Hierarchy of Awesome: What IS it?
Channel: Melissa McCue-McGrath, CPDT-KA
Date: 2020-06-01

I often tell my students about the HIERARCHY OF AWESOME. 

What exactly is that? Well, it's sitting at your table with other people in your home (if it applies!) and figure out what things your dog loves! I usually start with 5 - the top 5 rewards from your dog's perspective. 

But the other thing is to qualify those. My daughter, heard in the video, suggests a marrow bone, which is a super valuable object for Captain, but is it useful on walks? Probably not. Can I use it to keep him busy as I'm working on separation anxiety, allowing new people into the house without him jumping on them, or to keep him busy while I'm teaching a class in my apartment? Absolutely! For a really hard recall past geese outside? Well, I guess I could but it might be harder to use on a normal walk. 

So, your challenge today: Figure out your dog's Hierarchy of Awesome. Physically sit down, think about what food, toys, games, activities are truly rewarding to your dog, and figure out if those rewards are situational. Then, try using these on your outings if your dog can't comply with a more traditional cue (in the video, I'm using "Leave It", and Captain can't). 

#TryIt 


***************************
For any questions, topic ideas, training video suggestions, etc., please don't hesitate to reach out: considerationsbook at gmail dot com. 

If you like this and other challenges, consider liking, subscribing, all that stuff that everyone says on these videos. 

Lastly, I wrote a book in 2015 called, "Considerations for the City Dog". If you have read it, please leave a review and tell your friends! If you haven't, consider purchasing from dogwise.com or amazon.com in either Kindle or paperback format. In these unprecedented times, any form of income would be wonderful, and that book can help a lot of people. So, if you have the means and would like to support dog trainers like me who are trying different things to reach their students remotely, know that every thumbs up, shout out, and purchase goes directly to help us reach our students. 

Thank you! 
For more information, visit https://melissamccuemcgrath.com/, https://www.instagram.com/melissamccuemcgrath  https://twitter.com/muttstuff 
and the Considerations for the City Dog Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/citydogbook/ which you can follow and get updates several times a week!