Dog Psychology

This is an in-depth look into how dogs learn and the science behind it.

Overview

  • Dogs are dogs, not humans. They learn differently than humans and therefore you need to learn to adapt to communicate clearly on their level. Dogs don’t have cognitive reasoning but they are very good at pattern recognition and reading body language. Therefore we need to show them what it means to live in a human world through consistent calm training that repeats the same patterns over and over. 

  • It also helps if you learn how to read their body language and react accordingly. If you’re petting your dog and they start to show signs they are uncomfortable and you stop petting them, this helps the dog realize that you understand them and are being respectful of their emotional state. This will further your bond and help your dog gain confidence in you. They’ll know they just need to give subtle cues to communicate with you rather than bigger signals like barking, lunging, biting.

  • The sections below cover the Three Primary Principals, Classical Conditioning, Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning and the Four Phases of Learning.

In-Depth look at Classical and Operant Conditioning, ABC’s, and Motivation.

Less In-Depth Look Into How Dog’s Learn

Three Primary Principles

Principle 1: Timing

  • It’s been proven that you have approximately 1 second to influence a dog's behavior. You have 1 second to reward your dog for a behavior you like and 1 second to correct your dog for a behavior you don’t like. 

  • If you don’t deliver the reward or correction within one second of the behavior, your dog will not connect the dots and will think they are being rewarded or corrected for whatever they are doing at the moment they do receive the reward/correction.

  • It’s important that as soon as the dog makes a movement or a behavior you want to capture that you either mark that moment or get them the primary reinforcer (treat) within a second.

  • Giving timely feedback to your dog is crucial for them to start piecing together what exactly it is that is getting them so many praises and rewards. If your dog is barking and then stops you need to immediately let them know what a good dog they are. Being silent is not feedback!

Principle 2: Motivation

  • Dogs do what’s rewarding. Dogs can be motivated to access something they like, they can be motivated to prevent something unpleasant, or the behavior itself is fun (jumping, barking).

  • You have 4 ways to motivate a dog: food, toys, praise, pressure. If you are trying to get a dog to sit surrounded by squirrels and other dogs they are most likely going to be more motivated to chase after those things. Your food or other options to motivate need to be higher than the squirrels. 

  • Some dogs have higher or lower levels of perseverance, meaning a dog may give up easily when you're trying to teach them a command. You need to adjust for these dogs and reward them sooner. If you are teaching a spin perhaps you need to reward when they make a quarter turn instead of trying to get them to make the full turn before they get the reward. This is a process called ‘shaping’.

Principle 3: Consistency 

  • This is a crucial principle as dogs learn through predictability and pattern recognition. Even if your timing and motivation are lacking, if you are consistent the dog can still catch on. 

  • You must always be consistent with what you want and expect from the dog. If you let them up on the bed one day, don’t correct them for jumping on the bed the next day. You also want your commands and markers to stay consistent. Saying them in the same tone every time, no rising and falling inflections or emotional outbursts. 

  • If you give a command you must enforce it, everything you do with your dog should be a series of patterns, if you don’t enforce every time or allow bad behaviors some times then you are not being consistent.


 

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning is happening ALL OF THE TIME whether you want it to or not. Pay attention to what your dog is learning.

Overview

  • Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian Conditioning) is a form of associative learning.

  • Ivan Pavlov was the first to show how it works in 1927 using experiments with dogs. Each time before he fed the dogs, he rang a bell. The dogs then learned that when the bell rang they would be fed. So they started to salivate when they heard the bell ring, even before they saw or smelled the food. The bell reliably predicted the appearance of food.

  • When Classical Conditioning occurs, there are two stimuli present—one which has no meaning (yet) called a Neutral Stimulus, and there is another which has some meaning to the subject called the Unconditioned Stimulus. If the two stimuli are often presented together, the organism learns that they belong together. Then, the Neutral Stimulus transforms into a Conditioned Stimulus. As a result, it is enough to show the Conditioned Stimulus to get a response.

  • In Pavlov's example, the bell was a neutral stimulus until he paired it with the food, whereupon it became a conditioned stimulus, and the doggies drooled when he rang the bell because their brains said, “FOOOOOD!"

RULE #1: Always work below threshold.

Threshold is that invisible limit where your dog becomes overwhelmed. The stimuli input is too intense for them to have any productive training done, and stress is accumulating. Your dog’s threshold will get smaller and softer as you work with them, but always just bounce against it without crossing it.

You’ll use a LOT of Food

You’ll possibly use 300-400 treats (or "good dogs”) in a given day working on this. That’s how Classical Conditioning works. This is not the same as “training” where we work on Sits and Stays and then phase treats out. We work until the job is done without restraint.

Understand Internal vs. External

Most of the training you’re probably familiar with focuses on external, mechanical, and observable actions. These are things like Sit, Down, Stay, Come, etc. The psychological method we use for this is called Operant Conditioning. The primary system of the body that is affected is the Central Nervous System.

In contrast, when we use Classical Conditioning, we are working with internal motivations. These are things we can’t observe directly, but we can see the results of these emotional states. The primary system of the body affected is the Limbic System.

In short, understand that:

  • You cannot treat internal problems as obedience problems. IT WILL NOT WORK. At best you’ll suppress the external manifestation of the emotions, but you won’t fix it. It’s just treating symptoms.

  • You cannot reinforce or punish emotions. Reinforcement and punishment affects the Central Nervous System, and emotions come from the Limbic System. They’re not in the same neighborhood.

That said, you can never train a dog without classically conditioning and operantly conditioning at the same time. If you're trying to teach a dog to Sit, or Come, or Heel this is done through Operant Conditioning. But, you're also always classically conditioning, too. We interview the dog after training and say “How was it?” They say, “Awesome! I got so many presents and compliments, it was great!” “How do you feel about your owner?” “Love her. LOVE HER.”

And the opposite can be true, too. You ask a different dog about training and they might say something like, ”I didn't like it. All they did was shout at me and jerk me around."

This is the classical fallout from training. Both cases may get good obedience, but the emotional states will have long term effects, for good or bad.

Most of the information in this section was graciously provided by Simpawtico Dog Training with their permission.

Visit their site at https://www.simpawtico-training.com/

The Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is learning by an association with what happens after the behavior. The ABC’s of Behavior Modification are using this method.

See the How Dogs Learn video.

Understanding the Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning can be confusing but it is helpful to understand it as it’s how dogs learn. The short explanation of behavioral consequences is: Behavior is a function of its consequences. What is reinforced will occur more often and what is punished will occur less often.

It boils down to showing a dog that their behavior has an effect on the environment. Cause and effect. The 4 Quadrants are: 

  • Positive Reinforcement

  • Negative Reinforcement

  • Positive Punishment

  • Negative Punishment

First, it’s important to note what Positive, Negative, Reinforcement and Punishment mean. 

  • Positive - This does not mean “Good” in this context. It simply means “Adding” something to the equation to influence behavior. 

  • Negative - This does not mean “Bad” in this context. It simply means “Removing” something from the equation to influence behavior. 

  • Reinforcement - To encourage a behavior to be repeated. 

  • Punishment - To discourage a behavior from being repeated. 

Positive Reinforcement

  • This is the most used quadrant for training. You “Add” something to the equation to “Encourage” the behavior to be repeated. Typically you start with food/treats but it can also be praise, pets, toys, activities, etc.

  • Your dog sits so you give them a treat or toy, they are more likely to repeat this behavior. The behavior is reinforced by the added reward.

  • HUMAN EXAMPLE: Your child does the dishes so you give them a cookie, money, or more iPad screen time.

Negative Reinforcement

  • This usually uses some form of pressure (leash, spatial, verbal) that is “Removed” when the dog does the desired behavior. Once the pressure is turned on it cannot be removed until your dog does the desired behavior. The second they comply, the pressure must be turned off (removed). 

  • You ask your dog to sit but they do not comply. You apply pressure to their rear end with your hand. Once they sit you remove your hand/pressure. Their behavior of sitting removed the pressure from the hand. Now the dog learns that to remove the pressure they just need to sit.

  • The pressure applied is not aversive but mildly annoying.

  • HUMAN EXAMPLE: Negative Reinforcement is used to have people wear their seatbelts, if you don’t put it on, an annoying dinging sounds activates and doesn’t go away until you put the seatbelt on.

Positive Punishment

  • This is where you “Add” something the dog doesn’t like to discourage a behavior from being repeated. Similar to negative reinforcement it is typically leash, spatial or verbal pressure but it is more aversive and only applied for a fraction of a second.

  • If you dog chases squirrels then that behavior is typically internally reinforcing, you can add a positive punishment like a leash pop to punish that behavior. You will need to show them what behavior you want by using reinforcement, otherwise they will go back to chasing as they don’t know what else to do.

  • HUMAN EXAMPLE: Positive punishment is used to have people wear seatbelts, if you aren’t wearing it you may get pulled over and be given a ticket.

Negative Punishment

  • This is where something the dog likes is “Removed” to discourage a behavior. This is a very commonly used style that you may not even realize you are using. 

  • You are petting your dog (something they like) and they decide to jump on you. To discourage this behavior you stop petting them. 

  • You ask your dog to sit and they either don’t sit or they offer a different behavior like down. They don’t receive the treat. 

  • You open the crate door and they start to come out before being released so you close the door. You removed the reward of being out and near you to punish (discourage) the running out of the crate without permission.

  • HUMAN EXAMPLE: You have received too many tickets for driving without your seatbelt, you have now lost your license and can no longer drive.

Classical conditioning forms an association between two stimuli.

Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence.

Phases of Learning

There are four phases of learning. Each phase should progress slowly. You should refrain from moving to the next phase until the dog fully understands what is expected of them. 

Phase One – Acquisition (Learning and Luring) 

  • This stage is where the dog learns a behavior for the first time. At this point, we teach the dog by luring him with treats.

  • Luring will prevent the dog from being confused.

  • Repetition will teach the dog to connect the verbal command to the action.

Phase Two – Automatic (Motivation) 

  • In the second stage, the dog provides a behavior when instructed and no longer requires a hand signal. Instead, the handler holds off giving the treat until after the dog responds to command.

Phase Three – Generalization (Distractions) 

  • At this point, your dog should learn to follow commands regardless of who gives the command or where the commands are given. Dogs are unable to generalize. So you need to make sure that enough time is spent teaching the dog to generalize behaviors in different situations.

Phase Four – Maintenance 

  • When your dog follows commands most of the time, regardless of the distraction and location, he is considered trained in that command.

  • Training is a lifelong commitment to your dog. There will be times throughout your dog’s life that he may have to go back to training basics.

 
 

The more invested in working with the dog, the easier it will be for the dog to respond regardless of the conditions presented. Use high-quality treats, bring a positive attitude and if the dog struggles, return to the last location the dog succeeded and practice the skill a few more times before moving forward.

 

Tips for Phase 3 Generalization

FIRST: Practice a new command/behavior at home, with little distraction, until your dog fully understands the command and responds in that space appropriately. 

SECOND: Generalize the behavior by practicing: 

1. In other rooms in the house
2. On different surfaces (rugs, tile, wood)
3. Different times of day
4. With different family members and friends commanding the dog
5. During different weather conditions
6. While wearing a harness (without a harness too), while wearing a leash, holding the leash and while it drags on the floor
7. With the radio, TV or computer playing in the background
8. On the deck or patio in your backyard
9. On the driveway and sidewalk in your front yard
10. On the grass
11. On a walk
12. Waiting for the school bus
13. While your neighbor cuts the lawn
14. Around other dogs, people, squirrels and rabbits
15. Around children playing
16. Inside and outside of a store
17. Different distances from your dog and in different positions (sitting, standing, kneeling)
18. Inside and outside stores
19. Around groups of people
20. In a heavy traffic areas