Petcademy

What is counter conditioning

Counter conditioning is the act of re-teaching a dog to have a neutral or good association with something that was once disliked or feared. If there’s something your dog dislikes or is afraid of, you can use rewards to help change your dog’s feelings about "the thing” and produce a neutral or good reaction over time. To do this:

• Use food or non-food rewards to develop good associations: If your dog doesn’t like the sound of the blender, give them a treat or toy every time you turn on the blender. Over many reps, your dog will associate the blender with getting a treat or toy.

• Remember value matters: The more memorable the reward, the faster the emotional response will change. Think ham, hot dogs, chicken, turkey, etc. Variety is important, so be sure to rotate to keep your pup engaged. If you know you will be encountering high-stress situations, bring high value toys and treats.

• Don’t reinforce a behavior by attempting to use punishment: With many dogs, any attention from you may seem like a reinforcer. Usually, when reaching into the punishment tool kit, yelling and scolding are the first things you’ll pull out. For a dog who is highly rewarded by words and attention, you might inadvertently reinforce a behavior you don’t like. Taking your attention away from your dog can be a more effective punishment. Try developing a kind of “screensaver” mode —become extremely still and quiet until your dog stops doing the behavior you don’t like. The stark difference between you when you are still and you are when you are normal will make the reward of your attention all the more valuable.

• Be patient: Your dog’s response is involuntary at this point. You are working to change it, but until the emotional response has been changed, know it will be hard to get a reliable and consistent behavior response.

Tips

• Repetition and patience will change your dog’s response over time. Over many repetitions, your dog will learn that whenever the scary thing appears, good things happen. That being said, you need to remember that your dog’s response is involuntary at this point. You are working to change it, but until the emotional response has been changed, know it will be hard to get a reliable and consistent behavior response. Be patient.

• Only make one thing hard at a time. Don’t try to tackle every negative association at once. Focus on one association at a time in a safe environment. As you work with your dog and they get more comfortable, add in another hectic element: do it outside instead of in the safety of your home, for instance. But add one element at a time at your dog’s pace.

• Avoid surprise encounters. Make sure you are in a safe environment when counter conditioning your dog. It will be a stressful process for them, so any unintended distraction or interruption will only hinder your dog’s progress.

• Value matters. The more memorable the reward, the faster the emotional response will change. Think ham, hot dogs, chicken, turkey, etc. Variety is important, so be sure to rotate to keep your dog engaged. If you know you will be encountering high-stress situations, bring high value toys and treats.

• Never use punishment. One difficulty of using punishment in training is that your dog may make the wrong associations with feelings associated with danger. For example, one bad experience with a man in boots can cause a dog to associate fear with boots. All animals are built to hold on extra tightly to associations with anything that may be dangerous— it’s what helps keep them alive.