Extremely Effective Lure Reward Training consists of three stages:
1. TEACH Dogs ESL — the meaning of the words we use as instructions, TEST the dog's level of comprehension and motivation and then, go cold-turkey on food lures in the first session.
2. MOTIVATE Dogs to the Max — by reducing the number of food rewards (to increase their reinforcing power), and primarily using much more powerful life rewards and more effective reinforcement schedules.
3. PROOF for Off-leash Reliability — by using ongoing verbal feedback and guidance to effectively resolve non-compliance, and usually just a single word (instruction) to terminate misbehaviors, e.g., Sit, Shush, Settle, Steady, Chewtoy, Outisde, etc.
Step 1: TEACH Dogs ESL
Teaching Dogs the Meaning of Handsignals and Words, and Testing Comprehension.
1. To use food lures to teach handsignals;
2. To phase out food lures in the very first session, so they don't become bribes;
3. To use hand-lures (handsignals) to teach the meaning of verbal cues (requests);
4. To routinely TEST Response-Reliability Percentages every step of the way.
Objectively evaluating your dog's comprehension of verbal instructions, plus their motivation to respond gives you a realistic view of your level of verbal control over your dog before performance in the ring, or in real life.
Comprehension of verbal cues is seldom absolute: "He knows it", or 'He hasn't a clue". Dogs rarely score 0% or 100% over a lengthy test. Instead, comprehension progressively increases with training, and the RR% scores vary considerably depending on who is training, where you test, and what's going on: in the kitchen at mealtimes, other rooms, yard/garden, or dog parks; close by or at a distance; and on-leash on sidewalks with a smorgasbord of sniffs, and squirrels, and other dogs in sight. Knowing the actual percentage likelihood that your dog will respond promptly to just a single request/command is quite the wise-up for most owners.
Confirmation of comprehension is critical because the single most common reason for non-compliance is that your dog simply does not understand the meaning of your instruction in that scenario, as demonstrated via The Sit Test
Step 2: Motivating Dogs to the Max
Basically, the same-old-same-old food reward simply won't do the job when competing against the dog's most common distractions that so often destroy training, such as playing with other dogs, sniffing, chasing, squirrels, horse poop, another dog's rear end, etc., etc., etc. Instead, we must convert these doggy yearnings into life rewards to reinforce training.
1. To radically reduce the number of food rewards to increase their reinforcing power
2. To routinely and repetitively incorporate incredibly powerful life rewards, such as, "Go Play", "Go Sniff, "Let's Go" (every 25 yards when walking, and every minute or so during play). The more you interrupt walks or play, the more you may use instruct your dog to resume the walk or play session as a potent life reward. Thus, creating a quinary-quaternary-tertiary-secondary-primary reinforcement chain, i.e., Sit - Take Collar - PRAISE - Food Reward - "Go Play", which amps up the secondary-reinforcement power of food rewards and the tertiary-reinforcement power of PRAISE, defuses Collar Grabs, and turns the 'act of sitting' into its very own quinary reinforcement. (We have owners practicing this sequence over and over during play in their first session of puppy classes. For video proof, check out my July posts on the Dunbar Academy FaceBook page.)
3. To similarly integrate numerous very short training interludes when playing interactive games such as, Fetch, Tug, Tag, and Hide 'n' Seek.
4. To embrace Bill Campbell's Jolly Routine, which was introduced 50-years before its time, and to this day, few people use it. It's a hoot! And dogs love it.
5. To use much more powerful and effective reinforcement schedules to rapidly and dramatically increase eagerness of response, and differentially reward dogs depending on the quality of their responses: above average, better, or best, rather than using relatively ineffective, or hard to calculate, lame CC, FR, FI, VR and VI schedules — that all reward dogs for just as many below-median quality responses as above-median quality responses. Too silly.
When using more powerful rewards and reinforcement schedules, your dog will become self-motivated and internally reinforced, such that just doing it with you becomes the best reward your dog could ever ask for.
The ultimate training goal is to teach your dog to respond willingly, reliably, and promptly on verbal cue, when off-leash, at a distance, when distracted, and without the continued use of any training tool, especially including food lures, food rewards, collars, leashes, halters, harnesses, and hand-contact. Again, please note: all three adverbs are objectively quantified: 'willingly' — they're off-leash: 'reliably' — monitoring increase in Response-Reliability Percentages; 'promtly' — timed. Science-based training is all about numbers that offer proof of effectiveness, and proof of the speed of training.
Step 3: Verbal Techniques for Resolving Misbehavior and Non-Compliance
When dogs misbehave, unlike aversive stimuli, a single comprehended word conveys three vital pieces of information: i) Stop what you're doing, ii) Do this instead, and iii) The degree of danger of continuing to misbehave. For example, when chewing an electrical cord, or running into the street.
Sit! Shush! Settle! Steady! Hustle! Bed! Chewtoy! Outside! (or Toilet!), and Off! are the most useful words for verbal guidance (instruction) when dogs err. In a study I did in the 80s, teaching dogs the meaning of just two words, "Steady!" and "Hustle!", reduced leash-corrections by 80% in one session!
However, if ever in doubt, simply say, "Sit! — meaning, 'Sit-Stay-Watch'. If you've worked through Steps 1 and 2, a comprehended and motivated Sit will 1. Terminate a good 90+% of behavior, temperament, and training problems, such as: chasing birds, squirrels, bicycles, skateboards, cats, cars, or a tail; forging/pulling; running away; hyperactivity; and even humping when off-leash and at a distance, and 2. Helps with many other problems, e.g., barking and dog-dog reactivity.
Ahh! The magic of verbal communication. There are so many words we can use. We can even construct sentences. My most common instruction to dogs in the evening is: "Duke, Shush, Find your Chewtoy, Go to your Bed, and Settle Down." My favorite sentence, I have ever uttered to a dog: "Phoenix, Come here, Sit, Take this, and Go to ... Jamie, please." We called it Malamute Mail. Phoenie would gallop away, upstairs and outside to find Jamie, and Sit to deliver a message, "Dinner's ready. Come quickly, or it's MINE! Luv, Phoenie".
However, the Jewel in the Crown of this seminar and my latest book, Barking Up the Right Tree, is the wide choice of non-aversive (verbal) techniques for eliminating non-compliance and producing on demand, ultra-high (measurable) levels of response-reliability, that are essential for off-leash control. This seminar will accelerate your training to transcend to a new level.
