The Mind Of A Canine: How Your Dog Thinks and Learns

As a dog owner, it is important to try and understand those puppy dog eyes and what our dog is trying to tell us. When it comes to training, the more we can read our dogs the better. In this blog we are going to delve into the workings of the complex canine mind, exploring how they interact with the world around them.

Humans have actually been studying dogs since the 1800s, with lots of studies carried out on a variety of breeds in order to gain a better understanding of how dogs think, learn and interact with both humans and other dogs. There are three main theories when it comes to dog psychology which we are going to explore

Pack Mentality Theory

Back in 1947, Rudolph Schenkel observed wolves in captivity and noticed they established a hierarchy, competing using aggression to determine the pack leader. As dogs are genetically related to wolves, it was thought that their behaviour patterns were the same. From this study, it was also concluded that domestic dogs would consider humans as part of their pack, which is why dog owners should establish them as the ‘alpha’ to help bond with their pets.

With this theory, people believe the best way to bond with your dog is to use intimidating, dominating body language and training techniques. While this is fine to establish firm boundaries, there are several flaws in this method.

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov’s dog experiment was conducted in the late 1800s and involved the use of a buzzer being run every day before feeding a group of dogs. After a few days, the dogs would begin salivating when the buzzer rang, expecting their food to arrive (even without food present). This style of learning is called ‘classical conditioning’. What must be acknowledged with this is the dog’s response is an automatic response and not something the dog can control, which makes this method inefficient for training purposes.

Operant Conditioning

In the 1900s, a scientist (Skinner) studied dog behaviour in a more complex way, leading to the beginning of ‘operant conditioning’. This is the idea that a dog can be trained by applying negative or positive reinforcement after they display certain behaviours. If a dog is rewarded positively after doing something right, they will want to do it again to get more rewards. At the other end of the scale, if a dog is punished after doing something, they won’t want to display that behaviour again. It actually happens naturally in the wild – if an animal eats something brightly coloured and is then poorly, they won’t want to eat that again.

Most dog trainers use operant conditioning with positives – predominantly with food, as it is the easiest for owners to learn and is very bonding.

Conclusion

It is worth bearing in mind that all of these theories have their flaws. Wolves and dogs are not the same animal, so will act differently, and domestic dogs have different behaviours to wild dogs too. Remember that every dog has a different personality and these vary from breed to breed, so you need to treat your dog as an individual.

By gaining a deeper understanding of how dogs think and learn, we can develop stronger connections with them and develop enrichment that keeps their brains occupied. Whether it is through training or play, take the time to simply be with your dog and you will soon start to learn how their mind works.

For tailored advice and training sessions, our expert team at WitsEnd is on hand. Working with people from all over the country, we have had over 2000 success stories! To book an appointment or for more information, please call us on 0116 244 2455.