Timing

Timing- the ultimate art of dog training.

The delay between the response and the punisher greatly influences the degree of learning. In general, the longer the delay, the less behaviour is suppressed. The 'wait till your father gets home' approach to punishment is not effective.

Years ago, a study was conducted on the role of stimulus control in punishment. The study itself was very strange but it produced a pretty interesting result. The procedure went like this:

A dog was permitted into a room with two bowls of dog food on the floor. The experimenter sat in between the two bowls. One bowl contained generic dog food (presumably yucky) and the other contained Alpo (presumably yummy). For dogs in group one, if they went to eat the Alpo, they were given a resounding smack by the experimenter with a rolled up newspaper. For dogs in Group two, if they went to eat the Alpo, they were given a resounding smack by the experimenter five seconds after they started eating. For dogs in group three, if they went to eat the Alpo, they were given a resounding smack by the experimenter with a rolled up newspaper fifteen seconds after they started eating. Soon, all of the dogs avoided the Alpo. Then, for the next eight days, the experimenter no longer sat in the room but instead, watched each dog through a one way mirror. Each day they carried out 'temptation trials' in which the dog was left in the room for ten minutes. The dogs in group one (the immediate dogs) waited two weeks on average before they finally touched the Alpo. The dogs in group 2 (the five minute dogs) waited eight days, on average, before they gave in and ate the Alpo. Get this. The dogs in group three (the fifteen seconds dogs) waited three whole MINUTES before eating the Alpo again!

Moral: Teaching and remodifying behaviours is all about the art of timing. The principles are great, but without being used totally correctly, the effects will be very limited. The problem with many people is that they learn the skills in books or university, but never master the art of timing because there is no opportunity. The effects are then minimized, and the method is faulted, instead of the trainer.

If anyone know where this study came from please let me know so that the author can get appropriate credit.

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Copyright by Monique Anstee. May be reprinted without permission 1) if used in its entirety without editing; and 2) provided copyright notice remains in place.