January 1, 2018 at 6:33am
It depends on the fact if a dog is food driven or more toy driven.With a well toy driven dog it is much easier to fade the treats and I think it is a good thing to fade them as Hector says if the dog knows the exercise very well. With food they learn quicker in the beginning, because with toys you can't reward as often within a short session as with food. Being rewarded often during the learning phase is very important for most dogs.
My dogs (4) are much more food driven. Only two of them are as well toy driven, the third one not even a bit..What was important for mine, was to make reward events out of the food delivery. (running, making them chase the food, so it's also like a game). Second thing: Random rewards. Not each time one piece. Alternate, 3,1,4,0, 5 and so on. It also increases the speed if from time to time they get nothing. It increases the anticipation: Maybe after the next round. I'll haver more luck? You can also chain 2, 3 ..... diferent exercises which they already know solidly and reward in between or even after the whole series. This motivates and accelerates a lot.
