CHAPTER 3 

 THE FOOD-REWARD METHOD 



Section I. INTRODUCTION 



20. General 



There are two basic methods used in the training 

 of military dogs, the praise-punishment method 

 and the food-reward method. Both methods make 

 use of the principle of reward for performance 

 and punishment for nonperformance or misbe- 

 havior. 



a. Praise-Punishment Method. This is the tra- 

 ditional method used by animal trainers. Simply 

 stated, when the dog successfully performs some 

 task it is rewarded by praise and petting. When 

 it fails to perform, or misbehaves, it is punished 

 by verbal disapproval and physical discomfort or 

 mild pain. This method is most effectively used 

 where highly disciplined dogs are required, and 

 in training military dogs which must be highly 

 aggressive. 



b. Food-Reward Method. This method is rela- 

 tively new to military dog training, although it 

 has long been used by animal behaviorists. It is 

 also referred to as behavioral conditioning, stim- 

 ulus-response training, or operant conditioning. 

 In this method, the animal is conditioned to as- 

 sociate the performance of a task or the presence 

 of a particular object or odor with the appear- 

 ance of food and praise. The dog learns that per- 

 forming a task, such as locating an object or 

 scent, will bring the food reward and praise. 

 Here the food-reward method departs from the 

 traditional method in that it advances the degree 

 of subtlety. Failure to perform a given task, 

 rather than bringing physical punishment, 

 brings only the absence of food. This may seem 

 overly simple, but since food is, after sex, the 

 most important motivation to the dog, the 

 method is extremely effective. This method is 

 most effectively used in training military dogs 

 which must perform a large variety of unrelated 

 tasks, or where the task to be performed is quite 

 complex or difficult. One important advantage of 

 this method is that, out of a given group of un- 

 trained dogs, a larger percentage can be success- 



fully trained, to a higher overall degree of profi- 

 ciency, in less time than by the praise- 

 punishment method. 



21. Food 



Two types of food are necessary for successful 

 use of the food-reward method: 



a. Training Food. This is the food given the 

 dogs as a reward for performing some task. For 

 this purpose a commercially-prepared soft-moist 

 dog food (FM 20-20) in the form of cubes or 

 large pellets is used. The cubes must be easily 

 handled and must not crumble when handled. 

 Each handler will require 1 to 2 pounds of train- 

 ing food for his dog each training day. 



b. Goal Food. Goal food is a key factor in the 

 use of the food-reward method. This food is given 

 after the last work session if the dog has 

 performed well. For this purpose, use a 

 commercially-prepared, meat-base canned dog 

 food which is especially appetizing. At the com- 

 pletion of the last work session of the day, the 

 dog is given the remainder (if any) of its pre- 

 scribed daily ration of training food plus the 

 canned food. If a dog has not performed well that 

 day, it receives no goal food! (Goal food is not 

 given on non working days.) The dogs quickly 

 learn that they must perform well each day in 

 order to earn their goal food. REMEMBER: 

 THE KEY TO USE OF THE FOOD-REWARD 

 METHOD IS THAT THE DOG RECEIVES 

 ONLY THE FOOD THAT IT EARNS! THE 

 DOG IS NEVER GIVEN FREE FOOD. 



22. Preparation 



Prior to introducing a dog to the food-reward 

 method, it is first necessary to deprive the dog of 

 food for 48 hours. This is normally done over a 

 weekend. By doing this, the dog's hunger will 

 increase its motivation to learn. During training, 

 the dogs are also partially deprived on weekends 



e 



