A dog’s concept of good and bad is not the same as a person’s understanding of it. For example, a dog has the natural need to eliminate. He doesn’t care where he goes – it is his owner that cares. This is why you must reinforce his good behavior. If he relieves himself outside or in his designated area, he gets a treat. You are reinforcing that he did well with a reward. With enough positive reinforcement, he will soon know exactly what he is expected to do.

The only way your dog will learn to avoid breaking a specific rule is if there is a negative consequence every time he breaks or attempts to break that rule. Quite simply, the formula is that breaking rules equals unpleasant consequences and abiding by them results in reward of some kind. But in order for this to work, the unpleasant experience has to occur every single time the unwanted behavior occurs, and it must occur immediately upon breaking the rule. Being corrected for bad behavior some of the time or later in the day means absolutely nothing to a dog. Negative consequences then become something that happen at random, rather than as a result of having done something specific. Soon your dog will equate good behavior with positive rewards.

Why then do dogs insist upon doing things that will get them into trouble? They may know they will be in trouble when they raid the trash can and scatter the contents over the kitchen floor, but the behavior continues.

This is about satisfying a need. There is no doubt that the dog got some reward – perhaps the last of the prime rib – as a result of his first trash can raid. The next time it happened, the prize was a meaty soup bone. Now you have to think like a dog. Which is worse? Being reprimanded by you later or passing up the gourmet treat just a few nudges of the trash can away? After several successful trash can raids, your dog knows for certain there is a pot of gold under that lid. Forget the scolding! That comes later; the pork chop comes now.

Whose fault is this? Yours! (Of course, you may say, the parent always gets the blame.) But seriously, one of the most important principles of successful training has been ignored here – avoidance. The trash should not have been made accessible to the dog in the first place. Now the problem behavior is set. And now that the dog has been able to raid the gourmet treasure box for a second and third time, the thrill of victory is worth the agony of getting caught.

There are transgressions that merit correction, but the correction itself must be appropriate. Having your brand new rug chewed to bits or the stuffing pulled out of your sofa isn’t exactly funny. However, don’t make the mistake of interpreting your dog’s action in human terms. What you may interpret as retaliation on the part of your pet is more is far more apt to be instinct, or even anxiety and frustration. Although it may appear your dog did something out of sheer spite, it is very important for you to understand that this was not part of some diabolical plan to punish you.

Some people say that their dog “pays them back” for being left behind by destroying the most expensive thing they can sink their teeth into. They have entirely misunderstood why their dog did what he did. First, dogs don’t know what “expensive” or “valuable” means. Second, the dog simple missed his favorite person and got as close as he would to the loved one in the best way the dog knew how. The owner, of course, has misinterpreted this behavior as retaliation.

Yelling and screaming will only make a bad situation worse, and a dog should never be hit or abused in any way. Because your tirade usually comes well after the fact, the dog is thoroughly confused by your behavior, and physical violence will not only endanger his welfare, but will make him mistrust and resent you. The only way to ensure that this kind of bad behavior will never happen again is to confine your dog to a safe place when you are away from him or if he is unsupervised. If you catch him in the act of doing something wrong, be calm, be fair, and be consistent. Don’t punish him for something that he has been permitted to do before or do in another place. A firm, “No!” and the removal of your dog from the situation is all that is needed to get your point across.

This should give you some idea as to why a dog does or doesn’t do what we think he should. Understanding how he works from his way from A to Z will contribute tremendously to the success you will have in teaching him anything you want him to learn.

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1. How Dogs Learn

As strong as the instinctual drive is, there are a few people who who has spent any quality time with dogs that aren’t fully convinced that dogs can think and make logical conclusions.

What causes a dog to rush out into the street and snatch a child from the danger of an incoming auto? Who told our dogs that bringing us their leash or a toy will inspire a walk to play time? There may be a scientific explanation for this behaviour, but then of course, there is such an explanation for why humans laugh or cry.

Please don’t let a dog’s ability to think rationally allow you to believe a dog will always use good judgement. A dog is not going to let his good sense get in the way of instinctual behavior. Don’t expect your dog to stop and watch for cars when chasing the ball. His instinct will send hi, after the ball, traffic or not. It is training that will remind him that he has been taught never to run into the street for any reason.

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1. How Dogs Learn
2. Dog Instincts

All dogs have some instinctive behaviors. This applies whether the dog is a Great Dane, toy Poodle, Golden Retriever, or a combination of all three. The reason for this is that all dogs, regardless of breed, descend from the same source – Canis Lupus, the wolf. That distant ancestor contributed  certain genes  to his descendants that have proven so necessary for a dog’s existence that they are still in use. Granted, man has manipulated these hereditary inclinations to suit himself, but most of what dogs do can be traced back to his wolf ancestors.

From this lupine ancestor, most dogs have inherited an instinct to chase. We are fairly sure that, even among the earliest wolves, some were more addicted to and better at chasing than others, and so it has been with their descendants. There are dogs that will chase a ball, a stick, or even the neighbor’s cat only if they have nothing else to do. There are also dogs that will chase just about anything that moves – every time it moves! The chasers can be trained not to chase, but you will never be able to quell their desire to chase. The instinct courses heavily through their genetic makeup.

There are other instincts for which the need has been eliminated by passing of time. Most dogs circle around and round on their bedding before lying down. It is believed that this behavior stems from the time when it was necessary to crush down the underbrush in order to make a comfortable bed for the night. Mother dogs regurgitate food for their puppies. This is carried over from the time when it was the most efficient way of bringing home the day’s kill for their hungry pups back at the den.

No one teaches the modern dog any of these behaviors. These traits are contained within the genetic structure of each and every dog. Some of these traits are of little consequence today, but others conflict with how we want our dogs to behave as pets.

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1. How Dogs Learn
2. What You Need To Know About Reinforcing Behavior On Your Dog
3. Dog’s Rational Learning

A specific word has no real meaning for a dog. A dog will respond to what action he associates with the word. For example, you and I understand what is meant by the words “chocolate sundae” – someone taught us that was the name for a combination of certain sweet things. We also understand that the word “desert” could also mean chocolate sundae or a number of equally appealing things to eat.

This is where we differ from our dogs. Rover understands what “chicken” is because every time we say the word, he gets a piece of chicken. However, asking him if he wants “poultry” means nothing to him. Although Rover may start salivating at the mere mention of the word “chicken,” you could substitute the word “hammer” every time you give Rover a piece of chicken, it would soon mean the same thing.

There are two lessons to be understood here. The first is that dogs can associate a word with a substance or an event (event meaning something like going outside or riding in a car). However, using different words to express the same command, even if the words have the exact same meaning, will only serve to confuse your dog – the connection cannot be made. For example, automobile and car have exactly the same meaning to you and I, but not to our dogs. They can only associate a given word with one result.

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1. How Dogs Learn

We obey laws because we know that if we don’t, dire consequences have been arranged to punish us for transgressions. We have the ability to conceptualize – to imagine.

Some canine behaviorists think that all dogs’ behavior comes from instinct. Other argue that dogs learn in the same rational manner as humans do, or at least as human children do. Both schools of thought are able to offer convincing proof as to the validity of their beliefs. We believe that there is truth in both theories.

One cannot have lived with as many dogs as some of us have through the years and not observed what is clearly instinctual behaviors at times and what is obviously rational behavior at others. We also believe dogs learn to obey our “laws” in a manner that is similar but different from the way we do. Because dogs learn differently, we must approach teaching them in a different manner.

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1. Dog’s Rational Learning
2. What You Need To Know About Reinforcing Behavior On Your Dog
3. Word Association By Dogs