Practice Makes Perfect: The Importance Reinforcement History

If you've ever worked with me, or if you've ever picked my brain about dog training, you've probably heard me talk about the importance of reinforcing behaviors you like many times, or about how important it is to set your dog up for success by practicing behaviors in a non-distracting environment where they can easily focus. This process creates a reinforcement history - a positive association with certain cues and behaviors - which builds the reliability of those behaviors. Today, I want to tell you a personal story that illustrates this point:



My boyfriend and I, along with our three animals, currently live with my grandma. My grandma is a food pusher. People, animals, whatever, she loves to make them happy with food! But, she knows that in order to spoil my "kids," she has to have them do something. I've showed her a number of behaviors - sit, down, touch, paw, speak, wait. She absolutely loves having the dogs gather around her each evening for their treats, and for whatever reason the behavior she asks for most often is down. So almost every night, the dogs gather around her and she has them all lie down, and they are reinforced generously for doing so.

Recently, I had some errands to run, and the dogs were going to spend the morning at my mom and grandma's office. My grandma drove them there, and my mom was going to meet her at her car to walk them up the stairs and bring them inside. My dogs each weigh around 60lbs and are easily excited. We are working on our leash manners, but we are very far from perfect, so my 70 year old grandmother is not the ideal candidate to walk them both. However, on this particular day, my mom was running late and my grandma figured she would give it a go and walk them from the car, up the two flights of stairs to the office...in the rain.

The dogs love going to work with my mom and grandma. Everyone there loves them and showers them with attention and treats! They were very  excited to get there, and were not on their best leash behavior. They immediately tangled my grandma up in their leashes. What did my grandma do? "Down! Down, everyone down!" She had them both lay down, on the ground, in the rain, outside of one of their favorite places, with no treats. Did they listen? Abso-freaking-lutely! They laid in the rain, and let her untangle their leashes, and everyone got inside unscathed. Why? Because my grandma has built up an awesome reinforcement history for "down" by practicing it hundreds of times at home! 

Moral of the story? Repeat behaviors you like a lot. Practice at home, where your dogs can succeed. Reinforce your dogs generously. Hang out with your grandma. It will pay off in the end!