Desensitisation and Counter-Conditioning

How to help your dog feel better about their triggers.

Photo by Hynek Janáč on Unsplash

What Is Desensitisation And Counter-Conditioning?

Dogs can find themselves bothered by all kinds of triggers.

Other dogs, people, cats, cars, poo bags blowing past in the wind … untold terrors can fill their hearts with fear and disturb their daily lives.

Anxious dogs spend their lives looking out for things they are worried about, and as they are looking for them, they see those things more often. This leads to our dogs coming to the realisation they were right and the scary things are everywhere. Gradually they get more and more worried, and other things start to look worrisome too.

One way of dealing with this, is a method called “desensitisation and counter-conditioning.” Essentially, it involves taking a trigger, making it less scary, turning it into good news, and then increasing it once more until the dog is happy, or at least comfortable, with that trigger appearing in everyday life.

Simple huh? Well, yes in theory. But, it is also simple to get it wrong and make things ten times worse!

In this week’s live, we chat about it properly. If you are a Fun Not Fear® Club member, you can catch the replay below.

If your dog is having problems with triggers, please do get hold of me - we can help!