What Does My Dog Really Know?

So often, I hear dog owners say that their dogs know a particular behavior but the dog still didn't respond to the owners' cue. Owners often want to "correct" a dog in that situation, but as a trainer, I always ask myself, "Does the dog really know this cue, or am I guilty of having failed to train and proof it properly, and in all contexts?"  In other words, did I create a situation where the dog understands the cue I'm giving, and understands the cue whether he's in the living room or at the local pet supply store, or did I make some error that has confused the dog?

Dogs learn the same way all mammals learn, but they sometimes make associations a bit differently than we humans do.  For example, one of the most common house training mistakes is to startle or scold a puppy for having an accident on the floor.  The owner's hope is that the pup will realize that the floor is not his toilet.  Yet, so many puppies make an alternative assumption.  They simply get frightened by the "eh, eh" or whatever other reaction has come from the owner, thus the pup assumes that it's bad to urinate (or defecate) in front of the human.  That's when I usually get a call from the frustrated owner saying that the puppy is sneaky or spiteful, because he takes puppy outside, puppy does nothing, then comes in to the house and soils in a hidden spot.

Even worse, some pups learn to consume their own feces, having made the erroneous assumption that the fuss over the accident was because the owner wanted the "snack" for himself.  That alone should make most people stop scolding their pups for errors and do more potty walks, simply rewarding the pup for right responses and making sure the pup is always watched, or crated when he can't be watched.

Learning to come when called is a lifesaving skill, yet many people try to teach it outdoors in a stimulating environment, off leash, and with an insufficient means or rate of reinforcement for each successful response.  If the dog is off leash, it's pretty hard to react with anything but impotence if he doesn't come. Plus, each time he doesn't come, he's learning that he doesn't have to! 

If all the dog gets is "Good boy" when he arrives at your feet, you will soon take a back seat to that rotting seagull carcass, or playful Labrador retriever, on the beach! He's not learning that you are happy with him, he's learning that you aren't as interesting as a dead seagull (it's not personal, dogs just love things that stink.)

When I teach "Come!" my dogs never know what the next little party with me will entail, but they know that getting to me is the best thing since sliced bread.  Sometimes, it is just "Good boy" or "Good girl" - but most times it's Frisbee, tennis balls, Swedish meatballs, salmon brownies, a bully stick, or a trip to the cookie jar together - whatever the particular dog that I am training likes as a reinforcement.  The dog never knows when the super special thing will happen, so they come every time just in case.  Eventually, the dog comes because coming has been conditioned as an automatic response - somewhat the same way that Pavlov's dogs salivated when they heard the bell.  Learning to train that way is a scientifically sound, mechanical skill, never involves any pain or unpleasantness for the dog, and anyone can learn it!  So, if your dog isn't coming, you might just need some advice from a pro on how to ensure that he does, but more importantly to ensure that you are being fair to the dog in terms of what he has really learned, Some pups fool us.  When little, they come all the time when we call.  Suddenly, owners find that when the pup becomes an adolescent, he is "blowing them off."  But is that what really happened?  Maybe it's simply a case of the owner having mistaken the normal puppy "follow reflex" for the trained behavior of "Come!"  

Many times, we think that a dog has learned to obey a verbal cue, when really they have been watching and responding to our body language - after all, English is not their first language, body language is. 

Here's a little test for you.  Ask your dog to lie down using your hand signal and your usual verbal cue.  He should lie down.

Next, ask the dog to lie down using just the verbal cue and no hand signal. Did he lie down?  If so, he knows the verbal cue.  If not, and he just sat there looking at you, he has no clue what your verbal cue means.

Next, ask the dog to lie down but don't use the word "lie down" - use another word instead, such as "submarine" but DO use your hand signal, too. Did he lie down?  In this case, he knows the hand signal, but doesn't care what comes out of your mouth.

It's amazing to see how many dogs pick up very quickly on the hand signals from their owners, yet the owners think the dog is responding to their voice.  Then, at some point, the owner uses only the voice, the dog doesn't respond, and the owner is frustrated thinking that his dog has disobeyed.  How sad for dogs that get "corrected" when that happens, since they have absolutely no idea why they are being punished.

Maybe you can see by now why some trainers are adopting a different form of training.  That way, we can track what they really know, teach what they don't, and not make the cardinal error of punishing a dog for what they really have not yet learned.  The Progressive Reinforcement Manifesto sums up this form of training very nicely.

What does your dog really know?

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