So my brother's girlfriend Heather always mentions how Tucker has no interest in praise, doesn't get excited because he made you happy, blah, blah, blah. I know perfectly well dogs don't just work to make you happy, some dogs might feed off of excitement more than others, but no dog just follows commands to make someone else happy, they do it to avoid punishment or receive reinforcement (and yes, I'm sure some dogs find petting more reinforcing than others). Then I started thinking about it and outside of command giving, Tucker loves when you get excited, it pumps him up, makes him want to play, and he certainly enjoys physical affection. But after you ask for a command and you praise him or pet him he appears to find it repulsive, he obviously wants to know where on earth his treat is. I think that perhaps I've accidentally turned praise/petting into a no reward marker.
Whenever I train or give a command I either just give him a treat or click/yes and give a treat. I really never say "oh you're such a good boy" and pet him afterwards/while giving the treat. The only time I'd do that is if I happened to have no treats or toys on me and that's all I had to fall back on. So I'm thinking he learned that praise and affection after a command means he's not getting a reward and thus finds them almost punishing. I in no way feel he should work for praise/petting, I don't expect a dog to recall off of an intriguing odor or sit still in the presence of another dog when the most he can hope for it a scratch behind the ear and me talking in a squeaky voice. However I don't think it's good that he finds absolutely no reinforcement value in those things AT ALL, thus making them 100% useless or even unpleasant. It would be good for him to find some enjoyment in them for those instances when I don't have anything better to reward him with. I know dogs choose what's reinforcing, not their owners, but I feel like he would find them reinforcing if I hadn't taught him that they mean no treats are coming.
So do you think there is any way to fix this and make him enjoy praise/affection a little more? I know people can teach dogs to enjoy tugging as a reward, so I figure maybe something similar can be used to transfer the value of food rewards onto the praise. Would I ask for a command, give verbal praise, and then give a treat? Or would I ask for the command and immediately give the treat while giving praise at the same time?
Whenever I train or give a command I either just give him a treat or click/yes and give a treat. I really never say "oh you're such a good boy" and pet him afterwards/while giving the treat. The only time I'd do that is if I happened to have no treats or toys on me and that's all I had to fall back on. So I'm thinking he learned that praise and affection after a command means he's not getting a reward and thus finds them almost punishing. I in no way feel he should work for praise/petting, I don't expect a dog to recall off of an intriguing odor or sit still in the presence of another dog when the most he can hope for it a scratch behind the ear and me talking in a squeaky voice. However I don't think it's good that he finds absolutely no reinforcement value in those things AT ALL, thus making them 100% useless or even unpleasant. It would be good for him to find some enjoyment in them for those instances when I don't have anything better to reward him with. I know dogs choose what's reinforcing, not their owners, but I feel like he would find them reinforcing if I hadn't taught him that they mean no treats are coming.
So do you think there is any way to fix this and make him enjoy praise/affection a little more? I know people can teach dogs to enjoy tugging as a reward, so I figure maybe something similar can be used to transfer the value of food rewards onto the praise. Would I ask for a command, give verbal praise, and then give a treat? Or would I ask for the command and immediately give the treat while giving praise at the same time?