Creative Reinforcements

 

A few years ago, I was walking my dog Bugsy off leash on our farm in Black Earth, Wisconsin. One of my major training goals after moving to the country was to be able to call him off a deer—the astrophysics of dog training. As such, I was doing a lot of recalls from major distractions such as other dogs, exciting scents he was interested in tracking, and calling him back when he first spotted a deer but before he began to bolt. I was doing this recall work with a variety of reinforcements—treats, toys, chew toys, chase games.

 

On this particular morning, I had gone out to walk Bugsy with a pocket full of treats and chew toys with the plan of practicing some recalls, as I had already seen that there were signs of deer having recently been in the fields. Just after getting outside, I realized that it was colder than I thought, so I switched to a heavier jacket, tossing my original coat of choice—AND the load of reinforcements in the pocket—back into the house. So, off I go, ready to train my dog, but without all the goods needed to best accomplish my goals. (See, it even happens to professional trainers!)

 

Tramping through the snow, I was on the lookout for deer, and as we approached the edge of the woods, Bugsy and I spotted the herd. He hesitated before giving chase, which I suspect was a result of the fact that he was used to me calling him back before he had the opportunity to give chase. I had been doing that because it is much easier to call dogs back before they are actually going after an animal at full speed. Since I did not call him, he ceased hesitating, and ran at them. A second later, I reached into my pocket ready to pull out a jackpot of a reinforcement to give to him when he responded by coming to me, and found nothing but two tissues.

 

Usually running and letting him chase me would be one of the best possible reinforcements. However, chasing me as I waded slowly through the deep snow would not be nearly as fun as chasing those deer, and I didn’t want him to regret his choice of giving up that chase. Thinking faster than I usually do on a cold morning, I called out in a loud, cheerful voice, “Bugsy, come!” As Bugsy turned away from the deer (slowly, but he did it!)), and began to run towards me, I praised him like crazy. My next move was to take advantage of the cold weather, and blow my nose into first one of the tissues, and then the other. When he got to me, I handed him the tissues, which he gleefully took from me and began to sniff and lick. What a treat! I can just imagine him thinking, “Wow! She never lets me have these at home. Now, these are worth coming away from deer for!”

 

I am no way advocating using discarded tissues as a standard reinforcement. Even as I write about this incident, it grosses me out, and I was the one who did it! Still, the fact remains that the unexpected reinforcement can be a powerful training tool. Being creative in our reinforcements, whether it’s out of necessity or not, can result in more effective training of our dogs. Like many dogs, Bugsy adored tissues, especially if someone had already used them, but, like many owners, I always prevented him from getting them. Letting him have something that he was not usually allowed access to made that reinforcement extra special and very powerful. In Bugsy’s case, I found his recall from deer improved after that one incident, although I never reinforced him with used tissues again.

 

When I got to work that morning, I shared my accidental reinforcement story with the people at work. While the rest of the staff predictably wrinkled their noses at what I had done, well known trainer and behaviorist Patricia McConnell, with whom I was interning at the time, was smiling as she clapped her hands together delightedly, and exclaimed, “You are truly a dog trainer now!”

 

--Karen B. London

Comments

[Ajlouny]

oh gross.

[Debbie Jacobs]

The reward I have used for my cockers letting me clean the goobers out of their eyes was to let them eat them. It served a dual purpose, they got a reward and I didn't have to deal with them!