What is favorable transfer of learning?

• A. It's when the MWD forgets a task after learning a new one.
• B. It's when the MWD has already learned to do a task that helps it learn to do a new task.
• C. It's when learning a new task does not affect any existing tasks.
• D. It's when the new task is completely unrelated to prior tasks.

Answer: (B)

Favorable transfer of learning happens when what a dog already knows helps it pick up a new task more quickly and effectively. If a MWD has mastered a task that uses similar skills, patterns, or cues as a new task, that prior learning provides a foundation—making the new task easier to learn and perform well. For example, a dog that has learned to search a room for scents can more easily learn to search a vehicle or new environment because the underlying search behavior and alert responses carry over. The other statements describe scenarios where learning does not help with the new task (forgetting, no effect, or an entirely unrelated task), which do not represent favorable transfer.