Optiminzing a Dog's Ability to Learn

Note: The following is a summary of the slides from a presentation on this subject. I gleaned the information from research I did for a book on the topic. I put the book on indefinite hold, so you might as well take advantage of the info.

What we're going to cover

• Heredity vs. environment

What's our goal?

• Dog that excels as both a performance animal and as a "pet"
• Requires:
  • Excellent structure and health
  • Solid temperament
  • Ability to learn what I needed him to learn
  • Ability to function in the world

Multi-tiered foundation

• Physical
• Emotional
• Mental
• Social

Core concepts

• More like puzzle pieces than bricks
• Overlap and interlock

How much can you control?

• 35% heredity
• 65% "other"
  • Training
  • Nutrition
  • Health care and physical condition
  • Socialization
  • Stimulation and enrichment

What is heredity?

• Raw material
• Can be influenced and modified within limits
• Includes:
  • Breed-specific traits/abilities/tendencies
  • Physical characteristics
  • Health
  • Temperament

What is temperament?

• In-borne traits that determine how the dog reacts to the world around them
• Different from personality
• "Style with which you approach the world"

Nine traits of temperament

• Activity level
• Rhythmicity
• Approach or withdrawal
• Adaptability
• Threshold of responsiveness
• Intensity of reaction

Traits of temperament, cont'd

• Distractibility
• Attention span and persistence
• Quality of mood

Temperament categories

• Three main "buckets":
  • Easy or flexible
  • Active, difficult, or feisty
  • Slow to warm or cautious
• Many don't fall into a single bucket
• Be careful with labels

What can you achieve?

• Limited by heredity
• Individuals have different strengths and weaknesses
• Each characteristic has an upper and lower limit
• Goal is to make Fido the best Fido he can be

Optimizing heredity

• To get the best, start with the best
• Choose the appropriate physical type
• Pick lineage with proper structure and temperament and health
• Give dam proper pre-natal care
• Choose individual with best structure, temperament, and health

Bottom line on heredity

• Heredity will influence everything in your dog's life

  BUT

• Heredity is tendency, not pre-determination
• Non-genetic factors are, overall, a more significant influence

Canine learning and development

• Begins in utero
• Critical periods:
  • Prior to 16 weeks
  • During "teen" months
• Continues throughout life

Development in utero

• Nearly all brain cells formed
• Development affected by maternal nutrition and emotions
• Ability to move and sense of touch present prior to birth
• Sight and hearing not present

The canine brain

• Two main areas:
  • Cerebral cortex
  • Limbic system
• Composed of neurons
• Neurons increase in size and complexity, not number after birth

Reasons for good nutrition during pregnancy

• Promotes proper inheritance of genes
• Ensures proper brain development
• Later stimulation has greater effect on well-nourished puppies

Negative effects of malnutrition during pregnancy

• Concentration of protein in brain cells is insufficient
• Brain weight is lower than normal
• Myelination is delayed
• Brain size is smaller with fewer cells
• Less branching of dendrites

Negative effects, cont'd

• Puppies cannot respond to sensory stimulation normally
• Physical growth and health are impaired
• Behavior is retarded
• Motor activity and coordination are impaired

Affects of maternal emotions

• Stressed moms have stressed pups
• Moms petted and caressed during pregnancy have more docile pups

Sensory input in utero

• Unlike humans, pups cannot see or hear prior to birth
• Can feel and move
• Both touch and movement stimulate brain development

Recommendations

• Good nutrition before, during, and after pregnancy
• Keep mom in low-stress environment
• Perform TTouch or massage, including belly touches

Neonatal period

• Birth to opening of eyes
• Sensitive to thermal, tactile, and motion stimuli
• Little to no cognitive learning
• Mild stress improves development of pituitary-adrenocortical system

Benefits of mild stress during neonatal period

• "Gradedresponse to stress later
• Accelerated maturation of the nervous system
• More rapid hair growth and weight gain
• Enhanced development of motor skills
• Enhanced problem-solving ability

Benefits, cont'd

• Mature sexually earlier
• More resistant to some forms of cancer and disease
• Withstand cold better
• More stable
• More exploratory
• Learned faster

Early neurological stimulation

• ENS, "Bio Sensor," or "Super Dog"
• Performed once daily on days 3-16
• Five exercises
• More isn't better
• Not a substitute for routine handling, play, socialization, or bonding

Five exercises

• Tactical stimulation
• Head held erect
• Head pointed down
• Supine position
• Thermal stimulation

Recommendations

• Early neurological stimulation
• TTouch and massage, especially around mouth

Transition period

• Opening of eyes until the startle response
• By end of this period, all senses present
• Motor abilities develop rapidly
• "Reorganization" of behavior
• No fear

Recommendations

• Continue massage
• Add new visual and tactile stimuli
• Introduce potentially scary stimuli that will later be routine

Socialization period

• Begins when ear canal opens
• Ends after fear period, when pup becomes more independent
• Vital time for both positive and negative experiences
• Key relationships formed

Pat Hasting's "Rule of Sevens"

• By the time a puppy is 7 weeks, he should have:
• Been on 7 types of surfaces
• Played with 7 types of objects
• Been in 7 locations
• Met 7 new people
• Been exposed to 7 challenges
• Eaten from 7 types of containers

Don't overdo it!

• Don't overstimulate or overwhelm
• Goal isn't to introduce pup to everything he will ever experience
• Teach "new and different is good"
• Variety is key
• Stress and recover to teach bounce-back

Minimize fear and over-stress

• Fear begins at 5 weeks, peaks at 6-7 weeks, levels off by 12 weeks
• Things to avoid:
  • Long-term changes in locality
  • Isolation
  • Discipline from humans or dogs
  • Traumatic visits to the vet

When to rehome puppies?

• Scott & Fuller recommended 8 weeks
• Wolters recommended 49 days
• 12 weeks is better for pups
• Benefits include easier house-breaking, better bite inhibition, better dog skills, less separation anxiety, calmer adolescents, better learners

Recommendations

• Continue massage or TTouch
• Introduce basic problem solving
• Introduce variety of stimuli at puppy's rate
• Don't let pups practice undesired social behaviors
• Great time to begin clicker training

Juvenile period

• Begins with first independent forays
• Ends at sexual maturity
• "Age of Independence"
• Brain growth slows
• Stable period

Recommendations

• Same as socialization period
• Begin enrichment

Adolescence

• Begins at puberty and ends at adulthood
• Not just hormones
• Period of massive brain growth
• Impulsiveness is high; ability to make decisions is frequently retarded
• K.I.S.S.

Recommendations

• Continue enrichment
• Continue variety of types of behaviors
• Emphasize core behaviors you want your dog to have through his life

Building a Strong Foundation

Physical foundation

• Genetic influences
• Nutrition
• Careful growth
• Weight
• Health

Puppies

• Moderate exercise, largely self-paced
• No jumping until growth plates close
• At higher risk of injury due to growing body
• Get health clearances first

Add variety early

• Textures/surfaces
• Tunnels
• Hills
• Swings
• Balance
• Body awareness

Adolescents and adults

• After most growth achieved, begin gradually increasing exercise
• Skills and endurance
• "Cross train"
• Like humans, warm up, cool down, and stretch
• Rest!

Physical skills and learning

• The physical foundation is vital for optimal learning
• A dog in pain, stiff, or sore cannot concentrate on learning
• It takes brain power to learn physical skills
• Well-learned skills require less brain power
• Nutrition and exercise help manage stress

Social foundation

• Begins at week 5 and continues throughout life
• Not just people and dogs
• The way your dog relates to his world
• Optimize according to his temperament

Social skills and learning

• Can't learn or perform if overwhelmed by the environment
• "He's trained except when there are distractions" isn't trained
• A socially inadequate dog is frequently stressed

Emotional foundation

• Emotions came before cognitive thought
• A tendency to act is implicit in every emotion
• Emotion is inextricably tied to cognitive thought

Emotions and learning

• Too much negative emotion creates "neural static"
• Faulty prefrontal control over limbic responses handicaps intelligence
• Most common emotional problem for dogs is impulsivity

Importance of self-control

• Self control is cognitive rather than reactive
• Social creatures without self-control become outcasts
• Those with self-control handle frustration better, learn better, perform better, and are more adept socially

How to teach self-control

• Prevent dog from becoming reactive
• Early intervention is key
• Mold calm body postures if necessary
• Perform simple, well-known behaviors during stressful events
• Use diet and exercise to maintain stability
• Teach problem-solving

Problem solving

• Opposite of impulsivity
• Those with problem solving issues cannot handle stress-they shut down or react aggressively
• To teach problem solving, have the dog solve problems of gradually increasing difficulty

Mental foundation

Variety is key

• Individual, object interaction, and dog/person interactive
• Stationary and active
• Close and at a distance
• Scent, shape, and object discrimination
• Front and rear end behaviors
• Left, right, over, under, push, and pull

Let your dog do the thinking

• For mental development, use training methods that require active thought
• Shaping is the most cognitive method of getting behavior
• When choosing a training method, consider your overall goals

Concepts vs. behaviors

• Behaviors stand alone or are combined
• Concepts underlie behavior
• To teach a concept, teach simple behaviors that include the concept

Core concepts

• Resiliency
• Confidence
• Tolerance / Trust in the handler
• Problem-solving
• Concentration

Training concepts

• Latency
• Work at a distance from the handler
• Duration
• Work in distractions
• Work in different locations

Other possibly helpful concepts

• Think first
• New = good
• Other dogs = good
• People = good
• Mother may I?
• When in doubt, watch me

Concepts, cont'd

• People skin is fragile
• Body awareness
• Objects have names
• On-off cue
• All good things come from handler

Trainer skills

• Excellent timing
• Proper setting of criteria
• Ability to evaluate when to increase criteria
• Willingness/Ability to maintain a high rate of reinforcement
• Quiet body

Trainer skills, cont'd

• Ability to break down complex behavior
• Ability to see subtle nuances of behavior
• Ability to predict when target behavior will occur
• Ability to create and choose reinforcers
• Ability to control the environment

Trainer skills, cont'd

• Good record-keeping skills
• Knowledge of the animal being trained
• Patience
• Flexibility
• Objectivity
• Practice without the dog

Melissa Alexander
mca @ clickersolutions.com
copyright 2005 Melissa Alexander

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List and Site Owner: Melissa Alexander, mca @ clickersolutions.com