Variable-Ratio (The Slot Machine) A variable-ratio schedule rewards a particular behavior but does so in an unpredictable fashion. The reinforcement may come after the 1st level press or the 15th, and then may follow immediately with the next press or perhaps not follow for another 10 presses. This is the most powerful type of intermittent reinforcement schedule. In humans, this type of schedule is used by casinos to attract gamblers: a slot machine pays out an average win ratio—say five to one—but does not guarantee that every fifth bet (behavior) will be rewarded (reinforcement) with a win.
One of the ultimate goals in training your dog is being able to trust that they will do as asked without needing a food treat reward every time.Slot Machines Are An Example Of Which Type Of Reinforcement
What dog owner wants to walk around with a pocketful of turkey everywhere they go, every day, for the rest of their dog's life? That's certainly not very realistic! (Thankfully, it's also not necessary.)
Dog treats are important and useful when first introducing a new behavior when you’re training your dog, and are an integral part of positive reinforcement training. We wouldn’t show up to work every day if we didn’t get a paycheck, and treats are a high-value currency to our dogs.
They deserve to get paid for their work. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons dog owners opt for more punishment-based or ‘balanced’ dog training is the myth that if they start with treats to train their puppy, then they’ll always have to have food treats to make a behavior happen.
Good news is, this simply isn’t true! It’s easy to fade out the use of food rewards while training your dog — and it’s one of the most important steps in teaching a behavior.
Incorporate Real-Life Rewards From the Beginning
Dogs find many things in life rewarding, and while tasty food treats are incredible motivators for your pup, there are times when a training treat isn’t what they really want. Use these moments to teach your dog that they can get what they want by offering a behavior you want.
Example 1: If your dog wants to go outside to explore, you can ask for a Sit and the real-life reward is opening the door for them.
Example 2: When your pup seeks you out for attention, you can reward keeping all four paws on the floor and not jumping with attention, praise and petting.
Example 3: While out on a walk, you can reward your dog for keeping a loose leash by allowing them a moment to go sniff that fire hydrant they’re interested in.
Example 4: If your dog comes when called, grab a toy and play a quick game of tug when they get to you.
Professional dog trainers are always thinking about what the dog wants in each particular moment, and then manipulating that reward to encourage good behavior. If you start incorporating different types of reinforcement into your dog training journey from the beginning, it will be easier to fade out food treats later on.
Schedules of Reinforcement: How Often You Reward Your Dog
Continuous Reinforcement
Let’s get a little technical now about how to properly phase out training treats. When we first begin teaching a new behavior, many positive reinforcement dog trainers use a schedule of Continuous Reinforcement during training sessions, meaning every correct response is rewarded, usually with a food treat.
If you are clicker training your dog, you start by clicking for every correct response and a click is always followed by a food treat. For example, every time your dog sits = click and treat. The clicker is faded out as your dog becomes fluent in each behavior, which then sets you up to begin phasing out food treats as well.
The goal is to stop using food treats on a continuous schedule as soon as possible, and this is where many dog owners (and trainers) get stuck! You want to build a strong association for your puppy that a particular behavior, like Sit, is highly rewarding, but if you are rewarding for every Sit, your dog begins to expect a payment every time. If they are not rewarded, they will give up on that behavior since it no longer pays. Dr. Ian Dunbar uses the following example of why this happens:
Dr. Dunbar argues one should never use a continuous schedule of reinforcement when using food treats, so make sure you are incorporating real-life rewards, as described above, from the beginning with your puppy, too. However, continuous reinforcement with food during a short ten-minute training session with your puppy is just fine and will help your dog build a positive association with a new cue.
Differential Reinforcement
You want to switch to a Differential Reinforcement schedule as soon as possible with your pup to avoid the above food vending machine scenario. A Differential Reinforcement schedule means that your dog is graded on the quality of their response and given a corresponding reward to reflect it.
For example, you call your puppy to come but they take their sweet time and stop to sniff along the way. When they get to you, you only reward with some praise and petting. A mediocre recall gets them a piece of their regular dog food. But if they ran full-speed to you, paws blurred and ears flapping, you reward with a jackpot of chicken (multiple small pieces given in succession). The reinforcement you give reflects the quality of their performance. For ideas on how to use different “grades” of treats, check out this article.
This schedule of reinforcement helps to build quality, frequency, and reliability of a cue. You should switch to this schedule as soon as possible with your dog once they have learned the verbal cue for a behavior and have had some practice around distractions.
Variable Intermittent Schedule of Reinforcement
You've made it to the holy grail! A variable schedule of reinforcement is the ultimate goal in using food treats when training your dog. A variable schedule means that treats are randomly given for high-quality performance of a cue; your dog doesn’t know when they might get a yummy treat for a Sit, so they keep offering one in hopes of getting paid. It builds motivation in your dog because their mindset is, “Well, I didn’t get a treat for this Sit, but let’s try again and maybe this time. No? Okay, how about this time? There’s the cheese! Let’s do that again!”
Think about a slot machine. Casinos have perfected the use of a variable schedule of reinforcement with their human customers. You insert a coin and push the button, but you don’t win every time. If you did, the casino would go out of business pretty quick. But you think, okay, well, let’s try again. And again. Another coin, another press of the button. Bam! You’ve just won a few dollars back! And now you’re hooked. You keep performing the behavior in the hope that it will be rewarded with a jackpot.
Casinos have quite complex algorithms for their slot machines to ensure that their customers are rewarded frequently enough to keep them performing the behavior, but not so often that the casino loses money. When using this schedule of reinforcement with our dogs, we need to make sure we’re rewarding our dogs often enough to keep motivation high. This means that you never completely phase out the use of dog treats with your dog, it simply becomes a game of slot machine for your dog.
Your dog will not rely on a food treat reward to continue offering high-quality and consistent responses to cues, meaning you don’t always have to carry treats with you. But if you happen to have one handy, there’s no harm in rewarding your dog with their favorite treat when they do what you ask! Combine this variable schedule of reinforcement with real-life rewards (as described above) and you’ll have a dog that consistently and happily responds to training cues. Now that's hitting the jackpot — and everyone's a winner!
When Should You Begin Phasing Out Food Rewards?
Now that you know how to fade out the use of treats in dog training, it’s important to set yourself and your dog up for success by correctly timing the process for doing so. You need to build a strong foundation for your training cues before expecting your dog to be able to perform without a food treat.
- Your dog should have a consistent response to the cue in different environments: your home, group class, outside in the yard, while on a loose leash walk, at the neighborhood coffee shop, etc.
- Your dog should have a reliable response to the cue around a variety of distractions: when other dogs are around, around groups of people, traffic noise, etc.
This means that you have to practice the behavior in a variety of different contexts to solidify your dog’s response before you should begin to reward using a variable schedule of reinforcement. You can have different schedules of reinforcement based on where you're practicing the behavior; you don’t need to reward with a food treat for every repetition when you’re at home and your dog isn’t easily distracted, but you want to have a higher rate of reinforcement if you are beginning to practice that same behavior in a distracting group training class.
Remember, training should be fun and rewarding for both you and your dog. While the goal is to phase out the use of food treats, there is nothing wrong with paying your dog for a job well done! Incorporate real-life reinforcement by rewarding your dog with things they like, such as attention, praise, petting, toy play, and freedom to sniff or explore. Do this along with randomly rewarding your dog with a food treat and your pup will love to work for you!