Canine Trainers Forum: Influential People in Learning Theory Part I

Canine Trainers Forum: Influential People in Learning Theory Part I
By Robert Forto, PhD


This is the first in a weekly series of articles on Canine Training. We will post these articles every Saturday. We are going to start by posting articles about the history of human-canine communication and learning theory and why this approach is the de-facto method of training our companion animals. The training methods used by many trainers and training schools simply do not work. They are not based on the principles of how a dog learns. I classify these types of trainers into two groups: Yank and Crank and Wait and See trainers (We will discuss both of these methods in a future article so stay tuned and subscribe to our blog on our website Denver Dog Works). Both of these methods will have a degree of success but not a long term effect on changing your dog’s overall behavior. Both of these methods are an “easy way out” for training your dog.

I will be the first to admit that dog training is work. Hard work and it takes a great deal of knowledge, understanding, patience and adaption in order for it to be a success. Do you want to go to a trainer or training school that has a trainer that is still wet-behind-the-ears or is earning minimum wage at a big box store? Or do you want to go to a professional that has literally lived with a pack of sled dogs for the better part of fifteen years and earned his doctorate on the basis of human-canine communication? If you would like to talk about this in more detail, I encourage you to give us a call anytime at 303-578-9881 or send us an email at train@denverdogworks.com We look forward to hearing from you!
Influential People in the Development of Learning Theory

Huxley and Darwin
It is unclear when formalized studies of learning actually began, however, Professor Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) birthed the theory of association in the early 1870’s. Professor Huxley stated that “It may be laid down as a rule, that, if any two mental states be called up together, or in succession, with due frequency and vividness, the subsequent production of one of them [mental states] will suffice to call up the other, and that whether we desire it or not.”[i] This observation may very well have laid the groundwork for later studies in respondent and operant conditioning. Huxley was an outspoken advocate of the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). The professor was so passionate in his defense of Darwin’s theories that he was often referred to as “Darwin’s Bulldog”.
In Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals, Professor Huxley’s influence was evident in Darwin’s observations of the emotions of man and animals. When studying animal expression Darwin was vividly aware of the challenges associated with those observations. He writes, “The study of expression is difficult, owing to the movements being often extremely slight, and of a fleeting nature.” [ii] Nevertheless, Darwin’s careful observations were of immeasurable value to later researchers. Darwin continued where Huxley left off by recognizing that movements, no matter how complex, can be performed with little or no forethought and minimal efforts when they have been performed with enough frequency. This premise was the foundation for Darwin’s Principle of Antithesis, which reasons, that states of mind lead to the performance of “habitual actions”, when a “directly opposite” state of mind occurs, there is a “strong and involuntary” tendency to perform movements and actions of a “directly opposite nature”. This principle is of special interest to observers of canine communication techniques, and can help the astute observer decipher the signal being sent and received by a canine, whether it is intra- or interspecies communication. Darwin states further “that gestures and expressions are to a certain extent mutually intelligible.”[iii]
Darwin speaks of his own dog’s “hot-house” face and reasoned that the opposite expression displayed by his dog was innate and not a deliberate attempt at communicating his desire to not go to the “hot-house.” He further states, “hence for the development of the movements which came under the present head, some other principle, distinct from the will and consciousness, must have intervened.”[iv]
While the vast majority of canine communication is accomplished via body language, there is some evidence that canines posses at least a limited verbal vocabulary. While most canines in the wild do not bark, but howl, this is not the case for the domesticated canine. According to Darwin “…some animals after being domesticated have acquired the habit of uttering sounds which were not natural to them. Thus domesticated dogs, and even tamed jackals have learnt [sic] to bark, which is a noise not proper to any species of the genus with the exception of the Canis latrans of North America, which is said to bark.”[v] In regard to the Principle of Antithesis “…the bark of anger, and that of joy are sounds which by no means stand in opposition to one another;…”[vi] This lack of observable difference between barks is likely the reason that canines rely on body language so extensively. Canine body language has been studied extensively and is well documented. If you would like to read my doctorate dissertation: Chasing the Dream: A History of Human-Canine Communication in the Sport of Dog Sledding in its entirety it can be purchased as a .pdf from for $19.10 please send me an email at train@denverdogworks.com and I will arrange it.

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[i] Huxley, Thomas Henry, Elementary Lessons in Physiology Fifth Edition, 1872 pg. 306.
[ii] Darwin, C., The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals. (1872) Web Document. The Complete Works of Charles Darwin. http: //www.darwin-literature.com. Pg. 28
[iii]Darwin, C., The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals. (1872) Web Document. The Complete Works of Charles Darwin. http://www.darwin-literature.com,Pg. 35.
[iv] ____________Pg.38.
[v] Darwin, C., The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals. (1872) Web Document. The Complete Works of Charles Darwin. http://www.darwin-literature.com, Pg.53.
[vi] ____________Pg.56.


Dr. Robert Forto is the training director of Denver Dog Works and The Ineka Project in Colorado. Dr. Forto hosts a weekly radio program The Dog Doctor Radio Show every Saturday. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at http://www.denverdogworks.com