Food for thought and discussion - Page 1

https://youtu.be/xZVw-9ThmSM

Yes this has something to do with dog training. The part that I think would be good for discussion is the last half re lateral eye movement but watch whole video for context..

I have known about lateralization of eye movement for quite a while but this was a first look at the science behind it. I like the creator had initially rolled my eyes at the concept ( yes, pun intended)

What I found interesting is he is actually talking about two things we do & deal with in dog training all the time - flight/fight & prey drive.

So here is the question. How does understanding the science of what is happening in the brain reinforce how we train or perhaps will it change how you train something? For example can we use the knowledge that forward movement helps to overcome fear to develop new ways to teach dogs with thin nerves to be more confident.

This also raises  questions of epigenetics and how they may persist and what really is their effect on genetics.

Would love to hear people's thoughts.

@TIG

The more I learned in school while earning my BS in biology, the more I thought about this kind of thing with my training and dogs. Of course we all know about classical/operant conditioning and pattern recognition in dogs, but the effect of brain chemistry on these phenomena is interesting to think about.

For example, stress has different effects on the capacity to learn based on the complexity of the task (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2010.02.011).

positively reinforced conditioned behaviors actually trigger the brain to release dopamine in canines, but different breeds have different ratios of dopamine/serotonin/etc. which is why our beloved shepherds and malinois will work themselves to the brink of exhaustion for a reward toy.

Also, all dogs have a mutation that means their brain is more sensitive to oxytocin, which is why they are so friendly compared to wild animals.

I am not so sure about epigenetics on behavior overall, but I was taught that genetic markers for stress in parents can be passed down to their offspring epigenetically, and it has been demonstrated that puppies that had been "coddled" by their dam were less successful at passing guide dog school later on. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/07/541644280/coddled-puppies-make-poor-guide-dogs-study-suggests

Very interesting, Tig! I think this ties in very well with what I've seen from many successful dog trainers. When they have a reactive dog, they get it moving forward, first at a distance from whatever is triggering it, then gradually getting closer, as the dog becomes desensitized.

I think this forward movement is the key to success.