Do you have a pup that is scared of something or someone? Every time they hear or see it, they put on the brakes? Maybe they even growl or snap if it gets too close to them? Are they reactive on leash when they see people or other dogs?
All of these situations can be helped by helping your dog to build a positive conditioned emotional response (+CER). Conditioned responses have been studied by psychologists for about a hundred years, and have been found to be very beneficial in counterconditioning and desensitizing people to things that scare them or make them reactive. Humans and animals alike show fear, anxiety, aggression or other strong emotions toward certain triggers. With repeated short sessions, you can actually change your dog’s response from negative to positive in regards to a trigger!
The basic premise of +CER is to pair a positive thing of high value to your dog with whatever the trigger is, at a time when your dog can see/hear the trigger but is not reacting to it. The first step is to determine what it is that your dog is reactive or fearful towards- new dogs coming into the home (super useful when new fosters are introduced into a home!), the sound of the doorbell, children running, bicycles, dogs on leash, new people in the home, etc. Make a list, and pick one to start working on. The next step is to determine what your dog finds irresistible- you need to find something that is high enough value that they find it nearly impossible to turn down, even when there are distractions. Hot dogs, cheese, peanut butter in a squeeze tube, chicken, or dried meats are some common items used. Cut up the treats into small bite size pieces (you can do a large prep and freeze them in small baggies).
The next step is to encounter the trigger- this may be something that occurs naturally, or you may need to set it up by enlisting the help of friends or neighbors. You want to expose your dog to the trigger in a controlled manner- you do not want to rush right up to it and “flood” your dog. Maintain enough distance where your dog can see or hear the trigger without barking, lunging, etc. This may be 10 feet, it may be 200 feet- it depends on your dog and the trigger. If your dog reacts to seeing dogs on leash, they will likely need more distance if they see a more animated or excited dog than if they see a calm dog that ignores them. As you work through training sessions, you will find that at different times, you will need more or less distance. Try not to approach the trigger head on- move your dog in a diagonal line to “cut the angle”. Keep your dog far enough away that they can see the trigger without giving the “death stare”. Keeping your dog under threshold is key to building positive associations. If at any point they start to react, immediately move them further away from the trigger. When a dog is over threshold and is reacting, no learning can take place.
To prepare, hold the treats behind your back or in a treat pouch so your dog is not focusing on the treats. Do not prompt your dog to look at you or the trigger. When your dog notices and looks at the trigger (even briefly), begin feeding them treats one at a time while they continue looking at the trigger. You will need to bend down some to put the treats right in front of their face without blocking their sightline. When they stop looking at the trigger or the trigger goes out of view (or they begin getting agitated), stop feeding. Keep sessions short- 30 seconds to a minute is plenty of time for them to look at something without reacting. They do NOT need to be in a sitting position for this activity- you are not training them to do any commands- you are simply providing delicious treats while they look at something that makes them uncomfortable or excited. Keep sessions short and positive, and give your dog frequent breaks. If your dog starts to get agitated, stop feeding and move them further away from the trigger.
Once you have practiced this several times and your dog seems to be catching on that whenever they look calmly at the trigger, they are rewarded, they will likely begin to look away from the trigger and look at you like “hey, I saw that and didn’t freak out…where’s my treat?” At this point, you are able to move onto stage two. Your goal now is to let your dog look at the trigger, and then break eye contact to look at you, and you’ll give them a treat at this point to reward them. Then wait for them to look back at the trigger and then back at you. Let them practice this several times successfully so that they learn that engaging with a trigger and then choosing to disengage brings the good things (treats).
Once your dog has had success with engaging and disengaging from the trigger and realizing that good things come when they see the trigger, you can experiment with decreasing the distance or increasing the intensity of the trigger. You can eventually begin to cut back on the number of treats you give during this exercise, but avoid cutting out the food too soon, before you have created the positive conditioned emotional response.
For more information:
https://charlestonanimalsociety.org/training-tip-engage-disengage/
https://clickertraining.com/reducing-leash-reactivity-the-engage-disengage-game