Can you bank on your dog coming when called? Every time? In any situation?
Let’s set up a scenario. You’re in the back yard with your dog after dark. You both hear a sudden rustling from the cluster of daylilies in the corner.
You catch a glimpse of a black critter with a long white stripe down its back and scream “Razzmatazz, COME!”
Does he?
Tilting the odds in your favor
In this case, which was very real, Razzy came bounding over. Hope grabbed him and ran for the house. The skunk was gone by the next time we went into the yard.
Were we absolutely sure that Razz would obey in the face of a fascinating and smelly distraction? No. But we tipped the scale in our favor by playing dog training games.
Money in the bank
Every time you reward your dog for making a good decision, like “Come!” you’re tilting the scale in your favor. Your dog will remember that “Come!” always results in something good happening.
Building up that account of “good stuff” lets you get away with the occasional time when you don’t have a reward handy, but you really need your dog to obey. Like when there’s a skunk in the yard.
Razz did get a bunch of treats when we got inside. And our eternal gratitude for being such a good Griff.
But the account was depleted just a bit. That happens whenever the payoff isn’t immediate. Which means you have to build it back up, rebalance the scales, to make sure the account is full next time you need it.
Always pay your dog
Many people look to lessen or stop rewarding their dogs “after they’re trained.” There is no “after.” Dogs are always learning and paying attention. If you stop rewarding a behavior, the dog will stop doing it. See “Food is dog training currency.”
Wouldn’t you stop going to work if there was no paycheck? Or, even worse, if it bounced?
Every training game you play, every reward you deliver, is money in your dog training account. If you have to “spend” that balance to be safe from the skunk, be sure to replenish the account on a regular basis.
If you do, you can always bank on your dog.