Training
Pavlov's Dog Game
To Play Pavlov's Dog Game
Classical conditioning (sometimes also known as Pavlov conditioning, respondent conditioning or Pavlovian reinforcement) is an behaviorist learning theory introduced in the first decade of the 20th century by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.
Classical conditioning is based on the famous Pavlov's dogs experiment. He first performed a minor operation on the dog enabling easier measuring of salivation. The dog was then trained by ringing a big bell every time after it was served food. Soon, the dog associated the sound of the bell with food, that caused the reflex of salivating. In this experiment, Pavlov, with means of reinforcement, thought his dog to respond to the sound of the bell (conditioned stimulus, CS) by salivating (in this case both conditioned and unconditioned response, CS, UCS), which is the same way they would respond to food (unconditioned stimulus, US). For more CLICK.
The Kingdom of Dogs
Every student of psychology learns about what is now referred to as ‘classical conditioning’, and Ivan Pavlov remains one of the most cited psychologists of all time to this day. The term a ‘Pavlovian response’ has even entered our everyday language, to refer to the prevalence of this type of learning in everyday life. Yet until recently I knew very little about Pavlov, less still about his dogs. I had never thought to question the familiar, iconic image of Pavlov.
Then a couple of years ago I began to research, write and subsequently teach on the topic of human-animal relations. As a critical psychologist with an interdisciplinary bent, I came to the subject via theoretical developments in the humanities and social sciences, where animal life is increasingly in the spotlight, and growing attention paid to the lives of other species as they are entangled in our own (human) personal, social and cultural lives. This shift is sometimes referred to as the ‘animal turn’, and you can see its impact too in the emergence of interdisciplinary fields such as Human-Animal Studies and posthumanism, and in the important work of environmental philosophers like Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret.
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What is training?
Faith in the command and patience to act upon it. Faith and patience needs to be taught through training. It is difficult to make a dog listen to a command and perform a desired task because the dog doesn't know what you want it to do.
The first and the most important training is toilet training. In an urban setup it is of paramount importance as your living space is limited and the outdoors is limited to pavements and a park. This is dealt with with some elaboration in my book. Click here to know more.
Other important things to train are
Sit on command
Stay on command
Come on command
Eat on command
Lie on command
The training should be based on
(a) positive reinforcement and
(b) rigorous practice.
Positive reinforcement coupled with repetition of the task proves to the dog that the task is rewarding. Your dog is programmed to please you, follow you and be beside you. Now, you have to harness that by becoming a pack leader. Food is a great motivator. But in your zeal to train new tricks, don't overfeed your dog. The trainer must have enough patience. Do the same thing daily and then at the end of 15 days, your dog knows what the pack leader in you wants it to do.
Do one thing at a time. You may know your language, but your dog doesn't know your language. Therefore, don't expect magical results overnight. The dog is trying hard to please you, but still, if it displeases you then the failure lies with you and not the dog for you failed to communicate to the dog what you expect it to do. Remember the dog is programmed to please and follow you. Now, the big question is are programmed to lead it? Expectations are tricky things. We expect certain behaviour from others, and then expect others to realise that on their own, without any supportive verbal nudge or communicative encouragement from us. Neither people nor dogs are mind readers. Show the dog what you want. Show it again and again not in the space of one hour but may be in the space of a month, not sporadically or whimsically, but methodically, without torturing and without mortally exhausting the dog.
Graded learning is extremely important. It also depends on the age of the dog and the complexity of the task. A puppy won't be able to follow your command. Other than toilet training, all other trainings can wait till your dog is about one year old. You may continue reinforcement but don't expect any result till your dog is mature enough to understand the connection between your command and the resultant positive reinforcement. And then, like humans, dogs are also diverse beings with great differences in intelligence, insight and personality. Intelligent dogs learn fast. Less motivated dogs may never grasp your command.
Don't be a Pavlov and torture your dog in the name of getting a desired result. Whether trained or not trained, it will wag its tail to welcome you home, it will want to play fetch with you, it will lick you. Those are the things that really count. The only training that you can't compromise with is the toilet training unless you own a farmhouse or intend to keep the dog in a kennel. You won't want your dog to urinate on your bed in your absence. In fact toilet training is the easiest provided you start early and start right. Lack of toilet training may make your loveable pet a real burden which will add to your stress instead of making you relax. So, if you intend to enjoy the company of your pet then focus on that.
The fundamentals of training a dog are the following
Repetition
Doing the same thing again and again each day without breaking the regularity of the experience.
Gamification
The trainee dog mustn't think of the task as a task/ chore but as a game with a reward waiting for it at the end of the experience.
One thing at a time
Simple steps are easy to understand and replicate; and therefore one simple task at a time will do good to keep the focus till the task is mastered.
Age Appropriate Expectations
Emotional, physical and mental maturity should be able to relate the task to the reward and the possibility of the repetition of the reward upon success.
Personality/ Need Appropriate Motivation
Some need a tasty titbit and some need a pat on the back, some may need both and more than that; thus identification of needs will make motivation relevant.
For training I find the videos of Zak George very helpful and relevant. Here is the LINK.
There are trainers who will teach your dog basic training. But they don't come cheap. They charge about Rs 8000 for basic training. It is not an exact amount fixed for all but it is more or less about that much. Since I am a teacher by profession, therefore, I don't find training a dog that difficult. The theories of learning and knowledge about a bit of child psychology, helped me in the endeavour for it is more or less the same. Motivation helps in learning. Once we can make the learning environment motivating, we can easily train a dog.
My Wife, The Better Trainer
My wife has less experience but she is a better trainer because her voice modulation is better than mine. Voice modulation plays a very important role in training. A dog is able to discern slight variations in tone because the dog has a great sense of hearing. Whenever there's an argument between me and my wife, my dog cowers and hides in a particular corner. Later I notice that even if I raise my voice while speaking about something in an agitated way, my dog goes into hiding in that corner. My dog hates it when we fight with each other. In a way it serves as an alarm for our raised voice. As our voices cross a particular decibel, my dog goes into hiding. It doesn't want us to fight and it shows fear whenever we fight with and shout at each other. So, voice plays an extremely important role in controlling a dog. Moreover, commands must be clear and crisp. It should be a word which is repeated again and again. Repetition makes the dog associate that word with the task. A dog has a limited vocabulary. In order not to confuse the dog, each word should be clearly different as the tasks are. Distinct sounds are easier for the dog to follow. Your dog won't understand your philosophy and poetry but your dog will understand your intonation, your voice modulation, your pitch and your bass. So, use distinct sounds with supportive facial gestures and body movement. My wife is a master of that and therefore, she is able to teach the dog new tricks faster than me.
My Dog's Vocabulary
My dog has picked up a few Bengali words during it's 2 years of stay with me. The words are
Jabo (I am going outside.)
Cholo (Let's go.)
Dress (Please wear a dress to go out.)
O koi (Where is he/she?)
Bosho (Sit down.)
Pet dekhao (Lie down and show your tummy)
Bathroom (Go to the bathroom)
Shou (Lie down)
Naah (Stop doing it.)
Injection (Doctor will give an injection.)
Good Girl (A affirmative praise to reinforce acceptable behaviour)
Jol khao (Drink water.)
Otho (Climb up.)
Dim (You will get a boiled egg to eat.)
From its many toys it can identify certain toys by name and search that toy and fetch that particular toy from the heap of toys, many of which are without any identifiable names. The toys which it can identify by name are
Penguin (Name of a Toy)
Ball (Name of a Toy)
Owl (Name of a Toy)
Dori (Name of a Toy)
It may know many other words but I have been able to identify the above by documenting its behaviour and reaction to (verbal stimulus) the uttering of the above words.
Your dog will also very easily pick up words from your language and associate the words with happenings and things. All you have to do is to use the word/words again and again while doing a task or referring to a thing.
The words that excites my dog the most are 'jabo', 'cholo' and 'dress' because it has succeeded in associating these three words with the act of going out for a walk. What might have happened was that, my dog like every other dog living in an urban apartment, wanted to go out and looked forward to it as the most exciting part of the day. It found the act of going out for a walk pleasurable and therefore looked forward to it, Life outside is so much more exciting than the life within the four walls of the apartment. Therefore, it listened carefully to the words that we utter before going out. Out of complicated language, it identified the most repeated words and established a direct connection with the act of going out and the saying of those words as an indication of the act about to happen. So, it learnt. The result is that whenever I utter those words, it is ready to go out. It starts jumping with excitement. That's training at its best. I didn't teach the dog but the dog learnt on its own because the motivation was just right. Motivation is the key to all training and in that the dog is no different from the human.
Do you know a trainer? Do you need a trainer? Would you like to share with us some training tips or success stories or failures? To answer please CLICK.
For more like the above tips and techniques, you may visit pawleaks.com.