Desensitisation vs Counter-conditioning

Implement these techniques for a calmer, happier dog

These two techniques are great for if you have puppies or your dog struggles with anxiety, fear, aggression around a certain type of stimuli, like when the postman comes to the door, or they're going for their much needed groom. If you use these techniques in coordination with each other, it can produce some amazing results where you and your dog can relax in those once stressful times.

Desensitisation

This is the slow and progressive presentation of anything that would typically create an unwanted response, but at such low level that the negative response does not occur. This can be great for dogs with reactivity to other dogs. It can be done by introducing the trigger from a distance and should the dog not react, then the trigger can be brought closer. The aim here is to calmly and slowly have your dog not mind that there are other dogs around, but this may need to be done over days and weeks to achieve your goal without overstimulating the dog.

However this technique alone is not perfect as it relies on having no response from the dog which makes it feel impossible to have a reversal if an unexpected high intensity exposure to the scary trigger happens i.e another dog showing up very suddenly. This is why it's important to use this alongside counter conditioning.

Counter-conditioning

This is a process that changes the perceived emotional response towards a certain thing or situation. The new conditioned response is incompatible with the previous one. This can be done by pairing the trigger with a positive reward like, verbal encouragement, treats, or a fun game, whatever the dog responds to best. When this technique is done correctly, it can replace the negative response with a positive one.

In a real life scenario, this would look like the dog entering the grooming salon and getting a treat to create a positive association with that environment. Treats are a great reward if the dog responds to food because it triggers a powerful response, they are easy to use correctly and offers repetition potential. Eating or playing are enjoyable activities for the dog which are incompatible emotions with anxiety or fear, and if the positive emotions are strong enough they will eventually replace the negative emotions. We are still not expecting a reaction from the dog, just to reward the dog with being around the stimuli.

These two techniques used together offer the ability to overcome once scary or stressful situations and even over time see those situations as enjoyable and fun for both the dog and the owner.