Is It Necessary For Dog Owners To Know Behavioral Terminology?

How important is it for the average pet owner to understand the science (and controversies) regarding animal behavior? Let’s start with this excerpt from a textbook…

“Operant conditioning is an experimental science of behavior. Strictly speaking, the term operant conditioning refers to a process in which the frequency of occurrence of a bit of behavior is modified by the consequences of the behavior. Over the years, however, operant conditioning has come to refer to an entire approach to psychological science. This approach is characterized in general by a deterministic and experimental analysis of behavior. It is also characterized by a concentration on the study of operant or instrumental behavior, although not to the exclusion of the study of instinctive and reflexive behavior. As an approach to the study of behavior, operant conditioning consists of a series of assumptions about behavior and its environment; a set of definitions which can be used in the objective, scientific description of behavior and its environment; a group of techniques and procedures for the experimental study of behavior in the laboratory; and a large body of facts and principles which have been demonstrated by experiment. Operant conditioning is concerned with the relationship between the behavior of organisms and their environment.” [Introduction To Experimental Analysis Of Behavior]

Now, do you know how to get your dog to stop barking at the mailman? To not fight with the dog next door? To not drool and pace when left alone? To Come when called, off leash, and in public? Or to get the kids to not run around teasing the dog? I really don’t think so. I figure it is my job to dig through all of this theory and then show you how to train your dog and fix behavioral issues. Obedience and behavior classes shouldn’t be like a college PhD class on biology, ecology, ethology, sociology, and psychology...