Manage Reward Schedules

When we move our dog to a variable reward schedule and we do it at the right time, it should produce more drive in our dog to perform. If we have introduced the dog to the "NOPE" marker enough times (hundreds of times - see our online course on Marker Training) the dog will think "Hey I deserve a reward but I didn't get one, I must have done something wrong so I'll try harder next time".

Then the following behaviors it gets rewarded 3 or 4 times, then no-reward again. The goal of a variable reward system is to develop a training module where the dog never knows when or how many rewards its going to get for offering a behavior.

Finding the right balance is your challenge. Being ready to back up your training for awhile will help you figure this out. Every dog is different, that's why no one can tell you exactly how to do it for your dog.

=========================

Links

Training Dogs with Food Rewards - Online Course

The Power of Training Dogs with Markers (2024) - Online Course

=========================

When people have specific training questions we recommend that they go to our website and post those questions in the ASK CINDY on the front page of leerburg.com. Cindy has been training dogs since she was a teenager and has competed in several dog sports at a regional and national level. She was also a vet tech and owned a boarding/training and grooming business for many years as well as breeding working Dobermans and Belgian Malinois under the kennel name Kaiserhaus.

Questions posted to ASK CINDY are answered almost every day. They are also recorded in our systems if a dog owner has additional questions Cindy will review the previous Q&As and this helps her give better feedback and assistance.