Field Guide · Glossary

The glossary

Name: Hearth & Hounds
Rating: 5

Dog training carries a lot of vocabulary, and most of it is used without ever being explained. This is every term used across the Field Guide, defined in plain English.

Each entry gives the definition first, then how the thing actually works, then what it looks like in a real situation. Where two terms get mistaken for each other, the entry says which is which.

#A B C D E F G H I JL M N O PR S T U V W

142 terms, A to Z

#

3-3-3 rulePuppy and development: A rescue heuristic suggesting a newly adopted dog takes roughly three days to begin decompressing, three weeks to start settling, and three months to feel at home.

A

AAFCOFood and labels: The Association of American Feed Control Officials, the body that writes the model pet food regulations most US states adopt into their own law.
AAFCO feeding testFood and labels: A trial in which a food is fed to animals under a defined protocol and they are monitored, used to establish that the food is nutritionally adequate.
AgencyEnrichment: A dog's ability to make a choice that changes what happens next.
AntecedentLearning science: Whatever happens immediately before a behavior and sets the occasion for it.
Anti-markerLearning science: A word used to tell a dog that the response they just gave was not the one being asked for.

B

Barrier frustrationReactivity and fear: Reactive behavior driven by being physically prevented from reaching something, rather than by fear of it.
BATMethods and protocols: Behavior Adjustment Training, Grisha Stewart's protocol in which a dog on a long line chooses whether to approach or move away from a trigger, and the distance itself functions as the reward.
Behavioral needsEnrichment: The things a dog has to be able to do in order to be alright, as distinct from the things people would prefer they did.
Bite inhibitionPuppy and development: A dog's learned control over how much force they use when their mouth closes on something.
BrachycephalicHealth and safety: Having a shortened skull and muzzle, as in bulldogs, pugs, French bulldogs and boxers.
By-productFood and labels: A secondary product left over from making a main one, such as the organ meat remaining after muscle meat is taken for human food.

C

Calming signalsBody language: A set of behaviors, described by Turid Rugaas, that dogs are said to use to defuse tension, including head turns, curving rather than approaching directly, slow blinks and lip licks.
Canine cognitive dysfunctionHealth and safety: An age-related decline in a dog's cognitive function, comparable in several respects to dementia in people.
CapturingLearning science: Reinforcing a behavior at the moment a dog offers it on their own, so that they offer it more often.
CGCSkills and cues: The American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test, a ten-item assessment of everyday manners such as accepting a stranger's greeting and walking through a crowd.
The check-inSkills and cues: A dog noticing something that concerns them and then choosing, without being asked, to look back at their handler.
ClickerEquipment: A small handheld device that makes the same sharp click every time it is pressed, used to mark the exact moment a dog does the right thing.
Conditioned emotional responseLearning science: An emotional reaction to something, learned by association rather than taught deliberately, often shortened to CER.
ContrafreeloadingEnrichment: The tendency of an animal to work for food when the same food is also freely available nearby.
Cooperative careMethods and protocols: Training that teaches a dog to participate in their own handling and gives them a clear way to pause it.
CounterconditioningMethods and protocols: Changing how a dog feels about something by repeatedly pairing it with something they like.
Crate trainingMethods and protocols: Teaching a dog to be comfortable resting in a crate, so that it becomes a place they choose rather than one they are shut into.
CriteriaLearning science: The specific thing being reinforced in a given training session.
CueLearning science: A word, sound or signal that tells a dog which behavior will be reinforced right now.

D

DecompressionEnrichment: A period of reduced activity and demand that gives a dog time to settle after a major change.
Decompression walkEnrichment: A long, unhurried walk on a long line in a quiet place, where the dog chooses the route and the pace.
DesensitizationMethods and protocols: Exposing a dog to something they find difficult at an intensity low enough that it produces no distress, then raising it gradually.
Differential reinforcementLearning science: Reinforcing a chosen behavior while withholding reinforcement from an unwanted one.
Dilated cardiomyopathyHealth and safety: A disease of the heart muscle in which the chambers enlarge and the walls thin, leaving the heart too weak to pump normally.
DisengagementReactivity and fear: A dog breaking attention off something they were focused on and turning it elsewhere.
Displacement behaviorBody language: An ordinary behavior appearing at a moment it does not fit, such as scratching or sniffing the ground in the middle of an interaction.
DissectionEnrichment: Taking an object apart into pieces, which is the shredding end of the predatory sequence.
Ditch the bowlEnrichment: Feeding a dog's daily ration through puzzles, foraging and training rather than from a dish.

E

EchocardiographyHealth and safety: An ultrasound scan of the heart, used to measure the size of its chambers, the thickness of its walls and how well it pumps.
Emergency U-turnSkills and cues: A trained cue that turns a dog and handler around and moves them away from something before it becomes a problem.
EngagementSkills and cues: A dog choosing to attend to their handler rather than to everything else available in the environment.
EnrichmentEnrichment: Activity that meets a dog's behavioral needs, usually through sniffing, chewing, licking, foraging or problem-solving.
Enrichment rotationEnrichment: Keeping most toys and activities put away and cycling a few in and out, so returning items feel new again.
Errorless learningLearning science: Arranging a training exercise so that the dog is very unlikely to get it wrong.
ExtinctionLearning science: The fading of a behavior after the reinforcement that maintained it stops arriving.
Extinction burstLearning science: A temporary increase in a behavior's frequency or intensity that can follow when its reinforcement first stops.

F

Fear-based reactivityReactivity and fear: Barking, lunging or growling that functions to increase the distance between a dog and something they find frightening.
Fight or flightBody language: The automatic physiological response to a perceived threat, which prepares an animal either to escape it or to confront it.
Find itSkills and cues: A cue that sends a dog to search the ground for food that has just been scattered there.
FixatingBody language: Sustained visual lock-on to a stimulus, where the dog's gaze holds rigid and their body stiffens rather than scanning, processing, or moving on.
Flirt poleEquipment: A lure on a rope attached to a pole, swung along the ground for a dog to chase.
FloodedReactivity and fear: Overwhelmed to the point that a dog stops processing information and can no longer respond to cues.
FluencyLearning science: Performing a behavior easily, quickly and reliably, rather than slowly and only under ideal conditions.
Food puzzleEquipment: A toy that holds food and has to be manipulated before any of it comes out.
ForagingEnrichment: Searching for food rather than being handed it.
The four quadrantsLearning science: The four ways a consequence can change behavior: adding or removing something, to make a behavior more or less likely.
Front-clip harnessEquipment: A harness with the leash attachment on the dog's chest rather than between the shoulder blades.
Frustrated greeterReactivity and fear: A dog who barks and lunges toward other dogs or people because they want to reach them and cannot.

G

GeneralizationLearning science: A behavior transferring to new places, people and situations beyond the one it was taught in.
Grain-freeFood and labels: Dog food made without cereal grains such as corn, wheat, rice, barley or oats.
GrowlingBody language: A low vocal warning that a dog is uncomfortable and would like whatever is happening to stop.
Guaranteed analysisFood and labels: The panel on a pet food label giving minimum percentages for protein and fat and maximum percentages for fiber and moisture.

H

HabituationLearning science: A gradual decrease in response to something after repeated exposure, when nothing of consequence follows it.
Hand targetSkills and cues: A behavior in which a dog touches their nose to a person's open hand.
HeatstrokeHealth and safety: A medical emergency in which a dog's body temperature rises beyond the point at which they can cool themselves back down.
High-value treatsEquipment: Food a dog finds worth working for in a situation where something else is competing for their attention.
Human gradeFood and labels: A defined claim meaning every ingredient and the finished product were stored, handled, processed and transported under the federal rules that apply to human food.
Humane HierarchyMethods and protocols: Susan Friedman's ranking of behavior-change procedures from least to most intrusive, used to decide what to try first.

I

Impulse controlSkills and cues: A dog's learned ability to want something and wait for it rather than take it immediately.
InterrupterSkills and cues: A cue used in everyday situations to stop a dog in the middle of something and bring their attention back to the handler.

J

JackpotLearning science: An unusually large reinforcement delivered for a single, notably good repetition.

L

LATMethods and protocols: Leslie McDevitt's Look At That game, in which a dog is marked and reinforced for looking at a trigger and then back at their handler.
Latent learningLearning science: Learning that becomes apparent only later, after a break, without further practice in between.
Learned helplessnessLearning science: A state in which an animal stops trying to change their situation, after repeated experience that nothing they do makes a difference.
Leash reactivityReactivity and fear: Reactive behavior that appears when a dog is on a leash and largely disappears when they are not.
Leave itSkills and cues: A cue that asks a dog to leave an item alone and take their attention off it.
Lick matEquipment: A textured mat that soft food is spread across, so a dog has to lick it off rather than take it in mouthfuls.
Life stageFood and labels: The stage of life a pet food is formulated for: growth, adult maintenance, or all life stages.
LIMAMethods and protocols: Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive: a professional standard requiring that the least intrusive effective option be used to achieve a training goal.
Loading a markerLearning science: The process of pairing a sound with food repeatedly, until the sound alone reliably predicts that food is coming.
Long lineEquipment: A leash of roughly fifteen to thirty feet, used to let a dog move and sniff freely while staying attached to the handler.
Loose-leash walkingSkills and cues: Walking with slack in the leash, so the clip hangs in a loose J rather than being pulled tight.
LuringLearning science: Guiding a dog into a position by moving food or a toy that they follow with their nose.

M

ManagementMethods and protocols: Arranging the environment so an unwanted behavior cannot happen, rather than training the dog not to do it.
Marker wordLearning science: A word taught to mean that whatever the dog just did has earned something, delivered immediately afterwards.
Meet & greetMethods and protocols: A structured first introduction between two dogs, arranged so both stay comfortable rather than being brought face to face.
MERFood and labels: Maintenance energy requirement: the approximate number of calories a dog needs each day to hold their current weight.
Muzzle trainingMethods and protocols: Teaching a dog to wear a basket muzzle comfortably, built in advance of any situation that requires one.

N

NaturalFood and labels: On a pet food label, an AAFCO-defined term for ingredients from plant, animal or mined sources that have not been through a chemically synthetic process.
Negative punishmentLearning science: Removing something a dog wants after a behavior, so that the behavior becomes less likely.
Negative reinforcementLearning science: Removing something unpleasant when a dog performs a behavior, so that the behavior becomes more likely.
NoseworkSkills and cues: A trained activity in which a dog searches for a specific hidden scent and indicates when they have found it.
Nutritional adequacy statementFood and labels: The required sentence on a pet food label saying whether the food is complete and balanced, which life stage it is for, and how that was established.
Nutritional enrichmentEnrichment: Enrichment that works by changing how food arrives rather than what the food is.

O

Occupational enrichmentEnrichment: Enrichment that gives a dog a job to do, such as searching, shredding, chewing or problem-solving.
Off-switchSkills and cues: A dog's ability to come down from an excited or aroused state to a settled one without being managed into it.
Over-arousalReactivity and fear: A level of excitement high enough that a dog can no longer think clearly or respond to cues.

P

Parallel walkingMethods and protocols: Walking two dogs, or a dog and an unfamiliar person, in the same direction with space between them rather than toward each other.
Pattern gamesMethods and protocols: Leslie McDevitt's short, repeating games with a fixed and predictable structure, such as counting to three and delivering food on three.
Pavement burnHealth and safety: Damage to a dog's paw pads caused by contact with ground hot enough to burn.
PhospholipidosisHealth and safety: An abnormal accumulation of phospholipids, a type of fat, inside cells.
PlaceSkills and cues: A cue that sends a dog to a specific mat or bed and asks them to stay there until released.
Poisoned cueLearning science: A cue that a dog has learned to ignore or avoid because of what has usually followed it.
Positive punishmentLearning science: Adding something a dog finds unpleasant after a behavior, so that the behavior becomes less likely to happen again.
Positive reinforcementLearning science: Adding something a dog wants after a behavior, so that the behavior becomes more likely.
Predatory motor sequenceEnrichment: The chain of behaviors most dogs are built around: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect, consume.
Premack principleLearning science: The principle that a behavior an animal is more likely to perform will reinforce one they are less likely to perform.
PremiumFood and labels: A marketing term on pet food packaging with no definition in feed law.
Primary reinforcerLearning science: Something an animal values without having learned to value it, such as food, water or the opportunity to sniff.
ProofingLearning science: Deliberately testing a behavior against distraction, distance and duration until it holds up outside training conditions.
PulsesFood and labels: The edible dried seeds of legume plants, including peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans.

R

Raised hacklesBody language: Fur standing up along a dog's neck, shoulders or spine, caused by an involuntary muscle response rather than a deliberate display.
Rate of reinforcementLearning science: How frequently reinforcement actually arrives during a piece of training, measured over time.
ReactivityReactivity and fear: An outsized response, such as barking, lunging or spinning, to an everyday thing that most dogs pass without comment.
RecallSkills and cues: A dog returning to their handler when called, away from whatever else they were doing.
RecoveryBody language: How quickly a dog returns to normal after reacting to something.
Redirected reactionReactivity and fear: A dog directing a reaction at whatever is nearest, rather than at what actually caused it.
Release cueSkills and cues: A word that tells a dog a position or a task is finished and that they are free to move.
Resource guardingReactivity and fear: Behavior aimed at keeping possession of something valuable, ranging from freezing and eating faster through to growling and snapping.

S

Scatter feedingEnrichment: Throwing a meal across grass, a rug or another textured surface instead of putting it in a bowl.
Scent discriminationSkills and cues: A dog's ability to pick out one specific target smell from among all the other smells present.
Secondary reinforcerLearning science: Something that acquires value by reliably predicting something the animal already wants.
Sensory enrichmentEnrichment: Enrichment aimed at what a dog can smell, feel, hear or see rather than at what they eat.
Separation anxietyReactivity and fear: A panic response that occurs when a dog is left alone, distinct from boredom or destructive behavior.
The shake-offBody language: A full-body shake, of the kind a wet dog performs, carried out when the dog is dry.
ShapingLearning science: Building a behavior by reinforcing successive approximations of it, each one closer to the finished version.
Shred boxEnrichment: A cardboard box packed with crumpled paper and food, given to a dog to take apart.
Shutting downBody language: A state in which an overwhelmed dog stops offering behavior altogether and becomes still, quiet and unresponsive.
Slab fractureHealth and safety: A fracture in which a piece breaks away from the side of a tooth, most often one of the large upper chewing teeth.
Slow feederEquipment: A bowl with ridges or channels molded into it, so a dog has to work food out of the gaps instead of taking it in mouthfuls.
SniffariEnrichment: A walk where the dog's nose chooses the route and sets the pace.
Snuffle matEquipment: A mat of dense fabric strips that food is scattered into, so a dog has to find each piece by nose.
Social enrichmentEnrichment: Time spent with people or animals a dog actually enjoys, in amounts they can comfortably handle.
SocializationPuppy and development: Deliberately building a puppy's positive associations with the people, animals, places and events they will encounter in life.
Socialization windowPuppy and development: The developmental period, roughly three to sixteen weeks of age, when puppies most readily form lasting associations with new things.
Species-typical behaviorEnrichment: Behavior a dog performs because they are a dog, such as sniffing, chewing, digging, shredding and chasing.
Stress hormonesBody language: Adrenaline and cortisol, the chemicals released when an animal responds to something stressful.
Stress signalsBody language: The small behaviors a dog performs when uncomfortable, before any louder reaction appears.

T

TaurineFood and labels: A sulphur-containing amino acid involved in bile, heart and eye function.
The three D'sLearning science: Distance, duration and distraction: the three dimensions along which a behavior can be made harder.
ThresholdReactivity and fear: The point at which a dog stops being able to think clearly about what is happening around them.
TriggerReactivity and fear: Anything that reliably produces a strong emotional response in a particular dog.
Trigger stackingReactivity and fear: The build-up that happens when stressful events land close enough together that a dog has not recovered from one before the next arrives.

U

Under-socializedPuppy and development: A dog who encountered too little of the world during the developmental period when new things are most easily accepted.

V

VOHCHealth and safety: The Veterinary Oral Health Council, which awards a seal of acceptance to dental products that meet its standard for reducing plaque or tartar.

W

Whale eyeBody language: A look in which a dog holds their head still and turns their eyes far enough to one side that a crescent of white shows.