Generalizing in dog training

According to the Larousse, generalizing is :

1 – « Action of generalizing »

Like you can do anything with that to train your dog !

2 – « Action of extending the results of observing a few cases to all possible cases »

It is a bit more precise.

In concrete terms, here is what generalizing for and by your dog means :

Familiarization

Whether s/he is a puppy, a teenager, an adult, or a senior, your dog is constantly analyzing and trying to understand the world around him. If s/he is familiar with only one part of it, the day he discovers new elements can turn out as peculiar : s/he may feel confusion, fear, or excitement.

I worked with a puppy who had only known one texture of ground (earth and grass). When he discovered asphalt, he would not walk on it.

If you expose your dog to various textures, show him/her people dressed in different ways (wearing caps, long coats, backpacks, etc.), introduce him/her to a variety of animals (donkeys, horses, cats, etc.), and play various sounds for him/her (vacuum , motorcycles, crinkling paper, etc.), you introduce him/her to the diversity of the world and its components, and can identify what s/he might perceive as a "danger."

In learning behaviors

When you teach your dog behaviors, or when he learns them by watching you, s/he will not automatically know how to adapt what s/he has learned to different contexts unless you vary certain parameters. While some dogs are capable of this, it is crucial to keep it in mind that if your dog fails to obey or adapt based on what s/he knows, it is not out of defiance, but simply because some steps are missing in his/her training.

I had clients who taught their dog to sit on cue. To make her comfortable, they had her do it on a mat. They never varied the request: it was always on the same mat, in the same room of the house, and never anywhere else or on anything else. So, for her, "sit" = "I put my rear end on that specific mat inside the house."

If you only train your dog to come when called in a forest, it will only apply in forests.

If you do not vary the distance, duration, and distractions, your dog will simply repeat the behaviors exactly as s/he first learned them. S/he is not trying to disobey; s/he has not reached the level you expect of him/her.

In emotions

Unlike when you train behaviors, learning experiences that trigger emotions quickly embed information in a dog's mind. They are prone to generalizing an event, viewing the prevailing circumstances as problematic or extraordinary in every situation.

A bicycle that let a roast chicken drop, and every bicycles are interesting.

A bicycle that roll over his/her tail, and every bicycles are dangerous.