How dogs learn

Animal behavior is influenced by hereditary factors and learning. The greater the proportion of the behavioral responses is the training component, the easier it is to control your dog.

Traditionally, the physiological foundations of training are considered from the standpoint of the conditioned reflex theory of I. P. Pavlov. In accordance with it, all forms of animal behavior can be explained on the basis of the principle of reflex neural communication. Moreover, the essence of training consists in the development and use in work of the necessary conditioned reflexes. According to this principle, a previously neutral stimulus — for example, the “Sit!” Command, combined with the forced landing of a dog many times — acquires the value of a conditioned stimulus, launching the arc of the conditioned reflex and causing the required actions of the animal. Without going into the subtleties of physiology, I will say that the arc of the conditioned reflex is the closure of the temporal connection between the auditory and motor centers of the brain. The reflex is considered fixed if the dog, without hesitation, sits in the desired position, barely hearing a familiar sound signal. Continue reading →