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Chapter 2: Understanding How Dogs Learn

Dogs are a different species than we are. Behavior that you find unacceptable in a person is often normal in canine terms. Imagine waking up one morning surrounded by people who use a language you don’t understand and who have unfamiliar customs. You can learn the new language and what this community finds acceptable and unacceptable, but someone is going to have to teach you in terms that you can understand. This is your role with your dog.

Understanding Instincts

Dogs instinctively dig and jump and chase and bark and perform other behaviors typical of their species. These are normal dog behaviors. If you are taking a lovely stroll down the block and your dog sees a squirrel, he may instinctively bolt after it. This doesn’t mean that you have to tolerate behaviors that you don’t like, but it helps to understand what behaviors are normal for dogs.

Some breeds were purposely bred to do specific things. Some dogs were fine-tuned to chase livestock, while others were developed to follow scent. These behaviors are now ingrained in those breeds, so it’s natural for them to do them. Your dog is not being stubborn or defiant if he’s just answering to his DNA.

Feelings and Emotions

Anyone who has ever loved a dog will tell you that dogs have feeling and emotions, and a recent study has shown that dog lovers have been right all along. Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, completed research demonstrating that dogs use the same area of the brain as humans do to feel. Berns found similarities in structure and function of a region of the brain called the caudate nucleus. In people, the caudate nucleus responds in anticipation of things that we enjoy, such as love, food, and money. In dogs, Berns’s research found that the caudate nucleus responds to hand signals indicating food and to the smells of familiar humans. Preliminary tests also showed that the caudate nucleus reacted to the return of a dog’s owner after the owner had momentarily stepped out of view.

What the study basically showed is that dogs have about the level of sentience as a human child, which is no surprise to anyone who has ever loved a dog. What else can you describe other than happiness when your dog greets you after an absence? If you’ve ever seen those heartwarming videos of servicemen and servicewomen returning from deployment to greet their ecstatic dogs, how could there be any doubt? If you’ve ever lost one dog of several, don’t the others appear to mourn?

Dogs are feeling, emotional beings, whether or not science has caught up with what we know to be true.

This is important when it comes to choosing a training program. If dogs can feel, do you want to hurt them to train them? Of course not. And you don’t have to—there are positive ways to train your dog to do what you want.

Breeds Make a Difference

Your dog’s breed or mix of breeds will have an impact on his behavior. Humans have selectively bred dogs to perform different tasks over time, eventually coming up with defined breeds. There are hundreds of breeds of dog in the world. If you have a mixed-breed dog, you may have to take a guess at who his parents are if you don’t get a chance to meet them. Sometimes, you can tell by looking at a dog, but you can also look at your dog’s behavior.

If your purebred dog exhibits breed traits that you don’t like, who can you blame? You’re the one who chose the dog. This doesn’t mean that you have to put up with excessive chasing or barking or hunting, but please don’t get angry with your dog for doing what he was bred to do.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) puts dog breeds with similar traits together into groups. Let’s take a look at some of the traits of these groups.

Pet parents know that dogs do have feelings and emotions.

Herding Breeds

Herding breeds were created to move livestock. There are some breeds that specialize in cattle, others sheep, and some multiple species. Some move livestock by barking at them, while others nip at their charges’ heels. In essence, herding breeds are really good at chasing things and rounding them up. Often, people complain that their herding dog chases their children or the family cat.

Herding breeds are usually very agile and fast, and they do really well at speed sports, such as agility. They are often energetic dogs, and they do best when you give them healthy options for channeling that energy. Breeds in this group include the Collie, Corgi, Shetland Sheepdog, Australian Cattle Dog, and Puli.

Sporting Breeds

Sporting breeds were designed to work with hunters. Some flush game, some retrieve, and some point to where the game is hiding. Some excel at working in the water, and others are best in fields. Still others perform multiple tasks.

Sporting-breed dogs usually have a lot of energy, especially as puppies and adolescents. They generally work very well with people and are popular family dogs. Breeds in this category include the Labrador Retriever, English Setter, Golden Retriever, Portuguese Water Dog, and Brittany.

Hound Breeds

Hounds were bred to hunt. Some (such as the Basset Hound) specialize in following scent, and some (such as the Whippet) hunt by sight. These breeds are persistent and have stamina. Some also bay. Breeds in this category include the Greyhound, Bloodhound, Beagle, Irish Wolfhound, and Afghan Hound.

Terrier Breeds

Terriers were bred to hunt and kill vermin. They are persistent, with lots of energy, and can be feisty. Most have wiry coats that require special grooming, called stripping, to keep up their appearance. You may notice that your terrier likes to “kill” his toys by shaking them. Breeds in this category include the West Highland White Terrier, Parson Russell Terrier, Rat Terrier, Cairn Terrier, and Bull Terrier.

Toy Breeds

These little dogs were created to be companions. As a result, they are very attached to their people and often follow them everywhere. Their small size makes them ideal for apartment living, but don’t bother telling a Toy breed dog that he is little. He won’t believe you! Breeds in this category include the Papillon, Chihuahua, Maltese, Pomeranian, and Pug.

Working

Working dogs were bred to perform jobs, such as guarding property, pulling sleds, and other duties. Because all of the jobs vary, so do the individual dogs. In general, these dogs are usually strong and committed, and some are very large. Breeds in this category include the Siberian Husky, Saint Bernard, Great Pyrenees, Samoyed, and Great Dane.

Non-Sporting

The Non-Sporting Group is kind of a catchall for a variety of breeds, so the dogs in it are all across the map in terms of size and behavior traits. For example, the Shiba Inu is a small Japanese dog bred to hunt small wild game, boar, and bear. The Chow Chow is a medium-sized Chinese dog used for hunting, protection, pulling, and herding. Other breeds in this category include the Schipperke, Bichon Frise, and Poodle.

Miscellaneous

The AKC also has a Miscellaneous Class. This group is for purebred dogs that are “on deck” for admission to the rosters in a regular group. In order to graduate to a regular class, breeds must have an active parent club and “serious and expanding breeding activity over a wide geographic area.” These breeds may already be recognized in other countries; there are many breeds active in other countries that aren’t yet AKC-registered, possibly because they are not as popular in the United States as they are in other countries.

From left to right: West Highland White Terrier (Terrier Group); Siberian Husky (Working Group); Border Collie (Herding Group); Brittany (Sporting Group), Greyhound (Hound Group-Sighthound); Basset Hound (Hound Group-Scenthound); Pug (Toy Group); Bichon Frise (Non-Sporting Group).

Understanding Puppy Development

Puppies are learning soon after birth, so it’s important to understand what goes on during those critical first weeks of life.

Puppies learn so many lessons from their mothers and siblings. Mothers have to lick puppies in order for them to urinate and defecate, and they also lick the pups clean afterward. This is how puppies learn to stay clean. If they don’t have this experience with Mom because they are removed from her too soon, they may have trouble learning house-training later; this is often a challenge with puppies bought from pet stores.

Puppies learn bite inhibition, meaning not to bite down too hard, from playing with their siblings. When puppies play, if one chomps down too hard on another, the recipient will yip or snap and stop playtime. The chomping puppy doesn’t want to stop playing, so he learns to lessen the intensity of his bite. Puppies learn bite inhibition from their mother, too, especially as she wants to start weaning them. Puppies also learn to share with their littermates. They learn about competition for resources, such as toys or their mom’s milk. These are important social lessons that are critical at this age, which is why it’s important not to take puppies away from their families too soon. Good breeders and rescue organizations will keep puppies with their families for at least eight weeks.

When a mother dog has only one puppy in the litter, called a singleton, he is at a disadvantage. He may not learn bite inhibition very well because he doesn’t have brothers or sisters to teach him when he bites too hard. This could prove to be a problem for you because the pup could be very mouthy. He also never has to share or compete for anything, so he may find it very frustrating when he suddenly doesn’t get everything he wants when he comes to your home. You will need to spend extra effort in training a singleton puppy.

Some people want to get two littermates or young puppies at the same time. This is certainly appealing, because the puppies will spend a lot of time together and be playmates, but it can cause several problems. Puppies raised together can become overly dependent on each other because they spend all of their time together, especially if they are crated together, so they never learn to be alone. Then, when one of them has to go to the veterinarian or gets to go somewhere without the other, the puppy left behind becomes traumatized. Too much dependence is not healthy.

Another challenge of raising littermates is that, because they spend so much time together, they bond more closely with each other than with you or other members of your family. Dogs bond most closely with whomever they spend the most time in positive experiences. During the critical socialization window, if a puppy spends the majority of his time with another puppy, then that’s who he’ll bond with. You’ll likely find that they don’t listen to you, especially as they mature, which will make training them a greater challenge.

Some littermates also can develop aggression toward each other as they get older. Sometimes, aggression may develop to the point where it is not healthy or safe to keep both pups together any longer, which is heartbreaking.

Raising littermates or young puppies together can be done, but it requires a lot of extra work and dedication. You will need to ensure that each puppy has his own crate and own bowl. You must separate them daily for individual bonding time with you and other members of your family. You’ll need to train them individually and take turns taking each one on trips and adventures. With all that you need to do to raise a puppy right, the extra effort may prove to be a greater challenge than you are prepared to tackle. This is why so many professional trainers do not recommend getting littermates.

A Long Way from Wolves

In the past, common theory was that dogs evolved from wolves. Modern research has shed some doubt on this. The more we learn about dogs, the more we realize that their past may not be as closely aligned with wolves as previously thought.

Whether dogs started out as wolves or not, they are now a long, long way from Canis lupus. Can you imagine a pack of Pugs taking down a caribou? Not likely. Humans have shaped dogs, for better or worse, into the domestic animal we know and love today.

Why is this important to understand? Because if you think that your dog is behaving like a wolf, and you try and respond accordingly, you will be way off base. Wolves are pack animals. A pack has a nuclear family consisting of a breeding pair and its offspring. Males take part in raising the young. There is generally a hierarchy, from an “alpha” male and female at the top to the lowest “omega.”

Experts used to think that dogs were pack animals, but as they study village dogs all over the world, they are starting to realize that this is not likely the case. Village dogs are dogs that may have once been owned by people but came to be strays, or they are descendants of previously owned dogs. They sometimes are claimed by local people who feed them on occasion, but they are not in-home pets like the dog that you’ve brought home.

Such dogs have fallen into a natural state, living near dumps and in cities where they forage for food. They don’t form packs. Instead, they form transitional acquaintances, sometimes teaming up with one or two other dogs for a brief period of time and then moving on. Males do not help in rearing pups. The village dogs do not team up to hunt together. Instead, they are mainly scavengers. It is not in the best interest of a scavenger to team up with buddies.

People who try to treat their dogs like wolves are barking up the wrong tree. For example, your dog growls at you when you reach for his collar, so you assume that he is jockeying for an alpha position. You flip him upside down in an “alpha roll” and hold him until he stops struggling. Big mistake. A dog may growl at a collar grab because the gesture has been associated as a negative experience or because he is afraid. Now that you’ve forced your dog into a frightening position and held him there, you’ve convinced him that he was right all along! Hands around his head are now really scary to him. Your dog may growl at you sooner next time. What you thought was a play for rank was really something else altogether, and now you have a worse problem on your hands.

Your dog knows that you’re not a wolf or another dog. You don’t look or smell a thing like a dog, so trying to act like one will just confuse or startle him. Your dog won’t understand any message that you’re trying to convey, and you could create some serious problems in the delivery.

Early Training and Socialization Benefits

The sooner you can start training a dog, the better. You’ll stop bad habits from developing and becoming ingrained. If you properly socialize a puppy during his critical socialization period (up until about sixteen weeks of age), you’ll help prevent serious behavior issues later.

You can start training your puppy as soon as you bring him home. This goes for adolescent and adult dogs, too. It’s never too late to start training a dog. Some people worry that their puppies are too young to start or that their adult dogs are too old. Neither is the case.

It is true that your puppy may not be able to attend a group class until all of his vaccinations are complete, depending on the class. But you don’t have to wait for a class—start training him at home. Puppies are clean slates, and they tend to learn fairly quickly. Older dogs are not too far behind, however. They may already have some habits that you want to fix, but they also have much better attention spans than easily distracted puppies. Once you teach your older dog how much fun positive training can be, he’ll become a stellar student.