01-17-2020, 10:55 AM
Quote:
21 hours ago, caikgoch said:
There's more than one question here.
Train or teach? Training is a catch all for directed instruction. Teaching is helping someone find things they already want.
Rewards? Is an orgasm a reward or a goal? The use of food definitely shows a lack of interest.
Instinct vs learned stimulation? Is it conditioning if you teach them signals other than in species pheromones to indicate a desire for sex or is it just good communication?
I think the most useful indication of the animal's feelings is how they use/extend what we teach them. When they add to a behavior that we taught, you have the very definition of active participation/consent. My stallion is a perfect example of this. I taught him early in our relationship that he could point to an itch and I would scratch it for him. The first time we had sex he needed a mare in heat on the other side of the gate to make it to completion. The third time he dropped out a semi-erection and pointed to it. The extension of pointing was all his idea.
I actually really like this perspective on the situation, and can tell you from my own experiences and growing knowledge involving my German Shepherd pup: that it's teaching over 'training' (the catch-all term). They ('non-humans', 'animals') do understand what sex is once instinct starts to take over, the only 'teaching' that may have to occur here is teaching position as well as cues: but that's something their own species has to do among themselves anyways.
Sex is a large part of social mammals' development and growth, as well as bonding: we are no different nor do we hold any superiority here. IMHO it's also worth noting most 'animals' are Hedonists, meaning thei pursue pleasure, often to a fault in some cases: if it does them good, feels good... they'll seek it out, of course depending on their personality, and perspective on such things.
I've had dogs who've shown zero interest in me, I've had dogs throughout my life who've shown rampant sexual interest in me, with no previous interactions, from me nor ot hers they have lived with.
So, in short: I think there are concepts that human / Non-human teach *each other* on the side of sex, but apart from the 'terrible porn' where things are forced, no: I don't think it's training, nor do I think it's necessary to train such things.
