Good Pay - What Makes It Good?

Earlier this month, we discussed how good work deserves pay.  But it bears the question - what exactly is "good" pay?

Good pay is defined by the dog, for each situation/environment that he or she is working in.  The concept of "good" considers the value of the reward, the challenge of the tasks required, and what rate best reinforces your dog for maximum success. 

I am often presented with terrific pet parents who are perplexed by their dog's success in the home, yet utter distraction in the outdoors or in a store.  In considering the concept of good pay, we have to consider the work involved.  It is a common concept that the harder the work, the greater the pay.  Your dog deserves to be compensated at a rate appropriate to the difficulty of hand.  They are very familiar with your living room, which means minimal distraction and an excellent chance of success even with new exercises to teach. In-home, your dog may be happy to work for lower value treats, as there is not as great of a need to either desensitize or generalize to a new environment.  When the stakes are high?  Up your game! 

When taking your dog's show on the road, you need to prepare three things:

1) High-value treats.  This is the big leagues now, so break out the hot dogs, liver sausage, string cheese, boiled chicken, liver brownies, tuna squares, squeaky Wubba, tug toy, etc etc.  Be excited to pay your dog in canine cold hard cash.  Keep in mind that "high-value" does differ for every dog - Aria's most prized reward are generic tortilla chips....weird? Yes.  Do I watch the sodium?  For sure.  If we're going somewhere challenging?  You better believe they're coming with. 

2) The environment at hand.  Are you taking your fearful dog to a park setting? Your leash-reactive dog to a busier street?  Be prepared to work from a successful distance, which means your dog is still interested in the reward.  If your dog is ignoring your high-value reward, then you know it's either A) not high-value enough, or B) they're too close and going over threshold. 

3) Rate of reinforcement.  If your dog is accurately offering the desired behavior in the new environment, please pay them quickly and repeatedly.  Imagine if you only recently got a new job, and you were expected to be accurate out in the field in only a day or two.  Stressful?  Sure thing.  If you were getting paid extra per minute for your hard work invested to being accurate and successful?  Darn straight you would work even harder.  The same goes for dogs.  Pay them fast and well for success in a new setting with new challenges. 

Will all three reinforcement protocols adjust with time?  Absolutely.  Once your dog adjusts to the "new normal": rate of reinforcement goes down, your dog feels more secure in the newer environment, and they begin appreciating more mild rewards.  But it takes the time and effort in the initial (and often ongoing) stages to best help them towards a new level of success. 

Just as good work deserves good pay, consider what is "good" for your dog.  It will help them be the most excited and consistent partner that you can imagine.