In the animal training world, a jackpot is exactly what it sounds like. When an animal has done exactly what it’s asked, and it’s taken quite the bit of effort to get there, the reward is a jackpot. Let’s say you’ve been working on a particular behavior for days, and one day the animal finally gets it and performs the behavior, you jackpot it in treats. You give it many pieces of treats instead of the standard reward. This helps plant the seed of positivity in the animal and hopefully makes it more likely to perform the behavior again.
A jackpot isn’t only used during the learning process. Sometimes, animals find performing certain behaviors difficult. Perhaps it’s a behavior they don’t particularly care to do, or one that is always a challenge for them to complete. Perhaps the behavior is standing still for a medical procedure. These are also moments that when they complete the behavior, they should receive a jackpot. The jackpot of treats helps make the behavior more positive and worth doing. If you don’t make the behavior worth doing, the animal will slowly try to get away with not doing it.
Semi-Charmed Life 