Day 1295

Day 1295. “Walking With Goldens”

After returning from an appointment, we were greeted by three Golden Boys who acted like we had been gone for months! They ran around, whimpered, nuzzled our legs and licked our hands. After they settled down and stopped barking, they stood in “formation” and demanded a treat. After all, we had deserted them and they should be rewarded for their bravery and abandonment issues!

Humans are not that different than our canine family members…we all like to be acknowledged and rewarded for accomplishments. The question has historically been, how do you eventually replace the extrinsic “payment” for intrinsic rewards…also keeping the payment to good choices instead of simply rewarding the stopping of the bad behavior??? It is a challenge.

In doggy classes, we would give treats for good behavior and then start to disperse them more sporadically as the desired results are more cemented. It works well in theory and there is success on walks, obedience and other class lessons. However, there are some circumstances where it does not work. (Seeing a “rogue” dog on a walk and barking!)

The Golden Boys have turned the table on their Mama! They have me trained to hand out rewards when they stop “zooming,” barking or any other unwanted behavior. I go to the treat jar and dish out treats for the STOPPING of bad behavior. Hmmmmm…

So, my new realization (confession to self) will lead me to rethink my reward system. It’s one thing to reward for a job well done, but a whole different thing to reward for the cessation of bad behavior! Once I right my wrong, three things should happen:

1. I will save money on treats.

2. The Boys will lose weight

3. My self-respect will be reinstated!

Positive reinforcement for positive actions.

Weaning of positive reinforcement when the bad behavior stops…a worthwhile goal indeed!

Now if I could somehow apply that to my love of Christmas cookies!!!