We can divide dog training into two distinct philosophies; and no I don’t mean aversive vs rewarding, I’m thinking of those that divide dogs into active learners and those which favor passive learning. Trainers that create opportunities for the dog to find the answer and trainers that give (often by force) the answer. I thought…
“Positive reinforcement results in lasting behavioral modification, whereas punishment changes behavior only temporarily and presents many detrimental side effects.” B.F. Skinner (1970) Balanced and dominance trainers tend to present reward and punishment as opposite sides of the same coin, as if choosing one over the other was a matter of taste. This simplistic picture ignores…
Whether we are talking about zoo animals or our own pets, blood collection usually involves restraint. Forcible restraint is a stressful experience (for dog and handler), it can produce a fearful response which often results in defensive aggression. While the resulting behavior is what we see, there is also a complex biochemical cascade that accompanies…
This is an old study and it is not about dogs. What caught my attention though was the age of the subjects and the species it involved: Giant Aldabra tortoises. Weiss E., Wilson S.(2003) The Use of Classical and Operant Conditioning in Training Aldabra Tortoises (Geochelone gigantea) for Venipuncture and Other Husbandry Issues.Journal of Applied Animal…
There really isn’t much to say about this paper as it’s pretty self explanatory. I will mention that the flexibility that a clicker/progressive reinforcement/+R trainer has when it comes to the variety of species and the spectrum of behavior they can train is unmatched. If an animal can do it (what ever IT is) then…
Science and Dogs 
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