The Happy Emotions - A Party for Two
There is a school of thought that suggests dog training is a purely scientific endeavor that relies 100% on a trainer's mechanical skills - a good trainer should be able to take any random dog and create behaviors, whether or not they have any real relationship with that dog. Within this school of thought, emotional or verbal interactions from the trainer are perceived as distractions. A verbal "yeah!" is frowned upon. Celebration? Downright unprofessional. Good training is sterile.
Somehow, that sterility has been called a "benefit" because it leads to the faster acquisition of behaviors. True enough; taking the time to genuinely interact with your dog will interfere with the flow of training. It's even possible that it might distract the dog from their task, thereby losing some of your forward momentum.
The fact is, this clinical method of dog training works quite well to GET behaviors – indeed, I think it is the fastest way to obtain them. But dog training is not a race. The dog who acquires behaviors slowly because of joyful personal interactions during training has a real long term advantage over the dog who acquires behaviors quickly, but sees the trainer as a food dispenser rather than an engaging partner.
If you're reading this blog, then you're probably interested in not only getting behaviors, but also in maintaining them. You want reliability under conditions where the dog has figured out that no food and toys will be forthcoming. Dogs can be tricked into believing that the reward is coming during a trial for awhile, but one day, your dog WILL figure out that the traditional rewards simply do not happen in the ring. The question then becomes....what's left?
If you plan to compete at the higher levels of obedience, you might want to think about how you train your dog NOW so that she stays in the game when the food and the toys do not materialize later. That's when your emotions - your genuine and enthusiastic interactions with your dog - can get you through... but only if you've trained that way. Whipping out the party in the ring will only confuse your dog if you haven't conditioned that as a normal reward in practice.
If you're having fun (and I certainly hope you are, though at times I've watched others training and wondered), then why not share that joy with another being, a being who is genetically hardwired to pay attention to your emotions? Yes, dogs read our emotions....very well, in fact. The more externally you express your happy emotions, the more your dog will learn to look for them. If you can get your dog addicted to your happy emotions, then your dog will work to elicit them. Teach your dog to work you, not just for food and toys, but for your emotional reactions.
The more expressive you are as a person, the easier this will be. But if you're a person who internalizes feelings, that's okay, because what your dog will notice is a change in your overall emotional state. Dogs get used to you however you are; you don't have to imitate my style to show joy to your dog, but you do need to change where you are on your personal register. The very external and exuberant person will need to go higher than an internal person.
Now we'll try it.
Get your dog and start a training session. Identify a point when you'd normally toss out a cookie, but before you give it, show a true expression of joy or a play-based behavior to your dog. Remember, for some of you, that will just be a genuine smile. For others, it will be a full out whooping, leaping, free for all. The cookie is now rewarding your interaction rather than the behavior that precedes it.
Now refine it a little; think in terms of "degrees." Small accomplishments will elicit a reaction, but not the same reaction as a major breakthrough would. If a smile is good, a smile and a pat are better. A smile, pat and hug are better still. And then there are the moments where you’ll practically break out into song…running around and cheering and offering your best play-based behaviors.
This approach to training isn't hard, but you will need to give yourself permission to show on the outside what you’re already feeling on the inside. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it. It feels good to play with your dog and soon, your dog will start to smile right back at you! Then it's almost impossible to stop training because you'll get addicted to that happy feeling.
It astonishes me to hear well regarded trainers say that dogs require a paycheck to perform, and then imply that food is the only paycheck that really matters. Yes, the dog requires a paycheck, but don't assume food is the only currency.
A high percentage of dogs will work to play and interact, but only if you build and maintain that interest. If you train as if you have no more value than a food dispenser, then you will remove your dog's love of interaction, but when you celebrate with your dog, you take advantage of a unique and powerful aspect of dogs: they CARE what you think about them. When you talk to your dog, they wag their tails because they like to hear your sincere and enthusiastic praise. When you run around and act silly with your dog, they will join you, especially if you start when they are young and you work to build and maintain that interest.
If you show genuine expressions of joyful emotion, you'll be surprised how much you can reduce your food and toy rewards. If you've been shoveling out food for years then you'll struggle with this concept, because now it's a matter of food deprivation rather than attractive alternatives. But if you've naturally blended the existence of classic rewards (food and toy) with interactive rewards (play and praise) then the issue of deprivation does not arise. It's simply varied reinforcement.
Surely you feel joy and excitement when your dog accomplishes some goals? Why restrict yourself to a private party when you can invite your dog? This is a party that deserves a guest, so make it a party of two!
17 comments
Several months ago I researched the issue you bring up, because it was not “sitting right” with me that only food, water, sex and air were considered primary reinforcers FOR DOGS. As a result, I ended up in an e-mail correspondence with Ken Ramirez, a well recognized expert in the field of animal training and behavior. Ken gave me permission to share, so here complete response follows. I believe your definition covers animal behavior in general, but within a species there can be several more that are not normally mentioned in generic definitions.
Hi Denise,
In reference to your question regarding secondary and primary reinforcers, one of the areas of great interest and specialization for me is the use of non-food reinforcers and the desire to help trainers understand them better and use them more effectively. The definitions that I use in my workshops and classes are not based on my opinion but direct quotes from several scientific sources.
Primary Reinforcer – Something that satisfies a biological need; something that is inherently reinforcing
Secondary Reinforcer – A reinforcer that has acquired its value through association with a primary reinforcer.
These are widely accepted definitions. Food is one of the more common primary reinforcers. However, there are many others including social interaction and play – which are often used in animal training as well. However, one of the challenges that young trainers have is that they frequently underestimate the importance of establishing reinforcers and the need to build relationships. Inexperienced trainers will often see a dog that appears to love having his belly rubbed and assume that all dogs will find a belly rub reinforcing. Yet, when they use belly rubbing in their training program, they may find that behavior breaks down; often because they did not have the experience to recognize that their particular dog did not find a belly rub as reinforcing as they had assumed.
Likewise, many experienced trainers will demonstrate the value of toys (balls, tug toys, squeaky toys, etc.) as reinforcers and young trainers sometimes mistakenly walk away with the impression that any toy will serve to reinforce any dog – which is certainly not true. The other mistake is that people often will refer to toys as primary reinforcers. Toys are learned reinforcers, they are conditioned reinforcers. The primary reinforcer is what they get to do with the toy – chewing, chasing, tugging – these are primary reinforcers not the toy itself. Imagine a dog that loves to play tug with its owner, if you toss the tug toy in front of the dog as a reinforcer, it will not be very reinforcing unless you are holding the other end and playing the game. The primary reinforcement comes from the game of tugging and the social interaction with you the owner. To use tugging as a reinforcer in a training session requires training on your part to get the dog to release it. The tug toy itself is a learned reinforcer (secondary reinforcer) which is maintained by pairing it with primary reinforcers (tugging and social interaction). I hope that makes sense.
I work with scent detection dogs and search and rescue dogs and we frequently use tennis balls as a reinforcer. We never use food in the field. However, the ball is a secondary or learned reinforcer that gets its value from being paired with the primary reinforcer of chasing and/or chewing. To make the ball into a high value reinforcer, we play games with the ball and help teach the dog how much fun a tennis ball can really be. The value of the ball gets higher and higher the more we play with it. Trainers frequently make the mistake of calling the ball a primary reinforcer – it is not – it is a secondary reinforcer that has been paired frequently with primary reinforcement. But the primary reinforcement is not food, it is playing, chasing, and chewing.
Most experienced trainers know how to recognize reinforcers that motivate their dog without thinking too much about whether or not what they are using is a primary or a secondary reinforcer. As practical trainers, what matters most is what it is that motivates our animals. However when a novice trainer is on the path to becoming a professional trainer, I find it helpful if they learn the distinctions between primary and secondary reinforcers. It often prevents them from making the mistake of making an assumption about what an animal finds reinforcing.
This e-mail is already too long. But I hope my descriptions make sense. If not, please e-mail me further questions and I will try to clarify.
Thanks,
Ken Ramirez
I love this post!
I attended a seminar today and at the end people were asking questions and the instructor was sharing her opinion that a “house dog” or “family dog” uses so much drive and energy in living with us that they would never be successful in the upper levels in competitions. I found this quite sad and I disagree. There are several successful partnerships out there at world class level that also enjoy their dogs as family pets. I’m glad to see others working their dog not just for the medals but for the joy of working with your partner.
I admire your patience and what you are able to build with your dogs; such incredible insight for us all. You are gifted, Ms. Fenzi. I hope others out there can find the courage to give as much of themselves to their dogs, too. I know I will work harder to share a genuine connection not centered on tangibles outside my own enthusiasm for the moment.
Scientifically, praise/play/interaction is not a primary reinforcer. Only food, water, sex, and air are primaries. However, that doesn’t mean that these secondary reinforcers can’t be more powerful than a primary reinforcer. Secondary reinforcers aren’t lower value reinforcers, they’re just things that aren’t necessary for survival.
My dog vastly prefers play to food, and if there’s a hot dog on the ground on one end of the training ring and I’m having a party on the other end, 9 times out of 10 he’s going to choose me over the hot dog (and that 10th time, he’ll probably grab the hot dog and book it back to me so he can eat it with my company).
Primary, secondary, and tertiary reinforcers refer to scientific definitions, not to a “best to worst” rating system. My goal is to have my dog’s response to tertiary reinforcers (cues) be every bit as joyful as his response to primary (food) and secondary (tug or play with mama). All of this is possible with positive, relationship-based training.
Denise, I couldn’t agree more. The relationship between a dog and a human can be so much more than a cookie, and we limit and shortchange ourselves AND our dogs if we focus solely on food as a primary reinforcer. I naturally tend to be extroverted in my training, but your post still really made me think about how I can do things better and make training more rewarding and enjoyable for my dogs – using me, myself, and I :-) Thanks for all your posts!