By Max Randall · IMDT Qualified · OCN Accredited · 1,000+ dogs helped
You came here for what actually lasts, so let's get straight into it. Two questions decide whether trained behaviour survives: when you reward, and what you reward with.
When you're first ever teaching your dog something, every correct rep pays. No exceptions. This is how the dog learns the deal exists.
If we just continue to reward all the time, every time, it will eventually lose its reinforcement. So people tend to try and phase out the reward instead, especially because nobody wants to keep training forever just to keep it working. (More on this further down the page.)
If your dog figures out one day you've completely phased out the rewards, they'll eventually stop doing that thing. Either way, you end up with a dog that doesn't do the things you've trained them.
The studies have shown something called a variable ratio creates the highest motivation, not just in dogs but in people. It's exactly how slot machines work, and why they're so addictive. So now, for the rest of the dog's life, we reward on a completely random schedule. Two in a row, then after two, then after three. No pattern the dog can predict.
For duration behaviours like "stay": you can't reward after a certain amount of reps, so reward after a certain amount of time, and randomise that. After two seconds, then three, then one, then ten. Because if you're always making it harder and harder, you're going to lose that drive as well.
Cumulative responses over time, by reward schedule. The variable ratio line climbs fastest: the highest response rate of any schedule tested, in dogs and in people.
Just like a slot machine, we also randomise the rewards themselves. I like about 75% of the rewards to be their normal meals, then some treats, and occasionally we throw in a random jackpot. That gets so much drive from dogs, and also people.
And in the long term, you end up using less food and toys, but you have more drive than ever.
Feeding raw food? No worries! You can feed your dog their meals in a squeezy bottle, so you don't rely on treats all the time to train.
Remember earlier, when I mentioned we can't just keep rewarding everything? Because it will lose its effectiveness.
That's not normally something people like to hear when they need to keep controlling their dog.
Don't worry. There's a reason why you're in that situation. And I've included it below. ⬇
Tips like this are genuinely useful. And they're completely pointless if your dog has an underlying issue.
If your dog is still hyper, still frustrated, stressed or anxious, there will always be a behaviour problem. Those states bring behaviours. Train one away and the state underneath simply sends up another, and you'll have to keep training to manage it. Forever.
Rocky. Stressful. Confusing. Slow.
The variable ratio will make behaviours stick like nothing else you've tried. But it works on the dog you have.
Variable ratios, jackpots, clean technique. This is what keeps a behaviour reliable.
Sleep, outlets, stress, needs. This is what stops new problems being created.
A dog that's sleeping properly, has the right outlets for their breed, and isn't living at the edge of frustration is a dog whose training holds, because nothing underneath is fighting it.
That's the whole point of MK9Plus.com. It's not a training course. Training is in there, and it's taught properly, but it's the smallest part of the fix. The platform exists to sort the whole dog, so tips like the one you just learnt actually hold.
Technique keeps a behaviour reliable. Helping the dog stops new problems being created. One without the other is why most training wears off, and why most owners are still carrying the treats two years in.
The philosophy behind all of this lives on one page: why most training fails, what's underneath the iceberg, and the method built to fix it for good.
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Written by Max Randall, IMDT-qualified and OCN-accredited dog trainer · More free dog training guides · The philosophy: Don't De-Dog Your Dog · FAQ