Limitations of Rewards Based Dog Training

DoorlookAnimals that already own rewards will not perform behaviors to receive the same rewards they already own.


 

 

 

Animals that receive rewards without any behavioral requirements will not examine and modify their own behaviors in order to receive the same rewards they already have.

This means dog training success via positive reinforcement depends on your ability to

Identify –  Manage – Deliver – Withhold – Add – Subtract

Rewards


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Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – Companion Animal Behavior Counselor and Trainer, Canine Specialization

How’s Bentley – Memphis, Collierville, Germantown TN

21st Century Canine Relationship Solutions

Private Dog Training in Memphis, Collierville, Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett TN

Reactive Dog Specialist

Positive Reinforcement & Dog Training: Identify and Manage the Reinforcers!

Yellow Lab, BunnyReinforcers include anything your dog currently desires.
Food is a primary reinforcer.
Attention, touch, toys, opportunities to interact, playtime, training sessions, opportunities to receive adrenaline and many other objects, events or actions can be reinforcers.

The bottom line is: if the animal wants it and you can control it, it can be used as a reinforcer. Rewards can be added or subtracted. They can be delivered during or immediately after a behavior to increase the behavior  (positive reinforcer) OR they can be removed or withdrawn to decrease behaviors (negative punisher, i.e. time out). The best trainers use a variety of reinforcers.

If you want to increase behaviors using positive reinforcement, you must have something of value to that individual animal.

Do you think Donald Trump will be motivated to give you advice for $10? Do you think laboratory rats will run through a maze to get food if they just ate lunch?

  • Animals that already have rewards will not perform behaviors to receive the same rewards they already own.
  • Animals that get rewards without any behavioral requirements will not examine and modify their own behaviors in order to receive the same rewards they already have.

Identify and Manage Reinforcers

Before you can implement dog friendly training methods, you should:

  • Identify reinforcers in the environment
  • Manage the environment to control the delivery of reinforcers
  • Identify reinforcers you own
  • Manage reinforcers you own and you will  “become relevant” to your dog

Identify Reinforcers in the Environment

Many reinforcers are in the environment, but not in our control. We are constantly competing with these environmental reinforcers!

Two of many reasons that dogs dig are to stimulate their olfactory senses and to regulate their body temperatures. We cannot control the odors in the soil or the temperature of the soil that reinforce digging. We cannot control the flow of adrenaline our dogs receive when they bark out-of-control at the postman or when they chase vehicles. Heck, we can’t even control our relatives that insist on petting our dogs when our dogs rudely jump up! Even though we can’t control these reinforcers, it’s important to recognize them.

Manage the Environment

  • Although we cannot control the reinforcers in the environment, we can manage our dogs’ opportunities to receive the reinforcers.
  • In some cases, managing the environment is the most effective method to prevent our dogs from repeating undesirable behaviors.
  • Ideally we should modify our dogs’ perceptions and modify our dogs’ behaviors and eliminate the problem behaviors.
  • In the short-term, we must manage the environment so our dogs’ unwanted behaviors are not reinforced

We can manage our dogs’ access to flower beds. We can provide our dogs with wading pools and warm shelters to regulate their body temperatures. We can manage our dogs’ access to postmen and moving vehicles. We can manage our relatives’ access to our dogs.

Identify Reinforcers We Own

  • We own and control a few reinforcers that most normal dogs desire. These are food, attention and touch or FAT.

Food – Food is a primary reinforcer, something a dog naturally desires. If your dog has conditional access to food, the value of food as a reinforcer will increase and your significance to your dog will increase.

Attention – Our attention (interactions with our dog) is another strong reinforcer. Dogs are social animals and seek social interaction with their humans. You do not have to teach your normal socialized dog to seek your attention. Dogs that have unconditional access to your attention learn to perform attention-seeking behaviors like barking when you are on the phone. That’s just rude! Once you teach your dog acceptable behaviors for earning your attention, barking for attention is not necessary. If your dog has conditional access to your attention, the value of your attention as a reinforcer will increase and your significance to your dog will increase.

Touch – Touch or tactile stimulation is another reinforcer and rounds out the top three reinforcers over which we have control. To social mammals, touch is grooming and grooming is performed by the subordinates. If your dog has conditional access to your touch, the value of your touch as a reinforcer will increase and your significance to your dog will increase.

Access to territory is another reinforcer that we can control. Dogs that have free access to FAT are more likely to disregard their humans because they have no idea that the humans own the FAT.  Often times, animals (and people) are unaware that we are delivering good stuff to them. Your dog may have no idea that FAT comes from you!

For example, can you tell me who is directly responsible for managing the utility crews who deliver your water? Of course not! Although you value water, you don’t really need to know who is responsible for delivering this great resource. You turn the handle and water comes out. The crew chief is not significant to you. You probably never think of the manager even though he or she is indirectly delivering water to you several times each day. Details about the manager are not relevant to you.

Now suppose your water service is interrupted. When you phone in to discuss your situation, the customer service rep tell you that you must find out who manages the crew and you must give that person a gift that they will like – before your water service will be restored. Your behavior will change; you will make an effort to find out who is in charge and what they like. You will examine your own behaviors and carefully choose to perform behaviors necessary to get your water service restored. Now the manager is very significant. Now you are very aware who is delivering the good stuff to you!

Manage Reinforcers We Own

  • Some dogs who have unconditional access to FAT can become pushy and demanding.
  • Teaching dogs how to earn these reinforcers adds structure to their environment and contributes to a balanced relationship.
  • Dogs are less anxious when they learn how to earn food, attention and touch.
  • Learning when and how to deliver or withhold these natural reinforcers is important for developing your relevance to your dog.

Avoid situations in which your dog demands and receives FAT from you without any behavioral requirements.

Bentley Barks – Forget About Alpha!

Alpha_aForget About Alpha and Forget About Dog – Human Packs!

For years, some dog trainers have suggested that you establish yourself as the alpha, as pack leader, and your dog will listen to you, respect you, and all will be well! These trainers believe that dog behavior is all about alpha, but what does that mean? How does a human occupy any position in another species’ hierarchy, much less first place? Do dogs really form packs with humans?

I say forget about human-dog packs and alpha! Humans and dogs don’t form interspecies packs. Domesticated dogs evolved because of man and don’t need to form packs in order to promote reproduction. Dogs and humans are different species. Dogs know this! Recognizing one’s own species is the single most important skill necessary for reproduction.

If you like to view your human-dog group as a pack, that’s ok by me, but I will point out that true pack dynamics are unnecessary and absent from the human-dog family. We don’t compete with dogs for food, territory or reproduction rights, so we really don’t compete with dogs for an imaginary alpha position in an imaginary dog-human pack!

Rank reduction programs, suggestions to mimic dog-dog behaviors, and leadership programs like “Nothing in Life is Free” (NILIF) or “No Free Lunch” are often explained with terms such as alpha, dominance, submission, deference and leadership. Among other suggestions, variations of programs instruct people to eat first, go through doorways first, ask the dog to sit before feeding, before throwing the ball, before petting, et cetera.

Some go as far as to instruct people to physically roll the dogs on their backs or sides, a procedure commonly referred to as the alpha roll. I believe the latter is poor advice for the general public, dangerous for aggressive cases and has multiple flaws, but nonetheless is a solution that some trainers sincerely recommend.

In many cases, some of these programs are very effective but the good results have nothing to do with establishing yourself as alpha, being dominant, mimicking dog behavior or acting as a dog leader.

Success has everything to do with the intelligent management of rewards and punishers, which are the immediate consequences of behaviors. If you want to learn how to teach or control behaviors you must identify and manage the immediate consequences of behaviors. All voluntary behaviors can be summed up in one scientific truth that has been known for over 100 years. Edward Lee Thorndike, a pioneer in the field of behaviorism in the late 1890s, studied cats and puzzle boxes at Columbia University and stated this Law of Effect.

In so many words, Thorndike’s Law of Effect states: Behaviors that have immediate appealing consequences will increase in frequency and behaviors that have immediate unappealing consequences will diminish in frequency.

Thorndike did not, nor has any other behavioral scientist in the past 100+ years, foot-note his Law of Effect with the words “except for dogs – and then you must become the alpha.” So I say, forget about alpha, forget about dominance and pack behavior. Focus on the basic, underlying, scientific principles of behavior and you will succeed!

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – Pet Dude Memphis TN

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