Chapter 4. Motivating Your Dog

Most reward-training in this course is done with food, because it is training-effective and does not waste training time. Your dog will be turned-on as a performer if the training food that you're using is tasty. Many kinds of savory commercial "treats" are available for use as rewards (some of these should be cut up into smaller bits).

Petting-and-Praise (P&P) does not work well as a "reward" in the present Training System; rather, it's meant to work in the Compulsive System. Don't confuse the sounds, GOOD and OUT, with praise. That, they are not. GOOD and OUT inform the dog about an impending reward. When training, say these sounds in a neutral tone of voice.

You may, if you want to, Pet-and-praise your dog immediately following a training session, But do it only after you say the OUT sound, and are in the process of delivering the arranged "grand" reward. Also, you are urged to praise and hug your dog at any time outside the training session—the dog is never required to do work to get them.

Sampling Foods

In this chapter, your dog will sample some of the foods that you plan to use in training. The sampling of each kind of food takes about a minute to do. Rummage through your refrigerator for appetizing and nutritious foods, or use some that are suggested here. Avoid large amounts of salted and sweetened foods. Also do not give chocolate to your dog; many dogs are allergic to it.

Tidbit Foods

Most dogs will eagerly work to get:

• Moist & Meaty® Chicken Dinner by Purina. It's a tidbit that's about the same size and tastiness as Pounce®.
• Pounce® by Puss n' Boots. Most dogs relish it, though it's a cat treat. It's nutritious, it's a nice size, and doesn't mess your hands. For smaller dogs, this treat can be broken in half, without crumbling. It comes in a handy, small cylinder container.
• Baked or cooked ham, cut into small cubes, is a good choice as the main tidbit food. Have the Deli person cut one or two 3/16 inch thick slices (when you get the correct thickness, ask the Deli person what dial number the Deli slicing machine was set at). Cut each slice into tidbit pieces—each approximately 3/16 inch Square (about the size of a green pea).
• Various prepared luncheon meats that are firm and low in fat and sodium content.

If the dog eagerly consumes the treat food, use it in your upcoming association training with the GOOD sound in chapter 5. If the dog snubs your choices—fails to assume a begging attentive stance—deprive him of any other food for an hour or more, then try again.

Dog Handling while Tidbit Testing

You will be doing some of your training off-leash, especially when you're working indoors or a fenced-in space. When outdoors in open space, be sure that your off-leash dog will not run off. Otherwise, put him on leash, but then, drop your end of the lead and stand on it during the trials. If you have a small dog, put him on a table—that way, you won't be continually bending over him.

The Tidbit Tasting Procedure

Do this procedure off-leash if you are working indoors; on-leash, if working outdoors.

1. Relax.
2. Put about 10 tidbits in your hand. Hold both hands at midriff level.
3. Take one tidbit in your other hand and give it to the dog.
4. Continue with the remaining pieces, with little hesitation between deliveries.

You will know if a food has reward properties, when he becomes very attentive during the above procedure. When you get that all-important effect, begin using the food in the forthcoming GOOD-food pairing procedure in the next chapter. Don't be concerned if your dog is begging. Allow it.

Grand Foods

Grand food follows the OUT sound on the last trial of a training session in this course.

Some items that can be used as grand foods:

• a ½" piece of hot dog or slice of sausage
• a rounded teaspoon of a tasty canned dog food
• a teaspoon portion of ice cream or sour cream
• a ¾" cube of good quality headcheese or other luncheon meat
• a part of a small Milk Bone© Biscuit, Snausage©, a short strip of Cheweez© Beefhide or any other tasty convenience treat
• and, especially, a spoonful of tasty table scraps. Save a part of whatever you have been eating, and use it as a grand-food reward.

Let the dog sample a variety of foods, one morsel at a time, to see how eagerly he accepts them. Soon, the dog's attention begins to be focused on you and your food delivery movements.

Grand-food Tasting Procedure. Preferably, have the dog in the off-leash mode.

1. Open a can of a tasty dog food (or use another kind of appetizing food, such as table scraps).
2. Put the dog's food dish on the floor.
3. Place a rounded teaspoon of food into it.
4. Let the dog eat the food.
5. Immediately after he has consumed it, place one more rounded teaspoon of food into the dish. If the dog eats eagerly, stop after delivering 2 portions. Plan to use the food to follow the reinforcing sound, OUT, in forthcoming training.

This ends all of the food-sampling sessions.

The Daily Food Ration

The "dog in training" should get a good quality dry dog food as his daily ration at the end of the day. The amount of "dry nugget" ration depends on how much reward food he consumed that day. Allow the dog 10 minutes to finish his daily ration; then remove the food bowl. This is supposed to get the dog to begin eating immediately when the food is put in front of him.

Many dogs are not inclined to finish off the hard, dry nugget food in one sitting, and may not get it all eaten within the 10 minutes allowed. To make the ration more palatable, mix a tasty moist food with the dry food—about 1/3 can of moist food for a medium size dog . For another kind of nourishing and tasty ration, mix a watery, warm oatmeal with the dry food (Oatmeal is my favorite breakfast cereal when topped with brown sugar, light cream and melted butter. "Sorry pup, you get the lite style." See below). If the end-of-day ration is quite tasty, have the dog do some work for it in the forthcoming training: About a minute in Down-stay or Sit-stay are suitable exercises for that ration—select any behaviors over which you already have established control.

Since the dog will be working for food during much of his training, he should be at least a little hungry during the training session. Dogs that are 1 yr. or older, should be fed their normal food ration once a day at the end of the workday. This means that training on the following day is begun about 12 to 16 hours after the dog's last full meal. Dogs that are less than a year old should be fed their food ration twice a day, morning and evening. Training should be done an hour before they are fed these rations. But, in general, it is not as important for puppies to be deprived of food before training as it is for older dogs; most puppies seem to be ready to eat any time that food is available.

The Oatmeal Recipe for a medium size dog: Measure ¾ cup water; bring to a boil; add slightly less than 1/3 cup Quick Quaker Oats (or equal); bring to a boil again; stir for 10 seconds; turn the burner to "simmer"; continue stirring for almost one minute more; remove from heat and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. It is then about the right consistency and cool enough for mixing with the dry food. Most dogs will consume the food mix in less than a minute.

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