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Classical Conditioning in Action
One of the things I find myself pointing out regularly to clients every week is their dog’s immediate attention – and then their excited approach – when they hear the crinkle of a plastic baggie in the person’s hand. That sound has been so reliably tied to treat delivery that it has become a very exciting sound for the dog to hear! Often, these very same clients are ones who have hired me to help teach a reliable recall, something they’ve been struggling with up until that point.
If a dog can come to the sound of plastic crinkling, we can surely teach them a verbal signal that will ultimately inspire that very same responsiveness.
Where do you see classical conditioning in action with your dogs, whether accidentally or intentionally created? ????
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12 Replies
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Love this.
People always talk about cats being conditioned to a can opener. I laughed this morning when I bumped my can opener while cleaning my countertop and it activated the sound. Bliss came running. I don’t use it often; I rarely eat from cans, but I DO put tuna on the girls’ food a couple times a week. Bliss was sure breakfast was imminent.
They are also quite conditioned to me closing my laptop, especially in the late afternoons. ???? It is an action followed by much. excite. ???? ???????? ????
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Such glorious examples, @catherine !
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My dogs are classically conditioned to a specific pair of hiking boots I own. They know the boots come out that they’re going to be going on a hike and they get SO excited! ????⛰️
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I love that example, @AlexisLee !!
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Oh, what lucky dogs! I love that they know your footwear. Mine get equally excited when I put on my swimsuit as it means we’re heading to the lake! ????♀️ ????
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My dog gets similarly excited when I get my hiking pack down. He knows hiking pack means a hike and he’s a big fan of hiking.
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Great topic!
Barkley, my sister’s dog is conditioned to one of the freezer drawers. That is where the frozen dog treats and the human ice cream are. He often makes an appearence when he hears it.
My dog Titan is conditioned to many things over the course of his trainings purposely but, one thing he seemingly conditioned himself to was the rear hatch cargo area in my sister’s SUV. It started one day when she was unloading groceries. He hopped in and layed down. When he hears or sees the hatch open and we are over, he hops right in and lays down. He will walk by it and check to see if it open, too; in case he missed hearing it! He has never ridden in to go anywhere. He seems to have found it to be a perfect spot to plop and look-out perhaps.
My other dog Kaiden used to be conditioned to laying flat on his side for ears meds to be applied seeing the bottle. It was a joint effort in training. He started to lay flay on the side to hide the ear from me soooooooo, I started marking and rewading for him doing this, eventually naming it “floppy”. Then, the bottle became the cue to do “floppy”. Then I added in his “roll” cue for him to roll over so I can get the other ear.
Now, at 13.5 years, he is a completely different dog. He now perceives all of his old cues as stressful. At this time, we are seemingly re-living his critical socialization period by making sure every interaction or event is neutral to positive for him. I wish I knew what was going on in his senior brain causing the changes other than possibly doggie-dementia.
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These are perfect examples, Jen, and I’m so sorry to hear about the struggles Kaiden is having. Have you seen Eileen Anderson’s book and site? https://dogdementia.com/ – I hope there are some helpful tips here for you and Kaiden. ????
dogdementia.com
Dog Dementia: Help and Support
Finally there's help for owners of dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction. Learn about diagnosis & treatment. Get hints for helping a dog with dementia.
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@catherine I have not! Thanks for this info!
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Please feel free to share any nuggets along your learning journey. Hopefully something in these resources will make life more comfortable for you and yours. ????
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Our dog, Mal, was a bad resource guarder so we trained him to have a very strong “trade” skill. He further evolved the “trade” to have him initiating the trade. Mal would steal something (like a knit hat), whine loudly and pace or whine at us for attention. Then we’d ask him if he needed to trade and he’d go over to his cookie jar for a quick trade for his ill-gotten goods.
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Aw! I loved his negotiation skills.
Bliss has no issues guarding but she ABSOLUTELY knows how to negotiate. Yesterday I was eating my dinner (chicken) and instead of begging, she picked up a piece of mail that had fallen to the floor and brought it to me. It’s her way of saying, “I’d like some of that!” Fun thing is that Magic watched this then ran to get the other piece of mail. She only hesitated over the top of it, so I encouraged her to get it. She gently did and also got some chicken.
Silly girls. Training is just taking opportunities to pay your dog for things you like! In this case I’m a little off topic because this is operant conditioning, but still… so fun to take what they give us and treat it as communication, not “obedience” amiright!?
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