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A Critical Learning Time By Anne Bowen Development of the brain and related, behaviour patterns occurs in chronological fashion. This chronology can be divided into distinct levels of critical periods. This can be done by physical criteria such as maturation of the brain and related nervous system or by the appearance of specific behaviour patterns. Organization of responses and behaviour patterns during the first level of development directly affects the patterns in higher levels. Once a critical period is passed the patterns learned during this time are resistant to change. The young animal, when presented with a problem, will try many solutions until it finds the correct one. This solution becomes a habit and is difficult to change. The housetraining of a dog is an excellent example. Many people start by "paper" training their puppy- As the puppy matures, they slowly move the papers outside. Unfortunately during this early stage, when the wild puppy would have been learning to leave the den to eliminate, we have taught the dog to eliminate in the house. Re-training these animals is difficult and time consuming. Frequent "accidents" occur where the papers were originally placed. The dog has been taught, during a critical period, to use his house as a bathroom. As dog trainers, we should examine the ultimate goals for our dogs and begin training during the critical periods in a manner that will not conflict with information presented in the next level of learning. The process of organizing behaviour patterns is most easily modified
at the time when it is proceeding most rapidly (Scott 1965)). This socialization
period (3-12 weeks) is the time when the dog is rapidly attaining most
of its adult behaviour patterns. The two areas most important to consider
as trainers are the socio-emotional attachments (Bonding and Relationships)
and the complex learned responses (Training) of social behaviour patterns.
BONDING The 3 to 12 week socialization period is the most critical time for the young animal to bond with other living creatures in its environment. It also becomes accustomed to the non-living aspects of its life. The young wolf emerges from the den at approximately four weeks of age and begins to interact with other members of the pack and explore its surroundings. Around 8 weeks of age the litter is often moved to a new location (Scott, 1977). By 12 to 14 weeks all bonding is complete and new wolves or humans cause strong fear responses in young animals. In the wild this helps maintain pack unity and safety. The same fear responses have been demonstrated in dogs by Scott (1965). He isolated puppies until fourteen weeks of age and then introduced them to humans. These dogs were overwhelmed by fear. This is frequently seen in obedience classes where four or five month old dogs have not been exposed to people and/or dogs other than the immediate family. Their fear response can lead to fear biting if cornered, It is extremely important to expose young dogs to many animals, people and places before 12 weeks. In this way they will be able to accept and function confidently in many novel situations. The young dog should be encouraged to develop adult social behaviour patterns as it is exposed to the new situations. The young wolf emerges from the den into a well organized pack. He must immediately begin learning the social skills required when interacting with adult members. The pack consists of an alpha male, an alpha female and a number of their off- spring (from new born to other adults). The alpha male maintains order and directs pack activities. The alpha female is second in command and the others arrange themselves after them. The alpha dog chooses first where and when he sleeps and eats. Leadership is maintained primarily through visual displays of aggression and submission. The mother wolf establishes leadership with her puppies as early as three to four weeks. She does this by regularly pinning pups for no apparent reason. The pups show submission by licking, yipping and rolling on their backs. At weaning time she becomes almost ferocious, growling and snapping at pups to prevent nursing, Interactions with other pack members are tranquil unless the puppies challenge the dominant position of an adult. These attempts to move up the social ladder are countered by growling, snapping and finally pinning and standing over the subordinate. The end result is submissiveness and an apparent willingness to please. This submissiveness is specific in each encounter and does not generalize to other members. The puppies will ultimately challenge all members until they find their position in the pack. Each member re-affirms its dominance over subordinates daily, through mutual rituals. Social organization within the canine pack depends heavily upon this pecking order. There is tranquillity and easy coordination of group activities unless something happens to the pack leader. Puppies, as young as four weeks, show a need for leadership. Mech (1970) removed two wolf puppies from a litter and hand raised them in his home. At about 30 days the two began fighting until both were bleeding and had to be separated. This fighting continued with each contact, until one emerged as leader. They co-existed peacefully after that. Mech then examined the puppies remaining with the pack and found no evidence of aggression. The presence of the dominant adults eliminated the need for fighting. The domestic dog also lives in a pack. It spends its first 4 to 7 weeks within a natural setting. The mother dog cares for and disciplines the puppies. Just as a wolf bitch, she will pin puppies on a regular basis. There is rivalry among puppies, with mock fighting, until their relative pecking order is established under the mother- Human contact begins early and the puppy includes them in its pack. When the puppy is sold it leaves the stable pack and joins a new pack consisting primarily of humans. This puppy is in a situation similar to Mech's two wolf puppies or a pack that has just lost its leader. The puppy will challenge each family member as it tries to find its place in the pecking order. The puppy will adapt quickly and happily if it immediately finds a stable position within the pack, preferably (for us) at the bottom. If there is ambiguous leadership the puppy will frequently challenge members and, expect submissive displays from subordinates (especially children). The early challenges by the 3 to 12 week old puppy are not particularly
severe but they are forming the basis for future relationships within the
family. When the dog reaches the juvenile and sexually mature stages of
development these playful challenges become more serious. Many problems
arise with the adolescent (6 mo. or more) dog which has been allowed to
'Be a puppy". The human definition of "Be a puppy" seems to be "Let it
do whatever it wants". This is contrary to natural behaviour and sets up
a situation where the dog is the family leader. Finally the dog is anywhere
from 10 to 80 or more pounds and won't allow the owners to cat in peace
or sleep in their favourite chair. If training is going to be progress,
the owners must establish a position of leadership. I'his may require month%
of 'dominance exercises' and may never be completely realized. The puppy
in the rapidly developing socialization period has just left a stable pecking
order with its mother as leader. It is most consistent an understandable
if dominance is immediately established and maintained.
RELATIONSHIPS
When the domestic puppy is moved into its new hoome, it immediately begins building a foundation of behaviours which will carry over into the next level of developement. The overall relationship with the primary owner is extremely important. The puppy is in a rapid learning phase at the beginning of a new relationship. This is the time when it is most easily shaped into a complete relationship, with all aspects of its future role included. If the handier only plays with the puppy during this phase the puppy learns that only play behaviour of a specific type is expected of it. This pattern becomes fixed and interferes strongly with later attempts to change it. The owner should first establish a leadership role with the puppy in
the first week. Then training should begin to focus on the ultimate goals
for the dog. Some time should be spent each day working with the handler
on a one-on-orie basis. Young puppies exhibit strong tendencies toward
coordinate group activities (allelomimetic behaviour). They follow each
other, run faster in pairs and carry things together. They are especially
sensitive to the moods and activities of the alpha pack member. The handier/pack
leader can capitalize on this by committing himself to "showing" the puppy
how to act, as an adult, in all relationships. The training of the dog
for future goals is also important when exposing the puppy to new places
and other animals. Reshaping behaviours learned
during the socialization
period and introducing new ones in higher levels of development is very
difficult.
TRAINING It is not within the scope of this article to examine all aspects of classical and operant conditioning, but some general things are important to mention. During this socialization period, the young puppy is rapidly learning may different behaviolurs, and grouping them into complex patterns. If we examine play behaviour in a litter, all aspects of adult predatory and sexual behaviour are present. They are not always elicited at appropriate times and not necessarily chained into complete patterns. The puppies practice isolated maneuvers, which will condition the animal for future survival. The separation of each part of the adult pattern may allow the animal to later couple small fixed sequences into complex and varied responses. If this period of goal oriented "play" behaviour is not permitted, these behaviours can be lost or require much longer to master. This is seen in the large amount of time needed to "train" animals for return to a wild environment. The owner/handler of the future obedience dog should capitalize on the leadership bond and the desire to copy of the young puppy. The puppy should be engaged in frequent "play' trainin periods. Individual parts of the many obedience exercises can be taught. These parts should include the many aspects of heel (isolated into turns, changes of pace, circles, etc.), retrieving, jumping and scent work. These training sessions should be presented as "play" sessions should be presented as "play" sessions with an underlying tone of seriousness. In the wild the "play" skills the puppy practices may save his life. The puppy should be motivated to work using natural instincts and drives and guided with both positive and negative reinforcement. The emphasis should be on success (so the leader is happy) and development of physical and mental coordination. It is important to keep in mind some basic principles of learning when presenting information to the new puppy. There are six ways in which an animal processes information for learning; tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, touching and kinesthetic. In training for obedience, tasting is not particularly important and smell is primarily important for scent work. The other four should be kept in mind at all times while training the dog. Maximum learning in a group of humans occurs if the lesson is delivered in as many of these ways as possible. Hearing is often the mode of learning most emphasized when training our dogs. Humans rely very heavily on hearing and only about 20% of us learn best through our hearing channel. The dog communicates in verbal, visual and tactile modes. The visual means are especially important with social animals. Facial expressions and body postures are easily read by others, even at a distance. When we combine modes of teaching we should be especially conscious of what visual learning the dog is being presented with. This means hand signals and constantly standardizing our movements will significantly increase the rate of learning on the part of the dog. Inadvertent movements or abrupt changes in visual patterns can easily confuse the dog and cause what appears to be disobedience. This is frequently seen in the obedience ring when handlers remove the leash for the first time. Their apprehension communicates to their dog as they speak and move very differently. The do, who usually heels beautifully and willingly may not even leave the first sit or on halts will crowd around the front of the handler in confusion. Standardizing footwork and body movements will significantly decrease this problem. Learning is fastest when it is first being acquired and the rate of
learning conditioned responses in the dog begins to diminish by the age
of 14 weeks. So we should present the puppy with many types of learning
through as many channels open for future use, say when hand signals become
important in Utility. If we train the young dog to interpret incorrect
signals or worse yet, ignore them, when it gets older it will require many
times the hours required to teach the young dog.
SUMMARY The socialization period is a critical time for learning. The young
dog learns the fundamentals of pack behaviour and bonds with its leader.
Once leadership is established the animal begins to be sensitive to the
moods and needs of the pack or human leader. It exhibits a "desire to please"
that makes training easier. The development of a complete relationship
on the part of the primary handler should include all aspects of the adult
role the dog is expected to perform. Simple play behaviour in the wild
puppy has all the parts of adult predatory behaviour. This is later chained
together to form complex and variable behaviour patterns. The domestic
dog, in training, should learn the various forms of obedience exercises
during its "play". The learning by the puppy will be maximized if the information
is presented in as many channels as possible, with special attention to
visual learning. Beginning to train the puppy for its adult role during
its first learning level, the socialization period, is easiest and fastest
because there is little previous learning to be extinguished. Research
has shown that learning is most easily modified when it is first being
acquire (Fox 1971). Animals given many varied tasks during early stages
of development are much more interested in complex tasks as adults. (Scott
1972). The opposite is true of sensory and learning deprived. Therefore,
the puppy should be exposed to many different environments and be taught
to behave appropriately in these environments.
References Fox, M.W.1971. Integrative Development of the Brain and Behaviour in the Dog. Chicago; Univ- of Chicago Press. Mech, L. David. 1970. The Wolf; The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species. Minneapolis. Univ. of Minnesota Press. Scott, John Paul and J.L. Fuller. 1965 Dog Behaviour: The Genetic Basis. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. Scott, J.P. 1972 Critical Periods in Behavioural Development in Control and Development of Behaviour. Peter H. Klopfer and Jack P. Hailman eds. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Scott, J.P., John M. Steward and Victor J. DeGhett. 1977 Readings in Animal Behaviour. 3rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Wooply, Jerome H. 1970. The Social Organization of Wolves in Contemporary Readings in Behaviour. Cecil Johnson ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. |