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HOW DO DOGS LEARN?

Cop~’iigh1 998 Ron lawience See nouce below

 

 

      First a Little Background

Unfortunately, many inexperienced handlers do not credit their dog with having the ability to solve a problem mentally, to analyse a situation, to imagine ways to manipulate or control it, then take a pre-planned course of action toward a goal that was preconceived in the dog’s mind. Laboratory experiments have confirmed what every experienced handler knows - dogs are smart - dogs can work problems out. It is true that the dog’s language learning skills are limited but luckily for us, dogs are quick to learn the few sounds that are important to them. Dogs think in mental images and relate our ‘utterances’ to mental images. Much to many triallers chagrin, they can even recognize ‘command words’ when different people use them. A mature dog can associate images with more than 50 words. Remember, a whistle is a human utterance SO far as the dog is concerned, so is a sigh, cough, laugh, scream, growl, sob, etc. The inability to originate thoughts and express it in a spoken language does not make dogs unintelligent. After all, dogs communicate their state of mind to other dogs predominately through body language and not through verbalizing. We can learn and use some of this body language in our training but we humans will never be able to understand all of its subtleties. Because dogs communicate very effectively in body language we can use hand signals with and without the voice to communicate with the dog.

How Do Dogs Learn

Almost everyone has mental imagery. Often, just the thought of a loved one conjures up their image in our mind. This can apply to sounds, as well. Think about your favorite musical piece and you can often hear it in your ‘mind’s ear’. These are positive images. They are emotionally pleasant. At the other end of the scale, recalling a terrifying experience can not only create its images, it can sometimes even make us shudder. This is an example of negative, emotionally unpleasant images. Dogs think in images too SO we can mould their behaviour in hundreds of ways if we adjust our thinking to the way they do. To relate this simply to an obedience exercise, let’s say for example the retrieve, we must condition the dog to imagine or visualize the command ‘Fetch’ as: sitting squarely close in front of the handler with a dumbbell (or any other object which has just been thrown) in his mouth. The ‘going and getting’ should merely facilitate the ‘Fetch’ image. If the handler is using imagery correctly, he must praise a ‘good fetch’ when the dog is sitting squarely, close in front with the dumbbell in his mouth.

The Ten Rules of Canine Learning

   1. Most dogs can learn at any age up to the time their mental capacities start to deteriorate in old age. All developments of the dog’s mind derive from combinations of instinct and learning. The dog~s ability to learn is influenced by genetics, hormones, senses and all the external stimuli that the dog received from his mother, his litter mates, from us, from other dogs and animals and from his environment. It goes without saying that like all animals (and humans), the more stimulation the dog receives from early puppy hood the better he will learn as time goes on.

  2. Dogs learn best through patience and with suitable rewards, Ic through positive reinforcement. Let~s face it, no animal (or human) does anything unless there is a promise of a reward in the offering for expending that energy. Sometimes the reward may be hard to fathom but it will be there nonetheless. Rewards must be given within less than a second (4/10’s of a second to be precise) of the desired response from the dog. It is essential that handlers understand that rewards and verbal corrections must also be given within this time frame to have the desired effect.

 

3. Intermittent or random rewarding of a desired activity produces behaviour that is more resistant to extinction (it is less likely to be forgotten). Look at it this way: If a dog receives a reward every time he does something, no matter how well, he will come to expect it regardless of his performance. There is no incentive to improve. But if a dog receives a reward only when he performs and exercise well and the handler expects continual improvement in performance, the dog will always strive to please and improve. Further, a dog that receives intermittent or random rewards comes to understand that a reward will be forthcoming sooner or later for  good work and will not be discouraged when he doesn't receive it every time he does well.   Always reward a dog that makes progress in an exercise he is learning for the first time but once he has learnt the exercise, reward him randomly for an exceptional performance.

  4. The value of the reward should be appropriate for the desired behaviour. Dogs value rewards in different ways. Find out what is most valuable to your dog and use these rewards appropriately (food, toy playing, etc).

  5. Training should be enjoyable; dogs should look forward to it. Spend ten minutes, two to three times each day. These sessions should be separated by several hours. Tired, fearful dogs and dogs under stress do not learn easily. Mental activity is more tiring to the dog than physical activity.

  6. Training should take place in a quiet environment. Once consistent, correct responses have been made in that environment, you can move to more stimulating and distracting environments to continue the training process. This is called ‘proofing’.

  7. Every dog should be trained to ‘Come’, Sit’, ‘Sit Stay’, ‘Down’ and ‘Down Stay’. If a dog fails an exercise, do not punish him, simply go back to the previous level and start again. Always finish every training session on a positive note - usually with an exercise you know the dog can do well and one that he enjoys.

8. Only use the dog’s name to get his attention; do not use it in reprimands. Use one word commands in training for each exercise - one word = only one image in the dog’s mind.

  9. Once the dog has learned the commands from one person have him learii the same commands from other members of the household. Consistency is the key. In this way, he learns that in the dominance hierarchy (pecking order), he is lower than all the humans in his pack.

10. Physical or mental punishment or abuse should never be used. Harsh reprimands can be counterproductive. However, verbal corrections (“Uh Uh”) in a tone of disappointment or disapproval can be very effective they indicate no reward and are ‘negative punishers” which mean, “Oh, no reward for doing that”. These verbal corrections go hand in hand with Praise/Click and rewards.

 

 

This article is provided as a service to all those interested in prornot~rlg the sport o~ Dog ()hethence Triallmg The authoi hereby giants permission ~or indi~~duals and iion—pioht organisanons to reproduce ~uid disiribule this ariicle under the killowing conditions I~ull credit ~s given to the author on each and every copy. wnh the notation “Copyright 1998 Ron Lawrence’ All copies distnbiited must be provided tree of charge, If reproduced in a newsIett~r or magazine, full credit must be given