By Abby Huxtable
Choice – You know yourself, when you choose to do something, especially if it is rewarding, you are much more likely to repeat it. For example, you choose to enter a running race, get a good time and a nice medal and enjoy the race. Maybe you even get a prize. Then you are likely to enter it again next year.
However, if you are forced to do something, you will be reluctant to do it and unlikely to enjoy it, so less likely to repeat the experience. For example, you are asked to do a task at work you don’t want to do. Your boss persuades you with the offer of a bonus, so you agree. You don’t really want to though, so don’t put much effort in, don’t enjoy the work and tell yourself you won’t do it again, unless the bonus is really good!
Our dogs are the same. If they choose to do a behaviour and we back that choice up with a good reward, they will be keen to repeat the behaviour. It was their choice, they enjoyed doing it, got a bonus reward, so they will do it again.
If they are reluctant to do a behaviour and we use a reward to persuade them to do it, they likely will if the reward is good enough, but may not particularly enjoy it, and still be reluctant to repeat it. This is an important distinction, that we as owners and trainers often miss.
This is where choice comes in. If we can break down the behaviour into tiny steps that they can offer us by their own choice, we can then reward that choice and build up to them choosing the big behaviour, such as grooming, or harnesses, or going outside.
If they choose behaviours we like, we should always capture them. They choose to sit or lay down – praise and treat that. They choose to lie on their bed or in their crate – praise and treat that. They choose to come running up to us, attach your recall cue – praise and treat that. They play with their own toys – you got it! Praise and play with them to reinforce the behaviour! This is an easy way of building natural behaviours that our dogs do anyway. We are simply reinforcing those desired choices.
We can also offer them alternative choices for unwanted behaviours, and prevent them choosing the unwanted behaviour.
Take chewing as an example. Dogs chew as it is soothing for them, so it relieves stress. It also relieves boredom as gives them something to do. It can offer relief to teething or dental pains. All of these are rewarding, so a dog will continue to choose to chew.
If we block the table leg they like to chew on, we remove that choice, so we need to provide a toy or food chew alternative and praise them for chewing that instead. They are still getting the innate rewards from chewing, plus the bonus reward of the praise, so are more likely to choose the chew toy next time, especially if we prevent them choosing the table!
So, think about the choices your dog will automatically make that you can capture.
Then think about those unwanted choices they make, how you can offer them an alternative choice, and make that choice more valuable to them. Then they are more likely to choose that instead.