them in the act" of sitting, tell him “yes! Let’s go shred it!” And run to an empty treat bag or paper bag you have stashed. Play tug and encourage your dog to shred it. (Again, know your dog. While ingesting a tiny bit of paper bag is likely just fine, if you think your dog will eat the plastic treat bag, don’t offer this. Instead of a shredding reward, you could dump the crumbs on the ground or hold it while they lick it clean.)
Almost empty dog food bag: This is my 13 year old Doberman’s favorite. I like to imagine he likes it because he thinks he’s getting away with something. 😝. Lift your dog’s lips to examine gums and teeth, look in ears, or wipe off paws, say “yes!” And run to the place where the almost empty treat or food bag is stored to let them climb in the bag and eat the food. (If you store your food bags in places accessible to your dogs, you’ll want to avoid this one. My food bags are in plastic bins, in a closet, in my office.)
Empty plastic PB jar, can also be frozen: When your dog comes in from outside when you call them, celebrate by praising excitedly and running to the cabinet or freezer and giving them the almost empty jar to lick clean.
Cat food stash: I don’t own a cat, but I have a wall mounted cereal dispenser in which I keep cat food. It makes for a small, highly palatable treat that I can access on a whim when my dogs do something particularly brilliant, or I want to do an impromptu snuffle mat to manage the dogs when the doorbell rings or I don’t want them underfoot. Storing it in an empty plastic parmesan shaker not only keeps the plastic out of landfills, but allows you to stash it anywhere convenient. You can even use velcro wall hanging strips to stick it somewhere handy! (Thanks to Austerlitz German Shepherds for that last tip!)
(Yes we have landline 📞 😂—the only way to get “decent” internet out in the back of beyond)
Food dispensing toy prepared and stashed ahead of time: while watching TV, randomly get up and tell your dog to crate/kennel up. You can say “yes!” And deliver the food toy that is stashed nearby, or close the crate and say “yes!” before delivering the toy.
Go sniff: When you get out of the car at a park or store with your dog, stand in one place, with both hands on the leash and planted on one hip. Let your dog explore the area available on leash. When he looks at you , say “yes! Go sniff!” And take 3-4 big, quick steps to a “new” area or run to a more interesting (from the POV of your dog’s nose) green space to explore.
Surprise tug toy: Run through a few easy reps or behaviors with your dog and then pull out a hidden tug toy for a meaningful game of tug.
Be spontaneous, set your dog up for success, and have fun! I’d love to see some of your ideas and examples!
Further examples:
Run to toy
Run to fridge/freezer
Stash a toy, frozen kong, or frozen bone in yard
Run to digging pit with hidden treats
Kick a soccer ball or jolly ball around together
Get invited on furniture
Get down on floor and play
Jump up and down
Freedom to go run and play off leash
Barking or howling together
Anything that makes your dog loose, wiggly, sneezy and you laugh
