Working Dog Training for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Dogs are trained for a variety of working roles including assistance, protection, and detection work. Many canine working roles, in their modern iterations, were developed at the turn of the 20th century and training practices have since largely been passed down from trainer to trainer. In parallel, research in psychology has advanced our understanding of animal behavior, and specifically canine learning and cognition, over the last 20 years; however, this field has had little focus or practical impact on working dog training. The aims of this narrative review are to (1) orient the reader to key advances in animal behavior that we view as having important implications for working dog training, (2) highlight where such information is already implemented, and (3) indicate areas for future collaborative research bridging the gap between research and practice. Through a selective review of research on canine learning and behavior and training of working dogs, we hope to combine advances from scientists and practitioners to lead to better, more targeted, and functional research for working dogs.

Development of Desirable Behaviors in Dog-Assisted Interventions

“…However, the method presented here aims to establish this bond with the human figure and not with a particular human (the trainer), thus facilitating the establishment of future bonding units with the handlers and other humans in the DAI. Dogs with secure attachment to humans divide their attention between the user and the handler, whereas dogs with an insecure attachment focus only on the handler ([ 127 ]; for further development see [ 18 ]). For this purpose, during the pups’ training, different socialization agents need to be used.…”

“…These behaviors are highly desirable in DAI dogs as, for instance, the stimulations increased the effectiveness of the intervention in cases of dystonia and muscular rigidity [ 128 ]. Additionally, avoiding eye contact with humans leads to unwanted effects in therapy [ 18 ].…”

“…Although in the last 20 years the research on canine learning and cognition has resulted in important progresses for the understanding of this species behavior, these progresses have had little impact on the training of work dogs. The training methods are usually transmitted between trainers and do not take into account the new scientific findings [ 18 ]. It is proposed that, in order to include a dog in DAI, it is only needed to develop in the animals those behaviors that, being part of the natural set of behaviors of the species, are desirable for the intervention [ 19 ].…”

“…It is proposed that, in order to include a dog in DAI, it is only needed to develop in the animals those behaviors that, being part of the natural set of behaviors of the species, are desirable for the intervention [ 19 ]. Those behaviors that correlate with a positive evaluation in the accreditation of work dogs and that are mainly related to social education are usually trained by methods based on classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or, in a few instances, social learning [ 18 ].…”

Dog Handler Beliefs regarding Barriers and Facilitators to Canine Health Promotion and Injury Prevention in Swedish Working Dog Trials and Competitions

“…Credentials based on the dogs’ working performance represent working ability, as in the relationship between structure and function, real-world coping strategies and cognition, and, therefore, additional components of the dogs’ physical and mental capacities [ 10 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. However, it is also well-known that working performance is moderated by variables including the experience of the dog handler and associative learning principles based on reward and punishment typically used in dog training [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”