Pavlov's Dog

Saint_LB · 08-20-2011, 06:34 AM

I really don't know much about the experiments that Pavlov performed, and Wikipedia provided a little more info. Apparently this guy wanted to study the digestive system of dogs and later children, so he conducted experiments with dogs and their salivary glands. Anyway, my thought was that he noticed that dogs can be taught anything if you give them food at the end.

With this in mind, I began an experiment on a female Husky that I purchased with the idea of mating her with the male I already had. I am not a professional breeder, however, I just wanted to get some puppies from this male. Here's what I learned from her.

The experiment began due to the fact that she is always finding a way to get out of the fence. She is on the small-side, and I wonder if she is actually full-bred, even though I do have AKC papers on her.

Since she was getting out so much...one time, her first escape, she actually wandered down the road and somebody spotted her and picked her up. I put a sign in the local store the next morning and within an hour I had a call. It seems the young couple probably wanted to keep her, but according to them she howled all night so they took the $50 reward instead.

Well...obviusly I couldn't keep shelling out 50 bucks, so I put her on a chain. This made me feel guilty, so I figured I had to at least let her off the chain once a day, and I decided that in the morning when I went out on the front porch to have my first cup would be a good time. The experiment began when I had to find a way to get her back on the chain after she had time to exercise and stretch her legs.

Before I would turn her loose, I would put the male on the chain so she could have freedom and not be harrassed by him, who only had one thing on his mind. When I was ready to put her back on the chain, I would find some scrap food that they really like, anything with meat in it, and I would take it to the male and let him see it. This would induce "talking" by him, and my plan was that hopefully she would hear this and come get her share. This would allow me to catch her and change the chain back over.

Well...it worked to perfection...for a while. It seems that not only can dogs deduce that certain sounds mean food for them, but they can take it a step further, as in her case. After a while she began realizing that the food was there, but it also meant back to captivity. So, what I learned was that they can learn to the point that they can realize that this action means this but it also means something else, so now they have to make a choice.

So my question would be if Pavlov took his experiment to the next step.

Another experiment I started a long time ago involved the male. I have been talking to him like he was a person ever since he was a 10 week old puppy. I figured it couldn't hurt, and I have never assumed that dogs couldn't understand what we were saying. I have always assumed they could.

One thing I know for sure. Rocky, the male, has a huge vocabulary. I think the first word he really picked-up on, as a lot of dogs do, is "walk". Since that time, the following are words I am relatively certain he knows.

kitty, chicken, pizza, mama, bus, stick, Adie (female's name), and down-set-hut. When we play down-set-hut...it is a sight to behold. When I say down, Rocky gets down in his stance with his front feet lowered and him looking up at me. I, of course, get in my stance, too.

When I say "set"...he stays still and watches. Now I have to admit, that if I make him stay "set" too long, he gets tired of waiting, and in his voice will say, "set, hut" and the game is on.

Usually, however, he stays put...and then I say "HUT!" This part is hilarious because I do my best O-lineman pass protection position and a fierce growl, and he runs at me full-speed, and he is very fast, and then at the last second will cut one way or the other. I really need to get this on video tape.

Sorry for the long post, guys. I was interested if you guys have any funny pet stories and would like to post them here. I can't speak for everyone, but you can be assured that I will read them.

08-20-2011, 06:34 AM	#1
Saint_LB Deuce Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2,894	Pavlov's Dog I really don't know much about the experiments that Pavlov performed, and Wikipedia provided a little more info. Apparently this guy wanted to study the digestive system of dogs and later children, so he conducted experiments with dogs and their salivary glands. Anyway, my thought was that he noticed that dogs can be taught anything if you give them food at the end. With this in mind, I began an experiment on a female Husky that I purchased with the idea of mating her with the male I already had. I am not a professional breeder, however, I just wanted to get some puppies from this male. Here's what I learned from her. The experiment began due to the fact that she is always finding a way to get out of the fence. She is on the small-side, and I wonder if she is actually full-bred, even though I do have AKC papers on her. Since she was getting out so much...one time, her first escape, she actually wandered down the road and somebody spotted her and picked her up. I put a sign in the local store the next morning and within an hour I had a call. It seems the young couple probably wanted to keep her, but according to them she howled all night so they took the $50 reward instead. Well...obviusly I couldn't keep shelling out 50 bucks, so I put her on a chain. This made me feel guilty, so I figured I had to at least let her off the chain once a day, and I decided that in the morning when I went out on the front porch to have my first cup would be a good time. The experiment began when I had to find a way to get her back on the chain after she had time to exercise and stretch her legs. Before I would turn her loose, I would put the male on the chain so she could have freedom and not be harrassed by him, who only had one thing on his mind. When I was ready to put her back on the chain, I would find some scrap food that they really like, anything with meat in it, and I would take it to the male and let him see it. This would induce "talking" by him, and my plan was that hopefully she would hear this and come get her share. This would allow me to catch her and change the chain back over. Well...it worked to perfection...for a while. It seems that not only can dogs deduce that certain sounds mean food for them, but they can take it a step further, as in her case. After a while she began realizing that the food was there, but it also meant back to captivity. So, what I learned was that they can learn to the point that they can realize that this action means this but it also means something else, so now they have to make a choice. So my question would be if Pavlov took his experiment to the next step. Another experiment I started a long time ago involved the male. I have been talking to him like he was a person ever since he was a 10 week old puppy. I figured it couldn't hurt, and I have never assumed that dogs couldn't understand what we were saying. I have always assumed they could. One thing I know for sure. Rocky, the male, has a huge vocabulary. I think the first word he really picked-up on, as a lot of dogs do, is "walk". Since that time, the following are words I am relatively certain he knows. kitty, chicken, pizza, mama, bus, stick, Adie (female's name), and down-set-hut. When we play down-set-hut...it is a sight to behold. When I say down, Rocky gets down in his stance with his front feet lowered and him looking up at me. I, of course, get in my stance, too. When I say "set"...he stays still and watches. Now I have to admit, that if I make him stay "set" too long, he gets tired of waiting, and in his voice will say, "set, hut" and the game is on. Usually, however, he stays put...and then I say "HUT!" This part is hilarious because I do my best O-lineman pass protection position and a fierce growl, and he runs at me full-speed, and he is very fast, and then at the last second will cut one way or the other. I really need to get this on video tape. Sorry for the long post, guys. I was interested if you guys have any funny pet stories and would like to post them here. I can't speak for everyone, but you can be assured that I will read them.
Saint_LB Deuce Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2,894	Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right! Last edited by Saint_LB; 08-20-2011 at 06:43 AM..