Do you remember your mum saying to you ‘eat your vegetables before you can have dessert’?

The “Premack Principle” is the ‘eat your vegetables’ of dog training 😊

Created by psychologist David Premack, The Premack Principle states that a higher probability behaviour will reinforce a less probable behaviour.

Eat your vegetables (lower probability behaviour) before you eat dessert (higher probability behaviour).

In dog training we can use what your dog wants to do, called a “high-probability behaviour”, to reinforce what you may want your dog to do (called a “low-probability behaviour”).

For example, your dog may really want to sniff at a tree, but you would prefer your dog focusses on you. You can ask your dog for a ‘look’, then cue them to sniff the tree.

We use this principle every day in our training.

To apply it, you need to observe your dog and work out what behaviours they really like or prefer.

There are some things to be aware of though, before using Premack.

Premack isn’t a good choice if the behaviour you allow your dog to practice is unacceptable or dangerous such a slamming into other dogs or rushing up and knocking people over when greeting. Or if the behaviour causes your dog to become over aroused or go over threshold such as allowing chasing of wildlife.

Next time you are out with your dog, try to put in place the Premack Principle – for example, recalling your dog in the park, then allowing them to go and sniff or play with other dogs.

Working with your dog and not against them is one of the keys to successful training!

Happy Training!