Learn to Earn for Behavior Modification

The Premack Principle Behavior Modification Program



This program is not a training technique for teaching behaviors such as sit, or walk, or step up. It’s an approach of living and working with an animal that creates structure and reinforces good manners, trust, deference to the handler, promotes good behaviors over unacceptable behaviors, teaches self control, focus, and cooperation, and offers solutions to problems like demanding attention, door darting, food snatching, crowding, forging, and other pushy and potentially dangerous behaviors.

This plan is useful for any species of animal whose behavior can be affected by the principles of learning theory, which means any animal that can learn. It’s been used successfully with dogs, cats, parrots, rabbits, gerbils, rats, mice, horses, wolves, elephants, tigers, marine mammals, lions, bears, and people. It is especially effective when used with unruly, pushy, assertive, or rude animals, but can also produce extremely positive results with animals that are lacking in confidence or would benefit from comprehensible structure in their environment.

As always, please make sure the animal is healthy of mind and body before proceeding with this program. Animals should be evaluated by a qualified veterinarian to ensure that any behavior issues are not health related. Severe aggression or other similar, inherently dangerous behaviors should be referred to qualified animal behaviorists.


The Foundation: The animal will need to have a set of solidly cued behaviors in his or her repertoire before implementing this program. Basics like sit, down, back up, wait, step up, or step aside are a good beginning. These behaviors must be proofed so that they can be asked for anytime, anywhere, and elicit the desired response. If the animal does not respond to the cues with the correct behavior, that behavior is not properly proofed and more work will be required to solidify training. Any behavior that can be taught can be used. (Examples of behaviors: For dogs and cats, sit, down, and target can be enough to get you started. For birds, step up, wait, target, and step off are handy. For horses, back up, step aside, target, and wait are useful. A release cue is highly recommended.)


The Curriculum: This program works on the basis of The Premack Principle, which states that more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors. In simpler terms, a behavior that the animal wants to do (eat, play, sniff, greet, go out an open door, play tug) will be the reward for a behavior the animal is asked to do (sit, wait, step back, target). In practice, this means presenting the object or behavior of the animal’s desire in exchange for a behavior the handler desires; on completion of that behavior, the animal earns the reward. Anything that motivates the animal – from the very basics of food and attention, to the very complex requirements of toys and play, even something as mundane as sniffing bushes – can be Premacked, or used as a reward for a requested behavior.

If the behavior is not performed in a reasonable amount of time, no reward is forthcoming. Turn around and walk away if possible. Wait a few minutes, then come back and ask again. If the behavior is not performed a second time, it is not properly proofed and the handler needs to work more on foundation training.

If the behavior is interrupted, stop the reward immediately and ask for the behavior again. (Example: When greeting people, the dog is asked to sit. If the dog breaks the sit, the reward – attention – is immediately revoked. The dog is asked to sit again, and then the attention will continue.)

If the reward requires the animal to hold the behavior for more than a few seconds, it’s helpful to have also taught and proofed both wait cue and a release cue. This set of cues is useful in all animals, and very helpful for this program. (Example: Before opening the cage door, the parrot is asked to target a mirror, but dashes towards the door the moment she’s performed the behavior. Teaching a cue to have her remain at the mirror and another to release her to the reward will cure this problem.)


The Benefits: At its very core, this program is about allowing good behavior to become normal and bad behavior to be extinguished. Instead of jumping to greet people, or demanding attention by barking, a dog learns to sit and is rewarded with the attention he or she is seeking. Instead of crowding at the feed bucket, a horse learns to back up. Instead of dashing for the open cage door, a parrot learns to target a toy. Instead of snatching food from a plate, a cat learns to sit politely.

Over time, the requested behaviors become habitual. Animals will learn to offer these behaviors automatically in effort to gain access to things they desire, even novel things when the situation presents itself. This teaches self control and focus by making it habit to “ask” for things from the handler.

This program provides a way for animals and their handlers to build a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Animals learn that the best way to get what they want is through working with the handler, not in spite of or against the handler. In this way, they learn to cooperate and comply without the use of confrontational, aggressive, painful, or risky tactics.

This approach also builds confidence through reward based training, instead of teaching fear and mistrust through the use of punishment.



This program is not about denying the needs or wants of animals in any way.

This program is not about controlling access to all things in life that the animal wants, and/or only allowing access via the handler, in an effort to create a more biddable, completely dependant animal. To do so is inhumane and unnecessary.

Do not confine animals to small spaces for long periods of time or completely ignore the animal in effort to solicit compliance or focus (note: this is not the same as ignoring unwanted behaviors). Do not deny an animal food, exercise, attention, socialization, health care, or the ability to enjoy life and act like him- or herself. This is known as abuse and neglect, and is not an acceptable program of behavior modification.


© L. Talore, 2010

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