06/27/2025
Watching a skilled trainer modify behavior with a dog is like watching a beautiful dance. Excellent trainers can sense when dogs are going to do something before the dog does it. Timing, coupled with an appropriate technique for that dog, is what makes dog training look effortless and even graceful.
In dog training, timing is the perfect moment that the dog handler does something to communicate to a dog what is desired or unwanted. If you want examples of perfect timing, watch dogs interact with other dogs. Dogs are very good at timing because they can process and move faster than us and use the correct amount of pressure to stop a behavior. Dogs are also masters of releasing pressure, negative reinforcement, at exactly the right time to communicate to the offending dog what was desired.
If the timing is good, the dog can change his mind and behavior before the dog is fully committed to an action. If timing is bad, the interruption or reward was not done at the best time to communicate what is desired to the dog with minimal escalation of the dog’s behavior. I see a lot of misunderstanding about timing and when to interrupt or praise a dog. I have seen plenty of examples of inappropriate timing of rewards causing damage, but the incorrect timing with corrections, modifiers, or interrupters, can be just as confusing or detrimental for a dog.
If a dog begins to alert on a dog or person ever so slightly, it can quickly be de-escalated with proper timing, either with rewards, guidance, or corrections. If a dog does a preferred behavior, quick delivery of reinforcement greatly enhances that dog’s understanding of what it did that caused the reinforcer. Proper timing requires the handler to be aware of the dog’s state of mind as well as the dog’s body. Understanding what a dog is thinking about doing requires understanding subtle body language shifts in dogs, but also being able to read that particular dog you are working with.
Poor timing isn’t just ineffective. Done consistently over time, it can cause behavior problems. Many experiments have been done with people and animals about administering corrections or punishment in the form of electric shocks. It has been found that giving inconsistent punishment without clear causation can create confusion, fear, and even neurosis in dogs. On the flip side, it has been found that consistent punishment is tolerated without ill-effects. We also know from experiments that use of consistent rewards can quickly produce certain behaviors, such as mice pushing a lever for a treat. But, inconsistent or poorly timed rewards will not achieve quick learning what the desired behaviors are. One mistake I have made myself was rewarding a puppy for a sit when one of her front feet was off the ground. It took me about eight repetitions of rewarding the puppy when all four feet were on the ground to retain her what was desired. And of course, I did not punish the puppy for raising her foot since it was my fault she was rewarded for that in the first place.
Since we cannot use verbal language to explain what is or is not desired with dogs like we do with other humans, our timing needs to fill that gap. We cannot tell a dog, “When you passed that person two minutes ago, and didn’t react, that was really good. So here is a treat.” The dog would gladly take the treat but had no idea why it was being given it. Even a delay of half a second for reward or punishment can greatly decrease a dog’s performance to commands the dog already knows.(i)
Usually, the timing of a punishment or reinforcer is too late or is rewarding the wrong behavior.
An example of poor timing of a correction is when the handler corrects the dog too late. This means that the dog is already escalating to jumping on someone or reacting to something before an interruption is given. When this happens, the dog is already performing the self-rewarding behavior, so the dog has obtained reinforcement from doing the unwanted behavior. Also, slow interrupting results in a dog that is too excited or adrenalized for a slight interrupter to be effective. So, then the trainer or handler may choose to escalate to harsher corrections or try to use treats in vain to accomplish the reduction in reaction. In reality, a more perceptive handler would have taken quicker action before the escalation could have happened. Either way, poor timing results in treatment that is unfair to the dog and does not follow LIMA guidelines. It makes learning what we want that much harder for them.
Poor timing includes rewarding the wrong intention of the dog. Many times reinforcers are given when a reactive dog sees another dog, thinking that will counter-condition the dog into thinking approaching dogs equal food and are therefore good. This will only work if the reactive dog’s mind is also not set on reacting at the point of reinforcer. If the reactive dog is glaring at an approaching dog and is thinking about reacting, an interrupter needs to happen first, then a different state of mind must be achieved before the reinforcer is given. A dog’s body position, if asked for by a human, doesn’t always equal the dog’s state of mind either. A dog can be sitting as asked, but still wanting to react to an approaching dog, while getting a reward from the handler.
(An interrupter need not be a physical correction. It can be verbal or physical guidance from the handler, for example, by leading the dog away from the trigger, dog follows and gets a reward, or a verbal “uh-uh.”).
Here’s an example of a reward being used at the wrong time with the dog in the wrong mindset.
My mentor and I went to help a dog that was labeled as dog aggressive. The dog, Georgia, was a sweet blue pit bull that had seen a previous trainer. The previous trainer had taught Georgia to peer around corners looking for dogs. Once Georgia was glaring at a dog coming towards her, the trainer gave her tons of treats and praise. This resulted in Georgia’s glaring behavior escalating into a reaction because the trainer was rewarding the wrong state of mind and also joining Georgia in acting fearful and timid with dogs approaching. When my mentor trained Georgia, we found out was Georgia was actually afraid of dogs and didn’t want to react, but had been rewarded after doing so. After living with my mentor’s dogs and undergoing training, Georgia learned to follow her while moving away from dogs in the hallways. With Georgia knowing how to alleviate the stress of oncoming dogs was her reward. She felt better so she repeated the behavior.
It takes practice to learn good timing, and it often requires not thinking too much and instead relying on instinct or feel. If the trainer has to process the dog’s body language, the environment, the oncoming trigger, and then decide what to do, the opportunity of good timing has passed. Clients often need a lot of help to have good timing. After a demonstration, I coach them by explaining the tell-tale signs of a reactive dog. I have my clients hold food rewards in their hands at all times, if we are using food, so it is ready to use quickly. Of course, using a verbal marker can help compensate for humans’ slower reaction time in delivering a reward. I tend to avoid techniques that require precise timing with clients that are not able to grasp it. In these cases, I opt for a technique that relies less on good timing.
With feral dogs, timing is used most often in releasing leash tension when getting a dog to walk on a leash. If I do not release the tension on the leash the moment a dog moves forward, the dog will stop moving again. Too many trainers do the application of tension and release according to their own ideas and don’t watch the dog. I have also become quite familiar with the tactics feral and fearful dogs will use to try to escape a leash or other “scary” situation. If I miss reading the dog’s mind and the dog happens to scramble under a car or behind a desk, I then have to put more stress on the dog to get the dog out of these situations. If I don’t stop a dog soon enough from biting on a leash, preferably right when they lower their head and jaw in the direction of the leash and before they actually clamp down on it, then I have to get the leash out of their mouth once they are attempting to chew through it. Good timing alleviates problematic situations like these.
Sometimes, instead of reacting, we need to wait before doing anything and allow the dog time to make a good choice on their own. I usually start to allow the dog more time for their own decisions before I interrupt after I have been working with the dog and the dog is amenable to following my guidance to make good choices. When the dog makes good choices, I of course use well-timed reinforcers.
If dogs are consistently performing unwanted behaviors, like reacting or jumping on people, then the handler’s timing is likely too slow. I see many people under the assumption that the interrupter comes after the dog does the unwanted thing. But this is not nearly as effective as stopping the dog at the thought of jumping. Dogs do not have the ability to “lie” with their bodies. When a dog is thinking about getting up from a sit stay, the dog generally lowers its head slightly. If a dog is thinking about jumping on someone, they usually shift their weight back to get the spring forward. If the handler doesn’t notice these small signs, the timing will be off. If the handler notices these signs, and their timing is good, the behavior can be stopped so much easier.
In addition to good timing, the type of modifier, either reinforcer or punishment, has to be effective or the dog will not be able to understand what is desired and won’t stop its trajectory. Both professionals and clients often state their dog doesn’t respond to food rewards in certain situations. This is because there wasn’t enough foundation built with that dog before encountering a bigger challenge or food is not a good motivator for that dog. The trigger may also be too close, the dog may not be engaged with the handler, or both.
Everyone has poor timing once in a while. If this happens to me, I reflect on what went awry and attempt to improve the next time. Hint - it usually isn’t the dog. Reflecting on what went wrong isn’t failure, because we are not perfect and we will make mistakes. Reflecting is an opportunity to learn how to improve our timing for better results.
PS. This is not a debate about if using corrections or reward-based training is better. It is about timing with any kind of training.
(i) Yamatomo, Mariko, et. al. Influence of delayed timing of owners' actions on the behaviors of their dogs, Canis familiaris
