We’re geeking out on the topic of dopamine in dog training and how it impacts a dog’s motivation.
Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, and there’s a lot of research on its relation to the drive to seek
out happiness. Now, you might be wondering what it has to do with dog training but to make sure our
dogs want to work with us, it’s something we need to know, and it relates directly to my training
protocols and transfer of value.
In the episode you'll hear:
- How and when dopamine gets released in a dog’s brain.
- About an experiment by Robert Sapolsky on dopamine spikes with a cue, behaviour, and reward.
- How a dopamine spike would relate to me and vegan chocolate chip cookies.
- That dopamine relates to the transfer of value in dog training (the thing before the thing).
- What the research shows about the difference between luring and shaping and dopamine.
- About research on blocking dopamine and how it impacts motivation.
- What a suppressed level of dopamine does and how that relates to dogs.
- What I’ve noticed with my young dog This! and how I’m particular about her training.
- About foods and supplements that support healthy dopamine production.
- The effects of too much dopamine and what I observed with my dog Buzz.
- How I give my dogs a calm walk once a week for a dopamine detox.
- Why to look at your dog training to see if your dog is getting healthy dopamine spikes.
Resources:
- Paper (PDF): A Neural Substrate of Prediction and Reward - Authors: Schultz W.; Dayan P.; Montague P.R.
- YouTube Video: Wolfram Schultz - Dopamine: from movement via reward to rational choice
- YouTube Video: Dopamine Jackpot! Sapolsky on the Science of Pleasure
- Paper: Dopamine reward prediction error coding - Author: Wolfram Schultz, MD, FRS
- Article: Why does the brain have a reward prediction error? - Author: Mark Humphries
- YouTube Playlist: Reinforcement, Permissions and Transfer of Value in Dog Training with Susan Garrett
- Paper: Dopamine Modulates Effort-Based Decision-Making in Rats - Authors: Mark E. Bardgett, Melissa Depenbrock, Nathan Downs, Megan Points, Leonard Green
- Book: Shaping Success by Susan Garrett
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
Love this stuff. More please!
One of my favorite topics. I could listen to this one over and over again!
Susan, all of these podcasts are fascinating, but this one was, for me, off-the-charts spectacular! I’ve been a neuro hobbiest for three decades and am always seeking to understand the “why,” so there’s that. (Even thiugh I am a professional musician, I have engaged in a fair amount of research collaboations with scientists, during my time as a professor.) BUT, after listening and then reading Mark Humphries’ article, my level of understanding re my training has jumped forward! This will greatly enhance my planning, undoubtedly resolve a few current struggles, and likely explains the difference between my current two teammates. (I’m pretty certain one leans toward the low side of the dopamine continuum, while the other leans high. I can’t thank you enough – simply brilliant!!
*Sorry for my typos! Between my aging eyes, the light gray color of the font, and my unreliable thumbs, I seem always to miss a blooper or two!*
Great podcast as always!
So if you are playing search or treat diving and using their kibble are they not getting the spike throughout the training?
My puppy loves treat diving and find it.
Great podcast – thanks so much. But does this mean a clicker or some other cue should be part of our training? Or is target training such as you describe in the Pivot video sufficient to serve as the “pre-cue?” Not such that’s a word but, hopefully, it makes sense. Thanks again!