Not all rewards are rewarding

Animals can be difficult to understand when we make assumptions about what makes them happy and what's rewarding for them. Many people think big rough pats are what dogs like, but most animals will avoid this and prefer calm, smooth strokes along the flank.

Like bosses, sometimes you think you've done something great for them, and they are not pleased and want you to do something different.

Some people think their dog's favourite thing is a ball - but when you present them with a tasty piece of cooked chicken, they may completely ignore that Ball.

We have a puppy who has done a training session and chewed a handful of salty dehydrated treats, which makes them thirsty. Offering them more of these salty treats may become aversive (bad) to the puppy and make them have a negative experience and lose enthusiasm for learning.

That bowl of fresh cold water they can smell just 2 meters away is precisely what is going to be the best thing ever when you have a mouth full of salt. For that little dog, a big drink at the end of the training was a massive reward because it was what he needed.

Yesterday I did a training session with a young Kelpie Puppy.

He was into everything and super inquisitive he found his young owner's large pavement chalk sticks in a box on the floor and picked one up.

He started trying to run away with it. We got him excited for his Ball, and he dropped the chalk and came for the Ball. We played with the Ball for a while, and then he was back to investigating again and found a piece of plastic on the ground. His owner tried to get his attention with the Ball and encourage him to come and play, to no success.

He was too far away to be lured back with food because he had learnt that as soon as people come close, they will steal his treasures. So, we quickly got the chalk stick and started fussing about it. He immediately spat out the plastic came to investigate the chalk, and was given a food reward for leaving the chalk alone and giving up the plastic.

Chalk was better than a plastic reward for this dog at that moment.

Ideally, we recommend looking at what motivates your pet and working out a chart of value, not necessarily what we think but giving them options to choose for themselves. It's a quick and easy exercise.

Set up a row of items on the floor about 30 cm apart - You can use what you think is your animal's favourite things - Use things like - A Ball, A soft toy, A natural meat treat, A piece of kibble, a liver treat.

Release your dog and see what the dog goes to first. Repeat this process four times and see where your dog goes and note what gets their interest most consistently, what they go back to check for more off, what do they choose second, etc., and what do they flat out ignore?

This is how you find out what are your $100 bills of motivation for your pet.

This is the bonus your boss gives you when you do the right thing and is a powerful tool.