This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network


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Continuous Reinforcement

The term continuous reinforcement refers to rewarding your subject every time he engages in the behavior or behaviors that you have targeted for change.

When your dog is first learning to engage in a new response, it is essential that you reinforce continuously by immediately rewarding him every time he engages in the targeted behavior. After the response has become well established, you should begin to slowly fade out your reinforcers, since that will make the target response more resiliant.

Continuous reinforcement is differentiated from intermittent reinforcement, in which the target response is reinforced only some of the time.

Continuous reinforcement as well as intermittent reinforcement constitute what are called schedules of reinforcement.


Go to the reinforcement procedures index for more on how to properly dispense reinforcement


Go to the index of the Glossary of Terms


This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network