YOUR AD HERE »

Dog’s Eye View: Bars and graphs

Sandra Kruczek/For Steamboat Today

You’ve worked hard teaching your dog to greet people nicely at the door, and he’s really doing well. No more paws on shoulders. No more shredded clothes. He’s sitting politely waiting to be petted. He can take a treat from your guests without taking their hand with it.

You’ve set the bar high. You’ve got him where you want him, and he’s going to stay there. Now, that job is over. Or is it?

My friend, who keeps me updated with her perspective on raising her first dog, said, “You know, I used to think that, once I taught my Labrador, Riggins, what to do when people came to the door, that there was no more work to be done. Well, that wasn’t the case at all. I had to periodically reinforce his good behavior with a special treat, or he would start to ad lib with his own ideas.”



A graph of your training progress with any given exercise, such as greeting people at the door, would look like a saw tooth, with ups and downs and leveling off in a straight line for a bit. Hopefully, the lines would continue to go in an upward direction with little dips down, then upward again.

Without frequent reinforcement of the behavior you want, once strong behaviors tend to break down. Little things creep into your dog’s stellar performance. You may see that, maybe, he’s not so quick to sit or jumps up a bit, then sits back down. You might think, “Oh well, at least he’s not as bad as he used to be. Ahh, but here is the slippery slope of regression.



The principles of learning, behavior and reinforcement are the same, across-the-board, for humans and animals. I love the humorous, but powerful statement, “You’ve gotten so good at your job that we don’t need to pay you anymore.”

How long would your good job performance last with that policy from your employer? We receive a paycheck to maintain our work and perhaps a bonus for a really special effort. It keeps us enthusiastic, and we keep our skill level up to speed.

Remember to frequently reinforce your dog with a special treat to maintain his already-good behavior. Keep him interested and working on his skills. Treat yourself, too. You’ve worked hard to get there.

Sandra Kruczek is a certified professional dog trainer at Total Teamwork Training with more than 30 years of experience.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.