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

[Tami Jarvis]

Great description, Raven! Thanks for sharing.

Another owner-trainer pointed me to a great article on using markers not 
too long before I got Loki, and it has really helped to think in those 
terms, especially since I'm using a verbal marker with him so far. I 
don't know why, but thinking of it as a marker instead of praise, with 
the treat as the reward does something for me. He also sees the marker 
as praise and rewarding and no longer really needs the treat for a lot 
of things. Poodles aren't very food-motivated, or at least mine aren't, 
so they phase out the treats on their own. They're also more likely to 
watch my face than my treat hand, which helps. My husband's dog is 
totally food-motivated, so I have to work with her a little differently 
and occasionally rework enough positioning that she doesn't trip me in 
case I might be reaching for my treat pocket.

Tami



On 07/18/2015 09:30 PM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu wrote:
> 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.
>