You build and maintain your dog’s habits constantly. Every interaction with your dog influences the behaviors he chooses in many situations. You can build good habits that benefit your dog and yourself during play as well as other activities. Think ahead and plan to make the most of this possibility.
Some dogs love to play fetch. If you and your dog enjoy this game, why not incorporate feedback that helps both of you in all areas of your partnership? If your dog loves to chase a toy, pick it up, and bring it back, you may already be rewarding her “offered” behaviors like sitting, lying down, or dropping a toy by throwing the toy again. You can also consider her location relative to yours as a behavior choice.
Build Good Habits During Every Activity
Dog behaviorists consider a dog’s entire way of being, including how to help them adjust to live a more balanced life. Behaviors you notice while walking your dog, while he plays or explores, or when he’s interacting with people have fingers reaching into other areas of his life, too. Choose behaviors to reinforce that will help your dog globally. They occur in many areas of his life.
Velcro Dogs are Always Right There
Some dogs are a bit “clingy.” You might refer to yours as a “velcro dog.” In general, these dogs seem to always be at your heels or with you in the bathroom. They could benefit from a bit more reinforcement of behaviors that build their independence. You’d like them to be able to “stand on their own four feet.” It’s nice to have them closeby, but not healthy for them to be dependent on you for all their confidence.
Velcro Dogs: Build Good Habits of Independence
During a fetch game, this “velcro” characteristic may show up as bringing the toy back very quickly and very close to you. It’s great to have a dog “deliver to hand” and bringing the item close to drop it is a first step. However, to help a velcro dog in other areas of his life, you can build a little independence related to a game he loves. Throwing the toy is likely a great reinforcer because your dog loves to go get it. Use your next throw to reinforce your dog being just a little bit farther away from you. It’s a very small change that can have a lot of impact.
If your velcro pup is right there with his nose in your personal space, wait for him to move away from you before throwing the toy. Start with him just backing away a step or two the first time. Watch the communication the two of you develop as you wait just a second for your dog to move away before you throw. He’ll start offering the behavior more if you’re clear. He’ll start to feel good about being a little farther from you. That good feeling will help you develop his ability to be more independent when you leave the house, or just go into another room.
Adventure Dogs are Far Away
I’ve had a couple of “adventure dogs.” (Talking about you, Leo and Daisy! LOL) They seem to have a very wide bubble of safety and closeness with me, even if I don’t! They pay attention to where I am, but don’t check in as often as my clingy, velcro dogs do. It’s not like they want to run away or not be near me. They just happen to be perfectly comfortable and seem to still feel connected, even with a lot more space between us.
Adventure Dogs: Build Good Habits of Close Proximity
During a fetch game, some adventure dogs tend to drop the toy way out of your reach and back away quickly. They are in such a hurry for you to throw it again! Adventure dogs are in it for the chase. They don’t mind a little distance from you and they’re immediately ready for the next round, sometimes before you are. Choose a behavior to reinforce that causes your adventure dog to reverse his tendency to be far away from you.
Wait for your adventure dog to take just one step toward you. If moving away quickly is a deeply-seated habit, you may need to back away a few steps from your dog at first. He might be moving away quickly! When you put slightly more distance between yourself and your dog, you’ll encourage his movement toward you. Watch closely, and as soon as he takes a step toward you, throw the toy. You can build this behavior into having your adventure dog come closer until he’s delivering the toy to your hand. Watch for him to start staying a little closer in other situations and reinforce those instances, too.
Reward vs. Reinforcement
“Reward” is a word that helps us humans understand reinforcement of behavior. That’s why I’ve used it interchangeably with “reinforcer” or “reinforcement” in this article. But I want to remind you that reinforcement is a very specific behavioral term.
Reinforcement is Immediate
Reinforcement means that you have applied something (a “reinforcer”) immediately after your dog performed a behavior that causes that behavior to occur more frequently. You use it to develop bits of behavior or rough behaviors into bigger or more polished behaviors that you like. You can change your dog’s behavior. Positive reinforcement, or a reinforcer, is typically something the dog likes that results from his behavior choice. Hence, a flying toy for him to chase can be a result of him coming closer or moving farther away, depending on whether you’re working with a velcro dog or an adventure dog.
Rewards Include Waiting
“Reward” may seem a simpler concept, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Webster defines “reward” as something given in recognition of one’s service, effort, or achievement. Rewards for humans often require a waiting period as we work to fulfill several requirements to achieve a milestone. When speaking of rewards, bigger sets of behavior are usually being assessed and those take time to produce.
Reinforcement is applied specifically and immediately to a carefully defined and discriminated behavior. Dogs don’t understand that they have provided you with a service or effort. You don’t care if your dog tried hard. You care if he performed a bit of behavior you wanted. In fact, if he made a great effort and did not perform the behavior you wanted, you failed as a trainer by not setting up the training environment he needed for success. You also don’t wait for an “achievement” by your dog. A good trainer uses reinforcement to help the dog build the behaviors required for that achievement.
Dogs Learn Through Reinforcement
Your training will be more effective if you understand the science of reinforcement. Rewards are for humans, who understand the value of delayed gratification. Reinforcement is what builds your dog’s behavior; behaviors that you want to see more of.
Many Forms of Reinforcement
Reinforcement of behavior comes in many forms. We use treats for ready access and quick repetitions. We open the door for a dog to go out when he pauses, sits, or waits calmly. Reinforcement in the form of interaction with a toy takes a little more time, but why not take advantage of a play situation to continue building behaviors you want? Your dog is learning something, so you might as well choose what it is.
When you’re playing a game like “fetch” anyway, you might as well work in some of the behavior modifications you would like to see in other areas of your partnership with your dog. Besides, associating the emotional high that a dog often feels during a fun game can really help speed up the learning process.
Dogs are Learning All the Time
Dogs are always learning, through every event and activity. When playing fetch with your dog, the throw always reinforces something. It may as well be a behavior you like, or something that helps your dog build habits that benefit himself and you. The trick is to be able to visualize how play behaviors translate to the ways your dog behaves in other scenarios.
Good Habits Don’t Occur in a Vacuum
Reinforcing the behavior of “being close to you” can generalize into your dog checking in with you more often, even if he still tends to be a bit adventurous. Throwing a toy when your dog ventures out away from you can build his confidence in being away from you and more independent. Feeling good when farther away from you can generalize to other situations like your velcro dog being able to relax in a separate room from where you are. It takes time and active intervention on your part, but the process begins with observation of how your dog is behaving now and visualization of the possibilities.
Learn to look at your “whole” dog so you can apply behavior science to choose a behavior to reinforce that helps him reach his personal best! It will benefit both of you.
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