And, that ladies and gentlemen is called click bait.
Don’t worry…. I AM going to talk about the number one reason MOST reward based training isn’t as functional once you start getting into real world pressures.
Commitment!
Everyone knows those crazy working dogs that will run through a woodchipper to get a ball are easy to train. And… You don’t have to use a ton of cranking. They’ll do anything, go through anything for that fucking ball. They have commitment.
But… what about those dogs that aren’t ball obsessed.
Hell…. They aren’t anything obsessed.
How do we motivate them.
Well…. there’s two schools of thought… And they’re both a little off.
1st school- Says screw toys and treats. You do because I insist! I put pressure on you and to make it go away…. You WILL do the thing. And… They’re right. Pressure IS a way to get commitment. If I want you to leave your seat… I MAY NOT be able to find something you like enough to get up. But… I damn sure can always make that seat hot enough that you leave. Hell…. I can make it hot enough that you’ll COMMIT to leaving it. You’ll overcome resistance to leave it. I can get commitment in a “reward based” system, just by switching to NEGATIVE reward. Easy.
Downside to that…. While there will likely ALWAYS have to eventually be SOME element of this in training… The “no… I insist” moment… Going to it to often, too early, or with too much intensity, can really flatten dogs out. Most “pet” dog people don’t care. They need compliance not joy. They aren’t losing points for attitude in their obedience. They just need it to happen. So…. They jump on the -R train early and often. When they do…. They get the reliability. And they are still “technically” in the reward based model. But.. They lose the joy. And that’s a shame.
2nd School-Build drive!!!! They do food deprivation. Super short sessions where they backtie the dog. Steal the toy at the end of the session. End them wanting MORE. Increase the desire for the thing…. and I increase my chances of getting you off the couch without making it hot! Yes, and yes. That’s a great first step. Build a desire and you increase the leverage you can create with that desire. Awesome!
Downside to that…. Tends to fall apart under pressure. In a reward based system it’s not actually about how bad you “want” the thing. It’s about what you’re willing to DO to get the thing! And creating desire is a great first step. But….. creating commitment!!!!! That is by far more important!!!
THIS is where the “working dog” world has such a HUGE leg up on the “pet dog” world.
It’s often referred to as making them “tough”. And that’s where it turns normal people off. They think that to toughen a dog up…. You have to be mean. That’s not true. You have to BUILD them. Teach them bravery. And effort. If you skip right to rewarding for behaviors…. You have to spend a ton of time “proofing”. And basically building commitment and bravery DURING work. If you spend a little time on the front end building the commitment as a separate trait unto itself…. You will make life much easier on the back end.
It’s just simple math… increase the amount the dog will do and endure to get the reward, and you increase the amount that you can use +R! The more you stay in that zone the more joyful the work will be for you AND the dog. The further down the road you push that moment of saying “no…. but I insist”.
Make sense?
Great…. Well….. How?!?!?!
In your game play (yes I assume you are playing in your training or you probably aren’t reading this) stop going so fast to the “work”. Build the commitment as a goal.
Here’s a clip of playing with food. In this session I’m working on the dog’s basic luring fluency, AND…. Commitment. Toughness.
Here’s a clip of me playing tug. The focus…. Toughness. Commitment:
More work with developing “commitment” more than a behavior. Treating commitment as it’s OWN thing.
Taking that shit out into novel environment to work MORE commitment.
Doing all of that front end work…. Makes sessions like this next one so much easier. And virtually “correction” free. Almost no pressure at all. This is damn near a “purely positive” session. With dogs that have a fight history. Extremely reactive in the past. And there’s NOTHING in this that the fairy farts and rainbows crowd wouldn’t be ok with.
That stuff was possible because of the work on the front end. Getting commitment… Not just drive, commitment to the reward. Lets me have so much more ability to use rewards based training in the “real world” with “real dogs”.
Yes… it’s a little more work. Saying fuck it and switching to pressure is easier. But…. In the long run…. Being able to effect real, reliable change… with JOY is worth it.
Now… Go play with your dog!
Hard 😉
(to see where most of these ideas originally came from, check out Ivan Balabnov’s trainperview.com)