Training Tips From Susan: Why Ranking Reinforcements Is The Key To More Motivated, Focused, & Successful Dog Training Sessions

Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett

DogsThat

Education, Puppy, Recallers, Animalbehaviour, Dogs, Kids & Family, Pets, Dogtraining, Dogsthat, Petmanners, Susangarrett, Pets & Animals

4.8 • 679 Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Message From Susan

Hey everyone, it’s Susan, and you’re about to hear one of my training tips and tidbits. These are quick, actionable strategies to help you and your dog in everyday life or for dog sport. Often our short videos with tips are created from your most popular segments of podcast episodes. So, let’s dive in!

Why Ranking Reinforcements Is The Key To More Motivated, Focused, And Successful Dog Training Sessions

I’m sharing why understanding and ranking reinforcements is the key to more motivated, focused, and successful dog training sessions. Your dog’s rewards act like motivational currency, and knowing how to use that currency can make a big difference in your training results.

Watch the full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjiaOy_iWyw

Transcript

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0:00.0	When I've talked about rank your reinforcements, I get a lot of people who say why.
0:13.7	Why do I need to rank my reinforcements?
0:18.4	It's a big part of the success that I have with my dog training.
0:23.7	You have to get brilliant at the use and the understanding of reinforcement.
0:30.7	I want you to get that brilliance.
0:32.7	It's going to start today.
0:34.7	So let's just discuss right off.
0:36.9	What do I mean by value? What's the value of
0:40.3	the reinforcement you're using? It really is motivational currency to your dog. So, if I asked
0:49.1	you, hey, I want to, I've got 55 really heavy tunnel bags in my building. I'd like them all to be
0:57.6	moved from one end of the building to the other end of the building. I'll give you this commemorative
1:03.7	coin that is worth nothing if you would come here and take two hours of your time and move all
1:09.8	those tunnel bags.
1:12.2	The motivational currency is a commemorative coin. Now, maybe some of you would do it highly
1:19.4	unlikely. What if I said, if you could come and do that, I will give you $1,000 an hour and $1,000 an hour for any travel
1:32.1	time that you have.
1:33.9	All of a sudden, the motivational currency is a lot higher.
1:38.1	Our dogs operate the same way.
1:41.0	There are some reinforcements that have a higher value. But it goes beyond just saying,
1:46.5	well, I could give my dog, you know, this dried up kibble that I found at the bottom of
1:51.7	my purse that's been there for a few months, or I could give them a nice, rare cut of steak.
1:58.0	Which one would my dog value more? Motivational currency is pretty obvious in that
	...

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