Canine Academy

check out Sheldon's weaves! Awesome job!

When working with human fearful and/or reactive dogs owners are often surprised when we tell them NOT to let other people feed their dog. This is often supri...sing to them because they have been told by other trainers, Internet research, or even their veterinarian that allowing strangers to feed their fearful dog is a great way to get them over their fear. While the logic makes sense - a dog who is fearful of someone gets food from that person then the dog learns that person isn't so scary - it doesn't often play out that way. In more formal terms this is an attempt at counterconditioning. Counterconditioning is a behavior modification technique often employed when working with fearful dogs. This technique aims to change a fearful response to a particular stimulus (in this case a person) to a more desirable response by pairing something that the dog really loves (food) with something that the dog doesn't love so much (strangers). This is a powerful tool when working through fear and anxiety with dogs BUT it must be employed correctly in order for it to work. When random strangers (aka not dog trainers) feed your fearful dog they often accompany that feeding with social cues that overwhelm the dog such as: eye contact, confrontational (from the dog's point of view) body language, or too much spacial pressure. This can have the exact opposite effect of what you were attempting. Here is a fantastic explanation by trainer Mark McCabe of TBTE, as to why this often backfires. He refers to this as mouse trap syndrome, and we think it is an excellent analogy! https://youtu.be/NBitjlf4VBo

One of our UCDavis veterinary students practicing cooperative care with her partner. Preparing your dog for veterinary handling before they actually g...o to the vet is an important piece of training. Many dogs have a phobia of the vet's office because everytime they go there unpleasant things happen. You can counter this by preparing your dog ahead of time for their exam. Teaching them to not only tolerate but actually enjoy all types of handling will make vet visits more pleasant for everyone!