Dog Training Terminology – Primary and Secondary Reinforcers
okay guys now let’s talk about primary
and secondary reinforcers a primary
reinforcer is something that your dog
doesn’t have to learn to like like food
right and once you stick with food
because food is where most of your
research is going to lead you when
you’re doing this kind of research okay
so in this case our primary reinforcer
is food so I give this dog a treat and
you might say well Stoney why do you
need that anything else if you just give
her a treat well in dog training a lot
of times what happens is you’re trying
to teach these complex behavior chains
and you’re trying to teach them at
awkward distances where treat delivery
is it’s hard right that’s where the
establishment of a secondary reinforcer
like a clicker comes in handy now a
secondary reinforcer is something that
the dog doesn’t know anything about
until it becomes paired with the primary
reinforcer so like when I make this
noise or I say yes okay dog doesn’t know
anything about that but if I just make
this noise and then something good
happens well the dog starts going wait a
minute well what happened when I heard
that oh I got something good that must
mean hearing it’s going to lead to
something good well over the course of
time right just hearing that click lets
the dog know that whatever they’re doing
at that particular moment must be a good
thing right so it’s a reward marker and
that’s why you you know when you’re
doing your research you hear about
marker training now why do you need a
marker well you need a marker because in
dog training a lot of the stuff that
you’re trying to teach it’s happening at
distances where it’s awkward to give a
treat you know when you’re trying to
work on precision healing or you’re
trying to work on a complex behavior
change often times dogs you know they’re
not situated in a position where it’s
easy to immediately deliver a treat
right so like the delivery time the the
delivery distance might make it actually
awkward to mark the dog’s behavior and
it might interrupt that behavior change
the noise allows you to tell the dog
that they’re doing the exact right thing
at that moment even though the delivery
of the read the primary reinforcer it
might take a second or two so
let me give you an example of what I’m
talking about see I like this dog she’s
lay up here laying on this mat and
you’ve heard me clicking her and I’m
just letting her know that being up on
this mat is a good thing see it took me
a second to get to that treat right now
so if I’m gonna work on a stay I need to
be able to let the dog know that what
she’s doing is the right thing even if
I’m at a distance where I can’t deliver
a treat effectively so I’m gonna walk
away like towards the camera and then
when I get behind the camera I’m gonna
click let the dog know that what she’s
doing right now
maintaining this position is a good
thing and I’m coming back for the
delivery okay so I’m gonna give her a
treat to start with tell her to stay
walk over here by the camera click that
lets her know that the deliveries coming
it’s in the mail as they say come back
over here and click that lets her know
and even though it’s gonna be a second
before I can get back over there and get
everything delivered it’s like knowing
something’s in the mail you always get
stoked when UPS is is on its way to your
house BAM I’m the UPS man okay so this
is super fun so the reason that you’re
trying to establish a marker is so that
you can convey information quickly and
concisely without interrupting a
behavior or behavior chain all right so
she’s over there laying on her man I
don’t interrupt that I’d like to be able
to just throw her a treat but she’s too
young she can’t catch it right so what I
do is I say hey BAM right now what
you’re doing is awesome and your checks
in the mail
and now her check has been delivered
okay so let’s let’s do a couple other
things so we can illustrate this concept
further
alright guys let’s put a couple of these
concepts together I got my treat my hand
and so I’m gonna get flow to come up
here and get on this milk crate now as
long as I’m standing close to flow it’s
easy to tell her when she’s doing the
right thing because I can just
hand-deliver her the treat she’s
standing up there so I say hey I
appreciate it you know it’s a very
simple concept I might pull my hand up a
little farther her nose follows my
luring hand and bam she gets her treat
right but what about when I want to add
distance or I want to add time to this
day I’m gonna be far away so I’m not
going to be able to deliver that treat
quite this fast that’s where the marker
comes in see she’s up here and I started
telling her a little while ago that if
she hears this something Goods coming
that way when I walk away and she hears
that noise she knows that the check is
in the mail right and that’s all she
needs to know to maintain this position
so watch I’m gonna walk away as I walk
away now imma tell her the checks in the
mail
and I come back and now it’s delivered
I’m the UPS guy I’m always on time
so I move away I tell her hey your
package has been shipped and now it’s
delivered wait a little longer but you
can always count on me Flo I’m gonna
tell you when you’re doing the right
thing
BAM that means your package is in the
mail and I have just delivered rain snow
sleet shine she can always count on me
if she hears that I’ve shipped it it’s
coming so I’ll move way over here but I
want to tell her she’s doing the right
thing
hey Flo you’re doing the right thing
here’s the treat delivery amazingly
enough she’s still doing the right thing
so I want to tell her treat delivery and
so this guy this part of a guy’s kind of
gets a little bit monotonous but you get
the idea I just need her to know that if
she will work Oh
market when she’s doing the right thing
and that lets her know that I’m coming
with her treat so after a while she
starts to really looking forward to
hearing this noise because she knows
it’s always gonna lead to something that
she wants and guys that’s it that’s what
a secondary reinforcer is she will start
to work so hard for this noise or for
your yes okay it’s it just blows your
mind but dogs love it because over the
course of time what ends up happening
guys is it’s not just about the food
when you’re doing food work I say this
in all my videos but there’s a totality
of positive energy going on so when they
hear this click just that information
that you’re happy with them that they’re
doing the right thing they’ve
accomplished something that’s enough to
carry them through some really complex
behavior chains if you get this started
when they’re young now look guys this is
the coon hound it’s a 14 week old coon
hound and look at what her attention
span is like and it’s all about using
these basic concepts we’re going on and
over in this series you know just keep
up with these concepts understand the
concepts and then the techniques they
follow right along and they’re almost
self-explanatory there she is
being a good dog even though it’s 89
degrees out here today so I tell her
she’s doing a good job
click reward and then a big reward which
is Oh lover and we’re off work for the
afternoon so see you guys later
say bye Flo
