The aim of this thesis was to review scientific and professional literature on dogs’ cognitive abilities and explain their importance in learning and training. The thesis addresses social and physical cognition, key cognitive processes, early development and socialisation, fundamental learning mechanisms, and selected methods of acquiring behaviour. The literature indicates that dogs’ cognitive abilities are shaped by evolutionary characteristics, early experiences, the living environment, and individual traits. Their social orientation towards humans is particularly pronounced and is reflected in their ability to perceive human communicative signals and involve humans in problem-solving tasks; however, dogs do not outperform wolves in all cognitive tasks. Learning involves the interaction of perception, attention, memory, motivation, generalisation, associative and social learning, and inhibitory control. Luring, shaping, capturing, targeting, and the Do as I Do method can be applied to different learning objectives. However, due to the lack of direct comparative studies, none of these methods can be considered universally the most effective. Research generally supports the use of positive reinforcement, whereas aversive procedures are associated with more behavioural and physiological indicators of stress without demonstrating clear advantages in learning outcomes. Some findings should be interpreted with caution due to small sample sizes, questionnaire-based data, and the non-random assignment of dogs to training groups. The selection and implementation of training methods should therefore consider the learning objective as well as the individual dog’s characteristics, motivation, and welfare.
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