Tag: animal behavior

Idk if anyone’s gonna engage me on this but I want to think it out loud anyways.

Just… as a continuation of an earlier tag commentary thought train, what is the difference between training, teaching, and manipulation?

Because I was thinking “well isn’t teaching an animal to trust you so they’ll do what you ask just manipulating them?” and like, kind of? But I guess it depends on what you’re asking them to do, why you’re training them to do it, and how you’re training them.

For example, if I’m training my dog to have basic manners in a public space, that’s not for my personal satisfaction but rather for the sake of the dog as a member of society. And generally the best methods to teach dogs are ones that involve building their confidence in you as someone to look towards for directions. Building their trust in you. Ideally the dog will participate because engaging with you brings good things for them.

But like, what about training animals to do things where the animal gets no particular benefit from it other than maybe a treat and some enrichment (arguably, and depending on the case of course)? Not like at a zoo, where they have to train animals to perform certain actions for the purpose of health checks and such. And I don’t know enough about the details of cetacean captivity and welfare to use that as an example of anything.

You’ve got four basic training methods:

  1. Positive reinforcement: A desirable stimulus is applied when a “good” behavior happens, making that behavior more likely to reoccur. (This one is most often recommended for dog training, and probably most other kinds of training. Subject performs behavior when prompted in order to earn a good reward.)
  2. Positive punishment: An undesirable stimulus is applied when a “bad” behavior happens, making that behavior less likely to reoccur (Subject stops doing behavior to avoid unpleasant stimulus. Ex. The intention people have when using shock collars.)
  3. Negative reinforcement: An unpleasant stimulus is applied. When subject performs the desired behavior, the unpleasant stimulus is removed. Behavior more likely to reoccur. (Ex. applying pressure with a choke chain, releasing pressure when dog complies – not my favorite example, but the best one I can currently think of)
  4. Negative punishment: A desired stimulus or object is removed when the subject performs an unwanted behavior. Behavior less likely to reoccur. (Ex. Ignoring a child who interrupts; turning away from a dog that jumps up when greeting. I suppose would also include things like removal of rights after an arrest.)

I’m not sure where I was going with all this, but I guess how do you differentiate between training and manipulating? Is it just the deceit and dishonest intentions that make something manipulation? Would that make it manipulative to earn a stray’s trust so you can catch them and take them to the vet (something that, while in the animal’s best interest, is very much NOT what the animal was trusting from you)? Why is teaching an animal that humans = food = good so they’ll be more cooperative not manipulative? I don’t personally think it is, but I cant explain why it isn’t.

Do you think training your dog with spirts of water is ok? Like whenever your dog does something you get a spray bottle and squirt them?

why-animals-do-the-thing:

agro-carnist:

My philosophy is that squirting a dog is ok in certain situations. Things like barking should not be punishable by a squirt, as generally a squirt is supposed to spook/annoy a dog and barking is a natural response to stimuli. In that case a method like separating the dog from the stimulus is a better approach. To me a squirt should be used to deter a dog from a behavior that is dangerous or in a situation that needs to stop asap. If your dog is bullying another dog, getting into the garbage where you threw away a chocolate bar, etc, a squirt of water may be useful. Though, socializing and training your dog is a good way to avoid having to do that at all. But you can’t prevent everything so sometimes measures like that should be taken. Also note that squirts should be aimed at the shoulder and not at the face/eyes.

However I’m not a dog trainer or behaviorist so take what I say with a grain of salt and if you’re looking for a way to train your dog find someone qualified to help you. My current opinion may not be accurate.

From an ethical standpoint, you shouldn’t punish an animal for a behavior when you can a) set the situation up so it doesn’t occur or b) use positive techniques to train an alternate or incompatible behavior.

From a practical standpoint, things like a squirt of water are really ineffective punishers. For a punishing stimulus to work effectively (e.g. to actually achieve a change in behavior) the animal has to associate the punisher directly with the behavior that triggers it. When we talk about a punishing stimulus, that specifically means a stimulus that is added to a situation to discourage a behavior from reoccurring. If you get burned when you touch a hot burner the heat (a natural punishing stimulus in this case) will very effectively dissuade you from reaching out again. With a squirt bottle of any other common training punisher, because it’s something you add to the situation externally (instead of being something inherent, like with the stove example), animals generally associate you with the punisher instead of the behavior you want to stop. So you end up with them learning to avoid you when you’ve got the squirt bottle, but not associating getting squirted with what you’re trying to discourage.

In general, using squirt bottles or similar punishing stimulus is lazy training. It shouldn’t be a regular thing, ever – once you’ve realized what behavior your pet is doing that you want to prevent, it’s much more appropriate to put in the time and effort to fix it with positive methods. You can change your management protocols and teach your dog what you actually want them to do, rather than using a squirt bottle to only communicate what you don’t like.

(Punishing stimuli can be used to break up / disrupt very dire situations like dog fights, but that shouldn’t be occurring frequently).

vetstudentlive:

vet-and-wild:

People who say “animals know when you’re trying to help” have clearly never actually worked with animals in distress

Also, whenever you’re thinking that an animal won’t do something stupid because it’s not part of their described natural behavior, just remember:

Animals didn’t read the textbooks. Be prepared for anything

saskjeeper:

catscatsholyshitcats:

katnissdoesnotfollowback:

corpsefluid:

hmsindecision:

feeltheberd:

im crying

Do you know how many dogs I’ve met that get scared or anxious around men because in their previous home men hit them? A lot, and they are very protective of the women who have adopted them now.

Men who are violent towards women are often violent towards animals as well. They think we’re all chattel. If a man wants you to choose between your dog or cat or him, dump the guy. Those animals will love you for the rest of your life, loyal and true.

Actually, I have something to add.

The other day I saw a story where a woman was asking why her dogs had suddenly started growling at her boyfriend whenever he was in the same room as her son.

And my immediate thought was ‘that boyfriend has hurt the kid somehow.’

Spoilers: that was exactly the case.

Trust ur dogs when they say something is off.

The first time my sister came to visit, via plane, after I got my dog, pupper growled at her and wouldn’t go near her for the first day. Next visit was by car (two day drive)and pupper LOVED my sister. They snuggled and played and none of us could figure out why the change. We thought maybe the scent of my sisters cat had lingered on her clothes, making that first visit a rough one. Whereas when she came by car, the scent had had time to wear off. Well that was partially true…

Fast forward about six months when I went north to visit my family. My sister walked into my parents’ house and pupper ran to greet my sister. Stopped dead in her tracks and started growling and barking. Hackles raised, full protection mode. My sisters husband had just walked in behind her.

My precious puppy wanted NOTHING to do with him. She barked, growled, ran away, and sat between him and my sister. Y’all my dog had spent maybe a weekend a half around my sister but protected her like this was her flesh and blood.

Eventually, my sister filed for divorce on grounds of “Extreme and repeated mental, emotional, and sexual abuse.” Divorce was final in less than a month because her claims were substantiated.

Trust the dog, honey. They KNOW.

I’ve never owned dogs, but I used to work with horses (which are a lot like big dogs).

There was this one horse I worked with named Tonto. He was a doll. He followed me like a puppy, snuck treats out of my pocket, he was the sweetest thing. We were practically inseparable.

A guy I was considering dating came to visit me one day, and Tonto wanted NOTHING to do with him. Normally well behaved, he shoved himself between us and would NOT let this guy near me. He was stomping, acting really aggressive, and tried to bite the guy. This horse was practically dragging me back toward the barn. At that moment, despite being like, 17, I knew something was up, and ultimately things didn’t pan out for guy and me.

A year later I found out he had lied about his age (he said he was 18 but he was actually 27) he was arrested for sexually assaulting an 11 year old girl.

TRUST THE ANIMALS.

On of our old dogs was a saint bernard black lab cross so he was a big boy and loved sleeping outside in his doghouse. People would walk by late at night all the time and he could care less he was a love ball but on 3 occasions he went absolutely ballistic on some people hanging around our back alley scaring them away so I believe completely that dogs can just know these things

This is generally true, but I do want to add some things. I do agree that dogs are just really good at reading people’s intentions somehow.

Sometimes certain types of people just set a dog on edge for other reasons. I use ‘types’ loosely; it can be based on appearance, such as race or even clothing (hats are a common one that can make dogs uncomfortable), and in those cases it may not be that someone with x feature harmed that dog but rather because the dog hasn’t seen someone who looks like that before. It could also be based on things like smell (I believe Patricia McConnell brought up such a case in one of her books? The dog would get aggressive toward the pizza man and they eventually realized it was the pizza smell that was the problem.).

Long story short, if it’s the first time meeting someone and your dog acts funny around them, absolutely take note of it. It doesn’t always mean there’s anything wrong with that person, but it could still tell you important things about your dog and possibly point out problems.

If, however, your dog suddenly changes its behavior toward someone they know, and have never had a problem with before, then you should definitely discuss that with said person, because even if there was some sort of accident or misunderstanding between them and the dog, it needs to be addressed so one of them doesn’t get hurt. And so if that person is abusive, you can get them the hell out of your house.

Humans may lie, but dogs can’t. They put everything on the table in plain view. We just have to know how to interpret it all.

Source: emkaniff

celticpyro:

madsciences:

robotsandfrippary:

robotlyra:

paranoidgemsbok:

newshour:

What does it take to teach a bee to use tools? A little time, a good teacher and an enticing incentive. Read more here: http://to.pbs.org/2mpRUAz

Credit: O.J. Loukola et al., Science (2017)

@clockworkrobotic

“Friend? Friend push ball? I push ball. I do good.”

Bees.  Smart enough to push a ball, not smart enough to not be fooled by a stick masquerading as a bee. 

maybe they know and they’re just being polite

I’m so proud of her.

Source: newshour

What insect is the smartest, like the ability to rationalize Idk something like orca smart

cyan-biologist:

The real question here is “what is smart?” because rationalizing is something we as the human species invented in my opinion (what is “good” and what is “bad”). Anyhow, the question is still interesting, let’s look at the phylogenetic tree shall we:

image

Following the “if the clade is younger, the animals are more adapted/advanced”-argument, flies, butterflies and hymenoptera should be most “intelligent”. I think intelligence can be “measured” in cognitive behavior, and we know some examples of moths reacting to chemical cues. But this is not “real learning”. 

Bees, bumblebees, wasps and ants are however capable of learning behavior. In nature, these animals live in colonies and are able to protect other individuals altruistically and care for larvae that are not even from their own. In addition, bees have developed the interesting “bee dance” in order to communicate about food-sources, and if I remember correctly, bees even learn the dance from other workers. Orchids even have some interesting co-evolution going on with inexperienced bees, indicating that bees can learn which flowers they can visit. 

image

In lab-settings, some ethologists have figured out how to learn a bee/bumblebee something, look at this list of rules/things you can do with bees!

So, to answer your question:

image

Puppy Socialisation | That Dog Geek | Beacon Dog Training

why-animals-do-the-thing:

herebelife:

They’ve made a text version of that handy video with the cute graphics:

If In Doubt, Add Some Space

Your
puppy doesn’t have to be right in the middle of something to have a
positive socialisation experience. If you’re ever worried that a
situation may be too much for your puppy, move further away and give
them a chance to acclimatise.

A
good example of this is socialising puppies to traffic. For many dogs,
standing right next to a busy road with all the large, noisy cars can be
very frightening. Avoid busy roads at first, starting somewhere like a
park where you can walk along away from the road. As your puppy’s
confidence improves, you can try coming closer and closer

image

What Should I Socialise To?

There are six main categories of things that you should socialise your puppy to:

image

This looks like a really good intro, but it doesn’t touch on a couple of important things, so I’ll add them. 

Small amounts of very positive socialization are much better for dogs than lots of marginal experiences. It’s tempting to try to expose your puppy to every possible thing as fast as you can, but that risks setting them up for unpleasant experiences, situations you can’t control, or just straight up overloading them. Pick a couple things and do them right. This is especially crucial for dog-dog socialization when you’ve got a breed that is genetically prone to reactivity or aggression because all of their experiences absolutely have to be positive ones. @molosseraptor has some great posts on picking the right dogs to socialize your pup with. 

Fear periods change socialization rules. Dogs have two fear periods – one predictably at 8-10 weeks and one later in adolescence, somewhere after about six months of age. These periods are when dogs would be gaining independence and it becomes super important for survival to learn what is dangerous and what isn’t. During these periods dogs are prone to single-event learning, which means you have to be really careful not to set your dogs up for bad experiences because they might shape their behavior for the rest of their lives. Fear periods are a good time to back off on active socialization attempts and work on keeping your puppy happy and comfortably engaged with things it is already used to. (Here’s a link to a great article on fear periods). 

Puppy Socialisation | That Dog Geek | Beacon Dog Training

I know a lot of people stick their hands out to let dogs sniff but crouching down sideways works 100000% better. Less confrontational and you don’t mistake continued sniffing for asking for pets.

why-animals-do-the-thing:

why-animals-do-the-thing:

Yup! I’ll generally offer the back of a hand a little bit away from my body, because animals are used to that as a solicitation but it’s not as pushy as reaching into their space or pointing a palm towards them (since that’s what they see when people try to pet them). It also helps give them a way to sniff you without having to get all the way close to your body. 

@eworthylake asked for a photo reference. Here’s a good one from a stellar article on how to greet dogs by the late Sophia Yin.

This isn’t quite as sideways as I normally position myself, but this works too. Notice how the guy’s chest and lower body are angled obliquely away from the dog, rather than squared up with it – that’s what we’re focusing on. For really nervous dogs, I go a full 90 degree rotation away and look slightly over my shoulder to keep an eye on the dog. (Obviously, if the dog is showing any signs of aggression, don’t get down with it to try to make it more comfortable).

It’s also worth noting how the person’s weight is back, rather than leaning forward, indicate he’s letting the dog come into his space bubble rather than wanting to go into it’s own. When I’m greeting a nervous dog, I’ll crouch down and settle over an arm’s length away so the dog feels like it has space to move around me or away without being pressured. 

How would you go about socializing a dog who is an adult rescue and is reactive when outdoors and shows signs of being under socialized as a puppy?

:

Very slowly.

The goal of socializing an under socialized and fearful dog should be to help them feel as comfortable as possible in their environment so they can live the most fulfilling life possible. First, use management to help your dog feel comfortable. This might include getting up extra early to go for walks when fewer people are around, or covering the windows so your dog can’t get spooked or aroused by people passing by outside.

Once you’ve used as much management as is practical, assess your dog’s life and your goals for them, and work slowly to reach those goals. Many people want to turn their fearful dogs into dog park dogs, social butterflies, but that’s really impractical for many dogs even if they’re well-socialized. Practical goals for most dogs are learning to walk past other dogs on the sidewalk without panicking, being calm around cars, and ignoring children running past on the street.

The best way to start is with a training class, especially one for reactive dogs. It will give you a controlled environment to work with your dog around the things they find scary. Feedback from an instructor can be invaluable early on in reactivity training and socialization, and it can help prevent you from making mistakes early on and setting your dog back farther. Remember that socialization is about allowing your dog to have good experiences, not necessarily having them interact directly with people and other dogs. Socialization isn’t necessarily “social”.

If you’re going to train solo for whatever reason, I recommend the exercises in Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. Her books can be difficult to understand, so I recommend picking up one of the DVDs based on her books. You can even go on youtube and look for demos of the exercises. The Look at That game (LAT) is especially useful for counter-conditioning. Most of the other exercises are used for management and minimizing risk in your daily life. They may not be absolutely necessary depending on your dog’s behaviour and your current management strategy. You can also look through my #LAT tag for examples and instructions on how I teach LAT.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions once you’ve looked through that. Good luck!

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why-animals-do-the-thing:

squarerootofcats:

tastefullyoffensive:

Smooth newfie steals a kiss.

@why-animals-do-the-thing

like, this is probably a great example of someone (probably accidentally) training their pet to headbutt them/smack them in the face.  this is a smart newfie, obviously, because he picks up on it right away, but you can see – the first time he bonks this girl in the head, his owners laugh, the woman cuddles him and baby-talks him, so he immediately does it again.  because he got positive attention the first time.  

(we’ve all done this, I think; but it’s worth it to point out that the next time this newfie performs this behavior at an inappropriate time and gets yelled at/negative attention, he’s gonna be confused.)  

Yes! This is a beautiful example of someone accidentally reinforcing a behavior. That affectionate attention is a positive, so the dog is going to continue to perform the behavior that was the antecedent for it. You broke it down beautifully.