Many of you are discovering that keeping a trained dog working well is more difficult than it was to teach him the exercises. I believe there are four reasons that dogs perform correctly. The dog's natural enjoyment of the exercise or activity. Many dogs enjoy some aspect of performing so much that their natural desire motivates them. For example, avid retrievers consider the dumbbell or glove the reward for retrieving.
Some dogs love to jump, so the act of jumping is motivating and rewarding.
The dog described at the beginning of this article was obviously thrilled with the glove exercise. His behavior demonstrated his enjoyment of the exercise. Folks training field trial dogs rely heavily on a dog's natural desire to retrieve a bird. The bird is the dog's reward. This can be a problem when the dog is completely disobedient, finds the bird, and feels rewarded for his performance.