I have recently read a few blog posts on dog training, and I always find it interesting to read other's opinions. They make me observe and critique my own training. If you read my last post "against the grain" you'll know that I often use non traditional ways of training and rewarding. One post that I read was discussing rewards, namely what is a reward?
The idea was that anything that your dog desires can be used as a reward, whether a walk is the reward for sitting politely while you put the leash on, getting to go outside when sitting politely at the door, as well as the basics - treats and toys.
In agility, toys are considered to be the best reward because it increases drive and placement of a thrown toy can be a training tool in itself. It has been a challenge for my Aussie in that he doesn't always care for toys. There are times when he'd prefer not to chase or tug. Sometimes it works to switch up the toys and play with something else each time, other times he could care less. When he does not desire the toy, it is no longer a reward, and when there is no reward why would he work hard for me?
One of Rusty's favorite games is racing to the toy followed by a game of keep away. When I get him, a wrestling game often ensues. That is his desire - that is his reward. When we play this game, he will often tug as I push him around. But he doesn't always enjoy a simple game of tug. He doesn't want to pull me around, nor does he want to just stand there tugging back and forth. It's boring to him.
I wonder if the fact that I've forced the issue with tug has taken away some of the joy of agility. It's a constant battle, it's not fun. When we're done playing tug he doesn't act like he's enjoyed the reward, nor does he work to get it again. It's "what you're suppose to do" - and as I have found with Rusty - we've had the most fun when we do "what you're NOT suppose to do". Instead of trying to teach Rusty to like the games that I want him to play, why not play the games he enjoys the most? Isn't that the joy of training dogs - finding out how to train that individual dog? It's got to be worth his time to do what I ask, why would he work for something he doesn't enjoy doing?
Now I'm not saying that the tug should be discarded in the game of agility. On the contrary, I know it's very useful. But perhaps it should only be used as a tool in the game - and the underlying game should be whatever game your dog wants to play. I can play keep away and chase and use a tug at the same time - I can teach my dog that when he has the toy, the game that HE wants to play will ensue. That will make the toy more valuable. He will play a small amount of tug in the context of that game, and his tugging skills become better and better as we work on it, but the "game of Tug" cannot be the base reward.
Consider this scenario - a child has homework to do, and the parent tells them that if they do it very well they will get a reward. The child does the work, but finds that the reward is to go shopping (game of tug). The parent knows that the child would like going to the park (chase), but shopping (game of tug) should be the better reward since they are going to get school supplies ( better drive that tug gives) to help them do better in school (agility). The next time the parent offers a reward for doing a good job in school, the child discounts it and does not improve his performance.
It's a silly scenario, but the basis of the idea is what I'm trying to get across - if you really don't care about something, why would you increase your performance to get it?
Whatever reward your dog likes - whether that be tug, a thrown ball, a splash in the kiddy pool, a wrestling match, the next obstacle, or a pat on the head - that's the reward you should use in agility and in all dog training.
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