Systematic Desensitisation & Counter-Conditioning

There are many different stimuli that can frighten your dog or lead it to exhibit a fearful or fear/aggressive response. This handout is designed to develop a program for improving or resolving fear of animate stimuli, such as people or other animals but can be adapted to include fear of inanimate objects and noises, e.g. traffic, bicycles, thunder, fireworks etc. This technique also helps to break down an existing association that an animal has with any specific stimuli (such as chase behaviour as a reaction to moving objects). 

What is Desensitisation and Counter-conditioning?

Desensitisation: In desensitisation (DS) training, the dog (or other companion animal) is repeatedly exposed to a very low level of the stimulus that usually evokes a negative response but in such a way that it is insufficient to cause the specific behaviour to occur (usually fear and fear aggression).  VERY gradually the intensity or proximity of the stimulus is increased as the dog becomes comfortable and unreactive at each stage of the training. Importantly, you MUST begin when a dog is feeling relaxed and well below their ‘threshold’.

Alongside desensitisation, whilst the dog ceases to react to the stimulus in any form and is a negative emotional state, we can then start to help them build a new and positive association with the named stimulus – this is known as counter-conditioning (CC).

Counter-conditioning involves teaching your dog to associate the thing that usually provokes a fearful response with something else more emotionally pleasing.  So if scary thing A (a loud bang or the sight of a stranger) predicted thing B (feeling threatened) your dog is taught to re-learn that thing A evokes a positive and pleasant emotion. 

Counter-conditioning turns that emotional response to something more pleasing if it is paired with the low level frightening stimulus. So, for example, if whilst playing the sound effect of a firework (at a low volume) you are playing a favourite game with your dog, feeding them yummy treats or doing something else that is causing feel good emotions then, over time, this will become the over-riding emotion, turning the fear provoking event into something that equals feeling good.

Steps for Desensitisation and Counter-conditioning (DS and CC)

• It will be necessary to make a list of all the stimuli that cause your dog to react. 
• Rank them in order from the one which causes the least reaction from your dog right up to the ones to which he/she will react most strongly.  
• If there is a long list of triggers, work should ideally commence with the least fearful stimulus first.
• Stimuli may be visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and even on rare occasions associated with taste, so make sure you consider all of the options.
• During the training, avoid exposing dogs to the real-life fearful stimulus. For example don’t begin work on DS and CC for fireworks close to and around bonfire night or other firework events. Instead just limit them to the low level mock-up exposures.
• If aggression forms part of the dog’s response to the stimulus, then he/she should be trained to wear a muzzle, so that safety during exercises can be ensured. Also control is very important, so safe, non-aversive restraining aids should be used (e.g. a 2 point contact harness and double clip lead). 
• Only commence training when your dog is calm, focused and there are minimum distractions in the environment.
• If your dog finds it hard to relax teach them a reliable ‘settle’ or ‘relax’ cue.
• Remember that to learn, a dog must be below their threshold for fear and anxiety so ask yourself whether the time is right or whether you are teaching them in an environment that is suitable for them.
• Once each stimulus is identified, and starting with the one provoking the weakest response from your dog, you will need to set up situations where your dog is exposed to the stimulus in its weakest possible form. This means you start from a point where he/she fails to react at all.
• For inanimate objects like muzzles, harness, baby-gates, grooming equipment, introduce them in your dog’s environment so they see them as being part of their normal environment. Where possible, pick the items up and perhaps place them on you knee whilst you are stroking or petting them. Muzzles can be smeared with creamed cheese. The idea is to expose your dog to the items when they are calm and in a good emotional place.
• As your dog becomes increasingly comfortable with each level of exposure, you can very gradually start to increase the intensity, aiming always to ensure your dog remains in a comfortable emotional state.
• For fear of specific sounds, CD’s are available that include recordings of a range of different sounds. Some are available on my website or through a company called Sounds Scary that has a free download available via Dogs Trust.
• It is important that the sound effect is played through a high quality system with good speakers to create a realistic sound. 
• For fear of other dogs or stranger, ensure that you know how far away the fear evoking stimulus has to be before your dog starts to respond.  So if your dog starts to stiffen and show stress/ fear/ aggression at a distance of 20 feet, commence training at 25 feet (or a distance where you get a neutral response). 
• Begin work in a quiet place – if you can hire a field that would be ideal. You can commence with a stooge person/ dog. Sometimes manikins of dogs can be used in the early stages.
• Shape and reward relaxed body posture. Sniffing the ground, turning the head away and licking lips are signs of calming behaviours. These show that your dog is feeling a little uncomfortable. These micro signals should be rewarded because they are appropriate self-calming behaviours. However, we can acknowledge our dog’s unease by moving them away from the target of fear so they have no need to use more reactive behaviours and know that we are ‘listening’ to them.
• The dog’s favourite treats or toys should also be used as rewards for failing to respond to the stimulus and for offering a different, but more suitable response. For example, a dog who decides to move away instead of chasing a jogger or a dog that looks at you instead of focusing on the fearful stimulus should be rewarded for this alternative behaviour. 
• It may be wise to increase the value of their favourite rewards even further by reducing access to them except during training sessions. For a really great response use a jackpot – a treat that is the MOST tasty.
• Advance along the steps gradually increasing the intensity level very slowly.  If you attempt to proceed too quickly and your dog shows a reaction, don’t worry- take a step backwards in your training. You can use the emergency U-turn if necessary and praise your dog for moving along with you.
• The required response from your dog is always rewarded with the reward at each new step. 
• Always end each session on a positive note, and start the next training session a little below the level you left at in the previous one.
• The Look at That training can be an extremely helpful training technique to learn alongside this as it helps control a dog in the ‘real world’ whilst still using the principles of CC that have been explained here.
• This isn’t an easy training technique so do consider getting some help from a suitably qualified professional to help ensure you are on the right tracks.

If aggression forms any part of the behaviour I strongly recommend that you get some help and support with a suitably qualified trainer before attempting any of the training. For a list of registered behaviourists and trainers visit the APBC and ABTC website.