No dog exists in a vacuum. Stimuli are constantly coming at dogs – usually in great numbers and variety – requiring them to continually make decisions about what to do. What should they pay attention to? What should they be ignoring?
Some people think that when their dogs don’t come when they call or sit when they ask, the dogs are “blowing them off,” ignoring their cues, or even being spiteful. Let’s look a little closer.
When a dog doesn’t respond to a cue, know that it is most likely that a dog has not been trained well enough to understand what the human wants him to do in this situation. These non-responses often come at times when the dog is in a new situation or one that is overly “busy.” The dog is under the influence of so many stimuli that he has few resources left for responding to the stimulus the owner wants him to. This happens to humans, too!
Humans Ignoring Other Humans
Have you ever been deeply involved in reading a book or watching a movie when a loved one was calling to you? They might have thought you were ignoring them. Actually, you were filtering available information and responding to what was important at the moment. Your book or movie already had all your attention and you weren’t expecting to listen for someone calling to you.
Signal Detection Theory
Being unable to hear someone’s calls while you are concentrating deeply on something else is more than a lack of hearing ability or caring. You’re not ignoring them. It’s because of the selective attention and filtering we all do to enhance our ability to focus on what is critical in any given moment. Signal Detection Theory helps us understand what is going on during the decision-making process. It applies to our dogs as well as ourselves.
If you want to be fascinated about how this filtering and selective attention benefits organisms including ourselves, dig into the topic of “Signal Detection Theory.” (The fascination may be accompanied by an aching brain LOL It’s a deeply complex topic.) Signal Detection Theory is a way to understand how we filter out information that is very important, even though it may be quiet, infrequent, or weakly presented. We have to discriminate the important information from “noise” that is completely irrelevant. This short video provides an easy-to-understand summary of a complex theory.
You Can Learn to Filter Better
The ability to filter stimuli and prioritize “signal” information over the “noise” that is merely distraction can be practiced and improved. It’s part of a skill set taught to air traffic controllers, but every organism filters stimuli. If they didn’t, they’d be overwhelmed trying to attend to the constant barrage of stimuli and never find time to eat or reproduce! Some of the skills for filtering are innate but even innate characteristics can be enhanced by learning.
Dividing Attention
In some ways, dogs are doing even more than filtering information. They are not only ignoring many individual stimuli, they are paying attention to multiple signals at once.
Dogs take in information about the job they’re doing. That job may be tracking the location of a squirrel sprinting through the tree canopy above. It may be continuing to lie on a mat after you cued your dog to do so, while other exciting things are going on. While they are focusing on a job and ignoring irrelevant noise, dogs keep a channel open to receive information about what to do next. Ideally, that includes being open to noticing a cue their owner delivers.
Teaching Dogs to Divide Their Attention
We can teach dogs to focus on the jobs they’re doing while maintaining attention on their handlers, always ready to respond to cues. I like to refer to this as “dividing attention.” It helps me think about what I want my dog to be attending to. There are some things I do not want him to attend to, and I counter those by training strength and frequency into the jobs I want to be important to him.
Sometimes I want my dog to attend to the job he was asked to do, such as continuing to lie on a mat, while I do other things that don’t involve him. But I also want my dog to be listening and ready to respond to a cue that I will eventually give him that means for him to get up. In effect, he is dividing his attention between the job I asked him to do and me. I also want him to be able to divide his attention between an activity he has chosen, perhaps barking at a treed squirrel or playing with another dog, and me. I may need to call him away from that activity.
The Signals
The foundation for this skill set can be as simple as training your dog to lie on a mat and then adjusting your own position a little at a time. While training your dog, you would typically be standing or maybe sitting close to your dog while he’s lying on a mat. When you turn away from your dog, take a few steps away, or change positions, your dog won’t be sure whether those changes mean anything to him until you carefully teach him that they don’t.
The only “signal” that you want to have value is your release cue or a cue to get up and do something different. Your position adjustments are “noise.” They cause the “signals” that you’ve decided are important to become weaker among the increasing “noise” in your dog’s perception. The “noise” becomes louder as you move about while the “signal” is diluted and becomes quieter. Your dog has to give a little more attention to what you’re doing to determine whether he needs to respond or not. He has to focus on two things: the current cue and you, who might give another cue.
The Noise
The “noise” is your movements, which you don’t want your dog to pay attention to. You might cross your legs, scratch an itch, or reposition your hands. None of these is your release cue or a cue to start doing a different behavior. The “signal” is the cue you gave your dog to lie on the mat. He continues to respond by staying on the mat, no matter what happens, once he’s learned the game.
The only additional signal you want your dog to respond to at this point is the cue you’ll be giving him to get up. You don’t want your dog to perceive any of those “noises” as a “signal.” That’s what generalization of responses is teaching your dog. Of course, you teach this in tiny steps, at the level where your dog learns what you’re trying to teach.
Your dog can learn to continue doing the “job” he was taught to do – maintain a relaxed position on a mat – while being open to responding to cues you give him to do other tasks.
A Squirrel and Me
There are times when my dog is running around in a large outdoor area, free to follow the stimuli his nose, ears, or eyes detect and to do whatever he wants. I still want him to be open to responding to an important cue I might give. Perhaps I’ll need to call him to me or ask him to lie down. I want to be able to keep him safe. Sometimes, I want to get him to stop barking at a squirrel in a tree (although I frequently let him bark!)
I’ve carefully taught him that dividing his attention between the activity he has chosen and any “signal” I interject is highly functional for him. All the while, he’s filtering out the “noise” of smells, sounds, the visual of a bird flying by or an insect buzzing around his head, my other dog, and more. The only “signals” at this moment are the squirrel in the tree and me.
Don’t Teach With the Squirrel in the Room
My dog did not learn this while out in the yard. You don’t teach a dog to come from 100 feet away by placing him 100 feet away and calling him! You start by teaching him to come to you in a quiet room from 4 feet away. It’s so easy that the dog will get it right and you can use positive reinforcement to build the behavior. There’s minimal noise and the signal (your cue to come) will be nice and loud. This will help him understand. Generalization occurs as you add more distance, more time between the reinforcers, and additional distractions or “noise” as the dog performs the behavior. Over time, you get to 100 feet, out in the yard!
The Need for Generalization in Training
As a trainer, I often hear stories of dogs who “knew what they were supposed to do,” but didn’t do it under certain conditions. For instance, a dog who reliably “sits” when asked to at home, in the kitchen, when his meal is being prepared, does not respond correctly to the cue when he’s in the backyard. Well, of course he doesn’t! LOL
Train in the New Environment
You can predict that your dog won’t sit when you ask in the backyard, if you haven’t trained him in the backyard. This phenomenon is not just about “having him do the behavior” in a new circumstance. You’re actually “re-teaching” the behavior in the new environment, filled with new “noise.” Training comes more quickly in each new environment, if you teach carefully at each phase so that your dog gets the response right every time.
Imagine the number and types of stimuli apparent to the dog in the kitchen at meal prep time. Now think about the available stimuli out in the backyard.
You Trained Him in the Kitchen. . . .
At meal prep time, the dog is responding to his hunger. Hunger is an internal stimulus. He’s also responding to all the familiar things going on in his own kitchen as his mom or dad prepares his food. It’s likely the smells are familiar because he gets fed a couple of times every day. His mom or dad probably follows the same routine for every meal. Your dog probably does the same things during each meal prep time, and one of those is being asked to sit quietly during the process. He’s done it every day for a long time.
Now Train Him in the Backyard!
Out in the yard, there are more and different types of stimuli such as animal smells, sounds of local activities like vehicles, people, animals, construction tools, sirens, music, and who knows what else? Then there are the visual stimuli: grasses and flowers blowing in the breeze, insects and maybe small animals running around, the movements of tree branches and leaves in real life along with the movements of their shadows on the ground and the changes in light that go along with those. What grabs your dog’s attention right now? It’s likely more than one stimulus and it’s hard to know.
There are moments in the backyard during which the dog has a mental opening to respond to a familiar cue you give, but those moments are fleeting. The available stimuli are constantly changing. Incorrect response is not because the dog is “blowing anyone off,” it’s because of cognitive overload. He just doesn’t have any more resources available.
“Sit” is a “Signal”
You established the signal; now you’re changing the noise. This is not a good time to try to teach a new behavior or a new cue. Your dog probably doesn’t have enough brain power available to devote to that. But by adjusting the environmental conditions during training sessions, your dog can definitely learn to “sit” in the presence of increasing numbers and types of noise.
Changing the “Noise”
Starting in your own familiar backyard is best because it allows you to carefully introduce distracting noise, additional stimuli you don’t want your dog to respond to, at controlled levels. You’re helping your dog understand that he should respond in the same way he did when there were fewer and only very familiar “noises” confusing his perception of the important signal.
My Dogs’ Recent Experience with Signal and Noise
On a recent weekend, I encountered a situation that reminded me of just how many stimuli are available to dogs at any given time. Sometimes, when you’ve taught dogs a repertoire of good choices, you get to see them filtering out the stimuli you want them to!
Starting with a Fun Garden Tour
My niece, Monica, came to visit on Sunday. She’s a dog person like we are, and our two dogs greeted her happily. We visited for a while, intermittently petting dogs and admiring the toys they brought us. Daisy really flirted with Monica, bringing her toys and gazing lovingly at her. After a while, my husband and I, along with both dogs, took Monica on a walk through our gardens. For about 20 minutes, we looked at flowers, talking about what each of us was growing and which varieties of roses we liked most. The dogs bounced, sniffed, ran off and came back, spontaneously interacting with us.
Finishing with a Less-than-Fun Surprise
We ended up in one of our smaller yards which has a gate onto a driveway that leads to the street. As the dogs bounced, sniffed and played, two large, stray dogs suddenly appeared at the gate.
Stray Dogs – Signal or Noise?
I knew that if my dogs saw the stray dogs, they would run to the gate and bark their heads off due to a combination of being surprised, over-aroused, and just a little bit territorial. I predicted that my dogs would show distance-increasing behaviors to get the other dogs to go away. I knew that dogs at the gate would not be simply noise to my dogs, but a stimulus they would respond to. Of course, I had no idea what the stray dogs would do.
The fence and gates are strong, 6-foot-tall chainlink, so I was not worried about any actual contact. I was sure the dogs lived somewhere nearby. We sometimes see loose dogs in our neighborhood, having escaped their yards or houses, especially on weekends. They typically go right back home.
My Plan
Even though I predicted what my dogs would choose to do on their own, you can count on me trying to get them to use calm behaviors that did not involve barking at the fence. I saw the dogs before they did, I quickly made a plan, and my efforts were highly reinforced on this occasion.
Execution and Outcome
Here’s what happened: Before my dogs noticed the other dogs at the gate, I called them to me. They came, bouncing happily over to me! I asked them to lie down on the back porch, which is 30-40 feet away from the gate. They did. I gave them treats from my treat bag, which I typically wear when I’m out on the property with the dogs, just for potential events like this. My husband slipped out the gate and sent the stray dogs on their way down the sidewalk. We have not seen them again, so we assume they made it home.
Why Did My Dogs Comply?
Why did my dogs hear and respond to my cues to come and to lie down in this situation?
- My dogs are prepared. They’ve learned and practiced. We have practiced recalls as well as sits, downs, and other behaviors out in various areas of our two-acre property. In the presence of squirrels, birds, dogs on the other side of the fence, people, and more, these two dogs have shown me that they can pay some attention to what I’m asking them to do even while they notice a million other things going on.
- It’s no accident; I purposely teach this set of skills. I spend time specifically teaching my dogs to “not forget about me.” That simply means adding distractions to the environment in which they are performing their tasks. As I stated above, those distractions are not only squirrels and dogs. They include me doing other things and seemingly not paying attention to them. The dogs have learned that, at any moment, I might give them an opportunity to do something that leads to a series of events that they perceive as wonderful. These might include treats, toys, playtime, putting on a leash for a walk or a trip somewhere, or release to do something they choose themselves. We start teaching this skill set in our Beyond Basic Manners program.
- My dogs are not required to be perfect; I know what I’m asking is hard. I know that they might make an error and I’m watching for that. If one of them fails, they don’t get in trouble. I simply file that information in my brain or maybe even on paper to guide me in my training going forward.
- Serendipity: My dogs must have noticed the other dogs at some level, but I was able to get my “signal” in before they responded. That was pure luck.
- I never take their hard work for granted. I am prepared and generous with my dogs, especially when their training is inadvertently put to the test in a sudden manner like this stray dog event. This was not easy for them. When my dogs laid on the porch while the stray dogs were at the gate, I gave Al and Daisy treats and petted them. When I released them after the strays were gone, we played for a bit. I took my attention off of the humans and focused completely on the dogs, making sure they had an unusually fun experience to reinforce their behavior of doing what I asked when they could have been barking at dogs through the fence.
Your Dog Can Learn These Skills
Cognitive capacity can be expanded through training. We can’t expect dogs to be able to respond to one out of a hundred stimuli without the necessary practice, though. The next time you notice that your dog seems to be “ignoring” your cues, ask yourself why this is happening. Remind yourself that there is a limit to how many stimuli he can process at a time. And remember that time he DID do what you asked in a situation in which you weren’t sure he would!
If you want to learn more about cognitive overload and how to help your dog choose the cue you want him to respond to, check out my article, “What Cue is Your Dog Responding To?”
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