Sorry you don’t get a pay check this week?  Dog’s should always receive a pay check during training.

It was like every other morning, I got up got dressed and got ready for work. I drove into work and sat down at my desk and began my daily routine of answering emails, calling clients and filing paperwork.

The work day was almost over and  I was so ready to go home, it had been a really long day with lots of new things I had learned.

I knew though that all these long hours would pay off when I got my pay check! I could see it now, all the extra zeros on the end of my pay check.

Just as I was getting ready to shut the door behind me I heard “could you come to my office please?” from my boss. So I shut my office door and walked over to his office. He said “have a seat, we need to chat.” I was wondering what he could have to say, he had this worried look on his face.

My boss complimented me on my work and said ” You was one of his hardest working staff members and he appreciated all the extra time you have been putting into work lately.” I kept thinking yea no problem, but all those extra zeros are going be nice.

He then looks at me and says ” The company is changing the way we pay our employees now, being you have been here for so long you won’t be getting a pay check any longer. My boss said I will just be telling  you “how great you are doing” and that’s it.”

I sat their with my jaw hitting the floor, my eyes where are big around as golf balls! I asked my boss ” What do you mean I won’t be getting paid any longer?”

What about all that extra over time I did? He then said you did a great job and sent me on my way!

I went home from work that day and just couldn’t believe what I heard, No paycheck ever again! I guess I’ll be looking for a new job.

How can we use a reward for a reward in our dog training and not a bribe?

Have you ever walked into your job and told your boss ” hay I don’t need to get paid today.” I highly doubt ever. So why do we expect our dogs to work for FREE?

When using food or toys  as a payment there is a right way and a wrong way. A lot of times  people use it the wrong way, not because they mean to but because that is the only way they know how too.

Using food or toys to bribe your dog do come to you or the famous ” I’ll give you a cookie if you come.” We don’t know how to use the reward as it was intended as a reward.

When you enroll your dog in Wilos Wish Dog Training, that is conveniently located not far from Lansing and Grand Rapids, Michigan, our unique training technique show you how to use food for a reward.

The way to use food as a reward is by teaching the dog a behavior then rewarding the dog after they have preformed it correctly. We are not going to keep rewarding for the same behavior once they have it down. We want to keep advancing their progress in training.

Example:

One example is when we teach the “Sit” command. First will use food as a lure to get them into a sit. I like to lure 5-6 reps on the 7th rep I stand there and wait for the dog to offer what I just rewarded them for, which was sitting.

So if  I reward 5-6 times for them putting their butt on the ground, its pretty certain they will do that the 7th time with out my help.

Now once the dog is sitting on their own 10-12 times in a row I now won’t reward for the actually sitting, I start to reward for them sitting on the first or second command. Now you can reward the dog when they sit on the first or second command, this is using the food as it is intended as a reward.

If the dog does not sit on the first or second command but does sit I will give them a “good dog.” It’ still a reward just not as high a value, because they did not do what I asked.

Once the dog is sitting approximately 85% on the first or second time I will up the criteria so they  no longer get the food for the act of sitting or sitting on the first or second command, but on how quick they sit. I want to keep increasing the dog’s difficulty in training so they have to think about what they need to do for that reward.

By upping the criteria and not rewarding for every step you are eliminating having the dog work only when they see you have food or a toy.

Why is paying our dog so important?

A lot of people always ask me “when can I stop rewarding my dog?” Never!

Your dog always needs a reward of some kind. In the early teaching stages of our training programs we use A LOT of food and toy rewards, why because we want to get a solid foundation.

As we progress to higher levels of training we begin to fade the amount of food out and how often they get the reward. By this time we have created so much value in our selves and the foundation the dog does not care about the food, they know they will get something sometime.

Not rewarding your dog with something of high value such as food or toys is like you not getting a paycheck for your hard work.

Did you go to work today and tell your boss ” I don’t need to be paid today, but I still will be in on time for work?”  Why should your dog?