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Episode #285 How Dogs Actually Learn · The Puppy Training Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going back to the basics and talking about how dogs actually learn.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: And understanding this can completely change the way you approach training.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: We'll break down reinforcement, punishment, timing, repetition, generalization, and why your dog may not actually know a behavior just because they can do it in one situation.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast, the show designed to help you raise a confident, well-behaved puppy using positive practical training methods.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll explore real-life training strategies, break down common puppy challenges, and give you clear, step-by-step guidance you can start using right away.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're dealing with potty training, biting, jumping, or just want to build a stronger bond with your pup as their handler, you're in the right place.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the podcast.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Amy Jensen with Baxter and Bella, and today we are going back to the foundation of everything we do in dog training.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: How does a dog actually learn?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this may sound like a very basic topic, but I think it's important because any puppy handler can understand it and it makes your training experience so much easier.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, because sometimes we think our dog is being stubborn, we might think he knows this.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Why isn't he doing it?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we think our dog is ignoring us, and sometimes we simply repeat a cue louder and louder, wondering why our dog isn't responding.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: But when we understand how learning actually works, we can look at those situations very differently.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, why won't my dog listen?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: We can start asking, what has my dog actually learned?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a much more useful question.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're going to talk about six important pieces of learning: reinforcement, punishment, timing, repetition, generalization, and why he knows it isn't always true.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: First, I want to define what we're talking about.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Learning occurs when a dog's behavior changes because of experience.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your dog does something, something happens afterward, and that consequence can influence what your dog does the next time they're in a similar situation.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: For example, imagine your puppy sits.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: You immediately say yes and give your puppy a piece of food.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy learns that sitting can make good things happen.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Over time, if that experience is repeated, your puppy is more likely to offer a sit again because it works for them.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's learning.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this is important.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Dogs don't simply learn because we told them something, they learn through experience.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: We can say sit, sit, sit, sit, but the words themselves don't teach your dog the behavior.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: The dog has to make the connection between the behavior and what happens because of that behavior.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with reinforcement.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: In scientific terms, reinforcement means a consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will happen again.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Something happens after a behavior, and that behavior becomes more likely in the future.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the time, when we talk about reinforcement with puppies, we're talking about positive reinforcement.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, positive doesn't mean good or bad, it actually means something is added.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So if your puppy sits and you give them a treat, you added something they like.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: If that makes your puppy more likely to sit again, you've reinforced the behavior.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, food is one form of reinforcement.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of forms of reinforcement.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Food, puppies love food, so we often use that.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: But you can also use their toys, play, access to something they might want.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe going outside, opening that door, or letting them sniff, uh, paying attention to them, just looking at them can be a reward, offering them praise, and sometimes simply getting to continue doing something they love.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Here's an easy example.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Your dog wants to go outside.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: You ask for a sit.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Your dog sits, you open the door, the dog gets to go outside.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: That opportunity to go outside can reinforce their sitting.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Or imagine your puppy wants to greet someone.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of allowing your puppy to jump on the person, you wait for four paws on the floor.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then the person says hello.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: The greeting itself can become the reinforcement.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're training, start looking for opportunities to reinforce the behaviors you want.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: What gets reinforced gets repeated.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the more valuable the reinforcement is to your individual dog, the more powerful it can be as a training tool.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: So pay attention to what your dog likes because every dog is different.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Next, let's talk about a word that gets confusing very quickly: punishment.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: In everyday conversation, punishment usually means something like scolding, grounding, or making someone pay for doing something wrong.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: But in behavioral science, punishment has a very specific definition.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Punishment is a consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior happening again.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Notice that definition doesn't say anything about anger, pain, yelling, or discipline.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Punishment simply means that the behavior decreases.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now there are two scientific categories: positive punishment and negative punishment.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Positive means something is added, negative means something is removed.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So positive punishment means something is added after a behavior and that behavior decreases.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Negative punishment means something the dog wants is removed after a behavior and that behavior decreases.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let me give you some examples.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy jumps up and the person immediately turns away and removes their attention, that could function as negative punishment if the jumping decreases because the interaction goes away.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, why do I bring this up?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because understanding the scientific definition helps us communicate clearly about training.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it also reminds us that the label we give a technique isn't what determines whether it works.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: We look at what happens to the behavior afterward.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here at Baxter and Bella, our approach focuses heavily on positive reinforcement management, teaching appropriate behaviors, and setting our dogs up for success rather than relying on aversive methods.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal isn't simply to stop unwanted behavior.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: We want to teach our dog what to do instead.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if your puppy jumps, we teach four paws on the floor.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy bites, we teach appropriate ways to interact with people.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy barks for attention, we teach calm behavior and reinforce that calmness.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're always asking, what behavior do I want instead?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we're showing our dog how to do that behavior.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Next, let's talk about timing.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Dogs are very good at learning from what happens immediately around their behavior.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: That means the closer your reinforcement is to the behavior you want, the easier it is for your dog to make that connection.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine your puppy sits.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: You wait five seconds, you walk to the kitchen, you get a treat, you come back, you give the treat.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy may have already stood up, walked towards you, barked, or jumped.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: What exactly are we reinforcing?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: So this is why we use a marker such as yes or a clicker.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: That marker bridges the gap between the behavior my puppy did and when they get the reward.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: My puppy sits, I say yes.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: That tells the puppy, that thing you just did, that's what earned the food reward.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Then the food can follow.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Think of your marker like taking a snapshot.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to capture that exact behavior you want.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, timing becomes especially important when you're teaching something new.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy lies down and you say yes, while their elbows are on the floor, you're communicating something very specific.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you wait until they've gotten up, you're no longer being nearly as clear.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when training feels confusing or your puppy is struggling, ask yourself, am I rewarding the behavior I think I'm rewarding?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we want to talk about repetition.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: So dogs need practice.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: But here's an important distinction: repetition doesn't mean doing the same thing over and over until your dog gets it.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Good repetition means practicing the correct behavior under manageable conditions.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if your puppy sits successfully 10 times in the living room, you've given your puppy 10 opportunities to practice sitting.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you ask for a sit 10 times while a squirrel is running across the yard and your puppy can't respond, you've mostly practiced not responding.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we want to set our dogs up for success.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we start easy, we start simple, we practice, we reinforce, we keep distractions to a minimum, and then gradually we make things harder as they can handle it.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need a 30-minute training session with your puppy.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes five great repetitions are far more valuable than 50 frustrated repetitions.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: So think short, successful, repeatable practice.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now we get to one of my favorite concepts: generalization.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is the reason your dog can perform a behavior beautifully in your kitchen and suddenly act like they've never heard the word sit at the park.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is completely normal.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Dogs don't automatically understand that a behavior learned in one environment, like your kitchen, applies everywhere.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy may learn sit means put my bottom on the floor in the kitchen when mom is standing in front of me with a treat.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then you take that same puppy outside, there's wind, birds are chirping, someone's riding a bike, the neighbor's mowing their lawn, a dog is walking down the sidewalk, and suddenly you say, sit.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy looks at you like you're speaking a foreign language.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't necessarily mean your puppy is being stubborn.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: It may mean the behavior hasn't been generalized yet.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to practice behaviors in different locations with different distractions around different people at different distances and in different circumstances.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: We call it the four Ds: distance, duration, distraction, and difficulty.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Your dog doesn't know one version of sit.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Your dog may know lots of different versions of sit.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: They might have a kitchen sit, a living room sit, a backyard sit, a veterinary office sit.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: You get the idea.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: But each version needs practice.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why training isn't something we do once.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Once we teach a behavior, then we gradually teach the dog that the behavior works in many different situations.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this brings me to one of my most common things I hear from puppy handlers.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But he knows it.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I know he knows it.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a big difference between recognizing a cue and being fluent in a behavior.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say your puppy sits every time you say sit in your kitchen.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't necessarily mean your puppy can sit when you're outside, 10 feet away, sitting down, talking to someone around another dog at a busy park, etc.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all different learning challenges.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than saying he knows it and he's choosing not to listen, try asking yourself, what has my dog practiced?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: That question gives you somewhere to go.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Have we practiced outside?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have we practiced around another dog?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have we practiced when my hands are empty and I'm not holding food?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I highly recommend you don't hold food.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: You put it in your pouch behind your back.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy will still know it's there.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: But again, this is practicing generalization.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy can sit when you're standing directly in front of them, but not from across the room, practice distance.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: We aren't lowering our expectations, we're building the skill.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: So let's put all of these pieces together with a simple example.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you want your puppy to learn go to bed.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of my favorites.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: First, you're going to make the behavior easy.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy steps onto the bed, you mark it yes, then you reinforce.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy steps off, you invite them back.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you do this repeatedly.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Puppy steps onto the bed, yes, reinforce.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty soon your puppy is voluntarily going onto the bed.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can add your verbal cue, go to bed.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Puppy goes onto the bed, we mark yes, we reinforce.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're practicing repetition.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're paying attention to timing, you're using reinforcement, and you're building an association between your cue and the go to bed behavior.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: But you're not finished because now we can generalize it.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to practice in the living room, then the kitchen, then the bedroom, then while you're cooking dinner, maybe while somebody knocks on the door.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's a useful one.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: When guests arrive, eventually you're teaching your dog that go to bed has meaning even when life gets interesting.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, we didn't do this all in one day, okay?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we didn't even do this in one week.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: So you're going to have to go at your puppy's pace, but you do need to maybe make a mini checklist of things and places and circumstances in which you need to practice this behavior.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So notice what we didn't do.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't just stand in the kitchen, teach it once, and then expect the dog to perform it perfectly for the rest of their life in any scenario.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: We built the behavior gradually over time as our puppy got better and better at the go-to-bed behavior.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one more important piece of information: behavior doesn't happen in a vacuum.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: So your dog's ability to learn is affected by what's happening around them.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy is tired, hungry, overly excited, scared, overwhelmed, or surrounded by a lot of distractions, learning is going to be much harder.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's why management is such an important part of puppy training.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want you guys to use your crate.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to use the exercise pen, baby gates, a leash or tether when appropriate.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: We want to create a calm training environment.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And having management will release a lot of frustration.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: It will prevent a lot of frustration.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So give your puppy opportunities to practice behaviors you do want.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: We want to prevent our puppy from repeatedly practicing behaviors we don't want, because every interaction is a learning experience for our dog.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you guys, thanks for listening.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for today.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, you learned something new or useful, some really good reminders in there, and this will make your puppy training experience a lot easier if you understand the concepts we talked about.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week and happy training.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in today.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a training tip.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're enjoying the show, leaving a quick review really helps other handlers find us.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: For more training resources, tips, and support, visit me, Amy Jensen, at baxterembella.com.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, happy training.