Dog training is like brain surgery

I’m not a dog trainer.

And so, many dog guardians – or dog trainers – don’t think that I have anything to teach them. They tell me so often enough to warrant an explanation as to why in the world an Associate Professor of Ethology thinks she should be teaching about training.

Hint: the reason I teach is exactly because I’m looking at something different than what a trainer sees.

(Actually, this blog post may as well be called Animal Training is Like Brain Surgery. The species is irrelevant; the biology is the same. Just swap “dog” for “horse” or “husband” as you see fit.)

Why the “Toyota” analogy is a delusion.

I’m a sucker for analogies, and here’s what I think is going on: Some people think that learning about dog training is sort of like learning to drive a car.

“Watch a skilled dog trainer in action – that’s how you learn how to train dogs.”

Much as you would want to find an experienced driver to learn how to drive.

Well… Drivers don’t need to be mechanical engineers. They don’t need to know how fuel injection works or the physics of torque. They just need to know which pedal makes the metal box go “vroom.” It’s a manual skill. It’s a mechanical, static process. If the car breaks, you turn it off and park it. It’s an inanimate object, after all.

But here’s the thing: A dog is not a Toyota.

And frankly, the “just copy what that other driver does” approach can blow up in your face when applied to dog training. “Driving” a living, breathing nervous system using only your “gut instinct” and a few tips you saw on YouTube is potentially a recipe for disaster.

Rather, on our quests for useful analogies, I think that dog training is more like brain surgery than it is like driving a car.

Here is why the driving analogy fails and the surgery analogy sticks:

1. You can’t learn it simply by watching.

In driving, once you see someone use the blinker or the brake, you “get” the mechanics. It’s a visible, physical skill.

But in brain surgery – and in animal training – watching the action doesn’t tell you why it’s working.

The training reality: The aspiring trainer might see the skilled trainer hand a dog a treat (the “meatball” approach), but if they don’t understand the importance of timing, criteria and the rate at which those meatballs are delivered, they won’t be “driving” their own dog’s behavior; they’ll just be chucking processed meat and hoping for the best.

2. There’s massive “Under the Hood” requirement.

A driver doesn’t need to understand internal combustion to get to the grocery store. But a brain surgeon must have a solid understanding of things like the cardiovascular system, neurology, and chemistry.

The training reality: Effective dog training isn’t about having the right equipment. It’s underpinned by Affective Neuroscience (the biology of emotions), Ethology (species-specific behavior), and Behavior Analysis (the ABCs of learning).

Trainers who are not familiar with these are just poking at the “brain” of the dog’s behavior, hopefully not accidentally severing a connection.

3. There’s no “Off” switch.

If your car makes a weird noise, you park it. It stays broken, but it stays still.

In brain surgery, the patient is often kept awake. The heart never stops. The brain never stops processing.

The Training Reality: You cannot “pause” an animal’s learning. While a trainer is fumbling with their treat pouch, debating which leash to use, or wondering why their “commands” aren’t working, the dog’s brain is actively forming new, often permanent, associations.

If you don’t understand the underlying learning mechanisms, the why that explains behaviour, it’s as if you’re performing surgery on a moving target.

4. The “Side Effect” Profile (or Why “Quick Fixes” are Dangerous)

If you fix a broken radiator in a car, it doesn’t suddenly make the radio stop working. The systems are modular.

However, in brain surgery, one tiny nick in the wrong lobe can change a person’s entire personality or their ability to walk.

The Training Reality: This is why I advocate so strongly for science-based methods. Some people might address the animal’s annoying behaviour by using a “quick fix” involving punishment – and congrats, the symptom stopped. But the side effect might be a total collapse of the dog’s confidence, a surge in generalized anxiety, or redirected aggression. You haven’t “repaired” the behavior; you’ve just caused collateral damage to the nervous system.

In fact, there are 20 potential problems with punishment – I discuss them here.

Leaving Mount Stupid

As the weird Dunning-Kruger effect illustrates, the less we know about a complex subject, the more confident we tend to feel. We call this state of blissful, confident ignorance being on Mount Stupid.

Many dog people stand there because they’ve had dogs for decades and “it’s always worked before.” But when they realize how much they don’t know about the biological blueprint of our dogs, that’s when they can actually start to help them.

That is why I teach. I teach because I understand how learning happens, and I don’t need to hold the leash to help my students understand the brain at the other end of it.

I discuss these ideas, and describe my courses, here:

Did the list of blog-posts-Karolina-has-written-when-annoyed peak your interest? Find them here.

Curious about my courses? Find out more here.

I typically share the framework of each course in a free online training series during the weeks leading up to the enrollment period. Just sign up below, and I’ll keep you posted on these learning opportunities!