Conditioning!

What is this conditioning?? When googled “Conditioning – is the processes where behaviors, responses, or physical capacities are altered through repeated training, association, or environmental reinforcement.” I am not so much into terminology instead all about understanding the basis of most, if not all training and in our context ‘Dog training’. There are a variety of condiotning that i have come across so far in this journey called dog training, they are

• Classical conditioning,
• Operant Conditioning
• Observation Conditioning

Remember it’s my opinion and understanding to help place, what the dog is doing? … Was it as a result of… how did we arrive here… or how do i get that behavior… how does this affect what am doing and how could the dog perceive what we are doing. Just to get it out of the way early the genetics or purpose of the dog does hugely affect what training or what you are trying to achieve or bring out of any particular canine companion.

The glue for conditioning to work is time.

To alter a behavior or response the brain has to create an association between outcome and a behavior that brought it or caused it. The famous pavlov ring bell dogs salivate is a classic example of how timing is paramount.  Before we go to far there two more terms…. “I know i said am not all about terminology but stick with me ill bring it home” The two terms are

• Conditioned Stimulus
• Unconditioned Stimulus.

Putting it in very loose definition, conditioned stimulus/stimuli is what the dog already knows “Genetically(Like chasing, barking, hunting) or to some extent physically eg walking” while uncondiotioned stimulus/stimuli is what the dog doesn’t know or can’t understand eg. our language, bell or whistle.. togethr so far???? Here’s the big picture on training so far from where I stand…

Dog training is getting the dog to do what we want (our desire) while they get or avoid what they want (their desire) or don’t want. Then the glue time pairs this two desires to a trained dog and owner or trainer.

As we continue on the subsequent posts we will go deeper in definition and examples and maybe understand more on dogs. lets keep the conversation going… Welcome to my dog sense where we talk learn all about dogs…