What Do Dogs Do With Their Time?
Have you ever considered what dogs do with their time? Their activities can be divided into two types. They are either 1.) “looking” to satisfy their biological needs or avoid danger; or 2.) processing and making adaptive responses to the stimuli they internally generate or encounter along the way. In other words, a living being, […]
Dogs And Learning Curves
German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) came up with the concept of a “learning curve” while studying the effects of repeated performances of a task and its effect on memory. Generally, the more an activity is practiced, the more likely it will be remembered and repeated correctly. Thus, you could plot the increased performance on a […]
Dogs And Anticipation
We set a lot of dogs up for failure by building unrealistic expectations about our dogs and in our dogs. An anticipation is a learned, sustained belief in some kind of good or bad outcome. So, let’s take that apart. Humans: Based upon some kind of historical data, a human will pursue, sometimes relentlessly, an […]
Why Should You Train Puppies?
What have I seen regarding the differences, other than physical, between puppies and adult dogs? When I evaluate a puppy, or any dog, I am looking at the cumulative past experiences that dog has had, which will be the interplay between innate abilities, maturity, and acquired learning. The younger the dog, and the more I […]
The X In Dog Behavior And Learning Theories
It isn’t unusual for a particular theory to use a hypothetical X to account for factors that the researcher doesn’t wish to isolate and examine or haven’t yet figured out. There is nothing wrong with this approach. We use it in mathematics for a reason. We can solve an equation by assigning an imaginary value […]
Is Dog Behavior Lawful?
Does dog behavior operate according to recognized rules or laws? I would say this. While dog behavior can be described and often predicted in a laboratory, you will find it impossible to predict and control all the behavior of your dog in the real world. How can that be? It has long been recognized that […]
Why Is It Complicated To Build A Well-Trained Dog?
How do you build a well-behaved dog? Most dogs are getting shortchanged. Current programs are still stuck in 100-year-old dog training models. The available tools most trainers use have some impact but never 100%… food luring, environmental enrichment, clickers, e-collars, reinforcement schedules, leash, collar, toys, punishments, positive reinforcements, critical periods, etc. The inventors, or followers […]
Competition Vs Real World Dog Training
Competition obedience is judged upon accomplishment of a stylized routine of precise exercises according to organizational rules in predictable situations. Real world obedience is judged according to public safety laws, rules and customs in unpredictable situations at home and in public. Here are some of what I learned about this contrast over the years. My […]
What is PoochMaster?
PoochMaster is my daily blog. I started this blog back in 2005 to write about current, daily topics on dogs. If you follow the link, you’ll see articles about current events, news and topics that ranger wider than what I tend to print here on my website. It is a labor of love to write […]
Dogs And Photoperiodism
Do dogs have significant seasonal changes in behavior, especially in mood state, like people? I was asked this question recently, so I figured it was a good topic for a blog post. Photoperiodism is an animal’s response to changes in the length of day and night. For example, there are known 24-hour hormonal cycles. The […]