This is a question that comes up time and again - what is/was/should be the first thing to teach a new puppy or dog in you household? The answers are often quite similar - their name, sit, some sort of leave it, stay and so on. My answer changed a number of years ago, and since getting a new puppy last year, I'm really happy with my choice!
So - what was the first thing I taught my puppy? Reinforcement strategies!
What are reinforcement strategies?
Simply put, they are the way in which I deliver different rewards to my dog. When most people think about rewards or reinforcement, they think of treats and toys. However, there's a bit more to it than that - are you feeding the food to the dog's mouth, or are they taking it from your hand? It could even be thrown or in a bowl a little way away from you both. The same with toys - they can be thrown to catch, grabbed from the hand or chased. I will make different choices depending on what I'm teaching or where we are. My choices will also be influenced by the learner I'm working with - Ripley prefers treats, Peak favours toys.
Once a dog has an understanding of the different ways of accessing reinforcement, you can bring real clarity to your training. Where I need thoughtfulness in a session, I'll use food delivered to his mouth. For more energy I can toss treats. I can use my reward placement to set up for the next repetition, which can really reduce frustration in a session (for dog and handler alike!) Reinforcement strategies also give me options for when things are going a bit south; I can cue 'sprinkles' (food scatter) or start a two toy game to give myself and my learner a bit of a mental reset. Exactly what I choose will vary from session to session, as well as from dog to dog. However, having lots of different options definitely makes for more efficient training in my experience.
How and what should I teach?
It's often easiest to teach these sort of cues in pairs - for Peak, the very first training session we did after he came home at ten weeks was to teach him 'get it' (tossed treat) and 'good' (food to his mouth, sometimes referred to as 'room service').
IMPORTANT NOTE - I'm sharing here the words I use, but you should pick words that work for you. As with all cues, consider what words you use already and whether cues sound similar to your dog's name.
Here's some video from that session - I'm giving the cue, pausing for a fraction of a second and then throwing the treat. We're working outside here, but you may need to start in a lower distraction area. He's just ten weeks old, and not really used to searching for treats just yet, so I'm literally keeping the treat right in front of the nose and dropping it almost in front of him. There is no contingent behaviour - I'm not looking for eye contact or anything else, just teaching him that when I say 'get it' I will be throwing food so he should follow the direction of my throw. I contrast this with saying 'good', pausing and feeding to his mouth. Again, no particular behaviour required, but already he had a LOT of history for sitting to get things!
Isn't that so cute?!
The next video gives just one idea of how I use this in practise; I mark moving back with a 'get it' and feed on the floor (this sets Peak up nicely to move back again), and when he gets both back feet on the platform, I will mark with 'good' and feed in position. The 'good' marker tells him to stay where he is. I do get a bit too excited though!
Hopefully this blog has given you a few things to think about, and maybe even try with your own learners. You can always pop into the Compass Canine Community on Facebook to ask questions. I'm not going to overwhelm you with all of the different options that Ripley and Peak know!
Happy Training!
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