How Dog’s Learn, How Dog’s Teach: A Woefully Inadequate Tribute to Jocko,
A Lover not a Fighter who will Live Always in our Memories
Peter Levy, Master Dog Trainer, Mid-peninsula Bark Busters
Dogs learn by trial and error and association. They repeat any behavior that receives positive reinforcement. They teach us by seizing on any positive (from their perspective) response we show to their behavior.
When Jocko first showed signs of the progressive arthritis that made his last days a misery, full of pratfalls and challenges in getting back up, we got him a metal food stand. He watched with ever-present curiosity as stand and bowl were mated. It probably took all of ten seconds before he sniffed, concluded that my misspent efforts had produced no food, and batted the bowl with his paw. The bowl moved a few inches in response. Next he batted the rim rhythmically. The bowl began spinning, it made a heck of a racket!
Had I been a more empathetic human being (such as, for example, my wife), I might have told myself “oh, the poor dear is hungry” and filled the bowl. That outcome would have fulfilled his not –manipulative-but-dazzlingly-effective effort to teach me that when I heard the noise, he intended that I fill the bowl. Had I filled the bowl, my family would have been treated to that racket dozens of times a day. Because I didn’t do so, he limited bowl-spinning to a half-hearted -- let's just see what this may produce --once or twice a year exercise.
A Bark Busters client’s dog in Burlingame provided a less edifying example of teaching humans and of learning by association. A toy breed dog with a fearful temperament, who, we may surmise, dreaded being stroked and/or picked up by a succession of strangers at his front door, had developed a surefire and effective way of teaching visitors that he didn’t want them to touch him. He urinated on the shoe of each new arrival. While most humans would not view the dismay, yelling and chastisement that followed as a positive outcome, the dog always achieved his teaching objective without fail. Nobody invaded his space.
Your local Bark Buster Dog Trainer would be more than happy to provide you with more information regarding your exact issue. Please click here
Peter Levy is a Master Dog Trainer and Behavioral Therapist with Bark Busters Home Dog Training, which received the SPCA International’s “ Best of the Best” designation. He works with clients and their dogs at clients’ homes in Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Campbell, Cupertino, Daly City, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, La Honda, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Montara, Moss Beach, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Princeton, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Jose, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Saratoga, South San Francisco, Stanford, and Sunnyvale.
Bark Busters of the Bay Area works with clients and their dogs at clients’ homes in Alameda, Alamo, Albany, Alviso, American Canyon, Atherton, Belmont, Belvedere, Benicia, Berkeley, Bodega Bay, Bolinas, Booneville, Brisbane, Burlingame, Calistoga, Campbell, Castro Valley, Cazadero, Clear Lake, Clear Lake Oaks, Cloverdale, Concord, Corte Madera, Crockett, Cupertino, Daly City, Danville, Dublin, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Fairfax, Forest Knolls, Forestville, Foster City, Fremont, Fort Bragg, Fulton, Geyserville, Gilroy, Glen Ellen, Greenbrae, Gualala, Guerneville, Half Moon Bay, Hayward, Healdsburg, Inverness, Jenner, Kelseyville, Kentfield, La Honda, Lafayette. Lakeport, Larkspur, Laytonville, Leggett, Livermore, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Marshall, Martinez, Mendocino, Menlo Park, Middletown, Mill Valley, Millbrae, Milpitas, Montara, Monte Rio, Moraga, Moss Beach, Mountain View, Napa, Newark. Nicasio, Novato, Oakland, Occidental, Orinda, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Petaluma, Piedmont, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Portola Valley, Point Reyes Station, Redwood City, Richmond, Rodeo, Rohnert Park, Ross, Salinas, San Anselmo, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Mateo, San Pablo, San Quentin, San Rafael, San Ramon, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Saratoga, Sausalito, Sebastopol, Sonoma, South San Francisco, Saint Helena, Stanford, Stinson Beach, Sunnyvale, Tiburon, Tomales, Ukiah, Union City, Upper Lake, Vallejo, Walnut Creek, Windsor and Woodacre
