Dog vs. Cat Training

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Rocio Flores

Abstract or Description

Understanding a pet's behavior and getting insight into ​​how their mind works is important because it helps people become better companions for their pets. My project focused on the behavior of dogs and cats, as they are among the most popular pets. To answer the question, "Which animal would benefit from training and learn to sit more effectively?" I assumed that dogs would do so because dogs have twice as many neurons as cats. Because dogs have more neurons, their ability to process information is higher. For the experiment, I separated both animals and began training my dog. I moved the treat over my dog's head and commanded her to "sit." I repeated this command as many times as necessary. As soon as my dog ​​was in seated position, I praised her by giving her a treat. After I finished training my dog, I repeated all the steps above with my cat. I maintained training consistency by repeating this process with both pets every day. I noticed that my dog ​​tended to obey my command faster than my cat. My dog ​​was eager for the treat, but she knew he wouldn't get it until after she did what I asked her to do, so she took less time to sit down as the number of rounds increased. However, my cat seemed confused as to why I was commanding her at all. My results indicate that dog training is quicker because dogs are capable of processing more complex thoughts than cats. If a dog and a cat were to be trained in order to learn how to sit when asked, that would result in dogs learning how to do it quicker because dogs have twice as many neurons as cats. Since dogs possess more neurons, their capacity for information processing is improved, thus, making them easier to train.