Instructor: Mariah Hinds
Registration
There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.
Registration will begin at 9:30 AM Pacific Time.
Enrollment limits: Gold: 12 students, Silver: 25 students, Bronze: unlimited.
Gold Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to post questions and videos to the course forums. Students will receive instructor feedback on written and video assignments.
Silver Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to participate in the discussion forum. Students may ask GENERAL questions about course materials and may submit two, one-minute videos for instructor feedback. Any questions specific to your dog MUST be accompanied by a video.
Bronze Level includes access to all course materials and the ability to read all questions and answers posted in the class forums. Students will not post questions or submit written or video assignments.
For more details, refund policies, and answers to commonly asked questions see our FAQ page.
Course Details
Where and how we reward behaviors matters. There are lots of ways that we can reinforce our dog’s behaviors and how we do it impacts our dog’s enthusiasm, accuracy, ring readiness and commitment to the behavior. We can speed up training by rewarding the dog in position for stays. We can build distance behaviors by throwing the reward to the dog in agility. We can reinforce at the source of the scent in nosework. We can keep the rewards in a cookie jar or on top of the crate and teach our dogs to work without rewards on our body to prepare them for being in the ring at a trial. We can use it to speed up shaping, speed up the dog’s understanding, build distance, and improve accuracy. We can use it to test the dog’s commitment to wean off of rewards, to work towards the ring picture, and to build ring ready exercises. Reward placement is smart training. We can work smarter instead of harder and we can achieve faster results and happier, less frustrated dogs in the process. We will work on teaching the dogs a duration reward marker and we will work on practicing with rewards off of your body as well.
This is the system I use for building, assessing, sequencing and weaning off of rewards. It's the system I use for fixing a behavior. When a behavior isn't as precise as I'd like it, I look at reward location and the steps for building, assessing and weaning off of rewards. When a behavior is nice and accurate then we can move on to assessment, testing, sequencing and weaning off of rewards.
This class will emphasize 3 areas: 1) Understanding reward strategies, 2) Applying reward strategies to strengthen behaviors and fix weak behaviors, and 3) Applying reward strategies to assess how strong (and how ring ready) our dog’s performance of the exercises and behaviors are. We will also be discussing the benefits of teaching different reward markers for different reward types and locations and we will work on switching between reward markers or types of rewards.
Gold students can choose a skill that is in their dog’s repertoire to practice that applies to the reward strategies being discussed. Feedback will be given on timing and the effectiveness of that reward strategy for that behavior. Students can also choose to work on refining their communication and clarity to their dogs with their reward markers. Check the syllabus to see which reward strategies will be included in this class.
Speed up your training! Work smarter instead of harder!
Syllabus
Week 1:
Strategic Reinforcement vs Location Specific Markers
Come get the reward from my hand (food or tug toy)
Purpose:
- To build more value to being close to the handler (recalls)
- To place the dog exactly where the dog needs to be to do another repetition or the next behavior in the chain (luring the dog around to face the cone)
- To help the dog on the path towards the next behavior in successive approximation (placing the reward above a mat)
- To encourage motion
- To encourage enthusiasm
- To work on how the dog moves into a particular position
When wouldn’t we want to use this reward location?
- When we want the dog to remain at a distance or remain in position
Heeling specific reward placement for food and tug
Week 2:
Remain in position (food or toy)
Purpose:
- To build more duration (chin rest)
- To build more thoughtfulness (rewarding in position for agility contacts)
- To encourage the dog to remain in position (stand stay)
- To build value to that location, position or behavior (rewarding on a platform)
- To build value to a distance behavior (rewarding with the dog’s feet on a paw target)
- To prevent the behavior of drifting towards an undesired behavior (stays with motionless feet)
When wouldn’t we want to use this reward location?
When we want to encourage motion
Get it from the floor behind you (food or toy)
Purpose:
-
- For distance, duration and out of motion behaviors
- To build more enthusiasm
- To prevent forward motion
- To build value to where the reward is (send dog back to container of treats or toy for position changes at a distance)
- To add complexity to a fluent behavior (heeling past a toy or treat on the floor)
- To prevent an undesired behavior (forging while heeling)
- To reduce the number of rewards and work towards the ring picture (catch up heeling)
- Can be used to build a reinforcement event
When wouldn’t we want to use this reward location?
- When we want to build more focus on the handler or when we want the dog to remain in position
Switching between come get it from my hand, remain in position and get it from a bowl
Week 3-
Get it from the floor (food or toy)
Purpose:
- To assess the dog’s commitment to a behavior
- To build more enthusiasm
- To practice distance behaviors
- To build value to where the reward is (send dog to container of treats or toy for distance work)
- To practice having the rewards off of the handler’s body (sequencing exercises for agility)
- To add complexity to a fluent behavior (heeling past a toy or treat on the floor)
- To build value to being far away from the handler (go on for agility)
- To encourage forward motion
- To reduce the number of rewards and work towards the ring picture
- Can be used to build a reinforcement event
Get it from a bowl (food or toy on the ground)
Purpose:
- To assess the dog’s commitment to a behavior
- To build value to where the reward is (send dog to container of treats or toy for distance work)
- To practice having the rewards off of the handler’s body (sequencing exercises for agility)
- To add complexity to a fluent behavior (heeling past a toy or treat on the floor)
- To build value to being far away from the handler (go on for agility)
- To prevent an undesired behavior (eat this food instead of lunging at the barking dog)
- To encourage forward motion
- To reduce the number of rewards and work towards the ring picture
- To encourage enthusiasm
- Can be used to build a reinforcement event
Heeling specific reward placement for food and tug
Switching between come get it from my hand, remain in position, get it from a bowl, get it from floor in front and behind
Week 4-
Reward in the right hand for heeling
Purpose:
- To prevent the dog from heeling with their rear wide
- To prevent the dog from forging while heeling
- To ensure that the trial picture looks similar to the practice picture
Heeling specific reward placement for food and tug
Scatter
Purpose:
- Soothing to the dog
- Activates the seeking system
- Great management technique to prevent the dog from practicing undesired behaviors (lunging and barking at dogs or squirrels)
- Calm the dog down in a new environment
- Give the dog something to do when there is a distraction passing to build an appropriate behavior
Switching between come get it from my hand, remain in position, get it from a bowl, get it from floor in front and behind, heeling specific reward locations, scatter
Week 5-
The reward is off of your body
Purpose:
- To practice having the rewards off of the handler’s body
- To reduce the frequency of rewards
- To work towards the ring picture
Heeling specific reward placement for food and tug
Training in Flow
Purpose:
- Allows you to see if there are gaps between earning reinforcement and the next repetition
- Allows you to see if the behavior reduces in accuracy or enthusiasm with predictable, tiny increases in environmental distractions
- Placing food away from the retrieve object when working on holds
- Delivering food while dog is in a stand after completing a roll over
Switching between come get it from my hand, remain in position, get it from a bowl, get it from floor in front and behind, heeling specific reward locations, scatter, remote reinforcement
Week 6-
Reinforcement Events
Purpose:
- Allows you to create a reinforcement history that can create a strong habit of responding to a cue even in the face of an instinctual non-response to the cue (come when called away from critters)
- Allows you to create a reinforcement history for a duration behavior with a longer reinforcement event
- Really beneficial for behavior chains
Heeling specific reward placement for food and tug
Switching between come get it from my hand, remain in position, get it from a bowl, get it from floor in front and behind, heeling specific reward locations, scatter, remote reinforcement, reinforcement events
Sample Lecture
Come Get the Reward from My Hand:
Purpose:
- To build more value to being close to the handler (recalls)
- To place the dog exactly where the dog needs to be to do another repetition or the next behavior in the chain (luring the dog around to face the cone)
- To help the dog on the path towards the next behavior in successive approximation (placing the reward above a mat)
- To encourage motion
- To encourage enthusiasm
- To work on how the dog moves into a particular position
Phases of Training
When we are teaching behaviors to our dog, we can categorize the behavior in one of 4 ways:
- Preventing an Undesired Behavior
- Building the Behavior
- Assessing the Behavior and Adding Complexity
- Reducing the Frequency of Rewards
Where we deliver the reward should be affected by how well the dog understands the behavior. Initially, we will build a behavior using the reward location that enhances the dog’s understanding of the behavior. We can also use specific reward locations to prevent undesired behaviors. Once we think the dog understands the desired behavior, then we can use reward location to assess whether or not the dog truly understands the behavior. When the dog does understand the desired behavior and can do the cued behavior regardless of reward location, then we can reduce the frequency of the rewards.
Here is a chart of some behaviors where we would use having the dog come get the reward from you. We can use it to build behaviors such as recalls, loose leash walking and cone sends. We can assess how well a dog understands a behavior by having the dog come get the reward from you for stays, out of motion behaviors and position changes. We can reduce the frequency of the reward and have the dog come get the reward from you for distance behaviors such as cone sends.
Building Behavior |
Assessing Behavior |
Preventing Undesired Behaviors |
Reducing frequency of Rewards |
Recalls |
Moving into position such as down or sit |
Treat magnet to another position |
In a loop of sit to stand to sit where we are focusing on the dog sitting from a stand, we can reward in the reset position (the stand) |
Cone sends when we want the dog to automatically return to the handler after going around the cone |
Assessing commitment to a send behavior such as a send to mat- the dog steps onto the mat then we reward from our hand. After 5 reps of that does the dog still commit to going to the mat |
Collect into heel or side position in agility- preventing extension when we want collection |
Luring the dog into position to do another repetition- luring the dog to come to heel position to do another rep of cone sends |
Loose leash walking |
Releasing the dog from a stay |
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Leave that alone and get the reward from my hand instead |
Assessing commitment to an out of motion behavior (drop on recall) |
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Recall over a jump |
Straight line heeling (reward from right hand) |
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Hold an object |
Left turn heeling (reward from right hand) |
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Go to a target (go outs) |
In agility assessing the dog’s ability to collect after a sequence of extension behaviors |
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Recall to heel position |
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Right circle heeling (reward from right hand) |
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Right turn and about turn heeling (reward from right hand) |
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Collect into heel or side position in agility |
Here are some non-examples. These are examples of when we would not want the dog to come get the reward from the handler:
- We would not use this reward placement when we want the dog to remain at a distance or remain in position
- We would not use this reward placement when we want to prevent forward motion
- We would not use this reward placement when we want the dog to focus away from the handler
Discussion Homework:
- For your dog, what behaviors are you building in which we would want the dog to come to you to receive their reward?
- Can you think of a behavior that you could assess the dog's understanding by having the dog come get the reward from you?
Video Homework:
Show me a behavior where the dog earns the reward by coming to you. Focus on accurate timing. The reward marker should occur as the dog is doing the behavior. Then we can reach for the reward and deliver the reward.
