Ask Cheryl Carlson: Rats, Cause and Effect, and Scent? (A question for Cheryl)

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Rats, Cause and Effect, and Scent? (A question for Cheryl)

Posted by Chris Fraize on 10/17/2008, 10:10 am
65.175.253.59

Hi Cheryl,

I have a question related to my wife’s new Patterdale Terrier “De-con”.

“De-con” is 15 weeks old and up until the moment that my story begins had never seen or been near a rat. He has however been exposed to but ignores the chickens, goats and pigs on our property.

Here is my story. We had a small cardboard box with a few rats in it. The rats were props for the Nite Bite. The pup couldn’t see the rats. I don’t believe he heard the rats as the room was very noisy with loud music and many people talking and moving about but we could all SMELL the rats. As the pup was moving past the cardboard box with the rats in it he gave a quick head snap and started to rip the box apart while he began to whine in a very high pitch. He finally managed to get to the rat and dispatched it quickly. It seemed (and I am sure I am missing something here) that the scent triggered hunt drive without him ever knowing what a rat was.

Now I thought (perhaps mistakenly) that the pup would have to be exposed to the rats movements and noises first, then become stimulated triggering chase, bite then kill the rat. As a result the pup would over a short or long period remember the smell of the rat and then later hunt for rats after he remembered the scent. Then the scent of the rat would trigger hunt drive that would be rewarded in prey/fight and ultimately a win with a big rat prize at the end of the hunt, cause and effect.

The cause was the visual prey drive and sounds of the rat at the beginning of the pup’s exposure to them. The effect is that the pup secondarily remembers the scent and uses it to attain the end effect of killing the rat.

Here are my questions. Why did De-con seem to work in effect and cause instead of cause and effect? How was the pup sent into hunt drive without knowing the payoff? I understand that genetic drive plays a large role in this behavior, but wouldn’t the dog still have to understand the rat scenario in cause and effect terms not effect and cause terms? Is it possible to have a “genetic scent trigger” if you will?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Safe Training,
Chris Fraize

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