Sit means Sit?
In dog training does sit mean sit? The short answer is no.
To better understand how a dog learns and gains the association between a word command and an action we will dig into how a dog makes this connection. Try giving your dog a command like “sit” or “sid,” and you’ll probably see the same response: a well-behaved pup settling into a sitting position. This is because, according to a recent study from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, dogs don’t pay attention to the subtle phonetic details of human speech.
Researchers employed an innovative, non-invasive method to study how dogs react to three types of words: familiar commands (like come, stay, or down), nonsense words that resemble these commands, and nonsense words that are entirely different. They discovered that while dogs can quickly differentiate between a command and a completely unrelated nonsense word—at speeds comparable to humans—they struggle to tell apart commands from nonsense words that sound very similar.
Due to this issue, you can train a dog in any language or use any word you would like, you could make up your own words. It has more to do with operant conditioning and the pairing of the “sound” or word with a reward such as a treat. This is the fundamental concept that dog training at Species K9 is built upon.
Your dog is not born knowing what the sit means. What happens in most cases is a person without any knowledge of dog training holds a treat to the dog’s face and repeats the word sit over and over, the dog gets tired of standing and sits, and the owner thinking they did some right says “good Rover” and gives the treat to the dog. The dog just gained an association between sitting and getting a treat. This does not mean the dog knows what sit means, the dog could have laid down and the same steps took place and it would have learned the sound “s-It” means lay down.
How do dogs gain this association between words and actions to lean sit means sit?
Operant conditioning is a learning process where behavior is shaped by rewards or punishments. It’s a theory developed by psychologist B.F. Skinner, and it focuses on how consequences influence behavior. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Reinforcement: This strengthens behavior by providing a reward after the desired action. There are two types:
Positive Reinforcement: Adding something pleasant (e.g., giving a dog a treat for sitting on command).
Negative Reinforcement: Removing something unpleasant (e.g., Stop petting the dog when they break from the command).
Punishment: This aims to decrease an unwanted behavior by introducing an unpleasant consequence or increase a behavior by removing an unpleasant consequence
Positive Punishment: Adding something unpleasant (e.g., a finger pump on the leash).
Negative Punishment: Taking away something pleasant (e.g., stopping a finger pump on the leash when the dog returns to the command).
At Species K9 first phase is all about positive reinforcement, the second and third phases we at the other half of operant conditioning to ensure true obedience.
Do you still think sit means sit? I hope not.
Citation
Magyari, L., Huszár, Zs., Turzó, A., & Andics, A. (2020). Event-related potentials reveal limited readiness to access phonetic details during word processing in dogs. Royal Society Open Science, 7(12), 200851. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200851