Obey This Simple Law of Learning

Most humans love to teach their dogs tricks and behaviors, but getting them to do them is a challenge. However, if you follow “the law” you will reap great benefits. Now what is the law? It is simply reward the dog for things learned. This is one thing dog trainers are likely to forget to tell you. Are you aware that dog trainers are not required to take one undergraduate level course, let alone a semester, let alone get a degree in how animals learn? Did you know that “how animals learn” is the most studied phenomenon in the history of psychology, up there with gravity in terms of its lawfulness? Most of the dog training profession cannot get its story straight. Some believe in strong-arm tactics and a few believe in the reward system. Here is what I believe.

Dogs and humans love to play. Dogs do what works for them. Disobedience

has nothing to do with your “relationship or status” or how much your dog respects you. As soon as we learn the “lawfulness of behavior,” the sooner we can train our dogs competently. For example, would you sit in a chair, get up, sit down again, get up and do it over and over again for no reason? If it did not have some benefit for you, you would not do it. But this is what we ask our dogs to do over and over. If the training is not fun and/or there are no payoffs (treats) a dog soon loses interest.

The law says “anything anyone wants to teach a new beginner (dog) will get stronger in direct proportion to how many times the dog is rewarded. And any time the new beginner does not get rewarded for the same behavior over and over, the behavior gets weaker and weaker until the dog stops. In other words it is better to do nothing than train without rewards.” Many professional dog trainers do not know it is important to keep training fun.

Dogs are one of the rare species of animals that play throughout their lifetime. That could be a reason we humans bond so well with our dogs, cause we love to play also. Think about this, calves and lambs play with one another, but have your ever seen a cow or sheep playing with one another?

We are obsessed with our toys and so are our dogs, which is another reason we bond. In a dog’s world play can become a great training tool along with treats. Play is fun and play can be the cornerstone in teaching at home behaviors.