This is Part 3 of a 4-part blog series about working with fearful dogs. I encourage you to read Part 1 and Part 2 before proceeding with this post.

Modification

Your eXtraOrdinary Dog has been given a clean bill of health (or is under veterinary care to address health issues) and you have successfully managed her environment to reduce or eliminate the rehearsal of fear-based behaviors. It’s time to dig deep and address the emotions driving her behavior with behavior modification, so she feels safer in the world and develops skills to become more resilient.

Your First and Most Critical Job is to Ensure that Your Dog Feels Safe

By definition, a dog who feels fear feels unsafe, and the behaviors we see are the dog’s best attempts at minimizing or removing the threat(s) to her safety. Fear also slows or blocks the ability to learn new responses, and can, over time, contribute to permanent physiological and neurological changes. 

How To Help Your Fearful Dog Feel Safe

In order to foster a sense of safety, you need to look at all aspects of your dog’s lifestyle, including yourself! Are you respectful of your dog’s need for (close) proximity or extra space? Do you pay attention to the first, subtle body language she offers so you can meet her needs before she is compelled to resort to overt displays to be heard? Are you her advocate in all things?

Additional ways to increase your dog’s sense of safety include:

• At least one, and ideally several, safe spaces available to retreat to throughout the day. Your dog may have chosen her own safe space, or you can encourage her by setting aside a room, crate, piece of furniture, corner of a quiet room, etc. Set up comfortable beds or blankets, block visual stimuli, reduce ambient noise, and make it a place where only good things happen (like a chew toy or long-lasting treat). Ensure that no one approaches or reaches into her safe space.

• Remove or avoid triggers (anything that your dog finds scary, including people, places, equipment, other animals,  scents, etc.) until you have a modification plan in place to address each of her fears.

• Manage the environment so your dog does not have the opportunity to practice fear-based behaviors.

• Create predictability with routines and schedules.

• Respect your dog’s autonomy, and allow her to make choices throughout the day, such as engaging (or disengaging) from interacting with humans, other animals, or the environment; providing multiple surfaces to rest on, offering a choice of directions while walking, etc. Honor your dog’s unique individuality and set up opportunities for your dog based on her preferences and interests.

• Reward any behavior you want to see more of, all the time. Keep containers of small treats all around the house, and toss a treat whenever you “catch” your dog doing something positive.

• Don’t rely on cajoling, pushing, pulling, bribing, picking up, or otherwise urging your dog to do something she is uncomfortable or unsure about. Coercion quickly erodes trust and feelings of safety. Instead, ask yourself why she is reluctant in the first place. How can you set up the environment or change your expectations so she is more comfortable in the situation? 

• Offer comfort if your dog is afraid. Fear is involuntary; you can’t reinforce an emotion, and it won’t get worse because you reassure your dog. Stay calm and ask if she needs your close proximity by inviting her to come to you. Use a calm, soothing voice, stay as relaxed as possible and keep your own emotions in check. 

Know Your Terms When Working with a Fearful Dog

Before we get into the mechanics of behavior modification, there are several concepts that need to be reviewed, in order for you to give your dog the best chance at feeling safe and able to learn new behavior patterns:

Fear

Fear is the emotional and physiological manifestation of the biological imperative to keep oneself safe, in order to survive. Without a healthy dose of fear, individuals within a species would not survive to pass on their genes, which in turn decreases numbers until the species becomes extinct. The trouble comes when fear-based responses appear unwarranted or disproportionate to the perceived threat.

In order to successfully help any fearful dog function in the larger world, the emotions driving the behavior must be correctly identified and addressed in order to successfully implement a behavior modification plan. Change the emotion, then change the behavior.

Triggers

A trigger is any stimulus (any sight, sound, touch or smell, or memory) that elicits a shift in a dog’s emotional response, and leads to a distance-increasing or distance-decreasing reaction.  Know your dog’s triggers, (i.e. men wearing hats, cyclists, car engines, other dogs, etc.) so she can be kept at the distance she needs to feel safe, and she can continue to stay in the thinking part of her brain.

Threshold

A dog’s limit is known as her threshold; the point past where the dog can no longer process information and problem solve, and instead responds by reacting out of fear, excitement, or anger.

If a dog gets too close to something that frightens or frustrates her, she will react by freezing, fleeing, barking, lunging, growling, and/or pulling.  If the dog reacts, she is MUCH TOO CLOSE to the trigger and is over threshold.  She can no longer make rational choices or use her trained skills and falls back on instinct.  Subtle body language leading up to the reactive display may have been missed or ignored, and your dog now has to revert to more obvious measures to get the threat to move away.

Knowing when your dog is approaching her threshold is critical to help her make good decisions and retain what she has learned. The best way to keep a dog under threshold is to create as much distance between the dog and the trigger as necessary. To keep your dog calm and able to attend to you, you need to be interesting and engaged with your dog, and must at all times be proactive about keeping her safe.

A dog who is approaching threshold may be slow to execute or unable to execute requested behaviors. Involuntary chemical and physiological changes are taking place as she shifts from the thinking and learning part of her brain to reacting out of escalating fear. Her inability to attend to you is a clear indication that she is too close to the trigger.

A dog who stares at the trigger without glancing away, ignores you, refuses treats, or takes treats with a hard mouth is at threshold. She is TOO CLOSE to the trigger.

At all times, you must acknowledge the dog’s emotional state indicated by the dog’s body language around the trigger. Calmly and quietly give her more distance immediately if her body language indicates that she is becoming anxious. Dogs over threshold cannot learn new behaviors or shift their emotions until the threat is removed and time has passed to allow hormonal levels to normalize.

At the ideal distance from the trigger, the dog should be able to sniff the ground, glance at the potential trigger, but can disengage to walk away, or investigate a smell nearby if she is comfortable with her surroundings.  This state of balance is your goal at all times. The distance is always determined by the dog. For some triggers, she may be able to stay composed at ten feet away, but other triggers may need a football field (or more!) of a buffer before you start behavior modification.

Trigger Stacking

Exposure to a succession of triggers (objects, people, situations, or sensory experiences that are stressful for your dog) can build or stack up over time. A single exposure to a dog walking past the front window may not provoke a heightened response, but a dog walking past the window, followed by the vacuum being turned on, a metal pan dropped in the kitchen, and children running around the neighborhood may push your dog over threshold, causing a fear-based reaction. Your dog may be exposed to many possible triggers during the day and may be trigger stacked even without leaving home. 

Conditioned Emotional Response

A conditioned emotional response (CER) is simply an involuntary (not involving conscious thought), emotional response that becomes associated with a stimulus. A positive conditioned emotional response (CER+) is achieved by pairing a positive reinforcer (anything the dog finds rewarding, including food, play, or praise) with the stimulus. Our goal with behavior modification is to change the negative conditioned emotional response (CER-) to positive by pairing the stimulus (in this case, one of the dog’s triggers) with very, very tasty treats. Over time (with many short, positive training sessions) your dog will start to associate the trigger with really good food and will start to anticipate good things happening (treats) with the appearance of the trigger.

Redirection

It is possible that any dog over threshold can redirect, which is the potential for the dog to become so fixated, afraid, and/or frustrated that she turns and snaps at or bites the dog/person/object nearest to her. Do not attempt to pet or touch a dog who is over threshold; she could redirect and snap or bite you.

A Note About Treats: The Use of Rewards

You are asking your fearful dog to navigate through a world that is potentially overwhelming and frightening.  In order to help her change how she feels in a situation where she feels stressed, use high-value treats (HVT) as primary reinforcers to encourage and reward for any behavior you want to see more of or to build positive associations with potential triggers (such as humans, other dogs, cars, etc.). Think of treats as a “paycheck” for doing a job: the harder the job, the higher the paycheck. 

Fearful dogs may be in a continuous, heightened state of arousal because of repeated exposure to triggers and sensory overload, due to a lack of recovery time. Regular kibble or dry dog biscuits are usually not rewarding enough for your dog in a challenging situation. Offer the most appealing rewards available to help overcome her fear and create new, positive associations.

High-value treats (HVT) are individual to each dog. Tiny pieces of string cheese may be adequate for less challenging situations, but also be prepared to offer tripe or roast beef when working on behaviors and in environments that are stressful. The following suggestions make good HVT and are easy to dispense.  Once cooked and/or diced (about the size of a pea), treats can be frozen on baking sheets and put in freezer bags to be stored for easy use later on:

• Minimally processed, poached, baked, or grilled beef, pork, or chicken (no spices, including garlic or onion)
• Hard cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, American, mozzarella, or mozzarella string cheese (which bounce appealingly on hard surfaces and add interest)
• Hot dogs with no nitrites
• Commercially purchased freeze-dried liver treats, lung bits, and fish skins may be slightly less wet, and may appeal to some dogs.  The treats need to be small enough to chew and swallow easily and somewhat soft.

Although soft, processed, store-bought treats are easy to obtain, home-cooked treats tend to be healthier and often more appealing to the fearful dog. Offer several different types to determine which, if any, are rewarding to your dog.

It may be worth investing in an inexpensive treat bag or fanny pack that clips around your waist or clips to the outside of a pocket. It ensures easy access to the treats and allows for a smooth, steady delivery, without fumbling with bags or pockets. Cut up the treats into very small pieces beforehand, rather than try to break chunks off while in the middle of a training session.

If at any point your dog starts taking treats slowly with a hard mouth or not taking treats at all, she has gone over threshold, and can no longer think and learn. End the training session, or give much more distance to reset and lower the criteria (difficulty of what you are asking her to do). 

Occasionally, a dog will find a toy or game more reinforcing than edible treats.  Keep a ball and squeaky toy on hand, in case your dog responds better to toys or play, rather than food.

Change the Emotion, Change the Behavior with Behavior Modification

In order to change your dog’s conditioned emotional response (CER) from negative to positive, the classical conditioning techniques of desensitization and counterconditioning (DS/CC) applied together are proven, effective and humane options to use as part of your Behavior Modification protocol. 

Systematic Desensitization

Systematic Desensitization (DS) is the exposure to a trigger for a short amount of time at a distance that allows your dog to remain under threshold. It is critical that you set up these training opportunities so that the distance between your dog and the trigger is sufficient for her to be able to take treats, sniff the ground and move freely away from the trigger.  Your dog determines the distance!  It may be a football field away, or it may be 10’ away, but reading your dog’s body language will clearly tell you at what distance your dog is able to think and learn. Overexposure to the trigger can actually create more fear.

Counterconditioning

Counterconditioning (CC) pairs something the dog finds rewarding (usually very high-value treats) with very, very low levels of exposure to the trigger for brief periods of time.  As long as the trigger is in sight and the dog is below threshold, tossing treats one at a time on the ground or offering treats by hand builds the association of good things happening immediately after the trigger appears. The trigger is a predictor of the treats raining from the sky. When the trigger disappears, the treats stop. When the trigger comes back into view, treating resumes. The dog is asked for no specific behavior during DS/CC sessions.  

Duration, or the length of time, for these training sessions is also important. Several short sessions are more effective than a single long session.

Large distances and short duration, offering food only when the trigger is visible and ceasing when the trigger disappears, as well as offering treats that your dog finds rewarding, are the keys to creating a positive association with a reoccurring event/stimulus, and changing the conditioned emotional response (CER) from negative to positive.

Putting It All Together

1. The trigger appears at a distance that the dog is comfortable with. When in doubt, create more distance.
2. You immediately offer one treat after another.
3. When the trigger goes out of sight, quietly stop offering the treats.
4. When the trigger reappears (always at a safe distance), the treats start again.
5. And when the trigger disappears, the treats stop.
6. You are asking the dog to do nothing! Do not ask for any behavior (like sit, down or watch me, etc.), so it does not take precedence over positively changing her association with the trigger.
7. Keep the leash loose to allow your dog to move freely. A 6 or 10-foot leash works well, attached to a harness or martingale collar.
8. After several successful repetitions, calmly end the session when the trigger is out of sight.

If your dog appears to have no tolerance for the trigger at any distance, set up initial DS/CC sessions with a “trigger” that the dog already has positive associations with, such as a trusted family member or dog friend. Allow your dog to see the “trigger” move out of sight at a distance, then when the trigger reappears (at a distance), immediately begin dispensing treats.

If counterconditioning and desensitization are done successfully, your dog should eventually see the trigger at a distance, and start to look to you for the delivery of the treat. Over time, your dog should anticipate the treats when a trigger appears and you can very slowly, in tiny increments, decrease distance as part of the ongoing modification. 

Don’t Leave It to Chance

Training sessions or setups need to be scheduled and carefully orchestrated to set your dog up for success:

• Recruit sympathetic helpers who follow directions well. If your dog struggles with strangers, ask a friend to help; do not leave it to a chance encounter with a stranger while on a walk in the neighborhood, at least until your dog has practiced multiple times in a controlled setting.

• Give specific directions to your helper before the session starts, without your dog present. You may want to allow communication throughout the session by keeping a call open to your helper. Be aware, though that the helper’s voice (if on speaker) may be a trigger for your dog. Videoing the session and reviewing it later can also help significantly with your timing of giving treats or identifying subtle changes in your dog’s body language.

• Find a controlled setting with as few variables or unknowns as possible for your training sessions.  The last thing you want to happen during a training session is for an off-leash dog or a skateboarder to head directly to your dog! The setting should allow your dog to have plenty of distance available, as well as a building, car, etc. that the trigger (if it is a stranger, or dog on a leash, or bicycle, etc.) can walk behind to give your dog a break.

• Immediately after your dog sees the trigger at a distance that allows her to remain under threshold, start quietly dropping or offering exceptionally good treats, one at a time. It is of the utmost importance to let your dog see the trigger BEFORE you start offering treats. If you start feeding treats before the trigger appears, your dog is smart enough to quickly learn that treats predict the arrival of the scary thing, and food quickly becomes a warning sign that scary things are about to happen, which is the very opposite of your intention.

• When the trigger/helper moves out of sight, STOP GIVING TREATS. The appearance of the trigger (helper) should predict the delivery of fantastic treats, and the trigger’s disappearance should signal that the awesome treats go away.

• Sessions should be short and successful.

• Always start further away than you think is necessary.

• A productive training session should actually look and feel quite boring.

• If your dog does react to the trigger/helper, the helper should quietly retreat out of sight while you ask your dog to move further away. Reset your dog at a further distance by scattering a few treats on the ground for her to find, and try again.

• Decrease distance only when your dog is truly relaxed, not concerned about the trigger and eager for the next treat. Do not rush to get the end result; it is a slow, methodical process. 

Train Alternative Behaviors

Once you get your dog to reliably stay under threshold in proximity to a trigger and voluntarily disengage, sniff the ground, move away on her own accord or choose to look at you, you can consider adding in cued (operant) behaviors that can increase distance (which in itself is a reward for your dog) and allow her to succeed at executing easy, known behaviors. 

Operant Conditioning

In addition to the classical conditioning techniques of counterconditioning and systematic desensitization, implementing operant conditioning (OC) later in the modification process can help your dog remain under threshold and learn how to better cope in challenging scenarios. Simply put, operant conditioning teaches your dog that she can control the consequence by choosing her actions. If your dog gets a treat after she sits, she learns that if she offers to put her posterior on the ground, she gets rewarded for her efforts. All behavior has consequences.

Training simple operant behaviors that she can successfully execute increases her confidence, deepens your connection as a team, and offers a way to move away from a trigger that keeps her engaged with you and under threshold. Operant conditioning is not a substitute for good management or classical conditioning. It is used only when your dog is comfortable or neutral around a trigger (at a distance your dog feels is safe), and is rewarded each time with food, play, or praise. 

Getting Started

First train new behaviors in a quiet environment free from distractions, such as your living room or bedroom.  Make sure your dog is engaged with you and use treats that she finds valuable. Keep the training sessions short and positive. Gradually move from the least challenging room of the house to the most, and do your best each step of the way to ensure your dog’s success. Once the behavior has been mastered in the house, move to the garage, then the back porch, then the back yard, then the front yard, etc. Only increase distractions or change environments when your dog can eagerly execute the behavior with no hesitancy. You can ultimately ask for these known behaviors in potentially challenging situations when you need to move the dog away from a trigger.  With every new, positive behavior you train, you are giving your dog a new alternative to disengage and create distance without going over threshold.

Following are several behaviors that are easy to teach and allow your dog to reorient away from a trigger voluntarily and be successful with minimal effort:

“Let’s Go”

Pat your leg, call your dog’s name, ask her to “let’s go” and change the direction you are walking (away from the trigger).  Reward lavishly when she catches up to you.

Be lively and interesting to keep her engaged.

Emergency U-Turn 

A variation of “Let’s Go”.  Train your dog to pivot tightly around with you as you make a U-turn and walk back the way you came.  Keep your arms close to your sides so as not to jerk the leash or drag your dog.  Stay upbeat but calm and avoid tension on the leash.

Have treats ready, call your dog’s name once, make kissing noises and take several steps backward so you look lively and interesting.  Toss a treat halfway between you and your dog as soon as she turns her head, then offer another from your hand as soon as she catches up to you.  It is not meant to take the place of a recall cue; it is the first part of disengaging from the trigger, getting “unstuck” if she is afraid, and getting delicious treats while putting distance between her and the scary trigger.

When your dog is reliably turning and moving toward you in the distraction-free environment, turn yourself 180 degrees and walk a few steps away from the trigger while feeding your dog as she stays by your side. This serves to create even more distance from the trigger.  Occasionally toss a treat a few feet ahead of you to make the training even more fun.

Touch

Teach your dog to touch your open palm.

Hold a treat down between your thumb and open palm, with your palm pointed down and away from your body (to make the “target” obvious). Your dog may immediately catch on to the game and stick her nose in your hand, and that’s great! You can skip the following steps leading up to that if she does it on her own.

If your dog even looks at your hand, drop the food on the floor. Once she looks at your hand with the treat in it (and gets the treat each time she does), hold on to the treat until she takes one step closer, then drop the treat or feed from the open palm. The idea is to reward any progress, no matter how small. Ultimately, you want your dog’s nose to touch your palm with the treat before you release the treat to her. When she reliably comes up to touch your hand with the treat in it, offer your hand without a treat, but have one ready to dispense in your treat bag for any movement towards your hand. Start the process of approximating the behavior from the beginning, so she learns to touch your hand without a treat in sight (but still gets rewarded with a treat from your opposite hand). This targeting behavior is a good way to get her moving and away from a trigger.

Spin

She spins in a tight circle while following your hand with food in it.  Put your close hand at nose level and slowly rotate your hand as your dog’s head and body follow. Practice and name the spin in both directions to maintain flexibility. Ultimately, your dog should spin with a simple circular motion of your hand and/or the verbal cue “spin”. When the spin is complete, throw food away from your dog to create distance from the trigger.

Find It (Go Sniff)

Toss treats on the ground AWAY from the trigger, so your dog starts sniffing the ground to find the food and create distance to the trigger at the same time. You must ensure that your dog is completely safe from an approaching trigger (dog, person, etc.) so she is not blindsided while sniffing for treats.

If your dog is slow to complete or unable to complete a known behavior in relation to the trigger, she is too close and nearing threshold. Rather than repeat the cue (or get frustrated with her), use this as a barometer for how she is feeling at that moment. Calmly increase the distance, or postpone the session for another day.

Beyond Modification

Behavior modification can be transformative. With practice, it can help your dog become less fearful, more confident and expand her world. Sometimes, though, management and behavior modification are not enough to address deep-seated, ingrained fears. If you and/or a qualified trainer do not make much progress with Behavior Modification alone, the next step in the journey is to consult with a veterinarian experienced with behavior, or with a board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist. It’s important to note that only veterinarians and Veterinary Behaviorists can prescribe medication.  Veterinary Behaviorists have additional years of education and practical experience beyond their DVM degree and are considered the gold standard for challenging cases that may benefit from medication as well as a specific and detailed behavior modification plan.

The next (and final) post in this series will discuss working with a Veterinary Behaviorist and the benefits (and possible side effects) of adding medication to assist with modification.