What is a Dog? This is an honest question! After 25 years of working with all sorts of dogs I am still mystified by them. They are so common and familiar, yet they are still so unexpected and amazing. I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot lately. My guess is that different people have vastly different answers to this question. Why does it matter? I think that’s what I’m even more interested in exploring! It matters because our vision of dogs shapes our treatment of them. And our treatment of them is vital to their mental and physical health.
Category: Comparative thoughts
Why Counseling Should Be Included During Any Dog Behavior Modification Process
“Perils of Punishment: Psychologists do not know for sure why get-tough treatments are ineffective and potentially harmful, but the psychological literature holds several clues. First, researchers have long found that punishment-based strategies tend to be less effective than reward-based strategies for lasting behavioral change, in part because they teach people what not to do but …
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Limiting Learning Potential When Training Dogs
Here's an interesting point taken from a presentation found (Yale University School of Medicine) on learning. "If instruction is heavily based on one style of learning over others, "mismatched" students may often feel uncomfortable while "matched" students may not develop critical skills aligned with other ways of learning." This reminded me again of my experience …
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Bad Science: Quadrants of Operant Conditioning
Brilliant! "In the physical universe, the addition of one stimulus is always met with the removal of another stimulus. Regardless of what type of matter (energy) this stimulus is, energy cannot be created or destroyed, and so within any given system you have to remove something to add something and you have to add something …
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Understanding Animal Welfare, Important For Domestic Animals
"Studies such as Harlow's infamous experiments with infant rhesus macaques, and more modern preference tests, have clearly shown us that our assumptions of what an animal would prioritise or choose in any given situation can often be wrong. Legislation often ensure that the basic needs of animals, such as food, shelter and medical care …
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Be Careful When Reading Studies On Animal Behavior
It is interesting to note in this study Wolves show scientists are barking up the wrong tree that captive wolves performed the tests better or equal to that of dogs raised in human environments/homes. I agree with the suggestion that learning to cooperate with humans and/or in this instance, pay attention will be more successful when …
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