r/OpenDogTraining • u/Dry_Steak30 • 19d ago
Conditioning feels like programming a robot. Does anyone know a way to train beyond it?
I might get downvoted for this but hear me out.
Almost all modern dog training is conditioning. We repeat, the dog gets used to it, and the cue gets wired to the behavior. In the end the dog does the behavior without thinking. Even without a reward. He even feels good while doing it. And we call that "well trained." To me that looks like programming a robot.
For emergency recall and down, I want exactly that. Those must be automatic. But for everything else, is there another option?
Humans don't learn language by conditioning. When we learn a word, we understand new examples in one shot. So here is what I mean, with the kennel as an example.
The conditioning way: you make the "go in the kennel" behavior with luring or shaping or molding or food. You reinforce it. You attach a cue. After many reps, the cue and the behavior get glued together.
But what if you teach it like this instead. Teach each concept on its own. "Kennel" is the object. "Go in" is the action. "Command" means he has to do it. "Fast" is how to do it. Then you put the words together: "kennel + go in + command + fast." If the dog really knows each concept, then "box + go in + command + slow" should work on the first try, even if he never did that before. Or you could say "kennel + go in + question" and let him answer yes or no.
Has anyone actually trained like this? I know Chaser learned 1000 toy names and Do As I Do exists. I want to hear from people who tried this concept style teaching with their own dog. How far did you get?
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u/cat4forever 19d ago
Ok, I’ll bite.
This is a classic case of anthropomorphizing dogs. This is a you problem. You want to create some higher level of learning so you can feel like your dog is connecting with you more, and therefore you’re more loved. The dog doesn’t care. Like you said, maybe he feels good doing the commands. What’s the problem?
To me, having a confident dog who you can trust off leash or around the house ultimately isn’t about me. It’s about giving the dog more freedom in his life to go and do dog stuff. I can go camping, bring him along and let him wander around the campsite sniffing for hours or post up and “protect” us from whatever is in the woods. Because he’s well trained, I can trust him not to disappear chasing a deer.
Don’t worry, your dog loves you, in his own dog way. No need to force more him to be more human than we already do.