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Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning
Reflexes: Involuntary responses that deal primarily with smooth muscles.

Fear: A state that is primarily controlled by reflexes.

Eliciting stimulus: Stimulus that precedes a respondent behavior. An example

of an eliciting stimulus, is a bright light that is shined into an animal's eyes. An
example of the corresponding respondent behavior is the animal's pupils
constricting.

Respondent behavior: Respondent behavior is part of an animal's inherited

biological structure (such as a reflex), and is elicited by a preceding stimulus.

Respondent Conditioning: Respondent conditioning takes place when a

stimulus that does not elicit a response (neutral stimulus) is presented at the
same time or slightly before an eliciting stimulus. Respondent conditioning has
occurred when a neutral stimuli becomes able to elicit the respondent.

Conditioned stimulus: When a previously neutral stimulus is able to elicit the

respondent behavior, the new stimulus is called a conditioned stimulus.

Operant Behavior

Operant behavior: Voluntary behavior that operates on the environment.

Operant behavior is how we teach new behaviors and how we increase the rates
at which behaviors are performed.

Contingencies of reinforcement: What happens after the behavior will

determine the strength of the operant behavior. The events that follow a
behavior and make that behavior more probable in the future are called a
reinforcer or reinforcing stimulus. Reinforcing stimuli, whether positive or
negative, always make a behavior stronger and more likely to occur again.

Discriminating stimulus: Operants are preceded by discriminative stimuli that

is said to control the operant behavior by setting the occasion for its
reinforcement. Controlling stimuli only increases or decreases the probability that
a response will occur.

The controlling stimuli never guarantee that an operant behavior will occur.
With respondent behavior, presenting the eliciting stimuli almost always gets a
response.

To make a neutral stimulus into a discriminative stimulus, only reinforce the

operant behavior when the neutral stimulus has been presented and do not
reinforce the behavior if the neutral stimuli has not been presented.

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Dog Behavior Training

Dog behavior training encompasses every aspect of canine education, from the
species specific responses that's inherent to canines, to learning theory and
operant conditioning, to traditional training methods. When these training
techniques are properly implemented, most people notice results immediately.
A well mannered pet is now within your reach, all you need to do is optimally
structure your pet's environment.

Dog behavior can often be directed and controlled by

training

Dog behavior can be thought of as responses that are specific to the species
canis familiaris. These responses are controlled and directed by manipulating
the social and the environmental variables. We call this training. Training can
increase responses that are desirable, just as those that are undesirable can be
decreased.

Your pet's problems are often a direct result of the animal's inability to cope
with the stress of everyday life. The purpose of training is to raise the pet's
stress threshold so your pet can tolerate higher levels of stress.

Canine and human behavior should not be confused with each

other.

The response patterns and intellect of a canine is very different from that of
humans, although we do share some common traits. One of these traits is the
drive to form close social groups with strong bonds to significant others. This
bonding can be thought of as a kind of love. Even though this type of bonding
is a natural trait in both canines and humans, we must avoid endearing our
pets with human emotions.

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Reinforcement
One thing that can happen after a behavior occurs is that it can be rewarded or
reinforced. Reinforcement, either positive or negative, makes a behavior
stronger or more likely to occur again. A reinforcer is always determined by its
effect on the behavior that preceded it.

Positive Reinforcement
Some reinforcements make behavior increase when they add something to the
environment. If a behavior increases when followed by the addition of something
to the environment - food, water, walks, or toys - we call this positive
reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement for dogs can take many forms. Interaction with the family
(pack) members can be very reinforcing, as can providing for the dog's other
basic needs. One type of social interaction a dog can find reinforcing is getting a
family member's attention

You can also reinforce your dog's behavior by LOOKING at the dog or by
TOUCHING or TALKING to the dog.

Some dogs find activities involving fixed action patterns, or drives the dog has
been selectively bred for, inherently reinforcing. An example is playing retrieve
for a dog with a high retrieve drive.

Negative Reinforcement
Some reinforcement makes behavior increase by removing something from the
environment. If a behavior increases when followed by the removal of something
- threatening objects, loud noises, or extreme heat - we call this negative
reinforcement.

Like positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement for a dog can take many
forms. Aggression is a behavior that is often successful at driving away or
removing a part of the environment the dog is threatened by. Moving away or
fleeing from a threat can also work at removing the threat. Moving away and
avoiding the owner is often a dog's reaction to a perceived threat. Reaching and
grabbing at a dog can be perceived by the dog as a threat.

A dog's most basic response to touch is defensive. To compound this many

times people use threatening body language while trying to touch a dog and/or
touch the dog in what a dog may perceive as a threat or challenge.

Here are some social events the dog may try to remove from its environment:
People LOOKING at the dog; TOUCHING the dog; or vocalizations (TALKING) to
the dog. Do any of these sound familiar?

An observation I've made over the years is that this type of dichotomy is quite
prevalent in the behavior of dogs. Therefore it is very important for us to be
aware of the context of our own behavior and the behavior of our dogs. In this
scenario know why you are looking at, touching, or talking to the dog.

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Dog Pack Theory

Dominance Subordination Hierarchies
One of these genetically programmed traits is the need to be part of a pack.
Nature designed dog packs to operate most efficiently with a dominance
subordination hierarchy. A clearly defined leader/follower hierarchy or
relationship allows for a more efficient pack or group effort. This behavior
pattern had a great deal of survival value for wild dogs and it is one of the things
that has made the dog so valuable to humans.

This brings us to the first important element in social reinforcement training;

establishing the proper leadership role in relation to the dog. As a working model
for this type of training, we will work with the hypothesis that the dog views the
people in the family as they would view members of a dog pack.

In general a dog will feel more secure if there is a well defined leader/follower
hierarchy in the family pack. To avoid dog behavior problems, people in the
family should be the leaders and the dog(s) should be the followers. In a
dominance subordination hierarchy there will be high ranking members, middle
ranking and low ranking members. The dog must perceive a large ranking gap
between the people in the family pack and the dog. Otherwise there can be
middle ranking conflict between the higher and lower ranking members

Social reinforcement training involves using the

social relationship to control the dog's
behavior.
In order to control the dog's behavior with the social bond, one must establish
the proper relationship for reinforcement. The term social reinforcement training
always brings to mind praise and other overt types of reinforcing social
interactions ( touching, talking, or looking in an encouraging way) However,
social reinforcement training goes far beyond rewarding the dog's good
behavior.

Social reinforcement training involves making the dog feel more secure by being
definite and committed, confident, fair, firm, and consistent.

Social reinforcement training is about establishing a balanced

relationship with the dog, not an equal relationship. A balanced
relationship involves both a well defined dominance subordination
hierarchy, as well as the dog's Total Trust. Since we are the ones with
the capacity for high levels of abstract thought, it is our job to learn to

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the capacity for high levels of abstract thought, it is our job to learn to
control our own behavior and to learn to understand our dogs.

To be in harmony with the dog we must blend in with the dog's genetically
programmed behavior. We can call these behaviors fixed action patterns or
species specific behaviors.

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Using dog behavior along with communication is how you

let your dog know that you're a high ranking family pack
member

Use the dog's preprogrammed behavior to tell the dog of your pack status in a
way that the dog was genetically created to understand. One way not to convey
this message is with a constant barrage of verbal chatter.

Dog communication and Verbal Behavior

Many people feel their dogs can understand English (language) and that they
can explain to the dog like it was a young child. I would disagree and encourage
people not to use the explain and coax model of pedagogy with their pets.

It is accepted that dogs do not posses the ability of abstract thought that is
necessary to understand language.

While studying Chinese I think I may have gotten a glimpse of how a dog might
interpret words. In the beginning if I really listened to a conversation, I could
understand a very few words. As I became more conditioned, I could pick out
more words and understand some even if I was not paying attention. However,
I did not really know what was being said. I only knew what some of the sounds
represented or stood for. I only knew sounds that I was conditioned (trained) to
respond to. I did not know the context of how the words where used.
Professional Dog Training Secret: Ignore your dog most of the time and give attention (social reinforcement) to your pet when
it's doing what you want.

The first step to good communication with your dog is: don't talk too much.
Your canine friends do not spend hours in long verbal conversations with each
other.

Tone inflection can influence how a dog responds to its owners. It may appear
to us that our pets do not have many different verbal patterns (howling,
whining, barking, growling, snorting, crying). However, when we closely listen
to many different canine vocalizations, we discover a wide variety of meanings
communicated verbally. These meanings are usually indicated by intensity,
duration, tempo, and notably, tone inflection.

When communicating with our pets we should use the tone inflection that is
appropriate to the message we are trying to convey to the pet.

Avoid excessive verbalization with your dog, otherwise your best friend may
think that its humans have a whining problem, or maybe it's a growling problem,
and in trying to adapt to their human's problems, your pet may develop some
problems of its own. To ignore the dog is better than excessive verbalization.

Dog communication and Body Language

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Dogs are almost always communicating with each other and with their humans.
The majority of this communication is through body language. Our problem is
that we only understand some of the vocabulary.

If you pay close attention to your pet, you will begin to understand more of what
it is trying to tell you.

This is particularly evident when you and your dog are stressing each other
socially. When you train your pooch, you are teaching the pet how to respond to
social stress in an acceptable manner.

It's dog training that gives most people an opportunity to begin the process of
decoding canine body language.

Once you understand your canine companions body language you can start to
communicate with your best friend in a language they can understand.

We can supplement the dog's natural language with conditioning (training), that
includes verbal and body cues.

A big part of understanding and communicating with your dog is understanding

where your pet is physically in relation to other living things. Be aware of your
pet's spatial relationship to significant environmental points of reference.

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