Sub-questions Answered

     One question that came up many times in my recent research is, "How should I approach training a shy animal?". This question would fall under the category of being a more specific training method, as it must be tailored to a certain animal. With dogs, they can have a large range of different personality types, and some methods work for different characteristics. For example, you can have a dog where intense, Adversive Training is a valid option, but for a more reserved and shy animal a lighter stance may be a good option. In that case the Reward method would probably be best. To utilize it properly you would use a Kind and nurturing tone as many animals have learned to associate pitch of voice with certain behaviors and will try to anticipate a good or bad result, and along with a good tone some sort of reward should be in order, whether it is a treat or some sort of healthy physical interaction. This information can be found here.

     Another question that was brought to mind was, " How do animals develop their characteristics?". The idea at hand about animal personality is very interesting because before Charles Darwin, it was thought that non-human animals did not have any sort of defining emotions or personality traits. That is quite the contrary actually, in fact personality is developed just as fins, wings, and legs are. Mental characteristics were mainly developed along side of natural selection. Certain traits helped survival in specific situations just as physical characteristics do. The information described can all be found here.

     The final of the three sub-questions is, " What does Generalization mean?". On the basis of the main question, it is probably a good idea to understand the term "Generalization". The definition is the occurrence of the wanted behavior happening only in response to the presentation of the given command. For example, if you train a dog to sit while standing in front of the animal, and using hand gestures they will sit. But if you are sitting in a chair half way across the room, the animal will not sit because they have not experienced the required presentation to obey the command. The information included can be found here and here.