Dogs Just Want to Have Fun!

Some behaviors you can train your dog can be inherantly rewarding. I recently trained my dog, Loker, to go through my legs. He picked it up very quickly because he enjoyed it once he learned how. I know he enjoys it because he does it without hesitation repeatedly. Check out this video of our last training session:

So this brings me to an interesting point. Behaviors can become rewarding and can be used to reinforce other, less rewarding behaviors! I think that is so cool and I can’t wait to use this behavior to my advantage. You can find a behavior that your dog loves doing without hesitation and highly reinforce it. The history of this behavior will help trigger super “happy” chemicals in your dog’s brain every time he/she does it. Check out this popular post by Denise Fenzi on why she teaches a “fly” cue and uses it as a reward: Heeling Games- “Fly”

 

P.S. This training session was too long. I will do better next time!