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Animal Behavior
Ms. Kristin Canga, RVT
“…For the strength of the
Pack is the Wolf, and the
strength of the Wolf is the
Pack.
-Rudyard Kipling, The Law of the Jungle
“Always do right. This will gratify some
people and astonish the rest.”
• -Mark Twain-
How do Animals Learn?
There are two primary types of learning:
 ___________________
conditioning sometimes
known as
_____________________
conditioning.
 Is formed through
____________________________
______________________.
 _____________________
conditioning.
 Relies heavily on
________________________
and
______________________.
How Do Animals Learn?
Animals do not have a sense of ____________.
_____________ often project what they think on
to the animals behavior.
Most animals learn in one of two ways:
 _____________________ /____________________
conditioning or
 ______________________ conditioning.
Classical/Pavlovian
Conditioning
 Occurs when an animal forms an _________________
between two events. (Kind of like ___________ and
__________________)
 Associations that are highly _______________________
will be learned the fastest.
 Often called ________________-_________________
relationships or ____________________ behaviors.
 Relies on contiguity and contingency in order to learn
in this manner.
 _________________________ – relationship between 2
events in both time and place.
 ________________________________ – describes the
predictability of the association.
Stimulus-Response Relationships
 Can also be described as:
 _____________________ behaviors
 What does this mean?
 Something happens that __________________
a response.
Classical Conditioning through
Respondent Behaviors
Respondent Behaviors
 Are reactions to Classical or Pavlovian conditioning
 Utilize an _______________________ stimulus (UCS) that causes an
___________________________ response (UCR).
 SCENARIO:
 -In cattle: Being milked (UCS) causes oxytocin release and milk
letdown. (UCR)
 After repeated associations between entering the milking
facility and being milked, the response becomes conditioned:
 Approaching the milking facility (sights, and sounds associated)
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), results in milk letdown as a
conditioned response (CR).
Scenario
– Each day, at approximately the same time, you come
home and drop your backpack loudly on the kitchen
table. Your cat associates the fear of the experience and
the place in which experienced.
 If this happens every single day, the cat will associate the kitchen
table with fear.
 This can escalate, and the cat can associate YOU with fear since
you are also a common factor in the fear. (When my person
comes home, I get scared)
 How an animal associates these two things depends on the
individual animal. (May include temperament and prior
experiences)
Scenario
- A dog is fearful of strangers because he/she has never
been exposed to them. When someone rings the
doorbell, a stranger appears in the dogs home.
- The dog will associate the ringing of the doorbell with a
stranger appearing and being afraid.
- Over time, the sound of the doorbell will be associated with
fear.
Scenario
 A cat with a painful urinary tract infection goes to the litter box
to urinate.
 When the cat passes urine, it is painful. This happens each time
the litter box is used.
 What is the UCS and UCR in this situation?
 What is the CS and CR??
 What will happen when this association is formed???
Other Human Scenarios
 You leave school to drive in Houston traffic.
 When you enter your neighborhood/apartment
complex, you have a sudden urge to urinate.
 You go out with your friends and have a little too much
(Fill in your beverage of choice here) to drink.
 Every time you smell or even hear someone mention this
drink, you feel nauseated.
Scenario
- A cat is woken from a peaceful sleep and placed in its
carrier. The cat then is taken, in the car, to the vet where
it experiences a painful vaccine/blood-draw.
- Over time, the cat will become fearful of his/her crate
because every time the crate comes out, they go to the
vet and experience pain.
Operant Conditioning
 Important Terms to note:
 Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcement
 Negative reinforcement
 Correction/punishment
 Positive correction/punishment
 Negative correction/punishment
 Extinction
Operant Behaviors
 Rely on _______________________ to be effective
 Consequences help the animal increase or
decrease the ___________________ of behavior.
 Consequences MUST happen ___________________
after the behavior is performed.
 Consequences can be implemented through “positive or
negative” _________________________ OR
“positive or negative” ___________________/_________________.
Positive & Negative
 Negative ____________________ and negative
____________________________ are NOT the same!
 Can be reinforcement OR correction/punishment
 SIMPLE math! 
 Positive – ___________________ something to the situation
 Negative – ___________________ something from the situation
 Positive reinforcement can be over-used
 Positive correction can be used incorrectly
Four Categories of Operant
Conditioning
 Positive Reinforcement
 Adding something the animal wants in order to increase the
likelihood that behavior will occur again.
 Negative Reinforcement
 Removing something aversive in order to increase the likelihood
that the behavior will occur again.
 Positive Punishment
 Adding something aversive to decrease the likelihood that the
behavior will occur again.
 Negative Punishment
 Removing something pleasant to decrease the likelihood that the
behavior will occur again.
Test Yourself! 
 Loose-leash walking is an example of:
 Choke chain usage is an example of:
 Hiding a favorite toy and allowing dog to play
with it when found is an example of:
 Lovies or treats when training are an example of:
 Stopping play when it gets too rough is an
example of:
Scenario
 - A dog jumps up on anyone that comes in to the home.
Every time the behavior occurs, the dog is pushed down, and
talked to.
 What is REALLY happening here?
 What would be a more effective solution?
 What would be ineffective to resolve the jumping?
Extinction of Operant Behaviors
 Defined: The process by which an
_______________________ between two events is
_____________.
 Inappropriate behavior MUST be correctly identified
 If behavior is no longer _______________, the behavior
should stop.
 Extinction practices may cause behaviors to get _____________
before they are ________________.
 When reinforcement of _________________ behavior is stopped,
the animal senses a certain level of frustration and will
_______________ the behavior before it ___________________!
 Called the “__________________________”
Extinction, continued
 Can be used to eliminate an undesirable
behavior.
 Requires 100% ________________________ by owners and
ALL members of family in order to truly work.
 Remember that the behavior often ________________
before it goes away. This is ________________!
 Can also result in the elimination of
_________________ behavior if not consistently
reinforced.
 Wife requires dog to sit and stay before feeding
 Husband allows dog to follow him to food and eat
without waiting.
Accomplishing Extinction
 Can usually be done through one of three
methods.
 ____________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________
 ____________________________________________________
How to Accomplish Extinction
 1) Systematic desensitization
 The process of changing an animal’s
________________________ response to a stimulus.
 Start at a level that does not cause fear
 Gradually increase exposure
 Exposure time is increased until no fear response
Accomplishing Extinction
 2) Counter-conditioning/Counter-commanding
 Some animals need to be asked to do something else
to “take their minds off” the behavior they normally do.





The process of ______________________ an _____________________
Most animals are ____________ motivated
Enjoyment of food is incompatible with fear from stimulus
Use very small, special treats as long as dog exhibits no fear.
If dog stops ______________, you have gone too far in exposure
Accomplishing Extinction, cont.
 2a) Counter-commanding
 This is similar to the counter-_______________________
technique mentioned earlier.
 If a dog barks at unknown people, ask the dog to sit, and
give a constant stream of small, special rewards to
reinforce the sit, rather than the bark.
Accomplishing Extinction,
cont.
 Be careful not to counter-condition/command
too quickly
 A jumping dog needs to be _______ before touch or
voice is offered for ______________________.
 Make the two behaviors ______________________.
 A dog can’t sit AND jump on people simultaneously
Accomplishing Extinction,
continued
 Flooding/Response blocking
 Exposes animal to fearful stimulus with no opportunity
of __________ until animal is no longer fearful.
 Should be _________________ as treatment for most
pets.
 Can cause additional behavior issues if animal
acquires “_________________ _________________”.
 Animal believes that it has no control over response
and stops responding to anything. (Shuts down)
Reasons Extinction Fails
 Reinforcement is not properly ___________________
 The owner believes one thing is reinforcing behavior but it’s actually
something else.
 Reinforcement is coming from more than _____ ________
 There is more than one __________ or ________ reinforcing the
animal. This means that the animal has no _________________
when we are trying to extinguish the behavior.
 The animal is ____________rewarded and is _____-reinforcing
 The animal is ____________________ or __________________
rewarded for the behavior.
 These cases are more difficult to extinguish
 MUST find an equally rewarding reinforcement that is
appropriate.
Extinction Failure, Continued
 Many unwanted behaviors are rooted in
___________ or ____________.
 Thunderstorms
 Fireworks
 Other animals
 Unknown humans
 These are more difficult to extinguish, but it
CAN be done!
PREVENTION is best medicine!
5 simple steps!
 Elicit/Reward _______________________ behavior
 ________________ or _______________ inappropriate
behavior
 Meet pet’s __________________ and _____________________
needs
 Use ________________ reinforcement correctly to
encourage appropriate behaviors.
 Use _________________ correction/punishment to
discourage inappropriate behavior.
 Minimize ___________________ correction/punishment and
only use it (correctly) when absolutely necessary.
Sources:
 Yin, S. (2009). Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and
Behavior Modification of Dogs & Cats
More behavior is coming
soon!