Training a Canary Dog - Research Paper Example

 TITLE: Training a Canary Dog Sub – title: Training a Canary dog using Classical and Operant conditioning ABSTRACT: This paper theoretically explains the procedure to condition a Canary dog to fetch the morning newspaper using classical and operant (positive reinforcement) conditioning. The final segment of the paper will then elaborate the procedure to rid the dog’s fear of jumping through a flaming hoop using systematic desensitization. Introducing the NS Primarily the clicker must be converted to a conditional stimulus (CS) from its present state which is a neutral stimulus (NS) (Coon & Mitterer, 2008, pp. 221-222) (Myers, 2010, p. 229).To be able to do this, the dog must be conditioned to react to the clicker. Phase I: Classical Conditioning (mostly acquisition) Keep the dog’s favourite treats ready, which in this case will be bits of cooked meat (US); so in order to change the NS to CS, it must be paired with our US which is meat. At the outset, the dog will receive a treat after every click of the clicker, currently the time between a click and a treat would be about 1-2 seconds (Braslau-Schneck, Get Started With Clicker Training, 1998), this should go on until the dog begins to realise the connection between the click (NS) and the treat (US). Certain reactions which will point out the dog’s realization are looking at your hands for the treat, sniffing to find the treat, or even rapidly waging its tail in anticipation of the treat; once this happens, your NS is now CS (clicker) (Myers, 2010, p. 229). [Note: This process might even take a couple of days, depending upon the dog] Phase II: Making him get the newspaper The next phase will be to introduce the newspaper, as far as dogs are concerned, excitement is contagious; so the enthusiasm of the dog will depend upon the enthusiasm of the owner. A stack of old newspapers will have to be rolled up and tied [Note: Exactly like the roll received in the morning]. Supplementary steps will be divided into little steps (Braslau-Schneck, An Animal Trainer's Introduction To Operant and Classical Conditioning , 1998): 1. Then the owner will encourage the dog to play a tug of war. As soon as the dog grabs a hold of the newspaper stack from the other hand, click the clicker and give him another treat. [Note: Do not worry about the old paper being shredded at this stage] 2. Then just drop the newspaper and let the dog pick it up, if the dog doesn’t react, put the treat in front of his nose (do not let him eat it) and then take the treat to the newspaper, the dog will then pick up the newspaper, and as soon as he does, click and give him a treat. [At this point don’t throw the paper too far or ask the dog to fetch, just place it close by] 3. Do not click on the tug of war anymore, only click when he picks up the newspaper [Currently all the clicks are followed by the treats until further notice]. Now the next part is learning to hand over the newspaper, first of all, the owner should try to pull the roll from his mouth, as soon as he lets go, click again. If the dog doesn’t let the roll go, exchange the roll with the treat (followed by the clicks). 4. Applaud and congratulate the dog for every time he drops the newspaper on his own (followed by a treat for every drop) 5. The next step is to make the dog understand that he must hold the newspaper until asked for it. The dog will keep picking up and dropping the newspaper roll for quite a bit of time, until he keeps the newspaper roll hostage for the US. Then after he has held on to the newspaper for about 5-6 seconds, click the clicker and the dog will drop the newspaper to eat the treat. 6. Now the owner will throw the newspaper at a distance, and watch the dog fetch it for him, the dog will fetch the newspaper and hold on to it until he hears the click of the clicker. Then praise him a lot as this was a very big step, possibly even give him a few more treats. Phase III: Ultimate frontline Take the dog outside, where the newspaper boy usually throws the paper, and put the paper there in front of your dog; see him fetch the paper and treat him. Then throw the paper at the location and make him fetch it several times; once the dog has done this successfully for about 20 times, then make him maintain the form of the paper, i.e., the paper should not be shredded or even scratched, and only treat him every time he brings over the paper intact. If this does not happen, start from step 6 again. At this point of time, the owner will associate a verbal command while sending the dog to fetch the newspaper [the command should be exclusive as the dog might confuse it with other commands]. After a few times, put the paper outside (while your dog is inside) and give the command to fetch the newspaper. The dog will now bring the roll intact at just a command. At this point start reducing the number of times you click (treat once every 3-4 times), and soon the dog will start bringing the paper anticipating a treat once every few times, but do not forget to congratulate the dog to make him understand that he’s getting it right. The dog will now bring the newspaper every morning at a voice command. Jumping through a flaming hoop using systematic desensitization Before initiating this process the dog must be trained to jump through a hoop. Flaming Hoop (fear eliciting US) (sportydesktops.com, 2004) Systematic desensitization is a slow yet effective process to remove the fear within the dog. The trick is to first make the dog relaxed in the presence of the flaming hoop. The owner must keep the dog in tight leash before attempting this. The following steps will be followed: 1. Introduce the flaming hoop in an open ground, preferably your backyard. 2. Bring your dog to the yard on a leash. 3. His instincts might make him take a run for it, but hold on to the leash and make him focus on the treats and clicker in your hand. At this point keep the dog far away from the US. 4. When the dog calms down, give him a treat keeping him at a distance from the hoop so as to make him relax. 5. The next day repeat the same process. 6. After 2 more days, keep the flaming hoop at a closer distance, and see if he’s still relaxed. 7. Repeat process until the flaming hoop is very close and the dog feels comfortable walking around it at very short distances. 8. Make him sit across one end of the hoop while the owner stands at the other end, and treats the dog from across the hoop. 9. As a few days pass by, the dog’s fear will decline and he will be able to walk by the flaming hoop for his treats. Works Cited Braslau-Schneck, S. (1998). An Animal Trainer's Introduction To Operant and Classical Conditioning . Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Stacy's Wag'N'Train : http://www.wagntrain.com/OC/ Braslau-Schneck, S. (1998). Get Started With Clicker Training. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Stacy's Wag'n'train: http://www.wagntrain.com/OC/GetStarted.htm canarydogblog.com. (2004, February 10). Free-to-use images. Retrieved November 03, 2010, from canarydogblog.com: http://canarydogblog.com/files/presa_canario_0021.jpg Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2008). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior (12th edition revised ed.). Stamford: Cengage Learning. Myers, D. G. (2010). Exploring Psychology (Eighth Edition e. ed.). New York: Worth. sportydesktops.com. (2004, February 03). Sporty wallpapers. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www.sportydesktops.com/wallpaper/F/73/ toons4biz. (2008). Royalty free scraed stock clipart and cartoons. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Image Envision: http://www.imageenvision.com/clipart/23639-clip-art-graphic-of-a-scared-brown-hound-dog-cartoon-character-by-toons4biz Read More