Smart dogs, dumb dogs, shut-down dogs, dogs that don't want to learn.

So much of this has little to do with the dogs. The teachers need to be involved as much as the learners do.

Yes, one needs to find out what motivates each dog. Yes, environment can make it easier or hard to learn. Working with shelter dogs as much as I have has certainly shown all these things to be true. Dogs that have never been allowed to learn new skills (by being kept isolated, by being punished for trying new behaviors for example) can have a much rougher time of it.

We once had an amazing dog. Her name was River. She became my first Delta Pet Partner (www.deltasociety.org) .

River came out of the Madera County shelter through Pet Partnership Program run by Marin Humane Society (http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/ProgramsServices/PetPartnership.html). MHS goes to over crowded rural shelters and harvests potential pets for placement through their shelters, giving these animals a second chance. There is some controversy about taking the best prospects for adoption out of area but most of these pets don't have much hope of finding home where they are at all. MHS also takes in some pets in need of veterinary care that the small shelters can't provide.

Back to River - we guess she spent most of her life (she was about 6 when she came to us) as an outside dog. She had no clue about being a house pet, no idea what a leash was, what house training was, simply coming into small rooms without panic was a challenge for her.

She was clever in a number of ways, finding hidden items and new routes of escape were two of her specialties. Learning clues and house training however...it took a long while, patience and understand her but we worked together and learned together. Once she figured out how to learn in the context of dog training, offer behaviors and being rewarded for them, it all came at a rush. We succeeded together. There was a lot of "hotdog therapy" involved in this process.

Different animals learn in different ways. Finding a way to help them focus, be willing to be creative and offering them what motivates are the keys really - dog, cat, person, fish, anything with a nervous system really!

I'm reflected on this mostly about shelter pets but also as to motivating our various branches and groups of animal welfare to work together. I'll be asking myself a lot of questions to help solve this question.

Ideas are more than welcome!

Interesting article on animal learning from the times states,
"Dr. Dukas hypothesizes that any animal with a nervous system can learn. Even in cases where scientists have failed to document learning in a species, he thinks they should not be too quick to rule it out. “Is it because I’m not a good teacher or because the animal doesn’t learn?” Dr. Dukas asked."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/science/06dumb.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5124&en=ac91b2ae04c7301e&ex=1367726400&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

How do dogs learn - Dog's Mind by Bruce Fogle

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB275