The SMART x 50 Protocol

SMART stands for SEE, MARK AND REWARD TRAINING. The principles behind this training are to teach you to notice, acknowledge and reward all the desirable behaviours your dog does each day. (We need to make an extra effort to do this because humans are programmed to notice the bad things more than the good!).

The training plan comes from Plenty in Life is Free by Kathy Sdao:

“…Capitalize on the numerous desirable behaviors your dog performs over the course of an average day by:

1. noticing them

2. pointing them out to your dog (“mark” with a “good” or “yes”)

3. then giving your dog reward in order to increase the frequency and strength of those behaviors”

   
   

How do to SMART x 50 training

• Set aside 50 small treats each day in a dish on the worktop for quick and easy access and a visual reminder. You can divide between dishes in other rooms or carry some around in your treat pouch.

• When you see your dog doing something you like, praise him approvingly.

• Give your dog a treat. 

That's it!

• If it is for staying in a place such as lying calmly in his bed, go to the bed and drop the treat on the bed even if he gets up and comes to you when he hears you praise him. This way he gets the idea it is the bed location that is being rewarded.

• You can choose to mark and reward any behaviour that you deem ‘good’ or useful in your situation. So this might be just remaining calm and relaxed - sitting or lying calmly or patiently.  Not jumping up.  Not barking at a passerby. Looking at you for information.

  
  

SMART x 50 is a simple way to get started on noticing the behaviors your dog already does that you’d like to see more of.

Kathy says, “We could envision that a significant portion of the good behaviors we want to develop are already in our dogs.  By saying ‘yes’ to these, over and over, we encourage our dogs’ cooperative, calm, controlled actions.  Our frequent, precisely timed, meaningful reinforcements — our ‘yeses,’ each followed by an event the dogs considers rewarding — will etch desirable behavioral grooves into our dogs’ repertoires.”