SEEING A SQUIRREL
Here is an example of the Memory flow chart.
A young dog is being taken on its usual walk in a local park. It is sniffing the ground "reading the newspaper" (which in itself is a series of
Events that the dog is also assessing) when suddenly -
A squirrel runs across the ground and climbs up a nearby tree. The dog has never seen a squirrel before.
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SIGHT - Dogs have difficulty seeing stationary objects but the squirrel's sudden movement triggers the movement sensors in the dog's eyes. |
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OR |
SOUND - The dog hears the rustling of the autumn leaves as the squirrel runs through them. |
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OR |
SOUND - The dog hears the high pitched chirp of an alarm call - either from the squirrel itself, or from another keeping watch nearby. |
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OR |
SMELL - If the wind is blowing in the right direction (from the squirrel towards the dog) the dog will detect the squirrel's
scent and investigate. |
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OR |
SMELL - The dog detects the squirrel's track while "reading the newspaper" on its walk through the park. |
BRAIN ASSESSES EVENT
Because this is the first time the young dog has come across the existence of a
squirrel so there are no environmental photos stored in its memory to trigger a behaviour. Therefore, the dog's brain has to assess whether the event is rewarding, threatening or
irrelevant.
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WILL HELP THE
DOG'S SURVIVAL It is bored with the handler and the environment that it lives and walks in. The dog's brain is crying out for excitement and stimulation. Therefore it eagerly draws on its natural hunting instincts to fill this void in its life and runs after the squirrel. |
EVERYDAY
OCCURRENCE Because its handler regularly provides mental and physical stimulation to fulfill its working instincts (eg Dog Games or Mind Games) the dog regards the squirrels as inconsequential. |
THREATENING
DOG'S SAFETY The handler is anxious about the dog running off and getting lost. He shouts frantically at the dog to come away from the squirrel (which confuses and stresses the dog as it picks up the handler's anxiety). The dog's brain assess the event as being threatening. |
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VERY
REWARDING It almost catches the squirrel before it escapes up the tree. The dog found the thrill of the chase far more exciting than walking with its boring and predictable handler! |
PLEASANT
It begins to chase after the squirrel but soon realises that it has no chance of catching it - the squirrel was far faster than the dog and would never have been caught . |
NOT
IMPORTANT |
UNPLEASANT
It feels confused and anxious about what has just happened. Why did the handler shout at it? What did it do wrong? |
VERY
UNPLEASANT It runs after the squirrel and gets lost. It panics at losing its "pack" and runs off in the wrong direction. It may meet other dogs that sense it's anxiety and become aggressive towards it. |
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SHORT-TERM
MEMORY |
SHORT-TERM
MEMORY |
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REINFORCED
It sees and chases another squirrel within a few days of this first encounter. It almost manages to catch it this time. It begins to enjoy the great rush of adrenalin chasing the prey. |
REINFORCED
Each time the dog senses a squirrel the handler becomes anxious and passes on their stress to the dog. It begins to anxiously anticipate the handler's displeasure when it sees squirrels. |
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"GOOD"
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Either FORGOTTEN
or it becomes a |
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THE EVENT HAPPENS AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
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THE DOG'S BRAIN MATCHES THE SENSES IT DETECTS IN THE
ENVIRONMENT WITH THAT OF THE "SQUIRREL PHOTO" IN ITS LONG-TERM MEMORY |
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TRIGGERS
DOG TO RUN AFTER SQUIRREL |
TRIGGERS
DOG TO IGNORE SQUIRREL |
TRIGGERS
DOG TO BECOME STRESSED |
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The randomness of whether
the dog can actually catch the squirrel is a very strong incentive for the dog. It begins to actively seek out other squirrels and small animals to chase after each time it goes our for a walk, irrespective of whether it is on the lead or not. |
This is because the
environmental photo stored in it's long-term memory tells the dog that they are uninteresting and are not worth wasting energy on by trying to chase them. |
The dog has built up strong
negative associations with squirrels and the environment where they may live. It will gradually begin to generalise that walking near the handler is stressful - it does not know when the handler will become anxious and raise their voice. |
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© 2004 Copyright of Sally Hopkins - www.dog-games.co.uk
As you can see from the flow chart, whatever sights, sounds or smells that the dog used to detect the squirrel will be stored as an environmental photo in the young dog's long-term memory. If the dog ever senses this "photo" again in the same or similar environment it's brain will trigger it to do the same behaviour again.
This web site has been written by Sally Hopkins (unless the author of the web page is stated otherwise).
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