Timing consistency and motivation

 

Timing consistency and motivation
:

Understanding the three basics that will help you train your dog

In order to help your dog understand the behaviors that you want him to perform and those  you want him to stay away from, you need to follow these three important guidelines. Straying from them will make training an exhausting task both for you and for your dog.

• Timing – A dog’s understanding of the connection between cause and effect occurs in less than 1.3 seconds. We need to mark the behavior as it happens by saying “good boy” to mark wanted behavior, or by saying “no” to mark unwanted behavior. If you are not marking the behavior within 1.3 seconds you are making it difficult for your dog to know what behavior is rewarded (thus worth repeating) or corrected (meaning he needs to stay away from).

• Consistency – In order for a dog to learn a behavior you will have to be very consistent not only with rewarding him, but also in the way you are giving the commands. For example, if you use your hand every time you tell your dog to sit your dog will never learn how to sit on a verbal command. Consistency is even more important when we want our dog to stay away from a certain behavior. If the dog is not allowed on furniture he can never be allowed on furniture. If you are giving mixed messages to your dog he will not be able to figure you out.

• Motivation – When training a dog you want to ask yourself what will be his drive to perform a certain task. If he likes food you can reward him with treats. If he likes toys you can throw a ball for him every time he complies with a command. The major drive behind your dog’s behavior will be his need to please you and make you happy. This means that he needs you to mark the behaviors that got him rewarded or corrected so he will know what to repeat and what to stay away from.  Motivation has another side as well, and that is correcting your dog.  When using correction in training we would like to use the minimal amount of correction that is going to change the dog’s behavior. The use of corrections must be done moderately. If you are using more than one correction for every 10 rewards you need to check your timing, your consistency and/or how good are the rewards you are giving, as something is not clear enough to your dog.