The rate of reinforcement is the number of times you reinforce during a given period of time. Our program starts with a very high rate of reinforcement meaning we reinforce quickly and often.
Rate of reinforcement can and should be reduced, but there is a process that must be followed in order to keep the dog motivated and interested in the work. Here are some principles that should help with shifting your dog from working for food to working for the love of the work.
1. Fade luring as soon as possible.
2. Fade reward placement as soon as possible.
3. Get the food off your body as soon as possible.
4. Never reduce reinforcements all together.
5. Instead of gradually reducing reinforcements in a linear fashion, move your reinforcement schedule from consistent and predictable to random and unpredictable.
6. Reduce reinforcements in such a way that the dog continues to think that a reinforcement could come at any time.
The Steps for Reducing Reinforcements [3/26/25, 4:06 PM]
1. Use continuous reinforcement when a dog is first learning a behavior. Continuous reinforcement means that you are reinforcing every correct response. Reinforce every behavior until the behavior is solid with required criteria, solid in the environment you are training, and can be chained either with itself or with another behavior. Chaining a behavior means to perform two behaviors in a row without reinforcement in between. The two behaviors can be the same behavior performed twice or it can be performing two different behaviors one after another.
2. When the behavior is solidly learned in the current environment, reduce the amount of reinforcements. Instead of reinforcing every correct behavior, reinforce only the dog’s best efforts. when the dog is proficient with the behavior in the current environment and when the behavior can be chained together with other behaviors. Chaining behaviors is asking the dog to do more than one behavior between reward events. For instance, if I ask my dog to down and then to sit, I would have chained two behaviors together. Effort must be reinforced while at the same time mistakes are not. Therefore, the dog must be set up in such a way that when a dog is putting forth his best efforts, there is a very high probability that he will be correct. We’ll talk more about this later.
4. When chaining together multiple behaviors, have the most difficult behaviors at the end of the chain so that they are rewarded more often than the easier behaviors. When you chain behaviors together, only the last behavior is actually being reinforced.
5. Begin using jack-pot rewards when you begin chaining multiple behaviors together between reinforcement. These are larger rewards that are given at least several yards away from where you are training. With a jack-pot reward, the dog hears the marker word and then runs to a designated place where the trainer gives him a small bowl of food in a crate or on the floor or ground. Because the dog is randomly being asked to work longer sequences and because the food is no longer close by, he needs a larger reward than a single treat or a few pieces of food to keep him motivated.
6. Always reinforce correct behaviors when the dog has struggled with particular behaviors. If a dog makes a mistake, make sure that during his next try at that behavior he is correct and gets reinforced for it. Make the exercise easier if necessary.
7. When your dog is very fluent, move to random rewards. Random rewards are more highly reinforcing than consistent rewards. Use random rewards only when the dog is very proficient in the environment and under the circumstances he is currently being trained. When mistakes are made, go back to continuous rewards for the behavior where the mistake was made until proficiency is again attained. Then chain together that particular behavior at the end of the chain so that it gets more reinforcement. Basically, when mistakes are made, go back to step #1 and work through the steps. If a dog is unsure, he needs a consistent reinforcement schedule so that he knows and understands and gains confidence as to when he is right.
8. Practice full run through’s rarely and only once every piece is well-learned in a large number of environments. When a full run through is done, follow these longer performances with drive-building short sequences sandwiched in between high value reward events.
9. Most importantly, be careful not to train over threshold. If your dog is failing, it is usually because he is not being reinforced enough. When mistakes are made, go back to continuous reinforcements (step #1) and gradually ,move through the steps again.
Random Reinforcements and a Full Obedience or Rally Run
When training a dog to run an entire obedience run, people tend to think that the key is to gradually decrease reinforcement until the dog is working for the length of time required to work in the ring. This type reduction of reinforcement will rarely work because as the reinforcement becomes less and less, the dog’s motivation to work follows suit and also becomes less and less.
In order to acclimate your dog to work for longer periods of time in a ring setting, there is no need to perform at that level over and over. Performing longer runs once or twice just before a trial is sufficient. These runs don’t need to be full runs. I recommend running a run that is about 3/4 the length of time of your upcoming trial run twice over the few days preceding the trial.
The key to preparing your dog for longer sequences between reward events is to continue building value in the work with varying levels of reinforcement and to keep the dog guessing as to when the mark could come. Here are some tips for preparing your dog for a trial where longer periods of time without reinforcement are required.
1. Sometimes, mark and reward the dog for simply setting up correctly and with enthusiasm.
2. Sometimes, chain together multiple behaviors.
3. Occasionally, throw in almost a full run.
4. Never do long sequences back to back.
5. Sandwich longer sequences between shorter ones.
6. Never let the dog stop thinking that the reward could come at any time.
When you go into an obedience ring with a dog that is not a seasoned competitor, you are most likely asking your dog to work over the threshold. Hopefully, your dog is prepared enough to where you won’t do much damage to his training. However, if done over and over without heavy reinforcement in between, your dog will lose significant motivation and confidence. What will enable your dog to perform at this level at a trial is training at home using random reinforcement and classical conditioning. Random reinforcement is important, but classical conditioning is the secret sauce for changing a dog who doesn’t want to work into one who loves it enough to do it even in stressful environments.
When you go into the ring at a trial, you cannot take food or toy. Neither can you take the threat of punishment (at least not for the long haul). The dog will eventually learn that neither reinforcement or punishment is there. The only thing left to motivate a ring wise dog is his own love of the work. That can only be built with classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can only happen with positive reinforcement and in order to compensate for the difficult environment of a trial, there must be LOTS of positive reinforcement.
You can’t drain your dog’s battery before a trial by consistently reducing reinforcement. You must heavily charge up the dog so that he’s full of love of the work. Then in order to not shock the dog’s system with a long series of behaviors without reinforcement in the ring, you must occasionally add in longer random work.
