Choosing the Best Reward Makes Success More Likely

They decide what’s rewarding…

We have to ask our pets what and how much they value a reward - food or otherwise. There are fan favorites, of course: chicken, cheese, etc. But they have individual preferences just like we do!

In the competition between motivation to not perform a desired behavior (ex. If I don’t come when called, I won’t have to leave the dog park) vs. the motivation to perform a desired behavior (ex. If I come when called, I’ll get chicken), we want to make sure the reward we offer is the winner.

…and what’s “punishing”

If a behavior is followed immediately by a reward, your pet is more likely to choose that behavior in the future. On the other hand, if a behavior is followed immediately by a punishment, your pet is less likely to choose that behavior in the future. I never recommend punishment. Occasionally, though, we accidentally punish. For example, we teach a recall cue like “come” using a treat reward, and then in the real world we only ever use this cue when the consequence is negative: ending play time, going in the scary car, etc. If they come less reliably when called over time, no wonder! We’ve been punishing them!