Operant & Classical Conditioning for Dog Aggression

When Good Dog Charles turns into Cujo, you must immediately take necessary measures to prevent his aggressive behavior from putting roots and escalating. Operant and classical conditioning will lend a helping hand, as they both play an important role in behavior modification. Both can help your dog by replacing undesirable behaviors with more desirable ones and by ultimately changing your dog's underlying emotional response.

  1. Understanding Skinner's Law

    • In a nutshell, operant conditioning teaches a dog that his behavior leads to consequences. The dog, therefore, "operates" in his environment and learns that his behavior may lead to something good or something bad happening. American psychologist B. F. Skinner, the father of operant conditioning, believed that behavior that is reinforced will repeat, whereas behavior that is not reinforced will die out and eventually extinguish. Punishment, on the other hand, would weaken behavior and decrease its likelihood of being repeated.

    Rats in a Skinner's Box

    • Skinner's studies were conducted by using a Skinner box which contained rats and pedals that upon being pressed released a food pellet. This allowed him to carefully study animal behavior in a very controlled environment. Because the rat's peddling behavior was followed by the release of food, the rats repeated the peddling behavior over and over. This was proof that when behaviors were reinforced, they persisted and continued. This same application can be used to your advantage when it comes to dealing with aggressive behavior.

    Understanding Pavlov's Law

    • While B.F. Skinner is considered the father of operant conditioning, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov is considered the dad of classical conditioning. In this case, Ivan Pavlov discovered how dogs learn through associations. Through several experiments, he noticed how environmental events that previously had no connection could, through experience, produce a new response.There's no doubt today that Pavlov's revolutionary studies paved the path for newer, more objective methods for studying behavior.

    Pavlov's Drooling Dogs

    • Pavlov casually discovered classical conditioning when he was studying the salivary glands in dogs. After his scientists fed the dogs day after day, he soon noticed how the dogs started drooling at the mere sight of a white lab coat. Therefore, the dogs learned to pair the food with the lab coat. He then further studied this behavior by sounding a bell in close association with their meal. Soon, the dogs learned to associate the bell noise with food, and shortly thereafter, started drooling just at the sound of it in anticipation of the food. This same application can be used when dealing with aggression in dogs.

    Lending a Hand from Skinner

    • Today, you can apply Skinner's principles to help Good Dog Charles better cope with his aggression. For instance, if your dog barks, growls and lunges at the sight of another dog, you can train him an alternate behavior to reinforce. Find a distance from where your dog is better under control, and when he spots a dog, ask him to sit. Reward the sit by using high-value treats. Because the sitting behavior is repeatedly reinforced, he'll be more likely to sit in the future; while on the other hand, the barking, growling and lunging behaviors may extinguish over time.

    Lending a Hand from Pavlov

    • Use Pavlov's classical conditioning to help your dog make positive associations. If other dogs are a problem, you can find a distance where your dog is calmer and every time he spots a dog you can feed him high-value treats. With time, he will pair the presence of dogs with food and this will change his underlying emotional response. Instead of reacting fearfully, he may follow Pavlov's law and may as well drool in anticipation of the treat.

    Choosing One Method Over the Other

    • You may wonder at some point if you should use operant or classical conditioning to help your dog. As a general rule, it's best to use operant conditioning when your dog is in a cognitive, thinking state of mind and doesn't appear upset; whereas, you should use classical conditioning when your dog is upset and dealing with emotions such as fear. It's crucial to consult with a dog behavior professional to determine which method is best to apply and how to apply it correctly.

    Pavlov is Always on Your Shoulder

    • Whichever method you employ, keep in mind that Pavlov is always sitting on your shoulder, as animal trainer and mentor Bob Bailey states. Indeed, classical conditioning is happening all the time. If you are asking your dog to sit when he sees another dog, the moment you feed treats, he is learning that the sitting behavior leads to treats, but he's also always automatically making good or bad associations whether or not it̵7;s intentional. Therefore, any of your training interactions ̵1; even those you may see as purely operant ̵1; lead to classical associations no matter what.