Understanding how behavior works

Classic Conditioning

Also known as Pavlovian conditioning or associative learning, both terms for what happens when an animal learns associations among things. Classical conditioning is also known as “muscle memory” or “habituation.”

For instance, your dog knows you wear a particular pair of boots when you go out hiking together. So every time you go get those boots, your dog jumps around with excitement.

Your dog has associated the boots with the walk and now the boots have value. Your dog knows that the first event, the going to get the boots, signals the prediction of the second event, the walk.

Classical conditioning is all about anticipation.

So how do we change a dog’s emotional state from FEAR of something to tolerance, acceptance, then ultimately TRUST? We use Counter-Conditioning and De-sensitizing to help a dog overcome fears, which we call TRIGGERS.

What’s a TRIGGER? It can be anything your dog is fearful of. It could be because your dog never had been exposed to something during puppyhood, learning all about the world. OR it could be because the association is perceived as a negative one.

Examples of TRIGGERS

• People: Men with beards, wearing hoods or riding bikes
• Animals: Scary big dogs or barking little dogs
• Things: Garbage trucks, strollers or skateboards
• Sounds: Dropping a dish, fireworks, or thunderstorms

How to use counter-conditioning and de-sensitizing – CC/DS

This process is accomplished different ways depending on what the fear is.

Creating DISTANCE is how we’d begin if your dog were fearful of other dogs on walks.

For Example:

If your dog were fearful of GROOMING then you’d first have to break it down into individual steps and work SLOWLY to begin the process of changing fear to trust.

So let’s start with GROOMING and how to change a dog’s fear of being brushed.

• You first pick up the brush – give the dog a treat
• You move the brush – give a treat
• The brush comes closer – double the treats

What you’re doing is changing the dog’s underlying emotional state. The brush is now the predictor of the treat and that’s how the process begins. The main reason why it’s hard for us humans is that we tend to rush the process. It only works if we watch our dog’s body language and only proceed to the next step once we see our dog is calm. So if you’re seeing any stress signals, body tensing up, moving away from you, those are signs saying you should stayat the easier step for a longer time.

Changing emotions can take 3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months –

It all depends on how intense the fear is and how long has it been happening.

Summary:

• Take it SLOW
• Break down the process into small segments and work those individually
• Make sure treats are of high value. (Kibble is not sufficient)

Article authorized for use by Julie Dorsey-Oskerka

President/Owner of Positive Solutions for A Sound Beginning (a not-for-profit dedicated to supporting the rescue community).