Positive reinforcement is when the handler adds something good after a dog exhibits a behavior to make it more likely to occur in the future.
In the simplest example:
- Your dog looks at you.
- You give him a treat.
- The dog will look at you more often in the future.
Another example could happen without your permission or planning and isn’t always a good thing.
For example:
- A mail carrier comes to the door.
- Your dog barks because she is startled at the proximity of a stranger to your property and she wants them to know she is here to protect the house.
- The mail carrier leaves to go to the neighbor’s house
- Your dog might think she made the mailman leave.
- Your dog gets a good feeling for protecting your property from the mean mail carrier.
- Your dog has now been positively reinforced for barking at people at your door.
- Your dog will now bark at people at your door more often in the future.
In more complex examples, the trainer will use backchaining to link multiple behaviors together. For example, in the Heel position, while walking, I like the dog to pay attention to me, and check in frequently to make sure its position is good. One of the ways I reinforce this is with a food reward after the Stop Sit.
The dog has to be paying attention to me in order to know when I stop. When I stop, the dog’s job is to Sit automatically (without a verbal command) next to me. After the dog sits, I will positively reinforce the dog with food and praise.
So first, the dog has to be in the correct Heel position. Then they have to be paying enough attention to know when you are stopping. Then they have to Stop. Then they have to Sit next to you. Then they get the reward.
These other steps start to be positively reinforced on the expectation of reward in the future.
Positive reinforcement is happening all the time with your dog, although being positively reinforced may or may not be what you want.
It’s important to look at each behavior your dog exhibits from this perspective.
