Dog Classical Conditioning-what Every Dog Owner Should Know
- Date: 2010-06-15 - Word Count: 318
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So, you want to help your best friend to become good citizen and wondering where to start. Well, it would make a lot of sense to start at the beginning and find out how your dog learns. In this article we will highlight some of the most important but often overlooked facts about dog classical conditioning.
What is dog classical conditioning anyway?
Simply put dog classical conditioning is nothing else but establishing an association between two stimuli. Probably the best known example of this is Pavlov experiment. In this experiment Pavlov has established the association between the sound of the metronome and the food. As the result the dog started to salivate at the sound of the metronome. This was dog's automatic response. For dog the sound of metronome meant only one thing and it is food.
What have we learned from Pavlov experiment?
Based on the above example it is clear that we should use classical conditioning to train automatic response. Great example for this would be teaching our dog to sit. It would be mistake to say our dog to sit while he is standing. Instead we should par the word "sit" with the action of sitting.
In order words we should say the word "sit" at the moment when our dog is sitting. We could use food treat to lure our dog into sit position by holding it slightly above dog's nose and move backwards. Our dog will follow by his head and will almost instantly get into sit position. Just before he reaches the ground say "sit".
Building positive association should be our favorite training tool. This could help us correct many unwanted behaviors. Let's say if your dog is afraid of your buddy than we could pair the food with our buddy. Or we could stop dog barking by feeding him just before he starts barking. So, the secrets is to build positive associations and avoid negative ones.
What is dog classical conditioning anyway?
Simply put dog classical conditioning is nothing else but establishing an association between two stimuli. Probably the best known example of this is Pavlov experiment. In this experiment Pavlov has established the association between the sound of the metronome and the food. As the result the dog started to salivate at the sound of the metronome. This was dog's automatic response. For dog the sound of metronome meant only one thing and it is food.
What have we learned from Pavlov experiment?
Based on the above example it is clear that we should use classical conditioning to train automatic response. Great example for this would be teaching our dog to sit. It would be mistake to say our dog to sit while he is standing. Instead we should par the word "sit" with the action of sitting.
In order words we should say the word "sit" at the moment when our dog is sitting. We could use food treat to lure our dog into sit position by holding it slightly above dog's nose and move backwards. Our dog will follow by his head and will almost instantly get into sit position. Just before he reaches the ground say "sit".
Building positive association should be our favorite training tool. This could help us correct many unwanted behaviors. Let's say if your dog is afraid of your buddy than we could pair the food with our buddy. Or we could stop dog barking by feeding him just before he starts barking. So, the secrets is to build positive associations and avoid negative ones.
Related Tags: positive dog training, dog clasical condititioining
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