Dropping bird

[Naj]

Um, you may be onto something CC maybe its simply that they know when and what we will tolerate....or not as the case maybe i know for certain that when working her if she turns to check in and she doesnt catch my eye she assumes i am not "with her" and will use her own discretion

Yeah, cos that’s what you’ve trained. Don’t blame the dog.

So, your saying that i have inadvertently trained her to do her own thing if i dont catch her eye when she checks in

There’s always a reason for a behaviour. Dogs don’t do them just for the hell of it. They can only know ‘what and when we will tolerate, or not’ because you’ve built that into your relationship and so have effectively trained it.

[ips]

Yeah, cos that’s what you’ve trained. Don’t blame the dog.

So, your saying that i have inadvertently trained her to do her own thing if i dont catch her eye when she checks in

There’s always a reason for a behaviour. Dogs don’t do them just for the hell of it. They can only know ‘what and when we will tolerate, or not’ because you’ve built that into your relationship and so have effectively trained it.

Dont do it for the hell of it.....um, not sure i agree

[Judy]

Me neither, Ips, dogs are sentient beings not robots. If you live with dogs around your feet day in day out and don't read too many books you'll notice a lot of behaviours that aren't "trained" in.

[Naj]

Me neither, Ips, dogs are sentient beings not robots. If you live with dogs around your feet day in day out and don't read too many books you'll notice a lot of behaviours that aren't "trained" in.

Name one that isn’t a learnt behaviour.

[munstyman]

Anything a dog tries for the first time is neither learnt or trained

[newf]

Me neither, Ips, dogs are sentient beings not robots. If you live with dogs around your feet day in day out and don't read too many books you'll notice a lot of behaviours that aren't "trained" in.

Name one that isn’t a learnt behaviour.

Lots: marking, aggression, territorial, possessiveness, are a few that come to mind. Traits, such as carrying things; cattle dogs biting heels; herding dogs, herding, etc.

All we do is inhibit, refine and adjust the above instinctive behaviors.

[CockerCanuck]

Me neither, Ips, dogs are sentient beings not robots. If you live with dogs around your feet day in day out and don't read too many books you'll notice a lot of behaviours that aren't "trained" in.

Name one that isn’t a learnt behaviour.

Pretty sure no one taught him to lift his leg on all my friends truck tires!

[Naj]

But we weren’t talking about breed traits, instinctive behaviours and emotional responses, we were talking about behaviours that dogs acquire in their day to day interactions with us, as per Ips original post. But the same applies to environmental reinforcers and punishers. And anything a dog tries for the first time only goes into its repertoire of behaviours if there is a function to it. It’s not really a ‘behaviour’, learnt or trained. It’s just a random or speculative move. I’d guess you’d not notice such ‘incidentals’ until they were repeated, in which case the dog had found some function in doing them. After saying that it can also apply to aggression, possessiveness, etc. Nurture and nature are often interlinked, so a dog from a breed with aggressive tendencies doesnt have to be an aggressive dog just as a dog from a passive breed doesn’t have to be passive. Dogs can learn to be aggressive or possessive. They’re a victim of their environment in many respects. I also believe that breed traits and instincts like hunting and herding are also developed through a learning process.

Naj

[westcountry]

So what has all this got to do with dropping the bird? Ips asked a question and all he has got back is one person saying they would not tolerate it but no explanation of how to cure it and a load of scientific gobbledy gook on dog behaviours.

[Naj]

So what has all this got to do with dropping the bird? Ips asked a question and all he has got back is one person saying they would not tolerate it but no explanation of how to cure it and a load of scientific gobbledy gook on dog behaviours.

We’ve moved on. Keep up.