Reddit reviews The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think

The Genius of Dogs by Brian Hare is an excellent book that will explain this in detail.

The tl:dr version is dogs have been with man as a domesticated animal used for hunting far longer than any other animal. This refinement of hunting instinct has over time lead to a more intelligent dog. So intelligent in fact that Hare argues dogs are far smarter than any other animal.

In that particular case, I think you would need to figure out which action (pooping or bringing the leash) is a higher priority, and address that one. I think pooping is more important, so I would immediately put the dog in time out. Time is, of course, very important with operant conditioning, so you need to act right away in order for the dog to make the connection between pooping and time out.

You will have plenty of opportunities in the future to rehearse the action you want (bringing the leash) with practice and drills, but you have very few opportunities (hopefully!) to punish pooping on the rug.

In the interest of being thorough, hypothetically, I don't think an indoor time-out is really the best course of action to discourage pooping. That means giving the dog an opportunity to do it again! Instead, I would whisk the dog outside and give a potty cue, and reward profusely for success. This is redirection rather than punishment, which I think is a better approach in this case.

If you're interested in dog cognition, Brian Hare's book is really good primer.

Thanks I’ll be checking that out!

Edit: in case anyone else is looking for these, here is the book and here is the course

In addition to other great recommendations:

The Genius of Dogs
https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Dogs-Smarter-Than-Think/dp/0142180467

This one is not modern but provides a clear explanation of learning theory:
Excel-erated Learning
https://www.amazon.com/Excel-Erated-Learning-Explaining-Plain-English/dp/1888047070

And The Culture Clash
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Clash-Understanding-Relationship-Domestic/dp/1888047054

The Genius of Dogs by Brian Hare.

https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Dogs-Smarter-Than-Think/dp/0142180467

On a related note, consider Dognition - simple games you play with your dog that help you learn how your dog thinks:

https://www.dognition.com/

The Genius of Dogs

I included sources that backed up my claims (and left out anything I couldn't quickly find a source for) since I'm not in the social sciences and am just regurgitating what I've read. A lot of the accepted knowledge ten+ years ago (as far as dog cognition) seemed so wrong, and some of the studies seemed so obviously flawed, that it just became a personal interest of mine.

If you want some good reading on the subject, I highly recommend
in The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think, written by an evolutionary anthropologist with a particular interest our relationship with dogs and how it came to be. The studies highlighted in the book are fascinating, and it really gives an expert's view of how they all fit together.

Anyway, the sources I posted include a few different small studies. The tests using a sniff test and a mirror for solving problems specified that the dogs were not trained for the tasks. The NYT article is an op-ed piece, but it's written by a neurologist who used MRI scans to show dogs' brain activity in response to various stimuli. His results indicate that dogs are sentient, emotional animals. In the NPR article, dogs were trained to perform a task but the test was whether they would continue to perform that task if they weren't being rewarded (and another dog was). The Scientific American article is pointing out flaws in the mirror test, especially as it relates to other cultures and animals.

Sure - but a couple things. Nobody is worked up over this or has a real personal stake in the matter - it's just scientists debating different hypothesis. Right now, most researchers are leading towards the one presented in that opinion piece. It cites just one book, but the book is filled with solid primary literature and gives us a general overview of the field right now. The man you're referring to is not just some assistant research grad & journalist wife, here he is a Harvard Ph.D who - nevermind just read the first paragraph of his bio. Attack ad hominem if you like, but he's the top of the field.

According to a litany of scientific studies that aren't based solely on bias, all of this is bullshit. It's already been proven and it's not a debate any more. You might as well be arguing that climate change is a hoax.

Edit: Here's a bunch of wonderful sources provided by people who actually have half a brain, unlike you. But I guess aggression isn't included under behavioral patterns, so you'll just ignore what isn't convenient for your predisposition towards pit bulls.

Svartberg, K. (2006). Breed-typical behaviour in dogs—Historical remnants or recent constructs? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 96 (293-313). Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/science/article/pii/S0168159105001607

Svartberg, K. (2016). Personal Communication.

Hare, B. & Woods, V. (2013) The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Dogs-Smarter-Than-Think/dp/0142180467/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475530594&sr=1-1

Helton, W. (2010). Does perceived trainability of dog (Canis lupus familiaris) breeds reflect differences in learning or differences in physical ability? Behavioural Processes 83 (315-323). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20117185

Pongracz, P., Miklosi, A., Vida, V., Csanyi, V. (2005) The pet dogs ability for learning from a human demonstrator in a detour task is independent from the breed and age. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 90 (309-323). Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/science/article/pii/S0168159104001777