Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Shelter Dogs: The Effects Of Training On Proximity, Samantha K. Nigbur

Theses and Dissertations

Almost 700,000 dogs are euthanized in U.S. shelters every year (ASPCA, 2017). In order to increase their adoptability, this study examined the use of positive reinforcement and shaping to train dogs to spend time in proximity to people. The experimenter selected 45 subjects who remained at the back of their kennels when she approached them. Fifteen of the subjects were trained with the use of a clicker marker and 15 without the use of any marker. Fifteen subjects were simply exposed to the presence of the experimenter. It was found that training significantly increased the number of dogs that reached …