Episode #244 Why You Don’t Always Need to Reward Every Time – The Power of Intermittent Reinforcement

The Puppy Training Podcast

BAXTER & Bella Puppy Training

Baxter & Bella Online Puppy School, Business, Society & Culture, Puppy Training, New Puppy Tips, New Puppy, Dog Training

4.7 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Amy from BAXTER & Bella explains one of the most powerful concepts in dog training—intermittent reinforcement. You’ll learn: What intermittent reinforcement is and why it worksHow it helps build stronger, more reliable behaviorsReal-life examples for recall, loose leash walking, and tricksCommon mistakes to avoid, like fading rewards too soon or accidentally reinforcing unwanted behaviorsIf you’ve ever wondered when to stop rewarding every single sit or recall, this episo...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today we are talking about one of the most powerful concepts in dog training, intermittent reinforcement.
0:05.5	It sounds kind of fancy, but don't worry, it's something you already see every day.
0:09.2	And once you understand it, it can completely change the way you train your dog.
0:14.8	Welcome to the puppy training podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter and Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about
0:23.4	helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical
0:28.8	tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family.
0:35.5	So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the
0:38.8	bond with your dog, let's get started.
0:45.5	Hey everybody. Thanks for listening to our podcast. We had a big announcement at the 1st of
0:49.9	September. We talked about our collaboration with good dog service canines. We are super excited to work with them.
0:57.6	This has been in the making for a while, and we are helping them build an online resource for you to train your own service dog from home.
1:06.0	So the way it works is you start with us here at Baxter and Bella, you're going to do that first year of training with
1:11.2	our program, and then at that point, we'll send you over to Good Dog, and you can do your finishing
1:16.2	training with them. So super cool, we're really excited about it. Check out our website for more information.
1:22.0	You can also visit them at Good Dog Service canines. Okay, today we are talking intermittent reinforcement. And I know that sounds
1:29.0	kind of like, what is that or isn't necessary? But this, you guys, is a game changer when it comes
1:35.7	to dog training. So let's start with the basics. Intermittent reinforcement means that a behavior
1:40.7	is rewarded sometimes, but not every single time. So when we first get a puppy and we're
1:46.5	teaching them a new behavior, we're like a pez dispenser, right? They do something we like it. We pay them. We pay them. And I
1:52.0	encourage you to pay them for that first year of life a lot, right? Now, in those first 12 months,
1:57.5	though, we're going to start to change over to this idea of intermittent
2:02.2	reinforcement.
	...

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