The DOGspeak Series – How Dogs Learn

w: www.doglife.co.nz                  e: sacha@doglife.co.nz                 p: 021 061 8480

  

DOGspeak was an e-book I developed and never launched so rather than gathering dust, let’s get it out there.  Our introduction article is all about how our canine friends learn.  

In the last 10 years the dog training industry has grown rapidly.  There are now so many training, fun and incredible things we can do with our canine companions that we never used to be able to.  From day-care to dog fitness, dog walkers to dancing with your dog, dog trainers, behaviour consultants, massage, agility, obedience, tracking, scent detection, Treiball, the list is endless and growing every day!  

Our lives as dog owners has become a lot more complicated and our dogs with it but training and understanding your dog doesn't have to.  The basics of behaviour and the foundations of training have remained relatively the same and for that we have the sound testament of science and some very well educated and experienced individuals to thank for their tireless work to educate and support dog training and behaviour in our online and educational environments.  Dr Susan Friedman, Roger Abrantes, Dr Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Dr Sophia Yin, Karen Pryor, Kikopup, to name but a very small amount...the list goes on and on.

So how do dogs learn all this incredible behaviour, these impressive tricks, complicated techniques and ways to interact with us and our environment?  Easy....just like us.  They do what works for them.  They learn to associate behaviour with consequence. 

‘If I do this, something good happens or if I do that, something bad happens’  

When dogs are rewarded for behaviour, and rewarded with something they want, they learn pretty quickly to repeat it AND get better at it.  Imagine a dog who paws you for attention.  The owner may try ignoring them but in frustration turns and say 'no' or 'stop' or even push them off.  For some dogs what has just happened is they have worked out "it will take me 10 minutes of doing that before mum gives me what I want....attention".  The behaviour has just been reinforced and the dog has now learnt persistence for that particular behaviour.

So you ask.....how on earth do you train a dog if you can't tell it off when it is doing something you don't want?        

We start by creating a high association with the behaviour we want.  By using a high value reward and repetition (frequency of reward), the desirable behaviour is reinforced.  Remember....dogs will do what works and get better at it so let’s get them repeating the behaviours that we want and that benefits them.  

That's all great you say...but what about the behaviour we don't want?

If there is no reward or purpose then a dog will drop a behaviour.  It’s called extinction, the behaviour will fade into non-existence if it isn't rewarded.  Clever old Fido huh!

So to summarise....no rewards for undesirable behaviour, instead, ignore or ask your dog to do something he does know and that you want…and reinforce with a reward...frequently.  By using these key ideas below, send that undesirable behaviour off with the dinosaurs.

      Divert        Distract         Change the Environment         Ask for Alternate Behaviour

 So, what is a reward?

A reward is anything that is valuable to that particular dog; 

            Food                                       Attention                                A Car Ride                    
            Toys                                       Touch                                     Play
            Treats                                     Praise                                     Exercise            
            The Couch                             Other dogs                            Sniffing

THE DOGGY DEGUSTATION
The list is endless and very specific to each dog.  Have some fun working out what your dog loves, what they can’t live without and then use those things as rewards to reinforce the behaviour you want.  I call it The Doggy Degustation and everyone LOVES a degustation!

How often do I reward my dog?
Plan 3 x 5-10 min training sessions a day and reward EVERY time they do what you want & then alternate randomly when they excel.  MOST importantly don't ever forget that training is meant to be fun, for both of you.  If it’s not, stop and have a break, do something different, stop and smell the flowers!  And that leads me nicely into the next DOGspeak Series.... The Foundations of Training.

Sacha is a qualified and professionally affiliated Dog Behaviour Consultant, Trainer and Welfare Advocate.  DOGlife NZ - for all your dog training and behavioural needs.

A big thank you to Tall Tails Pet Portraits for some of the photos used in this series and to Auckland Puppy Rescue and Chained Dog Awareness!