HOW DOGS LEARN
RIGHT FROM WRONG
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It is important to be able to communicate with your dog so that it understands when it has done something right, and when it does something wrong. This gives the dog the freedom to choose the most rewarding behaviour by itself and these thought processes will lie far deeper in the dog's mind than coercive training methods. If at any stage of the dog's training the dog does not do the exercise correctly, do not be disheartened. You should welcome any mistakes when training a dog, as they give you an ideal opportunity to teach it right from wrong. How does a dog learn when it has done something right and when it does it wrong? The answer lies in how the handler behaves in the two situations. |
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RIGHT
When the dog does something correctly, the handler acts in a very
positive way by being happy, showing their real pleasure, not
talking in their normal everyday voice but in a higher pitch with
genuine excitement in their voice, and immediately giving
the dog a high value reward/motivator.
WRONG
On the other hand when the dog does go wrong, the handler
contrasts their response by showing no emotion either on their face
or in their body language; withholding the motivator and putting it
away somewhere on their person (such as a pocket or a bumbag) so
that the dog can see it will not be given it; and turning and
walking away calmly and quietly. The dog will immediately realise
that the handler's response was different from before and begin to
process in its mind what it did differently to earn this negative
response. The dog is able to concentrate because it is not being
distracted by the emotion in the voice of the handler, or any words
or gestures he may have used.
In this situation, it is very common for dogs show classic calming signals and display distraction behaviour by sniffing the ground, marking the boundaries or equipment by urinating, or running to another part of the training area. This is quite normal behaviour and gives the dog the opportunity to assess what has just occurred.
If you wait a short while you will see the dog become more aware of its surroundings and seem ready to have another go at the exercise.
You will probably find that the dog will try a different response next time as it experiments on what you want it to do.
YES!
As soon as it does the exercise correctly it sees the positive
change in the handler's voice, actions and emotions and will link
the behaviour it has just done with these strong and obvious
responses. It will then actively seek to repeat the exercise in
order to get another positive reward and response.
The dog has understood what is expected of it, and what is not.
| WARNING - Some dogs can become very disheartened and give up trying if they go "wrong" too often. Therefore, it is very important that you lower the expectations of the training session by making it easier for the dog to do the exercise correctly after its first "wrong" attempt - building up the dog's confidence and knowledge with very small steps in the training program rather than rushing too quickly by introducing distance, further obstacles etc. |
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