You’ve probably heard of high-value and low-value rewards in your search for training methods. But how do you utilize them?
When it comes to reward based training, the role of treats cannot be overstated. However, not all treats are equal. Understanding the distinction between high-value and low-value rewards is crucial for successful training.
A lot of problems in my own training sessions could have been avoided, had I’d known about this concept years ago!
In this blog, you’re going to learn all about the meaning of high and low-value treats, why and when you should use which one, how it’s a spectrum, why it’s going to elevate your training sessions, and lastly, how to know what your animals’ top 5 is!
After learning about these topics, you’ll know exactly why and how to incorporate this concept into your sessions.
Defining High-Value and Low-Value Rewards
Food falls into two broad categories for animals: high-value and low-value. High-value treats are those irresistible snacks that capture your animal’s attention and enthusiasm, often reserved for particularly challenging tasks or environments. On the other hand, low-value treats do not evoke the over enthusiastic response—they’re still enjoyed by your animal but lack the heightened appeal of the high-value foods. An example of high value for dogs may be a piece of meatball or bacon, and kibble or store-bought treats may be low(er) value.
In horses, this may be a little harder to figure out. In my experience, the perfect low value reinforcer is just hay. High value is easier, think carrots, apple… But again, those are extremes. It’s a spectrum!
Adapting to Individual Preferences
Just as we all have different tastes, animals have individual preferences. Some may go bananas for a certain food, while others might find it much less enticing. The key is to observe and understand your animal’s preferences, tailoring your treat selection to what truly motivates and excites them. This enhances the effectiveness of your training sessions.
Further in this article, we’ll talk about the fun ways to find out what your animals’ top 5 are.
When to use High-Value or Low-Value Rewards
1. Use High-Value for…
A general rule is, that the more distractions, the higher the value you can use. It’s very context-bound! For example, get your high-value treats out when you’re going on a walk with your reactive dog. This way, you’re more likely to manage things if the situation arises. When your dog is already more alert due to anxiety, simple kibbles are probably not enough to lead to safety again.
High value may also come in handy in situations you already know your dog is going to find scary. Going to the vet is an example of where many animals feel anxious. This will hopefully create positive associations. Tip: Always pack different values of reinforcers!
2. Use Low-Value for…
Cues your dog already knows very well are great to reward with low(er) value rewards. The thing is, if your dog is quite relaxed in the environment you’re in, and he knows what’s expected of him, using a treat that’s too high in value may disrupt your session. He may be too focused on getting that incredibly yummy reward, and may feel frustration and stress because of it. That’s not what we want 😉
On the other hand, we sometimes use a reward too low in value in situations where the reward needs to “compete” with other distractions. This may result in a dog that’s not interested in your treats at all!
The goal is to keep your horse or dog calm (the green zone). Overexcitement, even when positive, is a stressor for the body and thus, their learning capabilities at that moment may go down. That’s something to keep in mind. Frustration? It may be a good sign to lower the value (or call it a day, nothing wrong with that too!)
So: If your animal is likely to feel safe in the environment, and is calm but happy to work together, a low-value reward will be best! When your buddy is likely to be a little stressed/distracted/excited, pick someting higher in value.
Again, I’ts a Spectrum!
What I mean by this: There are rewards your animal REALLY likes, finds okay, and everything in between. When you need to up the value, there are more options than their number one favorite snack! In general, it’s wise to come up with a top 5. With 1 as the highest value, and 5 as the lowest.
Always using the same, pretty high value reward will eventually cause some issues in your sessions.
The Pitfalls of Exclusively Using High-Value Rewards
1. Desensitization and Diminished Value
Imagine being offered your favorite dessert at every meal… Soon, the taste is not so exciting anymore, and value of this dessert would diminish for you. The same principle applies to high-value treats in training. If they become the norm, your animal may become desensitized, and the once potent motivator loses its allure.
This once high-value dessert drops drastically on your value ladder. Now you’ll have to “find” another dessert that evoked the same enthusiasm as this one did. And that’s not always easy!
I had this issue with my horse when we first started with reward-based training. It’s not a disaster per se, but when your animal is as picky as my horse was, it pretty much sucks haha! So, I encourage new trainers to incorporate different values in their training. It changed the game for us, as he learned new cues with double the speed.
2. Frustration: In Need of a Different Kind of Treat?
It’s possible for your animal to become too frustrated when using a high value reward. Remember, eating is a calming behavior and some animals use this as coping when their stress levels are high.
A little example: A horse is a flight animal. Next to the arena, you’re training in, the neighbor comes by to mow the field. He uses a mower. Your horse starts to tense a little and goes from the green zone (calm) to the orange zone (alert). When in orange, the animal is still able to learn. Using a higher-value reward in this context may cause more anxiety. Lower-value rewards are often in need of more chewing, which helps relax. An important thing to note, is that taking more distance from the trigger is always a good idea to prevent the animal to go over threshold (the red zone).
Resource Guarding
Another downside of a value that’s too high, may be resource guarding. In horses, this can manifest in aggressive behaviors towards horses nearby the training area. If this is the case, lower the value ór increase the distance.
As you can tell, it’s a bit nuanced sometimes.
Top 5 High-Value and Low-Value Rewards
So, now that we know why it’s important to have different value rewards on hand, and how and when to use which ones, it’s time to set up the top 5 of your animal!
There are different ways to do this, but this one is by far my favorite.
The Taster Menu
It’s really simple actually. Just grab some rewards you already know your animal likes, loves and finds okay. Also grab some rewards they’ve never tried before that you think may be high value for them. This concept is from R+Dogs!
Lay them al out on a platter with enough space between each piece. And, let the fun begin! Serve your animal the platter.
What to look out for
- What piece do they pick up immediately? Thats the Highest in Value!
- What piece do they not care for, at all? Don’t bother to put this one on the list.
- Look for the order of eating. That’s a pretty good indicator of their top 5!
Conclusion
So, now you know all about the meaning of high-value and low-value treats and what to do with them! To come up with a solid top 5 of foods, you need to test a lot. Even after the taster menu. Test them out in real life situations, to make sure it’s working in that context. And also, it’s never a bad idea to be prepared and pack different treats and values!
This post was all about high-value and low-value rewards
