Understanding How Puppies and Dogs Learn Through Pairing & Routines.

Puppies learn by pairing things together all the time whether we are in influencing their learning through training or they are learning from life. Puppies and dogs learn differently to humans. pairing two events that happen repeatedly in sequence is called Classical Conditioning; this is one of the terms coined by PAVLOV in his experiments with dogs.

Dogs also learn our routines, they observe us going about our lives, for example, getting ready to take puppy out on a walk; you gather together the treat pouch, the poo bags, your shoes and coat, the door keys and the lead, puppy recognises that its time for a walk.

Routines are great for humans, they are our way of preparing for life events such as going to work or going out to walk the dog, a ritual that we go through in the same order most days.

They can become a problem for our puppy, if every time you leave them they are fretting and worried, putting on your shoes becomes linked to that emotion, putting on your shoes has been paired with their feelings of panic, the fear of being left alone.....so every time you put on your shoes, puppy is filled with panic, even if you don't actually leave them on this occasion.

The same can also happen with your routine which precedes taking puppy out for a walk, if puppy is frightened by something whilst out on that walk, the fear becomes attached in a small amount to every link in that routine, and a large amount of fear becomes attached to any of the actions in your routine which preceded the walk. Most commonly the fear response becomes attached to the appearance of the lead, but can attach to any of the activities in your routine. This fear response can lead to behaviours which can present a problem, such as redirecting their fear onto you, you may go to clip on the lead and find puppy turns around and bites your leg. Its not personal, it's just that they are so afraid of going outside that they need an outlet for their BIG emotion.

If you notice your puppy showing behaviour that concerns you, please don't hesitate to reach out to a canine behaviourist to help support your puppy through this struggle to become a confident puppy.

The other, more positive side of pairing behaviours grows skills in our puppies, we teach puppy to respond to 'SIT' by placing their bottom on the floor which = SIT. We then use our MARKER word to tell them 'you got it right' and follow it up with a tasty treat., this helps to reinforce the behaviour of 'SIT' and make it more likely to happen when asked for in the future.

Did you know that it takes at least 50 repetitions of 'SIT' = bottom on the floor, to pair the words and actions together. The more consistent you are in the way you say and your action of luring puppy into 'SIT' and then in rewarding the puppy with your MARKER word and treat helps the pairing to happen more quickly.

Do you know what a MARKER word is and how to help puppy understand its meaning?

There so much more to know, so watch out for the next blog from Pups and Pooches Dog Training!

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