Am I training my puppy, or is he training me?

 I recently adopted a puppy who I am completely obsessed with, and he just so happens to be my favorite breed, an Australian shepherd. I am a huge fan of this breed for its intelligence, and it has always been my life dream to live in the beautiful state of Colorado with my very own Aussie and teach him tons of tricks. So to be here in Denver with my new pup Cashew and using every free moment I have to fulfill his every need (especially the breed's need for mental stimulation) is a challenge but also literally my dream come true.

As a biology student, I like to think I am in full control of his training, abiding by textbook techniques and classical conditioning. But I'm starting to think that Cashew is training me just as much as I'm training him.

I've trained cashew to instinctively grasp/hold his plush toys when he's seated and I present him one with the verbal cue "Who's your friend?" - that's an example of a trick I taught him. Initially I had to use food to motivate him to perform the task, but now he does it on cue with no reward needed (but still often given anyway because he is perfect and deserves it!)

But Cashew has trained me equally well. When I lay in my bed and he comes by, he cues me by sitting politely next to the bed and giving me an unwavering, dead-eye stare. At this point, I react immediately and pick him up to allow him to snuggle. It's positive reinforcement on both ends!

In our physiology lecture course, we talked about the 'bonding hormone' oxytocin - both dogs and humans experience a release of this hormone when a puppy gazes into a human's eyes. So every time Cashew gives puppy eyes, my own endocrine system is activated!

So officially, I am training Cashew with psychology. But unofficially, Cashew himself has harnessed the power of behavioral psych as well as human physiology, creating his very own human-training program and I seem to be the only student.

 

Sources: Pryor, K. (2019). Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals. Scribner.

 

Nagasawa, M., Mitsui, S., En, S., Ohtani, N., Ohta, M., Sakuma, Y., ... & Kikusui, T. (2015). Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds. Science, 348(6232), 333–336. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261022