rewarding your dog

We all know how to reward our dogs, don't we? Simple...or is it? What is a reward? How often do you use it? Are all rewards the same? When do you reward? When don't you reward?
A reward can be physical, such as food, or a toy, or a fuss from your human. Or it can be audible, a clicker, or praise, such as saying something like "good dog",  indicating that a reward is on the way. The best reward is a mixture of things. For instance, if you only use food, and you're out and need to call your dog off something, but have no food with you, he will quickly learn not to bother to respond, as he knows you have no food. He only gets rewards at "training", so he's a different dog then. We are training all the time, so have to have a reward mechanism all the time.
How often do you use it? Well, to quote the founder of this club, " if you only got paid for your job while you were learning how to do it, then the boss stopped paying you, because you knew how to do it, you'd soon quit the job!" You should reward when the dog does something well, and it will encourage him to do even better! I hate to hear someone say, "I  don't need to praise him, he knows how to do it right", or " I don't need to say anything he knows when I am pleased" You will never hear that from a good agility partnership!
Are all rewards the same? No! Nor are all dogs, so what you use to reward has to be individual to you. However, I would strongly advocate getting your dog to play with you with an interactive toy, such as a tuggy. Playing WITH YOU is what agility is all about, so it makes sense to strengthen that bond by playing with you as a reward. Don't just use one form of reward either, use many, you don't always have a titbit or toy with you, but you always have your voice and arms.
When do you reward? This one to me is simple, whenever the dog does something you want him to repeat. When don't you reward? When you don't want him to repeat what he's just done! Give your dog a clue as to what you want.
So please let's hear and see lots of rewards people. Happy training everyone.
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