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Are You a Vending Machine or a Slot Machine?
Rachel Flatley, owner of Pawsitively Fun Dog Training Group
When it comes to giving your dog a reward, are you more like a vending machine or a slot machine? What would your dog say if I asked it?
If you haven't considered this question, or if you aren't even sure why it's relevant, I'm betting you are one of the people who might be heard to say,
"I took my dog to basic obedience class. I attended each class. I did the homework. We graduated. Now he'll ________ (insert "come", "sit", "down" "stay" or
any other behavior of your choice in the blank) if he thinks I have a cookie. But as soon as the cookie is gone, so is his attention."
What went wrong? Simply stated, you were never taught how to wean treats out of the picture while still getting the behaviors you worked so hard to teach.
Weaning the dog off of treats and getting the treats totally off of your body is a process, but let's see if we can't go ahead and get some of you folks started.
The first thing that will help you get compliance from your dog in the absence of treats is if you can get out of the habit of using your treat as a
lure (visible bribe) to get the dog to be a willing participant. Instead, you need to use the treat as a reward that is presented to the dog AFTER it
performs. How do you go about making that switch? Let's say your dog will sit if there is a treat in your hand.
Put four treats in your hand and close your hand. Next place two treats in your pocket. Tell the dog to sit. When it does, give a treat from your
closed hand. Repeat that step three times using all the treats in the closed hand. Now ask the dog to sit again. When it does, feed it a treat from
your pocket. Repeat that step again. You are now using a reward; not a bribe/lure. You may have to begin that way the next few times you practice, but
know that in most cases, your dog will eventually sit for the treats in your pocket instead of relying so heavily on the treats in your hand. We are not
ready to get the treats off of your body yet, but once you have made the switch from using the treat as a lure/bribe to using the treat as a reward,
you are ready to follow the rules governing delivery of the reward (or reinforcer) and we are one step closer to getting the treats off of your body.
Vending machines are highly predictable. We put our money in, make our selection, and 9 times out of 10, we get something. Slot machines on the other hand,
are very random in their delivery of the thing we seek. Sometimes we pull the arm 20 times and get one token. Other times we try 3 times and get 10 tokens.
Still, on other occassions there are jackpots delivered after one pull of the arm. It is the random nature of the delivery of the reward which keeps us at
the slot machine, always believing that the next pull of the arm will deliver the reward we seek, the big payoff. Let's apply this to you and the delivery
of rewards to your dog.
When a dog is first learning a behavior, you need to try and be a vending machine (keeping in mind your criteria I wrote about last month).
That means that if the dog performs to your criteria, you deliver the reward. Once the dog has mastered the behavior and performs it reliably,
you can become a slot machine. That means the rewards become random and sometimes there are jackpots.
One word of warning; people tend to subcounciously establish patterns for the delivery of their "random" rewards, thereby only the human
(and not the dog) believes the rewards are random. In order to be random, some people need to go so far as to formulate a list before they practice.
That list sets forth that the dog will be rewarded at random intervals such as the 3rd time they perform the behavior, the 1st time and then the 4th time.
The other mistake people make is that they constantly build the number of repetitions required before the dog is rewarded.
For example, at first the dog is rewarded for its first sit. Next the dog is not rewarded for the first sit, but is rewarded on the next sit.
The building pattern continues. Now the dog is not rewarded for the first two sits, but is rewarded for the third sit.
(If it helps you to follow the example, in essence, the dog sat a total of 6 times. It was rewarded for sits number 1, 3 and 6.)
If this trainer continues to build on the number of repetitions required to earn a reward, the trainer is not being random (there is a pattern)
and the dog will lose motivation. This trainer needs to consider rewarding sits number 7, 8,10, 14 and 16. That's random reinforcement.
If the handler truly wants to simulate a slot machine, they should give a jackpot (several tiny treats) one of the times when the dog is rewarded.
When the handler behaves as a slot machine, the dog, much like we do, will stay at its task hoping that the next sit gets him a treat or two, or
perhaps, the jackpot.
Please note that since your dog does not learn all of its behaviors at the same time, it is possible that it will be necessary for you to still be a
vending machine for more difficult behaviors like "come", whereas when working the same dog you might be able to be a slot machine
for a simpler behavior like "sit".
As a final note on this business of rewarding behaviors, please remember that a behavior which is not reinforced on some level, at some interval,
will diminish and eventually disappear. The reinforcer can be a treat, toy, verbal praise or a scratch on the head, but periodic reinforcement on
some level must occur, or the dogs will walk away from the slot machine (as would we).
You may also like to read....
Criteria and Consistency
Your Dog is Speaking. Are You Listening?
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