TRAINING MANUAL FOR DOGS

By Mckenzie Wilson

Congratulations, you've recently embraced a canine! Canines genuinely are man's closest
companion, and this manual has been developed to help you train your new pet effortlessly
and effectively. There are three stunts/practices that are fundamental in preparing your
canine and the mental reason for various preparing procedures to comprehend better what
occurs during the preparation cycle. This manual goes over classical and operant conditioning
and observational learning of how to instruct canines to be agreeable around different
canines, strolling pleasantly on a lead and not bouncing on individuals.

Classical Conditioning
Understanding Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which your pet will learn to associate two stimuli
or learning a 'conditional' behaviour (If I do this, I get this) (Lumen, 2020). It works by taking
a neutral stimulus (one that does not elicit the response you want) and forming an association
between that stimulus and behaviour that you are trying to teach so that the stimulus's
presence begins to prompt the behaviour. Watson was a psychologist who experimented with
Albert, an eleven-month-old dog, to study how emotions are learned. He took a white rat and
a loud noise and associated them so that Albert showed fear when showed the white rat. We
can apply this conditioning to teach an animal a skill or behaviour. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018)

Application of Classical Conditioning in Dog Training

Even though classical conditioning does not train a dog to perform behaviours on cue, it can
play a decisive role in behaviour modification, which helps other parts of training. An example
of a behaviour that can be modified through classical conditioning is fear of other dogs.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this:

1. Introduce your dog to another dog in an environment your pet is comfortable in, such
as your living room.
2. As soon as he notices the other dog, use a clicker and reward him generously for being
in the room, then remove him from the room temporarily.
3. Take him back into the room, using the clicker as soon as he does so, then rewarding
him again for being in there. If he moves towards the other dog, even just one step,
use the clicker or bell and reward him again. If he is reluctant to do this, bring the
other dog closer, and then click and reward your dog for remaining near the other
dog. Make sure to praise him as well continuously.
 4. Repeat this process for around half an hour every few days, each time incrementally
decreasing the distance between the dogs until your dog can comfortably be near the
other dog.
5. At this point, your dog has associated being near other dogs with the clicker (which he
associates with treats,)allowing him to view it as a far more positive.

Summary of Classical Conditioning

Overall, this form of conditioning is very effective as a form of training, as it allows for your
pet to not just learn tricks like sitting, but allows their emotions and fears to be changed to
help both them and you! However, it’s essential to keep in mind that classical conditioning
can cause behaviours that you don’t want by unintentionally helping your pet associate things
together. An example of this is your dog running to your fridge when he hears it open because
he has associated the noise with food.

Operant Conditioning
Understanding Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a form of learning that uses punishment and reward to teach a
behaviour by associating a behaviour with a consequence. (Cherry, 2019) The person or
animal does something to the environment, and whether they are met with a positive or
negative response will result in an increase or decrease in the behaviour. Adding something
to encourage a behaviour is called positive reinforcement and taking away something terrible
to encourage a behaviour is called negative reinforcement. Taking away something positive
to reduce a behaviour is called negative punishment and adding something that is not positive
is positive punishment.
An example of this is the Skinner box, a box used for small animals for whom lever pressing is
a behaviour that the dog can quickly learn. Animals are kept hungry, so food can be used as a
reward, and they understand that pressing the lever causes food to be dispensed, which is a
form of positive reinforcement. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018) Thorndike studied behaviour in
animals and suggested that animals learn behaviours through consequences to their actions.
(McLeod, 2018).

Application of Operant Conditioning in Dog Training

Operant conditioning can be instrumental when training your pet to perform tricks such a not
jumping up. Here is a step-by-step guide on achieving this through positive reinforcement and
negative punishment, depending on what works for you and your pet. A combination of both
is often beneficial.

Positive reinforcement:
1. Find a treat your dog enjoys; whether it be a small snack or just some scratches and
pats, this will act as a reward when they do the right thing.
2. When your dog does not jump at someone, he usually jumps at, praise him
immediately. Try keeping treats in each room so you can reward him quickly.
3. Repeat this every time he doesn’t jump up, making sure you praise him immediately,
then follow up with affection or a treat (depending on what he prefers)
4. Once he is very rarely jumping up, the treat can be removed and replaced simply with
praise (this praise is critical, so he does not revert to old habits)

Negative punishment:
1. Then next time the behaviour you’re trying to discourage occurs, instead of trying to
soothe or pet the dog to make it stop, instead remove attention
2. The dog no longer is receiving the positive response that he used to when jumping up,
which discourages the behaviour
3. It is essential that this is applied to anyone he jumps on, not just you, so he learns not
to jump in general rather than not to jump on you.
4. Continue this until your pet stops jumping up.
Summary of Operant Conditioning

It is essential that when using operant conditioning techniques, punishment is avoided, as it

has been shown to cause aggression, mistrust, and confusion in the training process. Using
rewards will make it a far more enjoyable experience for you and your pet. (Overall, 2004) ,
Operant conditioning is a very effective way of training your pet, as long as physical violence
is avoided. It is relatively straightforward to both teach and for your pet to learn.

Observational Learning
Understanding Observational Learning
Observational learning is a form of learning by which a new behaviour is taught. An old
behaviour is modified through either observing others and mimicking their behaviours or
observing the consequences of behaviours others exhibit. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018)

Figure 1-Processes of observational learning (adapted from Fletcher & Garton, 2018)
As seen in figure 1, there is a specific process involved in observational learning. Each previous
step must be fulfilled before the next step can be, and they are all essential for a reproduction
of the desired behaviour to be achieved. For example, even if one is motivated to develop the
behaviour, if they do not notice the behaviour, they will not act in the correct behaviour that
they are intended too.

Psychologist Albert Bandura (1977) formed the theory of observational learning. He mainly
studied children and found that kids often observe people (or as he called them models, as
they were modelling the behaviour), encode their behaviour, and then mimic these
behaviours that they have observed. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018) In social learning theory,
Albert Bandura agrees with the behaviourist learning theories of in classical conditioning and
operant conditioning.

Albert Bandura was noticing learning through molding in 1977. He understood that adapting
frequently happens through perception of molding, and that the conduct noticed was bound
to be imitated in the event that they watched something great happen to the individual
playing out the conduct.

While totally progressive at that point, this hypothesis is clear once analysed: all individuals
in gatherings of people learn through watching others. On the off chance that we see an
individual put in a coin in a gumball machine and get a treats, we are bound to place a coin in
after them. In the event that we see an individual put a coin in and get nothing, we are
probably not going to take a stab at placing a coin in thereafter. In canines, however, analysts
understood that conduct was adapted socially due to how infectious certain practices were.
This would resemble people figuring out how to grin as a result of how infectious grinning is.
These practices are known as allelomimetic practices.

Allelomimetic conduct, is essentially a term used to portray socially educated conduct that is
ordinarily impersonated (Abrantes, 2014). A dog howling regularly sets all the neighbourhood
to an ensemble, running felines get a glaring of other running felines in transit, in any event,
yawning can be considered allelomimetic conduct. Allelomimetic practices are regular in the
social learning measure since it makes the conduct more probable rehashed since it is so
infectious.

Application of Observational Learning in Dog Training

Observational learning can be beneficial when training your pet to do things such as walk well
on a leash.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this:

Find a dog that can already confidently walk on the leash and is comfortable around other
Dogs
1. Instead of walking your dog alone where they may tug on the leash or be fearful of
other dogs, but the two dogs on the same leash and take them on a short walk
2. Repeat this every few days, taking them on gradually longer walks
 3. The more confident dog and your dog will encode these behaviours and hopefully act
similarly in the future!
4. Once the two dogs appear confident together, walk just your dog alone. To test their
abilities, if they need more time with the other dog, that's ok! It's just a matter of time
before they start picking up their behaviours.

Summary of Observational Learning

In finding, learning through observation is a time-tested method that often causes behaviours
to be mimicked; however, things such as the relationship with the model can affect how well
it works. It is helpful in teaching behaviours that may be difficult to learn through operant or
classical conditioning. It's also important to keep in mind that if there is a dog modelling bad
behaviour, this could also be mimicked, so if you have other naughty pups, they may teach
each other undesirable behaviours.
Bibliography

Cherry, K. (2019, March 8). What Is Operant Conditioning and How Does It
Work?Retrieved from Very Well Mind: https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-
conditioning a2-2794863

Fletcher, J. & Garton, A. (2018). Psychology WA ATAR Self and Other. Melbourne:
Cengage.

Lumen. (2020). Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from Lumen:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/classical-
conditioning/

McLeod, S. (2018). Edward Thorndike: The Law of Effect. Retrieved from Simply
Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/edward-thorndike.html

Overall, K. (2004, April 12). Why Punishment-Based Dog Training Doesn’t Work.
Retrieved from Whole Dog Journal: https://www.whole-dog-
journal.com/training/why-punishment-based-dog-training-doesnt-work/
Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which your
pet will learn to associate two stimuli or learning a
'conditional' behaviour (If I do this, I get this) (Lumen,
2020). It works by taking a neutral stimulus (one that
does not elicit the response you want) and forming an
association between that stimulus and behaviour that
you are trying to teach so that the stimulus's presence
begins to prompt the behaviour. Watson was a
psychologist who experimented with Albert, an eleven-
month-old dog, to study how emotions are learned. He
took a white rat and a loud noise and associated them so
that Albert showed fear when showed the white rat. We
can apply this conditioning to teach an animal a skill or
behaviour. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018) Application of
Classical Conditioning in Dog TrainingEven though
classical conditioning does not train a dog to perform
behaviours on cue, it can play a decisive role in behaviour
modification, which helps other parts of training. An
example of a behaviour that can be modified through
classical conditioning is fear of other dogs. Here is a step-
by-step guide on how to achieve this: 1.Introduce your
dog to another dog in an environment your pet is
comfortable in, such as your living room. 2. As soon as he
notices the other dog, use a clicker and reward
him generously for being in the room, then remove him
from the room temporarily. 3.Take him back into the
room, using the clicker as soon as he does so, then
rewarding him again for being in there. If he moves
towards the other dog, even just one step, use the
clicker or bell and reward him again. If he is reluctant to
do this, bring the other dog closer, and then click and
reward your dog for remaining near the other dog. Make
sure to praise him as well continuously. 4.Repeat this
process for around half an hour every few days, each
time incrementally decreasing the distance between the
dogs until your dog can comfortably be near the other
dog. 5.At this point, your dog has associated being near
other dogs with the clicker (which he associates with
treats,)allowing him to view it as a far more
positive.Summary of Classical Conditioning Overall, this
form of conditioning is very effective as a form of
training, as it allows for your pet to not just learn tricks
like sitting, but allows their emotions and fears to be
changed to help both them and you! However, it’s
essential to keep in mind that classical conditioning can
cause behaviours that you don’t want by unintentionally
helping your pet associate things together. An example
of this is your dog running to your fridge when he hears
it open because he has associated the noise with food.
Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is a form of
learning that uses punishment and reward to teach a
behaviour by associating a behaviour with a
consequence. (Cherry, 2019) The person or animal does
something to the environment, and whether they are
met with a positive or negative response will result in an
increase or decrease in the behaviour. Adding something
to encourage a behaviour is called positive
reinforcement and taking away something terrible to
encourage a behaviour is called negative reinforcement.
Taking away something positive to reduce a behaviour is
called negative punishment and adding something that
is not positive is positive punishment. An example of this
is the Skinner box, a box used for small animals for whom
lever pressing is a behaviour that the dog can quickly
learn. Animals are kept hungry, so food can be used as a
reward, and they understand that pressing the lever
causes food to be dispensed, which is a form of positive
reinforcement. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018) Thorndike
studied behaviour in animals and suggested that animals
learn behaviours through consequences to their
actions (McLeod, 2018). Application of Operant
Conditioning in Dog Training Operant conditioning can
be instrumental when training your pet to perform tricks
such a not jumping up. Here is a step-by-step guide on
achieving this through positive reinforcement and
negative punishment, depending on what works for you
and your pet. A combination of both is often
beneficial. Positive reinforcement: 1.Find a treat your
dog enjoys; whether it be a small snack or just some
scratches and pats, this will act as a reward when they
do the right thing. 2.When your dog does not jump at
someone, he usually jumps at, praise him immediately.
Try keeping treats in each room so you can reward him
quickly. 3.Repeat this every time he doesn’t jump up,
making sure you praise him immediately, then follow up
with affection or a treat (depending on what he
prefers) 4.Once he is very rarely jumping up, the treat
can be removed and replaced simply with praise (this
praise is critical, so he does not revert to old
habits) Negative punishment: 5.Then next time the
behaviour you’re trying to discourage occurs, instead of
trying to soothe or pet the dog to make it stop, instead
remove attention 6.The dog no longer is receiving the
positive response that he used to when jumping up,
which discourages the behaviour 7.It is essential that this
is applied to anyone he jumps on, not just you, so he
learns not to jump in general rather than not to jump on
you. 8.Continue this until your pet stops jumping
up. Summary of Operant Conditioning It is essential that
when using operant conditioning techniques,
punishment is avoided, as it has been shown to cause
aggression, mistrust, and confusion in the training
process. Using rewards will make it a far more enjoyable
experience for you and your pet. (Overall, 2004) ,
Operant conditioning is a very effective way of training
your pet, as long as physical violence is avoided. It is
relatively straightforward to both teach and for your pet
to learn. Observational Learning Observational learning
is a form of learning by which a new behaviour is taught.
An old behaviour is modified through either observing
others and mimicking their behaviours or observing the
consequences of behaviours others exhibit. (Fletcher &
Garton, 2018) as seen in figure 1, there is a specific
process involved in observational learning. Each
previous step must be fulfilled before the next step can
be, and they are all essential for a reproduction of the
desired behaviour to be achieved. For example, even if
one is motivated to develop the behaviour, if they do not
notice the behaviour, they will not act in the correct
behaviour that they are intended too.Psychologist Albert
Bandura (1977) formed the theory of observational
learning. He mainly studied children and found that kids
often observe people (or as he called them models, as
they were modelling the behaviour), encode their
behaviour, and then mimic these behaviours that they
have observed. (Fletcher & Garton, 2018) In social
learning theory, Albert Bandura agrees with the
behaviourist learning theories of in classical conditioning
and operant conditioning.Application of Observational
Learning in Dog Training Observational learning can be
beneficial when training your pet to do things such as
walk well on a leash. 1. Instead of walking your dog alone
where they may tug on the leash or be fearful of other
dogs, but the two dogs on the same leash and take them
on a short walk 1.Repeat this every few days, taking
them on gradually longer walks 2.The more confident
dog and your dog will encode these behaviours and
hopefully act similarly in the future! 3.Once the two dogs
appear confident together, walk just your dog alone. To
test their abilities, if they need more time with the other
dog, that's ok! It's just a matter of time before they start
picking up their behaviours. Summary of Observational
Learning In finding, learning through observation is a
time-tested method that often causes behaviours to be
mimicked; however, things such as the relationship with
the model can affect how well it works. It is helpful in
teaching behaviours that may be difficult to learn
through operant or classical conditioning. It's also
important to keep in mind that if there is a dog modelling
bad behaviour, this could also be mimicked, so if you
have other naughty pups, they may teach each other
undesirable behaviours.