ANIMAL WELFARE (Animal Training) Flashcards
ABCs of learning:
A: antecedent
B: behaviour
C: consequence
Antecedent:
-environmental cues (ex. us)
-predict if something is pleasant or threatening
-predict if response will be rewarded or punished
Behaviour:
-if the experience I repeated animal learns to:
>anticipate
>react sooner
Consequence:
-positive or negative outcome
Dominance:
-occurs between species (hierarchical relations)
-determines who had priority access to multiple resources (food, resting spots, mates)
*does NOT apply to human-dog relationship
Wolf pack experiment:
-wolf packs in natural habitat demonstrate that they are not dominated by an Alpha wolf
-similar organization to human families
-alpha wolves breed and become parents (parents are leaders)
-little aggress or fights for dominance
Dogs mental capacity:
-of a 2-3 year old child
Undesirable behaviour due to:
-accidental reinforcing/rewarding undesirable behaviour
-environment including early learning experiences
-genetic predisposition
Operant conditioning:
-consequences
-create positive emotions
-punishment: to make the behaviour happen less often
-reinforcement: to make the behaviour happen more often
-negative: take something away
-positive: add something
Aversive/punishment/balanced/confrontational training
-associated with FAS
-decreases animal welfare
-produces defensive/aggressive responses (46% will retaliate against owners)
-children are mimics (if you do it, the kids will and likely get hurt)
-produces pessimism
Avoid punishment:
-creates conflict between owner and animal
-does not convey appropriate behaviour
-decreases likelihood of warning signs (skip steps on the ladder)
Aversive training:
-designed to cause pain
-alters human/animal relationship
-psychological distress: greats phobias
-physiological stress
-positive reinforcement produced better results
Prong collars: example bark at other dogs
-positive punishment
-when they barked, pull on collar
>now paying attention to pain
>flooding
>shutting down
*antecedent: presence of other dog (now: other dogs are not good!)
Why do injuries occur with prong collars:
-dog is over aroused
*stress induced analgesia
-can’t feel it now, but will later
-maybe it was worth it for the dog
-high cortisol, increase HR
Physiological stress: aversive training
-high cortisol
-increased heart rate
Why is punishment ineffective?
-inconsistent application
-always situations where it’s “worth it”
Example of effective punishment:
-positive punishment: electric fences
>very predictable and consistent: not associated with the human, just the fence
Cooperative care:
-training to tolerate AND be a willing participant
>even when the care is aversive
-common in zoos
-improves animal welfare
-animal can choose not to participate
Common in zoos:
-traditionally anesthesia or heavy sedation was required for many procedures
-high risk of injury and death
-traditional procedures created FAS as well as mistrust
Animal can choose not to participate:
-prevent forced participation (flooding)
-gives the animal control
-increases confidence and tolerance
-animals will choose more often to participate even when procedure is unpleasant or aversive
Gives the animal control:
-reduces stress and fear
-animals can opt for a break
