Avoiding the Negative Cycle of Reward
by Heidi Atwood
When coming up with blog post topics, I try to focus on the questions puppy handlers ask most. Lately, I have heard a lot about rewarding a puppy when they are quiet. This sounds like a nice plan, but the problem is that the puppy keeps repeating the whining, crying, or barking because they have learned it will eventually lead to something that benefits them, whether it’s attention, food rewards, or more freedom.
Think about it this way: if a puppy barks, then gets quiet, and the quiet period is rewarded, they will often repeat the whole process…bark, get quiet, get a reward. If we teach a puppy to get “off” furniture and then reward them for jumping off, smart puppies will figure out they can jump on the furniture to earn that treat.
Just when you think you've got this rewarding thing figured out, it gets more complicated! However, you can take steps to make sure these habits don’t form. Here are some examples:
Quiet: To me, it’s better to let a puppy be and enjoy their quiet moments without getting close or interacting with them. This helps them learn that nothing exciting is going on, so they might as well stay settled. Even our approach or talking to the puppy can be rewarding, which can encourage the puppy to repeat the cycle of negative behavior. Your puppy needs a lot of sleep, so let them rest when they quiet down.
If you notice quiet moments before your puppy barks or whines, you can try to reward that, but keep it low-key and casual. We don’t want the puppy to jump up and try to interact with us right after we reward them for relaxing.
Jumping on furniture or counters: Rewarding a dog for getting “off” the furniture or counters can cause them to put their feet right back up, even looking at you to be sure you are paying attention. If we give the “off’ cue and then reward it, guess what? They'll repeat the behavior from start to finish. Instead, use redirection to shift the dog’s focus away from the unwanted behavior and show them a better choice. You can do this by running a short training session to help the puppy earn a reward in a more appropriate way. If the puppy is persistent, block their access to the furniture while they are learning, or use a leash tethered out of reach to avoid temptation. Preventing the behavior from continuing is the best way to stop a habit.
Biting and jumping: If we are nipped by an overstimulated puppy and offer rewards as soon as they stop biting or jumping, they will often continue biting and jumping to see if it results in attention or rewards. Instead, prevent the behaviors in the first place when possible. Use a leash to prevent contact and practice approaching the puppy, getting closer only when they are calm and not jumping or nipping. Make sure the puppy gets the rest they need, since puppies become overstimulated easily when they are tired, which can increase biting, jumping, and similar behaviors.
Leash walking: Some puppy handlers create a cycle of stopping the walk, asking the puppy to sit, and offering rewards when other dogs and people walk by or approach us. If I think about my long-term leash-walking goals, I would rather teach the dog to keep walking at a moderate pace, rewarding them for walking well and focusing on me more than the distractions.
It’s a good idea to practice watching people, dogs, and activities from a distance as a way to offer socialization practice separately from the leash walk. Start at a distance where your puppy can remain calm and casually observe these distractions, rewarding the dog for staying calm while simply observing. Move closer as your dog handles it, or casually take them farther away if they are becoming overly excited. More information on this socialization practice is in this prior blog post: https://www.baxterandbella.com/post/socialization-distance-is-your-best-friend.
Pay close attention to the timing and methods you use to reward your puppy. When considering the sequence of events leading up to the reward, puppies generally associate the reward with the most recent task they have completed. To me, the “big picture” is to downplay unwanted behaviors, prevent them when possible, and redirect the puppy’s attention to a better, more rewarding choice. This could be a food reward, a chance to play with a favorite toy, or some wonderful attention from their favorite people.
Nice article Heidi - tips are well on point and easy to understand ❤️
Tricky situation. When there is table hopping or counter surfing a quick reward may save the immediate situation and maybe others down the road so our hamburgers may be safer on the table, but only if we remain vigilant. The misbehaviour itself is not discouraged. In the case of a dog pulling on the leash, a hard stop is a pretty effective reaction, no reward there. Two different scenarios. Dogs pick up cues that we often miss--one trainer thought he had successfully taught his dog a long-distance verbal cue, then accidentally learned the dog was realy picking up on a hand motion prior to the verbalization. In other words, it is very difficult to generalize about different situations and different…
I find this is true even within the site, and of all advice I’ve read elsewhere as well. My husband and I both kept asking ourselves, “well if we reward when calm, and calm is 85% of the time, she will be the size of a house!” I am starting to get the impression that different things work with different pups at different times. My puppy is now grabbing things she knows she shouldn’t so that we can say,”Leave it!” , she can drop it and get a treat., so the blog is spot on for us. I am just not sure what the solutions are so we will continue to try different things for different scenarios, the most successfu…
Thank you so much!!!
I came here to say exactly what the prior poster said. We’ve been diligently practicing the techniques taught here since we brought Moka home. We reward, reward, reward! Now we’re being told not to reward but to redirect or tether. Please clarify.