STEM+Abstract

Anyone can teach a puppy a new trick, but can an old dog learn a new trick? The purpose of the investigation is to figure out if an old dog can learn a new trick. The problem is whether or not you can teach an old dog a new trick. The hypothesis is, if the person uses the same methods that taught the dog to do new tricks when he was a puppy, then he will do new tricks, now even though he is older. There were three procedures laid out for the tricks: high five, dance, and play dead. In the first two weeks, the dog was taught how to “high five”. Although he spent most of the first week making accidents and barely raising his paw, he was able to high five by the end of the second week when shown a treat. On week three the dog learned how to “dance”. Since he was already used to standing on his hind legs, it didn’t take him as long to learn how to dance. On the fourth week the dog was taught how to “play dead.” Unlike the other tricks, this trick was more difficult, so the dog made very little progress. However, since the dog was able to learn the first two simpler tricks, it can be concluded that the hypothesis was mostly correct. Overall, teaching an old dog a new trick is possible, as long as it’s not too difficult.
 * Can you teach an old dog a new trick? **