Snake Avoidance: Week 1 - Study on Self Control

Hi Jamie I wondered if you have seen this research, and what you make of it? It seems to suggest that following a period of self-control, dogs engage in more risky behaviours. They have "used up" their self control. So after avoiding a snake for a while, say in a back yard, would a dog then be more likely to approach it later on? Have you noticed anything that supports/contradicts this study, in your experience of dealing with impulse control training? Is this perhaps a reflection of a natural hunting event? Dog has to wait patiently and not scare off the prey till close enough to attack, then it needs to be very "brave" and not be deterred by a defensive reaction from the prey animal?? Thought this might be an interesting discussion point but please remove if too off-topic!!

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22460743

I have read this study and I don't quite know what to make of their interpretation of the results. What I see is that the training wasn't done thoroughly enough to actually create self control about the test objects/critters. I don't consider that a dog has self control unless they can do it in the dark in a high wind. That is the test I give all my medical alert dogs - blind folded with a good stiff breeze and able to alert at least 9 out of 10 with major other distractive smells and sounds.

Most of the medical alert dogs I've trained are still alerting years later, a couple had to come back for a refresher, one because the owners meds got changed which changed the smell and the other because the owner wasn't listening to the alert and the dog gave up after awhile.

I don't think it's the self control that erodes, I think it's a function of lack of thorough training and a lack of intermittent reinforcement for behavior appropriately. Heck, I took 4 years of French and spoke it with my step mother and step brother for 8 years. That was 3 decades ago and I couldn't tell you what "merde" actually means now. Lack of use, lack of reinforcing events.