[nagdu] Proper treat delivery, without encouraging the treat monster

[Raven Tolliver]

So today (Saturday), I observed a puppy-training class for future
guide dogs, specifically for puppies 4-8 months old. One of the things
the puppy development coordinator talked about was treat delivery, and
I was glad I was there because I definitely learned something.

Two big problems people have with treats as reinforcement are (1) we
think we have to deliver the treat as soon as possible or the dog
won't know what the heck we're reinforcing, and (2) we teach our dogs
to anticipate the treats, and reward their anticipatory behavior.

Let's break this down.
1. While food is a primary reinforcer, there should always be a marker
which signals that "Yes, you did what I want. And by the way, you're
getting a treat for it." That's the purpose of a marker. Guide dog
schools seem to use the word "yes," or the clicker, or both. That's
fine.
The key here is to understand that you use the marker first, then
reach for the treat. Do not have treats in your hand. Don't have your
hand waiting in your treat pouch. Don't hover your hand over your
treat pouch or pocket. Say "Yes," let the s leave your mouth, then
reach for the treat. Don't allow your dog to expect the reception of
treats without some signal.
Your marker word or sound communicates to your dog that they did
something you liked. This means you can take as long as you need to
treat them, within reason. They know a treat or some kind of
reinforcement is coming, so when you give that marker, they'll wait
for the reinforcement.

2. Do not reward your dog for anticipating or going after treats.
What do I mean? If your treat pouch or treat pocket is on the right,
and your dog is on your left. Your dog knows where the treats are
coming from, nobody's fooling them. However, your dog should stay in
position to receive their treat. Your dog should not curl around in
front of you to get the treat. Your dog should not be nosing the treat
pouch. Your dog's head should not be crossing your body to get closer
to the treat.
How do you prevent this?
Deliver treats at the same place. For pups, the coordinator said the
knee. For us with adult dogs, I'm gonna say hip or mid to
upper-thigh--wherever face-level is for your dog. Using a point on
your body serves as a guide to keep your dog in position, or to
redirect your dog back into position. Treats only come from this
place, so you'd better get your butt back in this place to get it.
Doing this makes staying at your left more rewarding than curling or
trying to get at the treats.

Here's an example to apply this.
Let's say I'm training a pup to stay sitting for 15 seconds. I count
to 15 seconds silently, then say "yes." When I say "Yes," my pup knows
a treat is coming. He jumps up and moves closer to my treat bowl or
pouch in anticipation of the treat. I grab my treat, and put my treat
hand by my knee to show him that is where treats are delivered from,
and that is where he should be. Getting closer to the treat bowl
doesn't make treats come faster or from a different place.
Do I need to lure him back into a sit? Not necessarily. The dog
already knows that I appreciated the sit. However, I don't want to
reward the undesirable behavior of moving closer to the source of
treats.

Here's another example.
You're working your dog and she stops at the curb. You say "yes," and
normally treat her for this behavior. She's gotten into the habit of
curling around in front of you to get at that impending treat.
Grab your treat and move your hand toward your hip or upper thigh to
get her back into place. This way, you're not reinforcing and
encouraging the behavior of curling.
Don't dictate where you deliver your treats from according to where
your dog's mouth is. Deliver treats from a consistent position on your
body so your dog knows where her place is to get a treat from you.

Obviously, this is not applicable to all situations, concerning
delivering treats from a position on your body, especially if you're
training for certain continuous behaviors such as off-leash behaviors,
loose-leash walking, or distraction training. However, a marker is an
important component of positive reinforcement training, and can be
used in most situations.

Hopefully that helped someone. It definitely retaught me something
that I learned the motions of at GEB, but never heard someone break it
down verbally.
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs