This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network

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Operant Conditioning

We do what we do because of what happens after we do it. That is the governing principle of operant conditioning. That is why we say that in operant conditioning, behavior is the product of its consequences.

Therefore, whenever you influence behavior by arranging the consequences that follow the target response, you are using operant conditioning. For example, if you are managing your dog's behavior by making him upset after he does something wrong, and making sure that he is rewarded after he does something right, then by definition, that is operant conditioning.

Operant Conditioning is one of three types of conditioning recognized by behavioral science. All but a few of the behavioral techniques taught in the pages of the Dog Science Network are operant procedures.

All of the following are operant procedures:

To read more about those procedures, click on a detailed examination of the process of bark training your dog. Also, you can find additional information about shaping by going to the relationship between dog attacks and the tolerance of belligerent barking.

Go to the index of the Glossary of Terms

This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network