Learning my Dog

Justin Casiano

Learning is a necessity in our lives as human beings. We learn almost everyday, but hardly notice it. As per assignment the class was told to do an obeservation of learning taking place. I decided to make my post on my experience with my dog. The experiment I set up is that I command my dog ( Cylde) to simply go to his house. I will try three different ways to get him to obey my command and document all three. The first time I tell him Cylde looks at me plainly. Does not move into his house until serval seconds later. The second time I gave the command I use what they call positive reinforcement in the psychological realm. I had a treat in my hand, so Clyde knew if he had follow m instructions he would then receive a treat. With only having to repeat myself twice Clde eventually complied and went into his house to received his treat. The third time I gave Cylde a command I applied a threat of violence. This would be defined as a positive punishment. I didn’t hit my dog cause I would consider that unethical however I did threatened to hit him for the sake of the experiment. My mother often struck him with the bristles of the broom when he misbehaved. So I picked up the broom, gave the command, and he followed my instructions almost immediately. Which gives truth to what the professor says about violence being the most effective way to get someone to do something you want.

2 thoughts on “Learning my Dog

  1. Nice observations, but do be wary of extrapolating from such a limited number of examples. Dogs can certainly learn in different ways, too. How many times does a dog need to experience something to learn a new behavior?

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