How you react to the situation can have a profound impact on your puppy’s future response to frightening stimuli. Avoid comforting your puppy with soothing talk or excessive petting. Telling your puppy,
“It’s OK,” can actually make the future fear responses more intense.
There are two reasons that coddling your puppy when he is frightened may be problematic:
1. If your puppy is taught to find you when he is frightened, what is he to do if you are not there? A dog that is afraid of thunderstorms and has been conditioned to find his owner during storms may attempt to break out of the house in a panicked effort to find his owner, if his owner is not home when a storm occurs.
2. Although it is human nature to want to comfort your puppy, the
change in your behavior may actually reinforce or justify the fear response. The soothing talk to calm your puppy down may become a predictor that something unpleasant is about to happen. Dogs are very sensitive to subtle changes in our behavior and detect when we are worried or nervous. The dog that is trembling and shaking while on the veterinary examination table learns when his owner tells him, “It’s OK,”
unpleasant things are about to happen (injections, rectal temperature, etc.).
Your puppy will likely feel more comfortable if he is able to be near you when in a frightening situation. This is acceptable. Do not shun or push your puppy away. Simply remain calm and nonchalant about the situation, as if nothing unusual is happening.
Avoid correcting or yelling at your puppy. Reprimanding him will not reduce his fear.
When addressing fear reactions and socializing your puppy, you will utilize two behavior modification techniques: counter conditioning and desensitization.
Counter conditioning—the process of replacing a negative or neutral emotional response to a stimulus with a positive emotional response.
Desensitization—the process of reducing sensitivity or reactivity toward stimuli through gradual controlled exposure.
Key points:
• Desensitization and counter conditioning are used proactively during socialization in order to prevent fear responses and facilitate positive learning experiences.
• If your puppy is afraid, offer him special treats to facilitate counter conditioning.
• Allow your puppy to investigate frightening stimuli at his own pace.
• Control your distance from frightening stimuli in order to allow for desensitization.
• Verbal encouragement can potentially condition a fear response; your best bet is to let the treats do the talking.
Counter conditioning and desensitization are often used together for fear responses. These techniques should be used proactively during socialization and exposure. Food treats are paired with a low level of fear-evoking stimuli. Food changes the emotional response from an unpleasant to a pleasant emotion (counter conditioning). Using desensitization, gradual exposure (without fear) is accomplished by controlling distance and intensity of the stimulus. The further your puppy is away from the object, the less frightened he will be. To desensitize properly, you must be able to identify the stimulus, reproduce the stimulus, control its intensity, and find a non-stressful starting point where the puppy is still taking treats. If your puppy suddenly stops taking treats or starts grabbing roughly at the treats, you have progressed too quickly. If desensitization is implemented improperly such that you induce fear of the stimulus, your puppy is likely to become more sensitive or afraid of the stimulus with future encounters.
If your puppy becomes frightened, your first response should be to use treats liberally. Throw a handful of small soft tasty treats on the ground right in front of your puppy. Because of constraints on learning, treats cannot reinforce fear or behaviors associated with fear.
For example, suppose you are afraid of cockroaches but every time you see a cockroach your best friend gives you $20 or $100 or even
$1000. The money does not make you more afraid of roaches.
Actually the opposite happens. You may begin to look forward to seeing a roach… as long as it doesn’t get too close! Your heart is less likely to race and you become less reactive to the sight of roaches. In contrast, if your friend held you close and comforted you, although you may calm down, the next time you see a roach you will still be afraid. Your emotional state towards roaches has not changed.
Your puppy should be allowed to investigate any frightening stimulus at his own pace. When your puppy is on leash, avoid pulling him towards the frightening stimulus. Allow your puppy to approach on his own terms. If your puppy is not taking treats or not recovering quickly, you will need to move away from the frightening stimulus.
Move a distance away so your puppy is able to relax and take treats.
This is your non-stressful starting point.
You may use a “jolly routine” by acting silly and playing with your dog with his favorite toy. The goal is to change his motivational state.
This is different than coddling but should be used with caution. The
“jolly routine” can be difficult to use effectively and potentially can condition the fear response if done improperly. Your voice may reflect your anxiety and your sudden change in behavior may become a predictor of potential dangers in the environment. Your best bet is to let the treats do the talking. street. The neighbors have placed a For Sale sign in their front yard.
You are about 20 feet from the sign when you see your puppy stop in his tracks. He is staring at the sign and leaning slightly backwards and away from it. His tail is slightly tucked and his ears are pinned back against his head. The hair on his shoulders or rump seems raised (piloerection). He let’s out a little “woof, woof” and jumps forward towards the sign and then back again. He is afraid. Immediately drop a handful of small treats on the ground and allow him to eat them. If he takes a step closer to the sign give him a treat. You may approach the sign yourself, tossing treats along the way. The leash should remain slack and very little verbal encouragement should be used.
You should remain standing upright and let the puppy approach the sign. Your puppy should very quickly relax (tail and ears return to a normal position) and investigate the sign. Give a few more treats then continue on your walk. The next sign that you see, proactively offer your puppy treats.
1. Tossing a handful of small treats on the sidewalk at a distance from the For Sale sign facilitates counter conditioning.
2. Approaching the sign and allowing the dog to approach at his own pace. The leash should be loose. Reward with food treats.
3. Proactively offer treats at the next sign.
Example #2: You are walking your puppy on leash and a garbage truck approaches you. Your puppy tucks his tail and pulls at the end of the leash trying to run away from the truck. You should calmly turn and walk to a distance away from the truck and give your puppy treats. If he is still not taking treats, increase the distance from the truck and offer treats again. Once he is taking treats, continue to give them until the truck has passed. Keeping him focused on you with one treat after another while the truck is passing by will make the truck less scary. Next time, offer your puppy treats as soon as he sees or hears a truck in the distance to continue positive associations with garbage trucks.
Notice Iris’ ears pinned with the sound of the truck. This is a fear response. Go to a distance away from the garbage truck and offer lots of small tasty treats for counter conditioning. In the future, offer treats with the sight or sound of garbage trucks in the distance to change your dog’s emotional response.