{"id":633,"date":"2011-11-19T12:49:42","date_gmt":"2011-11-19T02:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/?p=633"},"modified":"2021-08-02T14:43:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T04:13:06","slug":"mcgreevy-on-rewarding-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/dog-behaviour\/dog-training-dog-behaviour\/mcgreevy-on-rewarding-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"McGreevy on Rewarding Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is part of the McGreevy seminar series. Click here for the index<\/a>.<\/small><\/small><\/small><\/p>\n

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McGreevy had a lot to say about rewarding dogs.\u00a0 Reward training is his preferred method of training for dogs.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, to know what a dog wants<\/em> and likes<\/em> can help us in our training.\u00a0 Dogs value a range of things, and each can be used as reward.\u00a0 However, what a dog wants and likes varies in different contexts.\u00a0 McGreevy was big on appreciating animals as individuals in order to get the best out of them.<\/p>\n

McGreevy believes in allowing dogs to pick their own rewards, and allow dogs to be \u2018creative\u2019 in their reward choice.\u00a0 The speed and strength of a dog\u2019s learning can indicate how attractive the reward is.<\/p>\n

Rewards can be innate (i.e. a primary reinforcer) or learned (i.e. a secondary reinforcer).<\/p>\n

We can also influence the value of rewards.\u00a0 For example, if we play with a ball before we throw it, it may act as a greater reinforcer.\u00a0 Also, by fasting a dog, they have a higher drive for food.<\/p>\n

He listed a number of things that could be used as reinforcers.\u00a0 They are what dogs consider to be resources, and so they value them and will work for them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun, surprises, and play<\/span><\/p>\n

Dogs like fun surprises, like unpredictable or concealed rewards. Dogs like the \u2018fun\u2019 of being rewarded with magically appearing stuff.<\/p>\n

Dogs are opportunistic and playful.\u00a0 They like to play, and it can take time to play with dogs effectively (he mentioned Steve Austin <\/a>as \u2018great at playing with dogs\u2019).\u00a0 Dogs can value each other as resources and play companions.\u00a0 (He mentioned Alexandra Horowitz book, Inside of a Dog<\/em><\/a>, for more insights on dog play.)<\/p>\n

McGreevy emphasised that, when playing with dogs, we need to avoid dogs putting teeth on humans.\u00a0 Chasing and using teeth are innately rewarding for dogs, and we need to prevent the opportunity for them to learn that humans are appropriate to chase and teeth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Food<\/span><\/p>\n

McGreevy called a bowl of dog food \u201ca bowlful of training opportunities\u201d.\u00a0 He did note that some people, however, are of them the mindset that it is \u2018wrong\u2019 to make dogs work for meals and instead the dogs should have an innate ability to please.<\/p>\n

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Other Rewards<\/span><\/p>\n

Dogs, as a domesticated animal are social, so they can be rewarded with social interaction.<\/p>\n

Some dogs can also be rewarded with exercise, training, water, sex, liberty, sanctuary, and comfort.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Personal Experiences<\/span><\/p>\n

I have found so much diversity in my dogs and what they find rewarding. I think this has made me a better trainer, in having to work \u00a0with dogs as individuals and not taking a \u2018one size fits all\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n

With Clover I spent a lot of time with her to ensure that she would work well for both food and toys.\u00a0 She loves her tennis ball, but she sometimes gets over-aroused and stops thinking when training. \u00a0For this reason, I normally use food rewards with her as it keeps her motivated but not over-aroused.\u00a0 She does, however, receive a tennis ball reward at the end of tracking.<\/p>\n

Chip is a dog that I can reward with a pat, praise, and a cuddle. He likes food, and he likes toys, but he often gets over aroused with both of these rewards.\u00a0 For Chip, when we track, he has a reward of a cuddle and praise at the end of the track.\u00a0 He must like it, otherwise he wouldn\u2019t track!<\/p>\n

So do your dogs find rewarding? What are your more \u2018creative\u2019 rewards?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Further reading: Ian Dunbar on Reward Training Techniques<\/a><\/em>
\nThis post is part of the McGreevy seminar series. Click here for the index<\/a>.<\/small><\/small><\/small><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This post was written for the cash giveaway by\u00a0Successful Blogging<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0RocketFuel<\/a>\u00a0who connect brands with bloggers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McGreevy’s thoughts on rewards for dogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[254],"tags":[12,11,257,256,232,219,258,247,255,244,124,123],"class_list":["post-633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dog-training-dog-behaviour","tag-dog","tag-dogs","tag-fun","tag-games","tag-mcgreevy","tag-paul-mcgreevy","tag-play","tag-reinforce","tag-reinforcement","tag-reinforcers","tag-rewarding","tag-rewards"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4891,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions\/4891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leemakennels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}