Imagine walking through a crowded street. There are food vendors, lots of dogs & people, bikes and skateboards. Kids are running and people are laughing. Your dog walks calmly beside you, they check in and eagerly request when they want to check out the fire hydrant or say hi to the passing dog. They easily continue on with you if you say no to their request. There is no pulling, no lunging and they happily walk along with you.

At any given time you’re dogs preferred reinforcement can be vastly different. There are certainly many dogs whom would choose food 90% of the time, but there is also many dogs whom would only choose food 10% of the time. How do we create this beautiful picture without the ability to always possess a reward greater than the distraction itself?

It’s simple. Look at the distraction at really what it is in that very moment. You’re dogs most valued reinforcement. Now, it’s true. You certainly can not ALWAYS use what your dog wants most in that very second – but you can certainly switch out your food for a more in the moment reward when the opportunity presents itself.

Whether it be a bunny, toy engagement with their person, or being sent to interact with somebody else. All of these things can really up your game and help you utilize the best reinforcement possible. Even though your dog might still take food outside when there is a large distraction present it doesn’t mean that food is their preferred reinforcement. At that very moment, they very likely want to chase the rabbit, for example. If you really just want to chase a rabbit, typically you’re not thinking about eating your favorite dessert.

What does this mean? This points to the fact that even when your dog takes the food you’re not really reinforcing the behaviour as well as you could be. If your reinforcement isn’t the best of the best at that very moment your dog will still get the pattern. It will still learn the behaviours, it will just likely take them longer – involving more practice. It also means you might pick up a little bit of frustration (on either end of the leash) along the way. However, if you’re able to play to your dogs prime reinforcement in that moment of time your dog is more apt to remember what behavior just got them that big reward. Occasionally that might mean a toss-up between reinforcing a little bit of distraction versus not reinforcing a good choice. Utilizing the reinforcements available in your environment means being engaged with your dog and aware of what they are communicating at that moment.

For example, I use ‘go see’ as a release to my guy. “Go See” means you can break position/ disengage from me and interact with the person / dog whom you have asked politely and completed the behaviour requested of you. My guy LOVES people, he likely thinks people are the most reinforcing thing in the world. If I take greeting people totally off the table – He will not take food and he finds them extremely hard to concentrate around. However, if the opportunity is there and he knows there is even the slimmest chance that he will be released to say hi he will devote his focus on working for that reward. By being aware of his attention or split attention in that very second I can really utilize this reinforcement to the best of its abilities.

There are a few very important parts utilizing your dogs “distraction” as their reward.

• Foundation – Build a foundation. Look for opportunities that you can reinforce thoughtful and appropriate choices from your dog and release them for a real world reinforcement. If the moment is perfect, or you fear sloppy handling – feel free to utilize your food instead for that moment.
• Consistency – If you are sloppy and occasionally let them pull to a person, forget the release word, or disengage with them and not pay attention – you’re dogs understanding is going to suffer. Especially in the beginning. Like all good training – Consistency is IMPORTANT!
• Thoughtfulness – This goes for the handler and the dog. The handler needs to occasionally say no, and unless you want a very specific behaviour (say a sit before going through a door) the handler needs to be aware of things becoming a default behaviour. Change up what you are asking your dog to do – simple things like sit, hand target, and attention are easy to interchange when your first practicing. It’s also important that your dog is not so amped by the potential of doing ‘the thing’ that they do not have enough brain power to think. Remember that distance is your friend and occasionally it’s ok to say no and just walk away.
• Release – This is one of the most IMPORTANT parts. It is also what people have the most struggle with. The release word is important because it is what tells your dog they can now to get their reward and also gives you the chance to tell them they do not have access to the reward this time. There needs to be a word or phrase that you can say easily and will use consistently.

Using real life rewards also means that I can easily decrease food rewards. The scientific term for using what is in your environment as a reinforcement is called the Premack principle. By using real life; in the moment, rewards I am better abled as a trainer to handle my dog in varying situations. It means I’m not reliant on insuring I have a high enough reinforcer compared to the distractions present, and I’m not asking for hard work with a subpar reinforcement. Lastly, I’m not setting myself or my dog up for frustration when the reward isn’t as good as the distraction. Dogs are incredible beings by utilizing a distraction as a reinforcement we can really up our game and help them in the long run.