Can a Dog open a door?

Axel Schreyer
Kevin Leslie
Psychology 12

Question
This experiment is investigating if a dog is easily trainable and will be attempting to teach a dog
to open a door.

Background
Our background knowledge on this topic was quite limited as neither of us have any prior
experience or training. We have only ever attempted to train a dog to sit or shake a paw, we
have never tried a trick like this. We have both grown up with dogs around us and have gained
observational knowledge on how to perform this training.

Hypothesis
We think the results of this experiment will be the dog learning to open the door successfully.

Materials
We will need dog treats.

Method
This experiment was started by bringing the dog into the entryway close to the door. We first
tied a cloth around the door handle which would be the target for the dog. We then began verbal
encouragement to attempt to get the dog to grab the cloth. Then we added treats and placed
them on the cloth. Again we verbally encouraged the dog to grab the treats. We then left only
the cloth on the door handle and continued to encourage the dog to jump up. If the dog did so
we rewarded him with a treat and affection. We then also removed the cloth from the door
handle and repeatedly encouraged the dog to open the door, again if he did so he was
rewarded with more treats and affection.

Results
The results of the experiment were as expected with the dog successfully opening the door. Our
first training technique involved only a cloth tied to a door handle and the dog being verbally
encouraged to open the door. This was not enough to get the dog to jump up on the handle and
after Many tries we decided treats would be best. So we placed treats onto the handle and once
again encouraged the dog to grab them. This took several tries to get the dog's attention and let
him figure out what we wanted. Eventually the dog jumped up and ate the treats causing him to
open the door. This was our first successful attempt. After repeating this step a few times to let
the dog obtain a better understanding we left only the cloth on the handle. With verbal
encouragement the dog once again successfully opened the door this time without treats. Our
last step was to remove the cloth so only the handle as the target. This proved more difficult as
the dog now had no motivation other than our verbal encouragement, but after several attempts
the dog still jumped up and opened the door.

Analysis
Our theory as to why we got our results was because of consistent training sessions, our
effective training technique, and the dogs strong ability to learn quickly.

Conclusion
Our hypothesis was correct as the dog successfully learned to open the door.

Sources of error
Some things we may have done wrong that affected the experiment were using inconsistent
verbal encouragement or treats that may have altered the training. We could alter the
experiment in the future by having all treats, techniques, and encouragements consistent.

Questions for further investigation

1. The difference between stimulant and antidepressant drugs?

2. Does the cold affect motivation in humans?
3. Can Ketamine treat depression?
4. Can LSD have positive effects on your brain?
5. Does the knowledge of performing a formal experiment or test influence the participants
results?