What is counter-conditioning?
If your dog’s reactivity is making life more difficult, counter-conditioning is a behavioural technique you may wish to use. This method is designed to change the way our dog responds toward particular stimuli. By repetition we coax our dog to associate a stimuli with something positive in order to avoid undesirable behaviour. Let’s say a dog has already developed a conditioned response to e.g. your hairdryer and responds with fear or barking. The aim is to change that response to a happy one. To change the way a dog feels towards something we need to provide an alternative experience many times until the association has changed.
The same can be applied to fear of other dogs, people wearing hats and so on but they all still need gradual exposure. How close can they be to begin with? They need to be close enough that the dog can see them but far enough away that the dog does not react with the undesirable behaviour. In some cases this might mean 100m.
Food is a wonderful tool for this technique but the stimulus and timing needs to be carefully managed. Imagine your hairdryer comes out of the cupboard and you haven’t even turned it on yet. The moment your dog sees the hairdryer she gets a very high value treat (something she rarely gets to enjoy). The dryer goes out of view again and she gets nothing. The dryer comes back into view and hey presto – another treat. Build to your dog sniffing the dryer equals a treat. The dryer goes out of view again. We’re not going to turn it on yet. Eventually the dryer will be turned on (but not close to the dog) under something to muffle the sound and quickly off again. Using a partner can be handy if you need two hands and we don’t want to burn the house down. The dog will receive a succession of treats but once the sound stops, nothing. Once your dog begins associating the sound of the dryer with the anticipation of treats, you are ready to start using it unmuffled, a little closer proximity each time until the time you can dry your hair and the dog no longer arrives to bark at the dryer.
There are a few rules to remember. It is best for your dog to be able to smell the fantastic treat before the stimulus shows up. Timing in delivery of the treat is the key to success and must delivered quickly (within a second or two at the most). If your dog reacts negatively to the stimuli you have progressed with exposure too fast.
Leah & Angela O’Meara
Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Cares Brisbane)