Pat Miller Blog

Our Cognition Academy

True confession time… Cognition is my favorite of all the various academies we offer here at Peaceable Paws. I find it soexciting to explore the incredible cognitive capabilities of the canine mind – things we were at one time told dog brains were entirely incapable of doing.

Cognition is defined as the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including but not limited to: Thinking, Grasping and Applying concepts, Knowing, Remembering, Reasoning, Sense of Self, Theory of Mind, Judging, Problem-solving. These are higher-level functions of the brain and also encompass language, imagination, perception, and planning.

We now understand and accept that most animals, including insects, are far more cognitive than we have, in the past, given them credit for. And it only makes sense… how could animals survive if they didn’t have the ability to remember, problem-solve, reason, and do many of the other…

OUR LEVEL 1 BASIC DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR ACADEMY; AND “SHOUT!”

Our Level 1 Basic Dog Training and Behavior Academy

I have been offering this 6-day hands-on trainer-training Academy for more than 20 years, starting when we were still located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Of course it has numerous updates over the years to keep up with new science about our dogs’ learning abilities. Initially it included much of what is now our Instructor Academy. Now it focuses entirely on teaching students to teach the behaviors in our Basic Good Manners Class (all force-free, of course) and an in-depth dive into the science of behavior and learning. It is now followed by our advanced academies, including Behavior Modification, Aggression, Canine Cognition (my favorite), Multi-Species and more.

A TREE FALLS AT PPAWS

So – you know what the dairy cow said when the farm flooded? “If it’s not one thing, it’s an udder…” And, you know what happens when the dairy cow jumps over the picket fence to escape the flood? Udder disaster!

Fortunately what happened here was not an udder disaster, but it’s certainly starting to feel like the “if it’s not one thing it's an udder…” Or as Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radnor) used to say on Saturday Night Live… “It’s always something!”