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STAGE 2: LEARNING THEORY
List the 12 goals you are expected to learn in Stage 2-Learning theory
1. Gain a Basic Understanding of Reinforcement and Punishment
2. Understand Classical Conditioning
3. Understand Operant Conditioning
4. Understand the Difference Between Unconditioned Reinforcement and
Conditioned Reinforcement
5. Know the Four Stages of Learning
6. Learn the Basics About Corrections
7. Understand the Many Reactions to Stimuli
8. Learn How to Condition a Reinforcer
9. Learn How to Utilize a Food Lure
10. Learn How to Wean an Animal Off Food
11. Understand the Details of Using Corrections During Training
12. Understand How to Be a Good Leader
Learning Theory
● This section will help you understand the scientific principles governing how
animals learn.
● All learning is governed by these basic principles, understanding them can help
you develop proper training skills.
Name the 4 essential elements in teaching a dog to learn:
1. Motivation
2. Reinforcement
3. Punishment
MOTIVATIONMotivation is a conscious or unconscious need, drive, or desire that incites a person or
animal to produce some action or behavior.
REINFORCEMENT● Reinforcement gives new strength or force to something.
● Training purposes, it gives new strength to a behavior.
● In order to increase the probability of a response, some sort of reinforcement
needs to occur.
Positive Reinforcement
● Positive reinforcement involves giving reinforcement at the moment the dog
performs the desirable behavior to increase the likelihood that he will perform that
behavior again.
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Examples of Positive Reinforcement:
1. Walks
2. Rubs
3. Playing with toys
4. Going outside
5. Attention
6. Playing with other dogs
7. Getting to sniff
8. Access to a favorite resting
9. Place
10. Petting
11. Food Treats
12. Car Rides
13. Scratches
Negative Reinforcement
● Negative Reinforcement means the dog works to avoid something he considers
unpleasant.
● Negative Reinforcement involves the removal of something the dog considers
unpleasant the instant he performs the desired behavior.
Examples of Negative Reinforcement:
1. Water spray
2. Raising your voice
3. Citronella spray
4. Pinch collar corrections
5. Choke chain corrections
6. Shaker can
7. Electronic stock collar
8. Motion sensor alarm
PUNISHMENT● Punishing stimulus is presented to a dog, it will decrease the likelihood of a
particular behavior occurring.
Positive Punishment
● Trying to positively punish a dog by saying “No! No! No!” and wagging your
finger at the dog may not be severe enough for the dog to try to avoid.
● Positive punishment involves presenting a negative consequence to an
undesirable behavior the moment the dog engages in the undesirable behavior.
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Examples of Positive Punishment
You squirt water in the dog’s face when he jumps on you instead of sitting in front
of you.
You give the dog a leash and collar correction the instant he jumps on the couch.
Negative Punishment
● Trying to negatively punish a dog by withholding petting will not work if the dog
doesn’t care to be petted. Withholding a ball that the dog loves to play with would
negatively punish some behaviors.
● Negative punishment involves removing something the dog desires from him the
moment he performs an undesirable behavior.
Examples of Negative Punishment
● You turn your back on the dog and remove your attention from him for two or
three seconds to deprive him of your attention when he starts to jump on you.
● You take away the dog’s favorite ball from sight when he leaves a Sit-Stay
position before asked to.
DESIRED BEHAVIOR● You want the dog to stay off the couch.
● The dog should not jump on people.
CONDITIONING BEHAVIOR● There are two primary behavior-conditioning styles: classical conditioning and
operant conditioning. Both are useful in shaping behavior.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING● Classical conditioning is also called “Pavlovian conditioning.”
● Classical conditioning is best defined as the dog understanding a simple
association.
OPERANT CONDITIONING● Operant conditioning is best defined as teaching a dog that the particular
behavior he chooses to do has a particular consequence.
Types of Reinforcement
1. Unconditioned Reinforcement
2. Conditioned Reinforcement
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UNCONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT ● Unconditioned reinforcement is something that is essential for the dog’s survival
or something the dog really likes; therefore, he doesn’t have to learn that it is
rewarding.
● Unconditioned reinforcement is also known as primary reinforcement.
Examples of unconditioned reinforces
1. Food
2. Water
3. Air
4. Shelter
5. Sex (this is highly debated)
6. Toys
7. Praise and petting
CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT● Conditioned reinforcement is something that has no inherent meaning to the dog;
the dog learns to equate it to unconditioned reinforces.
● Conditioned reinforcement is also known as secondary reinforcement.
Examples of conditioned reinforcers
1. Going for a walk
2. Leash (this can indicate going for a walk)
3. Sound of a can opener (indicates food is coming)
4. Praise and petting from people
5. Doorbell (can indicate that people are coming to play)
6. Toys
7. “Good” or “Yes”
8. The sound of a clicker
Important Points to Remember About Reinforces
1. Understanding how conditioned and unconditioned reinforcement works is crucial
for good dog training.
2. The first thing to teach a dog who you are about to train is one verbal or audible
conditioned reinforcer.
3. Pavlov taught us that dogs learn by association.
4. You may increase the value of the reinforcement by withholding it at other times.
5. Use a variety of rewards as reinforcers.
6. You may also give the dog a “jackpot” for excellent behavior.
7. You may allow the dog to sample the reward you intend to use if he performs well.
This is called reinforcer sampling.
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Name the 4 stages of learning that individual trainers will use:
1. Acquisition
2. Automation
3. Generalization
4. Maintenance
STAGE 1: ACQUISITION● During the acquisition stage of learning, the dog learns through shaping,
prompting, and reinforcements that a particular new behavior is rewarding.
● He will then choose to engage in that behavior again and again to get more
rewards.
STAGE 2: AUTOMATION● During the automation stage of learning, the dog learns to automatically give a
specific behavior to a particular cue without being prompted or lured.
STAGE 3: GENERALIZATION● During the generalization stage of learning, the dog learns that even if a different
person gives the cue in a different location in a slightly different way, the
response should still be the same.
STAGE 4: MAINTENANCE● When the dog is consistently complying with the cue in a variety of situations 90%
to 100% of the time, he is considered to be in the maintenance stage of learning.
● The amount of time it takes to reach his stage varies according to the dog, the
trainer, and the complexity of the behavior or cue being taught.
GO BACK TO KINDERGARTEN● Go back to Kindergarten means practicing the cue the dog just disobeyed, but in
an easier version.
● This will allow you to reinforce the proper response to the cue before it
deteriorates any further.
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Important Points to Remember About Corrections
1. If a physical correction is administered during the acquisition phase of a
particular cue, it may decrease the dog’s desire to perform the cue at all.
2. Training situations should be set up so the dog will receive a correction no more
than one out of ten cues.
3. If you utilize a physical correction, the correction must be strong enough and
occur at the correct moment to suppress the incorrect behavior within one or two
attempts.
4. Be careful when using corrections because they can produce emotional side
effects.
5. Corrections can bring about a general suppression of behaviors, which can be
dangerous.
6. Because dogs learn by association, corrections may cause a negative association
to be made toward whatever the dog notices the moment the correction is applied.
7. The timing of the correction must be very specific.
List a partial list of positive punishers and negative punishers that are discussed in this
section:
1. Squirt of water
2. Ignoring the dog
3. Leash and collar correction
4. No Reward Marker
5. Removal of the treat or toy
Understanding and Using Reactions to Stimuli in Training
The eight topics below will help you understand stimulus and how it can be used in dog
training.
Name 8 topics that will help you understand stimulus:
1. Single Event Learning
2. Orienting Reflex
3. Desensitization
4. Sensitization
5. Adaptation/Flooding
6. Learned Irrelevance
7. Back-Chaining
8. Pattern Training
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SINGLE EVENT LEARNINGA dog judges every event that occurs in his life as relevant or irrelevant.
Relevant● A skateboard rolling down the sidewalk startles your dog and he yelps.
● You scream and run over to the dog to pick him up.
● You carry him into the house and spend the rest of the afternoon soothing and
caressing him on the sofa.
Irrelevant● You drop a glass in the kitchen sink and cut yourself.
● Your dog is startled by the noise, but since you are unaware your dog is in the
kitchen behind you and are busy tending to your own cut finger, you don’t rush to
console him.
Summary: Skateboards are extremely relevant to the dog and he is terrified of them; the
sound of breaking glass is irrelevant.
ORIENTING REFLEXAnything the dog perceives activates the orienting reflex.
Example 1:
● Your dog hears a whistle and reflexively turns his head toward the direction the
whistle is coming from.
Example 2:
● Your dog barks at the window when people walk down the sidewalk.
● You move away from the window and blow a whistle, the dog should momentarily
notice the whistle.
● You may then encourage him to move toward you to receive a treat.
DESENSITIZATIONA dog learns to ignore a previously meaningful stimulus or unconditioned reflex, such as
being startled by a loud noise. Desensitization is also known as habituation.
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SENSITIZATIONSensitization involves the dog becoming more sensitive to something.
Example:
● A puppy gets taken to his first group class and, despite his nervousness and
uncertainty about other dogs, his owners force him to walk in between two large
adult dogs.
ADAPTATION/FLOODINGAdaptation, or flooding, involves continuously exposing a dog to the specific stimulus to
which he has been sensitized to the point where he is too exhausted to respond to the
presentation of the stimulus.
Example:
● You brush a dog that hates to be brushed until he stops reacting to the brushing.
LEARNED IRRELEVANCEThe dog ceases to pay attention to a particular stimulus (or cue) because he has learned
that it is of no consequence to him.
Example #1:
● The dog no longer responds to “Come” because the owner frequently says
“Come” when she has no way to get the dog to complete the Come cue.
● The dog learns that “Come” doesn’t mean anything in particular, and he ignores
it.
BACK-CHAININGBack-chaining is teaching the ending behaviors of a series first, and then adding the
preceding behaviors until you have taught all behaviors.
Example:
● When the doorbell rings, you want the dog to go to the front door and sit on a mat
while the door is opened and guests are invited in.
● You want the dog to push the door closed, and then come into the living room to
lie on another mat.
PATTERN TRAINING OR REAL LIFE TRAININGPattern training, or real-life training, is determining what patterns or routines exist in
your client’s daily schedule and fitting obedience training into her schedule.
Example:
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Most people need their dogs to sit at the front door, come in and lie down near them in
the living room, and come when they call them into the house from the back or front
yard.
Training a Conditioned ReinforcerBy teaching the dog to understand a conditioned reinforcer and a No Reward Marker, you
will be able to communicate with him much more clearly. This will increase the
effectiveness of your training and also decrease the frustration of cross-species
communication.
NO REWARD MARKER● A No Reward Marker is an auditory signal or cue that is paired with punishment
(i.e., removing a baited hand from the dog’s reach) every time the dog gives an
incorrect response.
● Ideally, the No Reward Marker or identifier should motivate the dog to stop
presenting the current behavior and offer an alternate one.
● An example of a No Reward Marker might be “Eh-Eh.”
Importance of a Conditioned Reinforcer● A Conditioned reinforcer is a very important tool for dog training.
● It allows you to form a verbal or auditory bridge between the correct behavior you
are teaching and your unconditioned reinforcer.
How to Train a Conditioned Reinforcer
● First you must decide what your conditioned reinforcer signal will be.
● Second, you must teach the dog what your selected conditioned reinforcer is.
There are a couple of different methods to do this.
List 5 conditioned reinforcer signals:
1. “Good”
2. “Yes”
3. “Excellent”
4. “A whistle”
5. “A clicker”
Establish a Conditioned Reinforcer Through a Randomized Schedule of Reinforcement
● This simple exercise will allow you to teach your dog a selected conditioned
reinforcer.
● The idea behind this method is to give the dog your conditioned reinforcer
(“Good” or “click”) immediately before you give him his unconditioned reinforcer
(food).
● By doing this, the dog will understand the value of the word “Good” (the
conditioned reinforcer). This comprehension will be an invaluable training tool for
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future training.
What are 3 things a food lure exercises teaches dogs?
1. It teaches the dog to follow a lure, which allows you to guide him into almost any
behavior without force.
2. It teaches the dog the meaning of a conditioned reinforcer (“Good” or a click),
which communicates to the dog when he is doing the correct thing.
3. It teaches the dog the meaning of the No Reward Marker. This marker indicates to
the dog that he made a mistake. It does this in a way that motivates him to give
the correct behavior instead of becoming stressed.
Teaching a Conditioned Reinforcer With the Food Lure Exercise
● Learning how to use a food lure during training is very important and can be a
vital ingredient to any training plan.
● Once the food lure exercise is mastered, you have a valuable tool to help teach
the dog any behavior or cue. The food lure can even help modify problem
behaviors, such as aggression.
Varying Your Reinforcement
You should start to vary your reinforcement only after your conditioned reinforcer has
been properly trained. This will enhance your communication with the dog.
Hesitant for Slow Sit
If your dog performs a sit when given the Sit cue but does so much slower than usual,
you may opt not to give the dog the conditioned reinforcer (“Good”), or the
unconditioned reinforcer (food treat).
Fast Sit
If you give your dog the Sit cue and he sits faster than usual, you may opt to give your
conditioned reinforcer (“Good”), at the moment his bottom touches the ground to mark
the aspect of the behavior you liked and follow it with your unconditioned reinforcer
(food treat).
Weaning off Food
● As trainers, we are sometimes faced with clients that don’t feel comfortable using
food for training. Most of the time, owners are reluctant to use food for fear that
their dogs will “only work for food.” This is a valid concern.
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●
ABC Certified Dog Trainers must address their clients’ concerns directly and
effectively. What most clients want is a dog that is consistently obedient at home
and in public without the burden of food treats or gadgets like clickers, whistles,
or leashes.
GOLDEN RULEA dog must only receive the things he likes if he is obedient. (No Free Lunch Policy)
Important Steps to Increase the Value of Obedience and Wean OFF food
1. Follow the No Free Lunch Policy.
2. Teach an auditory conditioned reinforcer.
3. Hide the rewards.
4. Offer food rewards at random times.
Administering Corrections to a Dog
When administering corrections to a dog, the trainer must be aware of the many
elements involved in making the corrections effective instead of counterproductive.
1. Lure the dog into the sit position.
2. The dog’s bottom touches the ground.
3. Give the dog the conditioned reinforcer “Good”.
4. Give the dog the unconditioned reinforcer (food).
5. Dog is released “Okay!”
Reasons for Mistakes
It is also important to determine the reasons why the dog is making mistakes and
address these issues.
List 5 possible causes for a dog making mistakes more than 10% of the time:
1. The exercise is too difficult for the dog. You may need to make it simpler or
clearer. You must make the exercise easy enough for the dog to be successful the
majority of the time. Otherwise, he may become disinterested and/or frustrated.
2. The dog has not had sufficient shaping or experience being guided and prompted
into the behavior with a food lure.
3. The dog is not sufficient motivated to perform the correct response -- perhaps he
is getting the things he likes for free at other times.
4. The owner is not giving the dog clear signals.
5. There are too many distractions for the dog too soon into the training.
Relationship Exercises
● Everyone comes from some kind of family, and every family has a structure
comprised of different members with different responsibilities to the family.
● Today, the members of a family can be very flexible, but the fact that each member
has some responsibility to the remains unchanged.
● Some members are responsible for financial resources, while others are
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●
responsible for caretaking or managing the household.
Even small children are responsible for being mannerly, picking up their toys, and
getting an education.
Name 6 important jobs dogs would perform as part of being a family member:
1. Guard Property Personal Protection
2. Hunting
3. Pull Carts and Sleds
4. Herding Livestock
5. Eliminate Vermin
6. Locate Lost People
Name 6 ways dogs are frequently and unknowingly treated like group leaders:
1. Being allowed to get up on beds and furniture
2. Eating out of an overflowing food bowl whenever they’d like
3. Coming and going as they please
4. Having lots of unearned possessions to guard
5. Having subordinates fawn over them with constant free petting
6. Being able a demand to be played with, petted, taken out or left alone
DOMINANT DOGABC defines a dominant dog as assertive, independent, and sometimes controlling.
AGGRESSIVE DOGABC defines an aggressive dog as hostile, combative or even offensively or defensively
antagonistic.
List 8 ways a dog assume leadership at home:
1. Become pushy at the front door
2. Attain the most central and elevated sleeping station
3. Require that they not be disturbed when resting
4. Bark at anything they think needs barking at for as long as they think it needs
barking at
5. Have first dibs on any food or possessions within reach
6. Have the right to defend any food or possessions they come upon
7. Expect to not be touched in any way they do not like
8. Expect to be able to demand various forms of attention or behaviors from you,
their subordinate
HOUSE RULESHere are some simple exercises that will you to show a dog that his humans are good
leaders and that he has a responsibility to the family to serve and follow his leaders.
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Feeding
● Puppies between two and six months old can be fed three to four times daily.
● Dogs between six months and one year can be fed a premium kibble twice daily.
● Dogs older than one year can be fed once daily.
● Please speak to a veterinarian if the dog or puppy has unusual dietary needs, and
alter the schedule accordingly.
Name 5 things to remember about feeding:
1. Leaders Eat First
2. Earn His Meal
3. Release Him to Eat
4. Sit-Stay for Meal
5. No Free Feeding
Sleeping
● The dog should not be allowed to sleep on human beds or furniture.
● The dog should sleep in a crate at night and when you are not home.
● The dog should accept being gently moved from any sleeping or resting place.
Access to and Movement Throughout the House
● Dogs and puppies should not be allowed loose and unattended in the house until
they have manners (quiet, calm, obedient, stay off furniture, housebroken, don’t
touch forbidden objects like shoes or TV remote controls, stay out of forbidden
areas of the house, etc.).
● Prior to the dog having house manners, he should be given an on-leash “tour”
everytime he enters the house.
List 7 things to remember about dogs moving throughout the house
1. On-Leash Tour
2. Tether Your Pup
3. Increased Freedom
4. Boundary Training
5. No Touch or Leave It
6. Introduce Short Periods Off-Leash
7. Increase Freedom as Earned
Playing
● Select appropriate play and chew toys for your dog.
● We are grouping play and chew toys together because you should play with your
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dog with his chew toys, especially in the beginning.
Acceptable Play toys
1. Hard rubber balls are too large to lodge in your dog’s throat. Better too large than
too small.
2. Soft Frisbees and Boomer Balls
3. Kongs
4. TireBiter
Non-Acceptable Play Toys
1. Tennis balls are too abrasive on teeth and can be “killed” and eaten.
2. Stuffed fuzzy toys are too similar to carpet and can be “killed” and eaten.
3. Rubber or plastic squeaky toys can be “killed” and eaten.
4. Ropes or other toys for tug-of-war can stimulate some dogs to be aggressive.
They are a “no-no” for households with children.
Acceptable Chew Toys
1. Sterilized bones that are large enough to be safe for your dog are acceptable chew
toys. Hollow bones can be smeared with cheese or liver in the hollow inside.
2. Nylabone and Gummabone -- these can be soaked in broth.
3. Kongs can be stuffed with cheese or liver.
4. Booda velvet bones or carrot bones.
5. Cow hooves (only for non-aggressive chewers)
6. Booda rope (only for dogs completely trained to not chew on carpet or furniture)
7. Compressed rawhide is the safest rawhide since it cannot be chewed off in large
chunks and become lodged in the dog’s throat.
List 2 things to remember about teaching your dog to play appropriately
1. Fixate your dog on appropriate play and chew toys.
2. Teach your dog to Fetch.
Positive Obedience, No Free Lunch Policy
● Positive obedience is asking the dog to perform simple obedience cues to get
something he likes (petting, a car rides, a treat, a walk, play with a toy.)
● ABC calls this the No Free Lunch Policy. Unfortunately, most people give their
dogs all those things for free, and only use obedience as a way to control their
dogs when they are either about to do something wrong or already have.
Waiting at Doorways
● The dog should always allow you to go through doorways first without crowding
or bumping into you or your family.
● The dog does crowd or bump you, teach him to Sit-Stay at all doorways.
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●
Something as seemingly small as who goes through the door first can cue the dog
as to who is the leader in the household.
Petting and Attention
● You can easily correct demanding behavior by requiring the dog to Sit, Down or
Stay before and during the petting.
● If he breaks from this position, the petting stops until he resumes the position.
● A good leader should expect the dog to be calm and obedient while he receives
attention.
List 3 duties of the Leader
1. Establish the rules.
2. Enforce the rules.
3. Maintain social order (leader of the pack chooses who is in the pack, and what
authority each pack member does or does not have.)
List 11 things that show dogs who is the leader
1. Leaders eat first.
2. Leaders go through doorways first.
3. Leaders stay calm and in correct.
4. Leaders set the pace and the direction (i.e., Heel).
5. Leaders do not let their personal space be invaded.
6. Leaders say when play begins and when it ends.
7. Leaders do not beg for attention.
8. Leaders do not offer free treats.
9. Leaders assume the higher ground (i.e., beds, couches, chairs, etc.).
10. Leaders never change their direction or step over the dog.
11. Leaders assign resting spots for other pack members.
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