How Dogs Learn
How Dogs Learn
There are two main ways that dogs learn, this will all sound familiar as most of us learned these laws of learning in our High School Psychology Class. Dogs primarily learn through associations and consequences. Dogs aren’t the only animals to learn in these ways, it turns out these learning principles apply to all living beings from squids to seals to Spaniels. All beings learn through associations and consequences. For consistency and my own convenience, I’ll continue to use the term dog throughout the article.
Dogs learn that some things can be predictive, the association creates associations that this means that. For instance, specific actions, sounds and behaviors may indicate something will follow. Dogs aren’t born knowing the meaning behind door bells, picking up the leash or opening the treat cabinet. It only takes a few repetitions for dogs to put these associations together. You can see how strong these associations are when your dog begins acknowledging the sound of a crackling snack bag from a deep sleep, over the sound of doors closing or your comings and goings throughout the house. In addition to associations, they’re learning through consequences. Consequences in this case aren’t necessarily negative, consequences simply mean what happens after an action. Different from predictions, the dog is making associations that when they do this, something good, bad, dangerous or safe, follows. Consequences can increase or decrease the likelihood that your dog will continue to do a specific behavior. If that behavior has the consequence of the addition of something they like or the removal of something they didn’t like, they’re likely to repeat the action. If the behavior is followed up with something they find unpleasant or the removal of something that they enjoy, the behavior is likely to decrease or cease. Each dog learns and behaves differently, as they’re all individuals. Our dogs get to determine what they find pleasant and unpleasant. Sometimes things that were previously pleasant become unpleasant just as the reverse is possible. It’s up to us to observe their behavior in the moment and their behavior as it changes over time. Here’s the twist- there used to be great debate in the Psychology and Learning fields that these learning styles were independent. SImilar to the debate regarding nature and nurture, research indicates they’re both linked. Our dogs are always looking at consequences and associations and linking them together. Pavlov’s dogs likely learned that not only did food follow up the bell but pleasant things followed the bell. Think of your dog, he’s likely figured out that when the food container is opened, dinner is happening. He’s likely also realized that specific behaviors result in receiving his dinner. Not only does he come running towards his bowl, he probably sits and waits for the bowl to be given to him. This demonstrates that both Classical Conditioning (associations) and Operant Conditioning (consequences) have taken place.
Many consequences are learned naturally. Our dogs learn that pulling on the leash results in them not moving further forward, or that running on slippery floors may cause them to fall or slide. They may also learn that people in baseball caps are scary, or ziploc bags mean treats. Often we may intend for something to be pleasant and it may not be or we may not realize that a consequence is unpleasant to our dogs until after we’ve accidentally trained a new behavior. Pay attention to behaviors happening more or less, that will help you address whether your dog thinks the consequence is pleasant or not. Is there a way to make sure that all experiences are possible? Nope. There will always be things that are unpleasant to our dogs. Knowing what those things are and knowing how to read your dog’s body language and understand their response to unpleasant things will help you to adjust your training. It’s important to avoid using those unpleasant things as a way to control your dog’s behavior as well as planning ahead to adjust your dog’s experience. Nail trims, medications and mild restraint are necessary for our dogs to lead healthy and comfortable lives. If you know these are unpleasant experiences for your dog, you can make adjustments and take specific care in improving these experiences for them. If you know your dog doesn’t like being reached for, you can begin teaching them a new association to being reached for or set them up for success by having them drag a leash to allow you to safely claim them without invading their space. This simple adjustment will often change their association to the action.
Real Life Learning
It’s important to understand that dogs have the cognitive level of a two to three year old human child. They’re not looking to take over your home or manipulate you to behave a certain way, they’re simply acting on their world in the ways that work for them. For example: If barking at the backdoor is followed up by opening the door to allow them outside to relieve themselves, they’re likely to repeat this behavior. Will they only perform this behavior when they have the need to relieve themselves? Probably not. Your dog will likely generalize that if they want to go outside, they should bark at the back door. They may “ask” to go outdoors for sunbathing, squirrel chasing and general curiosity. This barking behavior may initially be appreciated, as it prevents accidents indoors, but as life changes you may suddenly decide you don’t want your dog to bark at the door. Sure, you could ignore the barking or decide to shush your dog or turn them away from the door when they bark. All of these actions may stop the barking in the moment, but they don’t provide a solution. Barking served a purpose for your dog. It’s a completely natural way for our dogs to communicate a need, especially in breeds who are bred to become vocal to alert their humans to intruders or prey. If you don’t give your dog an alternative way to meet this specific need, they’re likely to remain frustrated and perform the previous skill with great intensity. This will leave you both quite frustrated. The great thing about associations is that you can always teach them new ones. Jingling a bell or pressing a button could serve the same purpose at a much quieter level. The barking may still continue for a little while, as it was a behavior that paid off consistently. Now that you have a new way to ask to go outside, interrupt barking by coaching your dog to hit the button or bell, when they attempt to or do hit the button or bell, allow them outdoors.
Generalization
Dictionary.com defines the act of generalizing to be: “to infer (a general principle, trend, etc.) from particular facts, statistics, or the like. To infer or form (a general principle, opinion, conclusion, etc.) from only a few facts, examples, or the like.” When I say that dog’s don’t tend to generalize well, I mean that they need to practice new skills and behaviors in new environments. We often think our dogs “know” something, but to be truly fluent in a behavior, they are supposed to perform that behavior when asked, in any and all situations. We can help them become fluent by practicing in new spaces.
It’s important to know that while dogs don’t generalize things well, they are fabulous at distinguishing context changes and creating associations. These skills combine to allow our dogs to learn things quickly in specific situations. A great example of their ability to differentiate situations may be their leash. When you pick up their leash at home, they likely get excited and bounce around with joy. However, at the park, when it’s time to leave, you may offer the leash and observe a completely different response. If you show your dog the leash at the park and they turn around to go the other way, they’ve likely figured out that when you show the leash it means the fun time is over. While when you show the leash at home, it means the fun is about to begin. The same human action in different environments indicates two completely different things for our dogs. Not to fret, this can be used to our advantage! When exercising my own dogs, I use their gear to indicate to them what behaviors are appropriate and up for reinforcement. When I need them to walk with me without pulling, I clip their leash on the front of their harness. If I’m allowing them more freedom to sniff and explore, I’ll change their leash to the clip on their back. This may mean they’re being placed on their long line for further ability to explore, or it may mean that they’re allowed to pull (within reason).
