Reward More To Correct Less
Reward more so you have less to correct. During a phone consult yesterday, one of the things I said was: . “I say “good” and “bad” choices -quote in quote- because the dog doesn’t see what he’s doing as bad. To him, all choices he makes are good because he’s doing exactly what he wants to do. It’s “bad” to us because WE deem it “bad.” But he is not a human and doesn’t inherently understand OUR “good” and “bad,” we need to teach him both.” . The key word being BOTH. We need to teach what’s both “good” and “bad.” . However, we tend to focus a lot on what the dog is doing poorly. -Barking -Can’t calm down -Jumping -Destructive chewing But....what if....we paid more attention to the things the dog did right and rewarded that more frequently? . Don’t you think the dog would be more likely to choose that behavior more often in the future because we’ve shown him we like that behavior, and we’re clear about it? . Rewarding when your dog chooses to lay down and relax instead of pacing. Rewarding when they choose to go to their crate on their own. Rewarding when they choose not to bark in a situation you thought they would typically be triggered in. Rewarding when they make eye contact with you during a walk. Rewarding all of the moments of good behavior can lend a lot of clarity to your dog's life. When you add clarity, you increase the chances of your dog, making better choices. Not only will they be more likely to choose better behaviors in the future, but when you do correct behavior, it’ll be clear what’s not allowed because you’ve been clear on what IS allowed.