Dear Miss Paws: When people mention “positive reinforcement” while training a dog are they talking about praise, food treats, or what? Also, if I use food treats for training, won’t my dog always expect a treat when he does that behavior? A. “Positive Reinforcement” can mean all of the above including a favorite toy or petting. Food treats work particularly well for dog training. It should be something they especially like and should be a small, soft piece of food so he will quickly gulp it down and look to you for more. Something difficult to chew or something that crumbles into bits and falls on the floor will defeat the purpose because he will be looking at the floor and not at you. There are commercial treats available in pet stores or you can try bits of hot dogs, cheese (my own dogs’ favorite), cooked chicken or beef – even miniature marshmallows. Every time you use a food reward you should couple it with praise, such as “Good dog” and be sure and use a happy, upbeat tone of voice. If your dog is learning a new behavior, he should be rewarded every time he does the behavior – called continuous reinforcement. Once your pet has reliably learned the behavior, you may use intermittent reinforcement – at first, about 3 times out of 4, then maybe half the time, and so forth until you only occasionally reward him with a treat. However, continue to praise him every time even though he has learned the behavior, but the praise can be less effusive – such as a quiet, “Good dog.” In this way, your dog continues to work for your verbal praise and you will not have to carry a pocketful of treats. Dogs really want to please and the occasional treat is a bonus for him!
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