Clean Run - February 2018 - 35

swimming, retrieving, tugging, possessing a toy or a stick, fence running, and
snapping at flies. I'm sure you can add
others. The important point is that dogs
like these things and their behaviors
are pretty much always about seeking
those reinforcements.

Remember, reinforcement builds behavior. Knowing what is reinforcing to your dog
is critical to harness this truth for practical application. Trying to build behavior
with something that your dog does not find reinforcing won't get you very far. The
fundamental truth is reinforcement builds behavior, so be sure to use something
your dog perceives as reinforcing.

Principle #2: Can You Control Access to the Reward?

It's a good idea to make a list of the
top 25 things your dog finds reinforcing-not just those used as rewards in
training-and rank each of them from
1 to 10, with 10 being the highest value and representing a reinforcement
your dog will want under nearly any
environmental condition. A list of 25
sounds like a lot, but getting granular
builds an understanding of how best
to use reinforcement, and once you
get started you will be surprised
at how long the list gets.
Why rank the value? The relative
value of a reward can vary depending
on the environment. Your dog may
love to tug at home but has difficulty
focusing on the toy in agility class
with all its distractions. Knowing this,
a good choice would be to use highvalue food in class and keep working on building value for toys in less
distracting environments. Your dog
may do flips for kibble at home, but
in a highly distracting environment
a higher value food reward like tuna
fudge or a favorite tug toy may get
better results.
Be a good observer of your dog's response to what is offered as a reward.
Does your dog go nuts for any food,
or do you need to pull out the steak to
get a good response? Does your dog
love to tug? Does he love to chase a
ball? Does your dog love physical play?
Does your dog love to chase you?
Does your dog respond to praise or
an excited voice? Only use what your
dog wants when building behaviors.
How do you know? One simple way is
to watch your dog. After receiving the
reward you offered, did the dog stay
engaged and excited to keep working?
Or did the dog immediately make the
choice to leave you for other reinforcement or-even momentarily-start to
look around for something better? Or
lose a little enthusiasm for his work?
February 18 | Clean Run

Once you've made the list of things your dog finds reinforcing, narrow the list to
those reinforcements that can be controlled; that is, a reward that can be given
contingent on behavior criteria. The rewards will fall into two categories:
*	

The first category includes rewards that given directly to the dog: food in a form
that is easy to deliver, toys that allow interaction with the trainer (e.g., tugging),
praise, and social interaction (petting). These types of rewards are under your
control, have a beginning and an end, and are repeatable. It's worth the effort to
both build a repertoire of rewards that can be controlled and some rules around
those rewards-more about that later in this article series.

*	

The second category is a reward in the form of access to reinforcement that the
dog wants, like chasing squirrels in the backyard or playing with other dogs.
That is why it's so important to understand what is reinforcing to your dog.
Access to reinforcement is a powerful tool for building behavior.

Let's say you are working on impulse control with a stationary position like a sit or
a down. There are multiple opportunities every day to reward the dog for staying
until released to reinforcement. Sitting at a door until released to run and play outdoors, lying down until released to food bowl, sitting at crate door until released
for a walk, sitting before being released to play with another dog. These are all
great strategies for improving impulse control-the dog learns to earn access to
reinforcement by making good choices and the value of that access gets transferred to the behavior you are building, making it stronger.

35



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2018

Contents
Clean Run - February 2018 - Cover1
Clean Run - February 2018 - Cover2
Clean Run - February 2018 - Contents
Clean Run - February 2018 - 4
Clean Run - February 2018 - 5
Clean Run - February 2018 - 6
Clean Run - February 2018 - 7
Clean Run - February 2018 - 8
Clean Run - February 2018 - 9
Clean Run - February 2018 - 10
Clean Run - February 2018 - 11
Clean Run - February 2018 - 12
Clean Run - February 2018 - 13
Clean Run - February 2018 - 14
Clean Run - February 2018 - 15
Clean Run - February 2018 - 16
Clean Run - February 2018 - 17
Clean Run - February 2018 - 18
Clean Run - February 2018 - 19
Clean Run - February 2018 - 20
Clean Run - February 2018 - 21
Clean Run - February 2018 - 22
Clean Run - February 2018 - 23
Clean Run - February 2018 - 24
Clean Run - February 2018 - 25
Clean Run - February 2018 - 26
Clean Run - February 2018 - 27
Clean Run - February 2018 - 28
Clean Run - February 2018 - 29
Clean Run - February 2018 - 30
Clean Run - February 2018 - 31
Clean Run - February 2018 - 32
Clean Run - February 2018 - 33
Clean Run - February 2018 - 34
Clean Run - February 2018 - 35
Clean Run - February 2018 - 36
Clean Run - February 2018 - 37
Clean Run - February 2018 - 38
Clean Run - February 2018 - 39
Clean Run - February 2018 - 40
Clean Run - February 2018 - 41
Clean Run - February 2018 - 42
Clean Run - February 2018 - 43
Clean Run - February 2018 - 44
Clean Run - February 2018 - 45
Clean Run - February 2018 - 46
Clean Run - February 2018 - 47
Clean Run - February 2018 - 48
Clean Run - February 2018 - 49
Clean Run - February 2018 - 50
Clean Run - February 2018 - 51
Clean Run - February 2018 - 52
Clean Run - February 2018 - 53
Clean Run - February 2018 - 54
Clean Run - February 2018 - 55
Clean Run - February 2018 - 56
Clean Run - February 2018 - 57
Clean Run - February 2018 - 58
Clean Run - February 2018 - 59
Clean Run - February 2018 - 60
Clean Run - February 2018 - 61
Clean Run - February 2018 - 62
Clean Run - February 2018 - 63
Clean Run - February 2018 - 64
Clean Run - February 2018 - 65
Clean Run - February 2018 - 66
Clean Run - February 2018 - Cover3
Clean Run - February 2018 - Cover4
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