08/07/2026
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was doing a private lesson with my competition obedience coach. I wanted more enthusiasm in my dog's "front", which is what sitting in front of me after coming is called.
I went in expecting my instructor to help teach my dog how to be better. Instead, she watched what I was doing and bluntly told me to stop petting him on the head as a reward because he didn't like it.
I struggled with this. My dog, who hangs on my every word, who is strongly bonded to me and seems to adore everything I do? Surely he loved a good ol' head-petting.
My instructor had me take a video so I could see what she saw and, sure enough, my dog came running enthusiastically when I called but he slowed down and sat a little further away than I wanted. When I praised, treated and petted him he was clearly happy about the first two things but disengaged eye contact and started looking elsewhere, getting a little squirmy, when I petted his head. When I started keeping my hands to myself, I quickly saw him come in closer to sit and do it with more enthusiasm. My "reward" had actually been something my dog didn't like.
That experience gave me empathy for all the clients I've had who want to improve their pet dog's recall in the real world. It stings when someone is told that their dog might not like being pet on the head, or at least in that context, but the people who take that to heart, who experiment with keeping their hands to themselves and making sure their reward for coming is really a reward to their dogs? They get a better recall.
One of my dogs actually does find head-petting rewarding but most of the others don't. It pays off to know what your dog likes, both for training purposes and for your relationship. Does your dog like head-petting or are they merely tolerating it because they know you like doing it?
Does your dog like it when you pet their head for doing something you like? Are you sure?
Head pats are often a perfect example of “poisoning the cue,” or creating an association between something your dog doesn’t like with a cue, like coming when called.
I enjoyed talking about this issue (so so common!) in this week’s blog post. I challenged readers to pay attention to their dog’s reaction with they reinforce them, asking the question, was it truly reinforcement, or was it actually something that put your dog off and made them less likely to respond the way you wanted.
Examples from you all? I’ll bet you have a ton of them. (Because, uh, we are human.)
Read it here: https://bit.ly/4wvHxhv
