Desensitisation & Counter-Conditioning.
The most commonly used definition of desensitisation when referring to animals is;
“The process of making a sensitised or hypersensitive individual insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitising stimulus.”
Desensitisation is commonly used when an animal displays fear towards a stimulus, however can also be implemented when an animal becomes highly aroused (overstimulated) by certain stimuli. A desensitisation program should ideally be implemented for young dogs during their critical socialisation and fear periods to prevent the unwanted response occurring, however this is can be, and is commonly, implemented once a learned response has already developed. Desensitisation is most successful when a counter-conditioning process is applied - the two tend to work hand in hand.
There are four pillars to desensitisation;
Confident handling
One of a dog's main forms of communication and understanding beings around them is through body language. For this reason it is important that handlers are confident with desensitisation training plans and the stimulus involved. A lack of confidence is likely to show and this causes dogs to lack in confidence also, particularly if there is a strong dog - handler relationship.Direct interaction
In line with the Threshold for Behaviour, dogs need to have direct engagement with the stimulus for desensitisation to occur. By watching the dog's body language, you need to identify at what distance they feel safe enough to engage with the stimulus without feeling overwhelmed so that new learning can occur. If the animal is too close to stimuli they would be considered over threshold and your training plan is unlikely to take effective. If you are too far away, desensitisation does not occur. An animal's threshold can vary from session to session depending on other contributing factors, and can also quickly change depending on the training environment. As a general rule, if a training session is going well - bring it to an end ensuring a positive learning experience for the animal.Response prevention
Management is an incredibly important factor when carrying out a desensitisation program. The environment should be controlled so that the animal is able to have a positive learning experience and fallout does not occur. How one manages their direct interaction is really important, if a dog has the opportunity to display the undesirable response (ie: aggression use, barking, lunging, etc) and the training session comes to an end, it will believe it was those undesirable behaviours that kept it safe, causing the session to end. Prevention is better than a cure! The learning environment is to be set up so that the undesired response is prevented from being practiced.Reinforcement of desired behaviours
When an animal has been encouraged to display a desired response, these behaviours should be reinforced. This because reinforced behaviour is more likely to be displayed again. It is recommended to avoid handling (patting) under these circumstances as this can sometimes cause inappropriate reinforcement to occur, and animals who may end up over threshold are at higher risk of using aggression which includes a risk of redirection, as shown in the reactivity chart below.
When completing any kind of desensitisation or counter-conditioning training plan, it is important to remember not to flood dogs. Flooding when a dog is overwhelmed with the stimuli that causes fear or overstimulation. This training technique can cause suppression, install a further lack of confidence or fear, and often leads to the practice of an unwanted response. This technique cannot be completed in a stress free way, and does not effectively teach the animals a new and improved response to the stimuli, and so is not recommended in our practice.
The state of an animal's mind in behaviour modification is very important. An animal's mind should be calm and clear. Attempting to train an animal when they are already in a heightened, over-threshold state is referred to as pre-loading.
The most commonly used definition of counter-conditioning when referring to animals is;
“The process in which an animal’s response to stimuli is conditioned from a negative emotional response to a positive one.”
This is when we have animals engage with a stimulus that causes them to feel fear or a lack of confidence and create a positive outcome for them in a controlled setting. It’s important that counter-conditioning is done correctly as it can have the opposite effect. This often occurs when a cue is added to early. Instead of cueing a positive outcome for the dog you may accidentally cue their anxiety, stress or fear. For example: Let’s say my dog has a fear of a household member, my brother for example. I start my training plan by saying ‘who’s that?’ and offering treats to teach my dog every time I say ‘who’s that?’ food is presented. Then when my brother gets home I say ‘who’s that?’ and present treats, however my dog quickly catches on that ‘who’s that?’ now means my brother is coming home. So the cue ‘who’s that?’ ends up cuing his fear.