Dog Psychology Library
Understand how dogs think, learn, feel, and form associations through clear, practical canine psychology explanations.
50 terms found
Emotions
Anxiety
Worry or anticipation about a possible threat, uncertain outcome, or future event.
Mental State
Arousal
The level of nervous-system activation that influences attention, movement, emotion, and responsiveness.
Thinking
Association
A learned connection between events, cues, places, actions, emotions, or outcomes.
Relationships
Attachment
An emotional bond that influences proximity seeking, security, exploration, and responses to separation.
Learning
Capturing
Capturing means reinforcing a behavior the dog naturally offers without being prompted.
Relationships
Choice and Agency
The dog’s ability to make meaningful choices and influence what happens during an interaction.
Learning
Classical Conditioning
Learning through association, when one event begins to predict another and changes the dog’s emotional response.
Emotions
Confidence
A dog’s ability to approach situations, make decisions, and recover from challenges without becoming overwhelmed.
Learning Conditions
Consistency
The reliability of cues, boundaries, consequences, and reinforcement across repetitions and people.
Mental State
Decompression
A period of reduced pressure and predictable activity that supports recovery after demanding experiences.
Thinking
Discrimination
Learning to respond differently to similar cues, contexts, objects, or situations.
Relationships
Emotional Contagion
The transfer or alignment of emotional states between individuals through social cues and interaction.
Mental State
Emotional Regulation
The capacity to move through emotional activation and return to a workable state.
Motivation
Environmental Rewards
Naturally valuable opportunities in the environment, including sniffing, exploring, greeting, movement, and gaining distance.
Emotions
Excitement
A heightened emotional state associated with anticipation, novelty, social interaction, movement, or reward.
Learning
Extinction
A reduction in behavior when the consequence that previously maintained it no longer occurs.
Emotions
Fear
An emotional response to something the dog perceives as an immediate threat or danger.
Motivation
Food Motivation
The degree to which food functions as a valuable outcome for an individual dog in a specific context.
Emotions
Frustration
An emotional response that occurs when access, movement, or an expected outcome is blocked.
Mental State
Frustration Tolerance
The ability to remain organized when access, movement, attention, or reinforcement is delayed or unavailable.
Thinking
Generalization
Applying learning across different places, people, positions, distances, and situations.
Thinking
Habituation
A decreased response after repeated exposure to a stimulus that proves unimportant or harmless.
Thinking
Inhibitory Control
The ability to pause or suppress an immediate response in favor of another action.
Relationships
Learned Helplessness
A state in which repeated lack of control can reduce attempts to act, escape, or solve problems.