In the world of dog training, a lot of people are trying to train their dog with a focus solely on the use of reinforcement. But there can be a disparity in the success people have when using rewards. We’re going to turn the microscope on why the outcome varies between trainers, why it’s happening, and what we can do about it so everyone can have success.
In the episode you'll hear:
- The reasons that animal training fails.
- How to get brilliant at understanding and using reinforcement values.
- What motivational currency is for your dog.
- The difference between a commemorative coin and a thousand dollars an hour.
- Why to vary the treats you give your dog when training.
- How different locations and activities can require differing rewards.
- The food rewards I use with my dogs and how I rank those rewards.
- My exact formula for what reinforcement to use when.
- Why to consider your dog’s uncertainty and distraction value.
- How to rank a reward’s motivational currency and the scale to use.
- The reason frequency changes the value of a reinforcer.
- Why I use high value treats for husbandry behaviors and how I transfer value.
Susan Garrett’s Reinforcement Formula:
RV > DU + DV
RV = Reinforcement Value
DU = Dog’s Uncertainty
DV = Distraction Value
I too am searching for *that* treat and wanted to try Honey Beefers. I found that they cannot be sent to the US. Does anyone have a similar product that can be purchased in the US or sent to US? Thanks in advance for any help!
What should I do if I cannot get more types of treats? (I am young and live in my parents house) I use their kibble, and lunch meat, I could also use apples, but I don’t have many options available.
Thanks for the podcast, I’ve been learning so much.
Can you put a written list on the screen so I can screenshot it?
My border collie likes everything and don’t show me what she prefers. I will try with tribes yet but I will. If she focus on a squirrel and I put ant treat near her, she doesn’t care about the treat anymore. My major goal would be to have her walking with no leash. I hope to get there one day. She is 10 months old.
Susan mentions Honey Beefers as one of the favorite treats. I don’t think they can be shipped down here in the States. Does anyone know what the ingredients are? I can dehydrate strips of steak but is there actual honey (or anything else)? My dog really likes the dehydrated steak (plain) but I would rate them a 7.
Any ideas about the Honey Beefers? I’ve looked at their website but they only show a picture of the package, so no help there that I can find.
thanks!
I just found the Honey Beefers of 4mymerles.com, shipping isn’t cheap but they will ship to the US. I also purchased a few of their dog toys that Susan recommends. Hope this helps.
I also ordered some of the dog toys from 4 My Merle’s and they do have honey beefers but the website says they do not ship them to the US. I’ve looked everywhere. Chilly dogs has them but can’t ship to US. they said it’s because the packaging doesn’t have enough information. Going to try making my own. Cross your fingers.
Hmmmm. Very interesting – I don’t think I’ve found my puppy’s 8/9/10 treats yet. He’s a Cardigan Welsh corgi; usually they’re known to be utter gut-buckets but he’s just not that fussed about food generally – what he really wants to do is explore his environment. I was lucky enough to puppy-sit his litter at ca. 5 weeks old, and when I fed them all lunch I had to fetch him back from the main kitchen twice because he was more interested in checking out that than in the food! When I first brought him home, I found myself having to hand-feed him his meals for the first couple of weeks to make sure he ate what he needed to – if I just dropped the bowl in front of him he’d just wander off, the FOMO was too strong! Even now, he’s mostly unconcerned about meal times – in fact, the last few mornings he’s effectively eaten his breakfast over the course of a morning walk, he find food more attractive when earned (I also give meals in a puzzle feeder sometimes). He likes toys and playing tug, but not to the exclusion of anything else.
That said, we’ve managed to make some progress anyway; I started by using his kibble as training rewards (I weigh his daily allowance into a tub and dip into it as needed), and as he’s got older we’ve tried various other things with varying degrees of success. Kibble is still a solid lower-value reward, though. If I know I will be asking him to do something new and strange, or with more distractions, I try to make sure we have some good stuff to hand. One thing I have found key with him is variety – he gets bored extremely fast, so I now have a mad assortment of different things to tempt him with in the dog cupboard! XD I just ordered some tripe to offer him, it’s something we haven’t tried yet. Otherwise probably the closest we’ve come to an “OMG, MIND BLOWN” treat is roast chicken thigh – I think I’m with him on that one!
This was fabulous as always, Susan. A bit of comedy makes my day, too. Thank you and This!
With using a variety of treats how do you manage your dog’s overall food/calorie intake in a day? Or do you just go on how he looks as to whether he had been overfed or not? Thanks
It’s so logical and still… I tend to train with only one type of food per situation.
Thanks for pointing this out!
I have a good variety of treats, but my Boxers love everything, including veg and fruits. I’m going to see if I can find the tripe treat. I need that WOW treat and don’t seem to have it yet, as my Boxer is extremely concerned/anixous in new environments. She has definitely improved with the Recallers Program, but we just aren’t in a happy place yet.
Appreciate all of your games and podcasts. We have a goal both in agility and therapy dog work and you are moving us toward those.
Thank you once again for your generosity, sharing your canine knowledge. The video was both entertaining and educational. I enjoyed it greatly. I would also like to say “This” is growing like a weed, we had better not blink. LOL
Susan. you are SOO right about the different treats! Lokshn , my 11 yr old – any treat will do. you say “treat” and she is there. But I used to only use chicken ( sprinkled with a tiny bit of garlic) for trials . One time I forgot my treats, and had to buy a hamburger at the trial. She couldn’t wait to finish the course! So now I mix the chicken and hamburger in the same baggie. Bren, 3yrs old ( 11mo when we got him AND with PTSD), had to sniff every treat before he would even put anything in his mouth– as if it might be poison. In his treat bag, there is chicken, beef, tiny pieces of left over Middle eastern meat pies ( his favorite), etc. -anything he will grab quickly in classes.
Thank you. Needed reminding
Great information! Thank you
Thank you Susan, as always lots of great advice!
Thank you for being so generous with everyone. Your podcasts and training academy’s/ school are so full of powerful skills and knowledge that can help to transform our training so both our dogs and us are. happy to interact with each other and at the same time we are enriching our companions lives and our relationship to each other.
I had just come to the conclusion that my reward value was awful when your podcast appeared in my in box. Thank you for the recipe of when and where to use what. I’m better prepared for tomorrows class now.
Thank you susan These podcasts are fantastic so much great and user friendly information
Love this! My dog goes crazy for Gouda cheese. We will use that for our recall training this weekend!
Thanks Susan, reinforced my beliefs in reinforcement! I once had agility instructor describe the handful of treats I gave her, to reward the dog during an exercise with me, as a trail mix. I often mix the treats if appropriate for the activity we are doing.
Thank you. Great podcast. I am changing up my rewards today
I love your podcasts. Easy to understand and follow and make perfect sense. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge and experience. 😁🐾
This is so amazing. I have tried many varieties of high value food rewards, sadly, my westie (although very motivated) has a sensitive stomach and got really sick, even with small amounts. I’m stuck.
Great advice! Definitely made me realize that I am not using treats most effectively. Can you please share the URL for the recipes?
Hi Priscilla, here’s the link to get the recipe eBook:
https://dogsthat.com/tastytreats/
This is exactly what I needed to hear and am implementing this change immediately. Today we are training at home with kibble and it is working. I have always train with treats that are 8, 9, and 10’s at home as I didn’t think kibble would work. Thank you once again Susan for a great podcast and insight into training.
I read these and I listen to them more than once. So many gems. this is great because it gets us to actually think about what is rewarding for our dogs and what is best to use in aagiven situation. Your podcasts are jam-packed with information! 💫⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
helping friends with their pups and a major challenge it that they free feed so getting the motivation for treats is lower. seems like there are only a few HIGH value treats that motivate. Have had little luck getting them to stop the free feed