Popular Tools Used In Reactive Dog Rehabilitation Training

In a nutshell, the major key to helping rehabilitate a reactive dog is using desensitization and counter-conditioning through short, managed (i.e. working in a purposely chosen public space where you know you have several available exits and other dogs are on leash), if not controlled (i.e. working in a non-public space with a chosen neutral, on-leash dog), training sessions. Rehearsing and reinforcing a desired, calm response allows a new conditioned emotional response, or CER, to be established over time.

Great! Now let’s talk about those terms a bit more.

Desensitization
Science Direct defines desensitization as, “a psychological process by which a response is repeatedly elicited in situations where the action tendency that arises out of the emotion proves to be irrelevant.”

In other words, with repeated exposure to the trigger, one, including your dog, tends to react less intensely. However, desensitization alone does not rehabilitate a reactive dog. In order to help your dog feel, and thus react differently to their triggers, counter-conditioning should also be integrated.

Counter-Conditioning
Merriam-Webster defines counter-conditioning as, “conditioning in order to replace an undesirable response (such as fear) to a stimulus (such as an engagement in public speaking..or for your dog, seeing another dog) by a favorable one.”

So if your dog is currently barking at the delivery person out the window, you would need to practice (and reward!) an alternate, desired behavior, like sitting calmly on the couch when they hear your gate open and a package drop on your steps. This is what I call the master’s degree level behavior. For any new desired behavior, it’s important to start your dog in kindergarten. In this case, rewarding your dog for sitting calmly on the couch without any distractions, and then over time, gradually adding playing a recording of your gate opening on the lowest level, and rewarding your dog’s calmness.

Conditioned Emotional Response (CER)
A conditioned emotional response is an automatic response to a stimulus that has been learned from past exposures and experiences (running to the window to bark at the delivery person). It is not a choice or actively thought about, it is an emotional and automatic reaction.

For example, how do you feel when you hear the ice cream truck coming down the street or the sight of a cup of coffee being poured? What about when you hear screeching tires or the sight of an ambulance? These are all conditioned emotional responses. At first, these sights and sounds were neutral, but in time you came to associate them with good or bad things, and now you have a conditioned emotional response (CER) and react/behave a certain way when you hear or see them. To feel differently about these experiences you would have to desensitize and counter-condition yourself slowly over time.

Reinforcement
A reinforcer increases the likelihood your dog will repeat a behavior. Your dog decides what is a reinforcer. A water-loving lab is going to love a bath after a short training session. A dog that hates the water, will not find this rewarding, and in fact may find it to be a punishment. My dog, Berlin, did not like string cheese. She tried it once, and spit it out, and refused to try it again. Fair enough. I don’t like bacon (shocking, I know). So, string cheese wasn’t used as a reinforcer in our training together. She LOVED white american cheese though and would happily do things in hopes of earning some. Hazzah!

Your dog can be reinforced by things you don’t give them too, like the environment. So, don’t be stingy about reinforcing the behaviors you like otherwise, your dog will go back to doing what works for them, like barking at the neighbor out the window. They’ll think, “Ooo, I barked, and they walked away. I’ll keep barking at them whenever I see them so they’ll leave.”

Rehearsal
If your dog gets rewarded for behaviors, even unwanted ones (remember, the environment can reward them whether you want it to or not), they will repeat them, because that is what is being reinforced. Remember, your dog decides what is a reinforcer, not you, and barking, jumping, humping, etc. can all be rewarding for your dog.

Rehearsal is setting up behavioral patterns and habits for your dog to repeat so they can practice and get rewarded for the desired response or behavior. For a reactive dog, the desired behavior should be calmness, not necessarily a sit or down, so it is vital to rehearse (and reward!) this behavior in short training sessions.

Negative Reinforcement & Reactive Dog Rehabilitation Training

What’s nice about negative reinforcement is that I find that once your dog understands they don’t have to encounter an aversive (at the distance, volume, etc that causes them stress), it gives your dog a certain freedom. I implemented it when training my dog, Berlin, and her fear of buses and later her anxiety over laughter.

When I first adopted Berlin she was terrified of buses. She flailed at the sight or sound of one…and at the time we lived in a busy downtown area where buses were unavoidable. Treats were not an option. She just wouldn’t take them, not matter how high-value it was. So, the only way to counter-condition her was to show her that we got to walk away from buses. The second she saw or heard one, I said, “Good” and we walked in the opposite direction or turned the corner away from it. At first, her dramatic response was unavoidable no matter the distance, but slowly over time, as she learned the buses didn’t get closer, and her reactions reduced. In time, I was able to add treats to our calm retreat (positive and negative reinforcement…BAM!). Then, over the course of a few months, we didn’t have to turn around as quickly. She was able to get closer to the bus (and it to her since it was a moving vehicle after all) AND take treats. I didn’t ask nor did she have to sit or down or even look at me.

Eventually, we were able to go on our walks and not change our path if a bus was approaching at all. Even if it stopped right next to us, making all the crazy loud noises as it let off passengers, Berlin would be calm and relaxed as I flooded her with verbal praise and treats. Ironically, over the years, she started to get excited at the sight of a bus, and I never stopped telling her what an amazing, brave girl she was, even at the age of 14.

Now, my success with her anxiety over laughter looked a little different. Whether it was me, my husband, or a guest chuckling, she would immediately move right next to me, sit, stare with her wide, dilated eyes, and heavily pant. Once I figured out what caused this developing reaction (it was possibly a result of her changing hearing over the years…maybe laughing became to sound like nails on a chalkboard to her?), I began guiding Berlin to her bed in another room either before we put on something that would insight laughter or when someone laughed in conversation, and she easily laid down for a nap, in a quiet, peaceful, laugh-free room. I imagine she thought, “Ahhh, how nice.”

Eventually, when she heard someone laugh, including me, she would walk herself elsewhere. In fact, she learned the particular people who often laughed in conversation, and if she saw them, she’d walk to another unoccupied room from the start. In other words, she avoided the stress of hearing laughter by calmly walking to another room. Since this action got her the desired laugh-free environment, she was more likely to repeat this behavior, and she did over the years whenever necessary. Don’t get me wrong. I did work to help her feel differently about laughter (mostly because I enjoyed her company and missed her when she wasn’t nearby), just like with the buses, but eventually, especially when she was older, on a restricted diet, and not going on as many outdoor adventures where people could be laughing anywhere (her nightmare!), we were both satisfied we had a solution at home that worked.