Tag Archives: dog

05/7/12

Dunbar on Classical Conditioning

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dunbar believes Classical Conditioning is a big deal in dog training.  He doesn’t believe in separating Operant Conditioning from Classical Conditioning. To Dunbar, the dog learns the same thing: In case of x, good things happen, and in case of y, bad things happen.

White poodle.

For a basic overview of classical conditioning:  Classical conditioning was named by Pavlov, who learnt that if he rung a bell before feeding dogs, overtime, the dogs would start to saliva

te at the sound of the bell alone.  Basically, classical conditioning is associative learning.  Dogs will associate things with certain stimuli.  In Dunbar’s view, however, he thinks that the brilliance of classical conditioning has been lost over time.  In his opinion, just because Pavlov worked with a reflex (i.e. the dog couldn’t choose to salivate, it happened itself), doesn’t mean that classical conditioning is only used for reflexes.  (This is normally the distinctive difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning, but Dunbar ignores it and finds it irrelevant. Confusing!)

 

Classical conditioning should happen all through a dog’s life.  Treats should never be phased out for classical conditioning.  Dunbar said, “Don’t take you dog’s temperament for granted” and “If your dog is friendly, it can be friendlier”.

Dunbar particularly advocated Classical Conditioning for improving handling of dogs.  Particularly, classically conditioning collar grabs and other contact the dog may find unpleasant.

He talked about dog trainer Bill Campbell’s ‘jolly routine’, which is an over-the-top play response an owner ‘performs’ when a stimulus is seen.  The idea is the dog things, “Whenever my owner sees x, they get so happy!” – which in terms classically conditions the dog to like x.

While he believes there is better ways of getting rid of problem behaviour, he did talk about using ‘lightning strike’ verbal feedback for poor behaviour.  He described this as punishment in a praise sandwich.  For example, the dialogue would go: “good dog, very well done, lovely dog, excellent, good, good, yes, ASSHOIFJIDSHKLJ!!!, yes, good dog, good, very good”.

He also liked the use of classical conditioning in shelters, particularly in the Open Paw program, where dogs are rewarded for just being in the shelter and seeing people.

Dunbar describes classical conditioning as a ‘winning strategy’.

Further reading: my lecture notes from Paul McGreevy on Classical Conditioning.

External link:  Roger Abrantes’ post on “Unveiling the myth of reinforcers and punishers” 

Updated with additional notes 13/10/12.

05/2/12

Lure Reward Training

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dunbar promotes lure-reward training.  This training uses a lure in order to accomplish a behaviour, and a reward to communicate the desirability of the behaviour lured.

 

 

Young red dobermann puppy sucking on a finger.

Even young puppies can be lured by food on fingers, or even the sucking reflex itself. Photo © Ruthless Photos.

The Steps of Lure Reward Training

Any behaviour we can teach on cue by a 1234 process in lure/reward training. The 1234 steps are:

1: Request (i.e. use the cue – e.g. say “sit”)

2: Lure (i.e. get the behaviour – e.g. use food to get the dog’s nose up and bum down)

3: Response (the dog performs the behaviour)

4: Reward the dog

 

1,3,4 is always clear, but the lure to get a behaviour (2) may need some creativity.

 

There may also be several lures for one behaviour.  If this is the case, they should be ranked from most desirable to least.  For example, if you were training a dog to eliminate on cue, you could ‘lure’ the behaviour by confinement (i.e. putting the dog in a crate for a period of time) or by an olfactory lure (pee smell).  It’s probably easier to crate your dog than to carry pee in a bottle, but it’s up to you to determine the best lure for you and your dog.

 

Once you’ve got the behaviour, you can start to progress through the stages of luring.  Lures should be phased within a few repetitions, and rewards should become ‘life rewards’ instead of extrinsic rewards in a brief period of time.

 

The stages of reward training is phasing out, first, the lure and, second, the reward, and then enforcing compliance (without pain).

 

 

Stage One – Phase Out the Lure Continue reading →

04/28/12

Open Paw (a Dunbar project)

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Have you heard about Open Paw?  It’s a shelter program designed to make pets happier in shelter environments, and improve their chances of finding a new home.

Along with the minimal health guidelines, kennel dogs need to meet 3 unfamiliar people a day.

Collie working breed type dog in a shelter.They advocate a classical conditioning approach of just ‘throwing treats’ at the dogs as you walk past, irrelevant to the behaviour.  Some have concerns that this rewards barking behaviour but, in reality, the dog often has a pause between barking behaviour and acknowledging the reward, and it’s more likely the dog will associate his quietness with the treat.  (Dog can’t sniff a treat and woof at the same time!)

The aim is to produce a quiet and pleasant environment in shelters, which people enjoy visiting.  The program also seeks to produce dogs that are ‘automatically’ well behaved (from all or none training) and more likely to stay in their new home.

If you’d like to learn more about Open Paw, the AnimalCAFE podcast may be entertaining for you.

04/24/12

Ian Dunbar on Punishment

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Ian Dunbar chooses to look at punishment in a different way to most modern trainers.

 

When we look at things that are punishing (or are supposed to be punishing) then we can ask two questions:

  • Is it punishing (does it reduce the behaviour’s frequency)? and
  • Is it painful or scary?

 

 

From here, there are four possible scenarios:

  • Punishment that is painful or scary, and changes behaviour, is effective but undesirable (that is, it is not desirable to hurt or scare dogs).
  • Punishment that is painful or scary but doesn’t change behaviour is abusive.
  • Punishment that is not painful or scary and doesn’t change behaviour is nagging. It’s annoying, a nuisance.
  • Punishment that is not painful and not scary, but is effective, is desirable. This is where Ian Dunbar chooses to work.

 

Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy climbing into dishwasher.

A dog shouldn’t be punished for wrong doings when you haven’t taught them it’s wrong!

In this way, Ian Dunbar advocates verbal punishment.  Verbal punishments can be used to enforce trained behaviours, and is more about tone than volume. Continue reading →