Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kelli Knowles
Life Science
13 January 2017
Motivating a dog isnt hard to do. Most dogs are easily excited just by small gestures a
human makes. However, the question is, what makes a dog completely motivated, or at least
more motivated than any other way. My Science Fair question is, Which Type of Stimulus Has
the Greatest Affect on a Dog? In my experiment I test 3 different dogs 2 times. In addition, I
use dog treats, dog toys, and calling their name and running alongside of them for 3 different
types of stimulus affects. I have each dog try each product twice running 5 yards each time.
Furthermore, I time how long it takes each dogs to run the 5 yards and by calculating that I can
find my results. If I test dog toys, dog treats, and motivation on 3 different dogs, then then the
Many people in the world today have dogs. They consider their pet as part of the family.
Furthermore, the main difference seems to be the fact that you cant actually speak with your
dog. However, that doesnt stop people from trying. Dogs are able to learn phrases and tricks
taught by their owner. Although it does seem to make the owner feel closer to their dog, its not
the same as actually having a conversation with them. But the real question is, do these dogs
understand what the phrases they learn mean, or are they just hand gestures they follow? Studies
have shown that dogs can understand verbs, and even up to 70 different objects and the names of
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each one (Hech). In addition to this, researchers found that dogs can understand that specific
Dogs understand different emotions? And what part of their brain controls their mood?
Dogs are the oldest domestic species. They have been interacting with people for a
hundred years, and as a result, the canine species have learned how to understand and
communicate with us better than any other species(Travis). In addition, dogs strong sense of
observation allows them to pick up hints in our body language, smells, and the tone in our
voices. Some [papers] Ive read say humans have been able to evolve and survive because of
our partnerships with dogs, says Sackman. A dog's brain reacts similarly to a human's brain
when exposed to emotional stimuli like the sound of a baby crying. These animals are very
sensitive, and experience pain just the same as we do. Studies have shown theyre capable of
feeling optimism, anxiety, happiness, fear and depression. Lastly, dogs get jealous when another
dog gets a bigger reward than them for the same behavior. So overall this, the answer is yes.
Do dogs develop an attachment to their owners? The answer is yes. The attachment dogs
feel towards their owner is essential to their well-being. Dogs feel the relationship between their
owner with such an intensity that most can only feel if they are taught how to respond with being
left alone. Although dogs do enjoy each other's company, they crave human attention. Dogs
become very distressed after being left alone without their owner for hours at a time(Travis).
When they experience constant abandonments, it can cause a dog to have sever anxiety. A dog
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is a mans best friend is a legitimate statement. A dog will never leave its owner if they have a
associating ideas or things. The stronger the association, the harder it is to change. Humans have
episodic memory, which means they have the ability to remember many things by replaying it in
their minds. Dogs, however, are not like that. Dogs remember things associatively(How). For
instance, If you regularly put on your favorite baseball cap before you take your dog to the park,
your dog will get excited any time you take out that hat. The dog associates the hat with going to
the park. This association will last unless you create a new association with the cap.
(Weiss-Roessler). Dogs can easily forget small to major events that happened 5 minutes prior,
because they dont have long term memory. They have more of a short term memory.
The dictionary definition of Stimulus is a thing or event that evokes a specific functional
reaction in an organ or tissue. Coming off from this, In 1902 Ivan Pavlov started from the idea
that there are some things that a dog does not need to learn. For instance, Dogs dont learn to
salivate whenever they see food. This reflex is hard wired into the dog(McLeod). Hard Wired
means things that are just part of who you are, or things that make you you. Classical
conditioning is what Pavlov studied. Classical Conditioning is a learning process that occurs
when two stimuli are repeatedly paired. A response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus
Unlike humans who rely on sight to get through life, dogs use their sense of smell.
When smelling something, dogs are able to translate a lot more information about it than by
staring. In addition, dogs scent protecting membrane in their noses is about 60x bigger than a
human's. Everyone has their own, unique smell that distinguishes one person from another to a
dog. That is all they need to know who is who. Its also why dogs are able to know when our
mood is off, because it affects how we smell. Furthermore, a dogs urine is essentially a full
profile on them, which is why dogs are so interested in smelling things when outside. It helps
them smell who was around the neighborhood that day. For instance, the daily newspaper.
If I test dog toys, dog treats, and motivation on 3 different dogs, then the dog treat will
make the dog run the fastest. Now that you have read my essay you can see that dogs are very
intellectual and smart animals. They dont just eat, sleep and repeat. They are easily motivated to
do things. Finding out what exactly motivates a dog the most is what I tested. In conclusion,
around 78.2 million dogs in homes around the U.S. My question can help determine how to get a
dog or even a stray to do things for their benefit. I found after having my dog for almost 2 and a
half years, that using food to gain better attention from him helped the most, but overall it
Works Cited
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Hech, Julie. "Do Dogs Understand Our Words?" The Bark. The Bark, Inc., 2016. Web. 28 Oct.
2016. <http://thebark.com/content/do-dogs-understand-our-words>.
McLeod, Saul. "Pavlov's Dogs." Simply Psychology. McLeod, S. A., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 03
Stewart. "A Dog's Sense of Smell: Understanding Their Strongest Sense | Stewart Pet." Stewart
Pet. 2016 Stewart Brand Dog Food, 2016. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
<https://www.stewartpet.com/a-dogs-sense-of-smell-understanding-their-strongest-sense/
Travis, Helen Anne. "PetMD." Dog Brain Facts. N.p., 2016. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
<http://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/dog-brain-facts-understanding-canine-cognition>.
Travis, Helen Anne. "PetMD." Dog Brain Facts. N.p., 2016. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
Warren, Dr. John. "Which Type of Stimulus Has the Greatest Affect on a Dog?" Personal
<http://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/dog-brain-facts-understanding-canine-cognition>.
Weiss-Roessler, By Josh. "How Dog Memory Works." Cesar's Way. Cesar's Way Inc, 20 July
<https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/innocuous-behaviors/How-dog-memory-wor
ks