Rewards
FROM The Dog Trainer BOOK: How to train your barking, howling, jumping up, pulling on the lead and won’t come when it’s called dog.
I met a lovely lady called Dora who a wee ‘Hairy Maclary’ type dog had called Billy. She wanted Billy to stop dashing out the door every time it was open as he would then run all over the neighbourhood, with Dora chasing endlessly behind him, calling to him to return.
I pointed out especially that chasing your dog wasn’t the best way to recall him, and we talked about a few alternatives. I began training by first putting Billy on a long line for better management. Then I quietly opened the door as we continued to talk so that we could start off with basic recall in a controlled manner.
Within a few seconds Billy realised that the door was open. Out he ran like a bullet, but when he got to the end of the long line he was stopped with such force that he sat down abruptly with a thump on his bottom. I told Dora, “Now you can call Billy with all the enthusiasm you can muster.”
I didn’t know that Dora was a member of the local operatic society. She let rip with “Billlleeee, co-o-oo-me.” Her call was melodious, but had the strength of a minor tornado. Billy turned and looked at her with sudden surprise, but didn’t move a muscle. I encouraged Dora to gently tug on the line to encourage his return. Dora reeled Billy in like a fish on a hook with his bottom bumping over the cobbles. This was not exactly what I had been thinking of, and perhaps I could have better explained this method of training.
Nevertheless Billy was now at our feet. I told Dora to give him a reward for arriving. Instantly, she produced a biscuit from out of nowhere three times bigger than Billy and shoved it into his jaws. So there was Billy, biscuit in mouth, with a ‘You made me do it’ look on his face, and an ecstatic Dora telling him what a good boy he was.
Well, it was a beginning and at least Dora was not chasing him. Before long we had Billy recalling beautifully, and Dora not forgetting he was a dog, not a dogfish. To this day Dora still has the most enthusiastic recall I have ever heard and doles out the biggest biscuits as a reward.
She certainly learned the lesson that rewards can be fun and are extremely helpful when you want to train a dog in a new behaviour.