I guess what I took away from my upbringing is the rewards are intrinsic. You don't get a cookie for cleaning your room, but now your room is clean. You don't get $20 for passing your math test, but now you (hopefully) learned some math and don't have to worry about it anymore.

The owner in your example is the same. His rewards are inherent to the action.

Covering someone with praise and rewards when they do stuff they're supposed to do anyway I guess works, but seems unsustainable. If they're only doing it for external validation, how are they going to feel when that's absent?

Saying "thank you" for doing chores isn't what I had in mind. It was an overly effusive "omg you did so good I'm so happy here's a pony you didn't throw your cigarettes on the ground! You're such a good boy and very handsome!"