A Mini Lesson on Secondary Reinforcers

Tonight at 4-H practice we had a super short lesson on secondary reinforcers.  As they aren't allowed to use food in the obedience ring, we need to be sure to have lots of ways to motivate and reinforce our dogs.  They may typically enjoy petting or praise, but we want to work up to the dogs as excited as possible.

Primary reinforcers are the things that animals need for survival....the one we mostly utilize in training is food*.

Secondary reinforcers are anything else that can be reinforcing, often they are things we pair with primary reinforcers.  

We worked on introducing a few different things as secondary reinforcers.  For each one we said the word/did the action and then fed the dog five tiny treats.   We repeated this 3-5 times for each one, enough so that I could see the kids were using the correct order.

• 1+ "magic words"
• Gently holding the collar
• 1+ types of specific petting (specific location, duration, intensity, number of pats)
• Clapping

And then we did a super short session on how we incorporate these into 'real' training.  For behaviors the dogs know well (sit, down, shake, etc), the order of events:   Give the Cue. Dog does the Behavior.  Secondary Reinforcer. Primary Reinforcer.    Again, we did it enough times so that I could see that the kids had the proper order of things.

Lesson Plans and Measuring Progress

I like efficiency.

After classes with my dog, I write notes about what we did and how it went. I have a long list of behaviors/specifics to work on and we usually add about 10-15 things to the list after every class.   Some days it's a lot, lot more.   I put a shortened post on here...the notes to myself are typically longer and much more detailed.

It's not too different after I teach a class.  I go home and that night or the next morning, I write up what we did, what things really stand out for needing work next time, and anything else relevant.   Then the day before a class, I pull up what happened the last 2-3 weeks and I make my lesson plan off of the "need to work on" list and what I get inspired by that week.   These notes get scrawled on a little paper I frantically look over from the time I arrive at the building to when the lesson starts.     After class.... to make written notes.   I don't often type up lessons before group classes  because all of my manners classes are set up to work on the things most important to the family...I try to leave one slot each week for the owners specific goals/things that came up during the week.  

Sometimes I make even more notes.   For several months I was recording what progress on behaviors we made over the course of the classes....     I wanted to see if my students were progressing as much as I thought and to look at what factors determined success (....high value reinforcers...more so than practicing, handler skill, dog breed/age/etc).

It can get time consuming....  sometimes I fall out of it for a few weeks. But I always notice my students stop progressing as fast and that I'm not meeting their needs as well as I could be.       I should find ways to condense things more.   But for the moment.....it's the system!

Today is completely dedicated to lesson plans. I've been working on my class things, a plan for two 3-hour CPE games lessons tomorrow, camp later this week, and some things for camp next week....  eep.    But we're taking breaks to do some frantic cleaning and training.  Now I'm into a nice pattern of being able to work four dogs, two sessions each, in about 30 minutes.  

Recalls Part 2: Exercises we use in class

This is the list of the activities we use in class and the typical order. Sometimes the order changes based off of previous training history or how the dog is responding.

Collar Holds: We want this to be very good before we put it with any of the other recall games. We want to practice so much that our dog gets wiggly and happy when we reach for his collar.

• Reach out with a flat hand, to the side of your dog's head. Touch your hand to his collar. Then feed a treat. Repeat multiple times.
• When dog is doing well and never moving away, gradually increase intensity.
• Increase the distance handler moves to the dog.
• Practice reaching over the top of the head to the collar (we want to always go from the side in real life...but other people who don't know better might try to reach over the top).
• Get people your dog knows to practice this too.

Call and Run: Speed of handler and how far the handler goes, depends on what makes the dog happy, dog speed, and space available. Food/toy should NEVER be presented in training until the moment you are ready to reinforce.

• Have a helper hold your dog, or drop a few treats on the ground to distract him as you leave. Talk to your dog in a way that will attract him. When your dog is on his way to you, run away, then stop and scatter a few treats at your side.
• Dogs that like to play can have playtime when the dog arrives.
• Repeat many times, varying how soon/late you run and the distance the handler runs.

Call and Turn: This can be combined with the above, based on handler skill level. The coordinated handler can have treats in the left hand if you will have your dog come to your left. If you want your dog to come to your right, have your reinforcers ready in your right hand. If you are not coordinated, have treats in both hands, just in case you misjudge.

• Have a helper hold your dog, or scatter treats to distract him while you walk away.
• Call your dog (and possibly run). When your dog arrives, turn away from him a quarter of a turn, then scatter treats at your side. If your dog is coming to your left, you will rotate right. If your dog is coming to your right side, you will rotate left.
• Gradually increase the amount of your turn.
• Sometimes, instead of scattering treats, you can toss a big treat ahead at the "moment of reinforcement"

Loose your dog: This game requires some practice of the previous exercise.

• Call your dog, when he is about to reach you, dart away. Feed as soon as he catches up.
• Vary where you are turning.
• Always scatter treats at your side, or toss ahead of you at the "moment of reinforcement"
• When your dog has had many repetitions with one dart away, you can have two changes of direction before reinforcing.
• The more practice the dog tries, the harder you can work to loose your dog. At the same time, always plan it so that your dog will most likely succeed.

And with all of this, we need to remember to use good recall training.

It's interesting that the above exercises are very effective for getting the owners to be good about recalls. Scattering provides more reinforcement than feeding one piece. Turning away not only provides motion to encourage dogs to come, but it gets the dog next to the owner so that the owner is not leaning over the dog. Running gets people to be silly and exciting.