[Dailydrool] random reinforcement (Gus)

[Beverly Szaton]

With most dogs, if you give them a reward consistently for a
behavior---let's say your Basset barks at you when you are getting ready to
feed him and you put his dish down for him. If you do that more than once
or twice, he is going to bark at you to hurry up because you have rewarded
the barking.
Bassets, however, are not any breed. They are motivated first by food and
secondly by comfort. And they're a lot smarter than people think they are.
So one time you were on the computer and Gus got impatient and tried
nudging and barking, and you responded by getting off the computer and
petting him.
Ahhhhh, what has he learned?
That if he wants his comfort, he nudges and barks at you when you are on
the computer, and you get off.  BINGO! It works!! Even if you now do not do
it every time, you have taught Gus about random reinforcement, one of the
most difficult behavior modifications to change, precisely because it is
random, and he has learned that maybe not every time, but now and then, he
will prevail, and every time he does, it reinforces the behavior.
Obviously, you have not hung up the phone, or paid attention to him the
times he tried it before, but the computer is fairly voluntary, so you have
been willing to get off and sit with Gus.

My dogs do this when I am on the phone, just like my toddler children did.
It worked for the kids, and it works for the dogs.

MomPerson to Nigel, Llewis, Conley and Cooper
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