Do Dogs Learn by Imitation?

While the process of imitation appears to be common place among humans and primates, in the dog world there appears to be little literature suggesting that dogs may learn by pure imitation. Of course, things would get much easier if there was some form of agreement on the real definition of the world ”imitation”. Animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell in her blog ”The Other End of the Leash” admits that many people believe that imitation simply refers to any example of observational learning, while experts claim that in order for pure imitation to take place, the dog would have to engage in a totally novel behavior not normally carried out by the species.

For the sake of clarity, it helps to identify some forms of social learning that take place in canines that may appear at a first glance to be similar to imitation, but that in reality involve slightly different thought processes. By tackling these other forms of learning, it becomes easier to understand what pure imitation entails and the chances of dogs learning from pure observation.

Social Facilitation

Pamela Reid in her book ”Excel-erated Learning” describes social facilitation as a process where an animal is motivated to perform a behavior because someone else is doing it. There are a plethora of examples of this in the canine world. A dog may hear a dog howling in the distance. and may feel the need to join in the concert, a wolf may attack an animal and another wolf will likely take part of it as well, a dog may start playing with a toy and another dog will likely want to play too.

Steven R. Lindsay, in his book ”Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior” mentions as an example of social facilitation, dogs in a kennel barking when they hear another dog bark even if they did not hear the actual noise that triggered the barking in the first place. He also mentions how social facilitation and modeling may help social inhibited dogs. For instance, a dog fearful of humans may be more likely to make contact when around more confident dogs.

However, caution is important. At times, dog owners may feel compelled to adopt another dog to fix the behavioral problems of their usual dog. Problem is, they may end up with louder barking or increased destructive behaviors, rather than a decrease or resolution of the problem, claims Pat Miller in an article for The Whole Dog Journal.

This form of allelomimetic behavior does not have to necessarily occur from dog to dog. A common example of social facilitation occurring between dog and owner is a dog feeling the owner tensing up upon noticing a suspicious man following on a dark alley. The dog may therefore tense up as well, and it would not be surprising if a pattern would establish and the dog would start barking ferociously at men at night.

Local Enhancement

Sometimes dogs may engage in behaviors that may surprise humans and may make them erroneously assume they are dealing pure imitation. The kitten that watches its mom use the litter box and then goes straight to the box and eliminates, or the puppy that sees its mother go outside and eliminate and then eliminates in the same spot, may appear to be imitation, but in reality, it is a process known as ”local enhancement’.

In local enhancement, according to Pamela Reid, a dog busy in a particular behavior attracts another dog which moves closer and stumbles upon the same behavior either through luck, happenstance or social facilitation. Just by being in the right location or exposed to the appropriate stimulus the dog performs the same action. This may appear to be imitation but it is not. The dog is simply attracted to an area that offers some sort of reinforcement and stimulates the dog to perform a specific behavior.

Pure Imitation

So what is pure imitation? Pat Miller claims that for pure imitation to take place it must involve attention, retention, motivation and finally production. In order for pure imitation to take place the dog would therefore have to attentively watch the trainer from a window train a dog to lay down, understand and retain how the exercise is carried out, feel motivated enough to replicate the behavior and then finally perform at a time and place away from the dog watched in the first place. Unfortunately this is not likely going to take place, just as no dog would learn by watching the step-by-step exercises featured in a videotape of your favorite dog trainers!

Pure imitation, in its real sense of the word, may therefore appear to be unlikely, however, according to Pat Miller there is proof that exposing young puppies to their mothers performing specific tasks has allowed these puppies to perform better compared to puppies that never watched their mothers working. This is ultimately why shepherds have allowed puppies watch older dogs herd so they could get an early advantage in training.

Reference:

• www.theotherendoftheleash.com/do-dogs-imitate-and-see-you-in-milwaukee
• books.google.com/books/about/Handbook_of_applied_dog_behavior_and_tra.html?id=T5ylLv5
• www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_7/features/Socializing-Your-Puppy_5648-1.html