Good Dogs Bite, Too: Why You Need to Understand the Bite Threshold Model

There is a strange belief in our culture that says only bad dogs bite. Of course, most people believe that their dogs are “good,” and therefore, that must mean that their dog won't bite. While I really do believe that most dogs are good, I also believe that all dogs are capable of biting. It's just that it takes a lot to push most dogs to the point where they might bite.

In her book The Culture Clash, author Jean Donaldson introduces something called the Bite Threshold Model to help explain why a “good dog” might bite. This model states that each dog has a threshold at which he will bite. It looks something like this:

 Each line indicates how much stress a dog can endure before he displays silent stress signals (like freezing, licking his lips, tucking his tail, etc.), before he growls, before he snaps, and ultimately, before he bites. Of course, each dog is different, so the lines on each dog's graph will be at a different height. For example, as a reactive dog, Maisy's growl threshold is pretty low in general, and especially if we were to compare her to a more stable dog. Interestingly, Maisy's snap threshold is quite high (it takes a lot of stress before she will snap at someone), and while I've drawn a line for where I think Maisy's bite threshold might be, I honestly don't know where it actually is since she's never bitten anyone.

Donaldson also says that each dog has “risk factors” that will cause the dog to feel uncomfortable or stressed. These risk factors, taken individually, may or may not cause the dog to display any symptoms. The so-called “good dogs” will usually have risk factors that are quite low- they may not even reach the first line. Others do, but whether the owner notices that their dog is feeling uncomfortable is another matter. The symptoms are so subtle that they are often easy to miss. Here's Maisy's graph, with some of her risk factors added:

As you can see, while crowds of strangers might make her feel uncomfortable, she probably won't show any signs to indicate that. Meanwhile, she will definitely display stress if her head is touched, and the presence of children pushes her right up against her growl threshold- she doesn't always growl at them, but she might.

Most dogs- like most people- don't really want to hurt others. But given the right situation, any dog- and any person- is capable of defending himself or his loved ones. That situation happens when multiple “risk factors” converge into one single incident.

This recently happened with Maisy. Although she's quick to display stress, and even quick to growl, she very rarely snaps. Still, it happens when her triggers “stack” into one unfortunate situation. In this case, I had taken her to a group gathering. What I didn't know was that she wasn't feeling so hot (she had a bit of an ear infection starting), nor did I know that there would be a child there. So when the little one reached out to pet Maisy's head...

Yup, she snapped at the little girl. It all happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to stop the child that had approached. I felt horrible, of course. I'm always sad when I can't protect Maisy, and I hate that others saw her as a “bad dog” that night. I also want to be a good dog owner and keep others safe, and while the child (and her parents) weren't upset by the incident, I felt bad that the girl had a bad experience with my dog.

It's important to note that while the graph presents a logical, orderly progression of behaviors, that's not always the way things play out in real life. Although Maisy did stiffen briefly as the child reached for her, she did not growl. There wasn't time; the triggers stacked too quickly. Behavior also isn't linear. Our dogs are individuals, and so is the way they respond. Not only are each of their thresholds at different levels, but sometimes they will be missing a threshold entirely. For example, people sometimes punish growling, which can result in the loss of that particular line. That means that a dog could go from freezing slightly to biting without ever growling- the so-called bite without provocation.

Perhaps Maisy isn't the best example- although she's never bitten anyone, I'm not entirely sure that others would call her a “good dog.” (I, of course, think she's amazing.) The point remains, though: a series of relatively small things can stack up to the point that even the best of dogs will bite. In fact, sometimes I think these “good dogs” are the most dangerous. Because Maisy has been “bad” so frequently, I have a pretty good idea where her thresholds are, and so I can pretty accurately predict when she's more likely to snap or bite. People with “good dogs” don't have this advantage, and if and when things stack up in just the right way, they will be surprised by their dog's behavior.

If you have a good dog, I urge you to think about situations where your dog's behavior has surprised you. Think about how high each of his thresholds might be, and what types of things are likely to push him to each one. Do thunderstorms unnerve him? What about someone reaching for his rawhide or food bowl? How does he feel about children, other dogs, or men in hats? Pay attention to the times he stiffens up, freezes, tucks his tail, ducks his head, or licks his lips. These are all signs that he is feeling uncomfortable, and that situation should be put on your graph.

I hope that your dog never encounters a situation where all of those risk factors pile up into one big, scary stack, but if he does, the bite threshold model will help you understand why your good dog ended up biting. If you want to avoid such an incident- and who wouldn't?- I encourage you to be proactive. Being aware of your dog's stressors is a great start. If you see things beginning to stack,  avoid a possible incident by simply putting your dog somewhere safe, like in a crate or another room.

More ambitious dog owners might consult with an experienced dog trainer or undertake a counter-conditioning program in order to help reduce each stressor. If you lower the height of each risk factor, then when they begin to stack, the overall effect will be lower as well. Perhaps the dog will only snap instead of bite. And while a snap is still scary and something I take seriously, it is far preferable to having your dog bite.

So don't believe the cultural lie that good dogs don't bite. As the bite threshold model demonstrates, it's not bad dogs that bite, it's stressed ones... and good dogs get stressed, too.

Training Tuesday: The Joy of Training

Maisy and I continue to work hard. Well, "work" is probably the wrong word. Maisy actually stands by the front door (we only use that door to go to the park across the street from our house) and whines if I haven't trained with her yet that day; she loves the heeling game we play. For my part, I feel exhilarated after training sessions. Although I expend a lot of energy during our training sessions, they are so much fun that it doesn't seem like a chore.

Of course, it certainly helps that I see measurable progress every time. Part of that is because I've taken Denise Fenzi's advice to challenge my dog: I have raised criteria fast and furious since I've begun working on Maisy's heeling. Okay, it wasn't really me raising the criteria- Denise has coached me through each step. I'll admit, I was initially skeptical with how far and how high she wanted me to raise criteria. I really didn't think we could do it. Maisy has proved me wrong, though. This dog is capable of amazing things!

Take a look at this video. I've posted it before, less than two months ago, in fact. Then watch this:



Amazing, no? As the video says, my task was to vary my pace and direction frequently. I was striving for some kind of change roughly every three seconds. At the same time, I drastically reduced the frequency of ball-reward, and used verbal praise in its place. This was to teach Maisy that my changing speed and direction is the reason to pay attention, not just the ball. It totally worked, too. She went for almost 90 seconds without a ball throw, and she doesn't show any dampening of enthusiasm!

I've also started adding in some non-toy play, which you can see it at the beginning of the video. This wasn't something Denise suggested (although I don't think she disapproved), but I wanted to start building some reinforcers that were based on me, not an external object. Right now, this really only works before we start training- she's so amped up then that she'll play back. If I try to do it during a session, she will sometimes play back, but usually she licks her lips, or shows me some other stress signal. We'll keep working on it.

Another area where I've been raising criteria like crazy is with Maisy's dumbbell retrieve. As you may remember, we were stuck at the stage where Maisy would pick it up and hand it to me. Click here to see our last retrieve video.

A couple weeks ago, feeling empowered by our success with heeling, I decided to get out the dumbbell again. I started easy, asking Maisy to just pick it up off the floor. Then I moved it about a foot away. Then another. I kept tossing it further and further until she was retrieving it from six to ten feet away. The video below was taken at my aunt and uncle's cabin- a new environment- and Maisy absolutely rocked it.



But I don't think that simply asking more from Maisy was the key to our success here. In watching the two videos, the part that struck me most was how much I was talking to her, encouraging her, and praising her. In the first video, I was doing "proper" clicker training- being silent and letting the dog think. That works for many things, but it didn't work here. Once I started helping her with my voice, though, things just took off.

Yes, I broke the rules and repeated my cue. So what. She wasn't going to respond to the cue anyway (she was too distracted by those treats on the counter), and by gently reminding her what I wanted, she was able to be successful. I praised when she got close, and celebrated when she grabbed it. In the video, you can see her whole demeanor change when I do. You can also see that in each successive retrieve, she trots out to the dumbbell more confidently. She understands what she's supposed to do now, thanks to a little verbal support. 

Finally, I'm going to leave you with one last video. If you follow us on Facebook, you've already seen it, so I'll just link to it. Click here if you want to see what happens when the training session is over and we're just screwing around. That's right- she can do a drop on recall! What an awesome dog! Training is truly a time of joy for us both. 

The Top 5 Pet Products I Couldn't Live Without

Walk in to any pet store, and you’re likely to be overwhelmed with the dizzying array of stuff available for sale. From toys to food to grooming implements to clothes to gadgets of all sorts, it’s no wonder that the pet industry is booming. Despite the overabundance of stuff on the shelves (and in my living room), I could probably do without a lot of it. Still, there are some really cool pet products that I absolutely love, to the point that I can’t believe there was a time I didn’t have them. Today I’m going to tell you about five such items.

1. Kongs (or other stuffables)
This one is kind of basic; many dog owners have a Kong or two. I own a dozen. Even though Maisy isn't really a chewer, hands down, I think the Kong is the best way to feed a dog her meals. I’m a huge fan of food-dispensing toys, but the thing I love about the Kong is that it isn’t limited to kibble like so many of the other toys are. Sure, you can stuff some moistened kibble (or kibble mixed with a bit of peanut butter) in there, but canned food and even raw meat is just as easy to shove in a Kong. And, hands down, a Kong filled with frozen raw chicken lasts longer than any other toy I own.



2. A pet water fountain
For a long time, I filled my pets’ need for fresh water with a bowl, but when my cat Nicky (at left) needed surgery to remove bladder stones, I knew that I needed to increase his water intake. After some research on the internet, I learned that fountains, with their constant circulation, can effectively tempt picky kitties to drink more. Well. All three of my pets seem to prefer the fountain, Maisy included. I have the PetMate FreshFlow, and it’s really easy to take apart and clean. Despite the copious amounts of pet hair in my life, the filter doesn’t clog very often, and after two years, it’s still going strong! I love it.



3. Pill Pockets
 The first time I saw these in the store, I thought they were silly. Why not put the pill in a treat or use some peanut butter? Yeah, that was before Maisy started taking daily medication. Apparently paroxetine tastes yucky, because I struggled to get it in her. And I tried everything- regular treats, peanut butter, bits of cheese or ham, even canned cat food!- none of it worked for more than a few days.

The Pill Pockets do. I have no idea why. They’re really just a funny shaped treat, after all. Maybe it’s the consistency- something like marzipan or fondant, for any bakers out there- it’s incredibly moldable and completely wraps around the pill. I break them in half, wrap it around the pill, and then just toss it to her. She thinks it's a treat. I think it's amazing.





4. The Dog-Safe Hands-Free Leash

I never thought that having my hands free was that big of a deal. I don’t run with Maisy, she’s not hard to control, and… well, it just seemed extravagant when I have a six footer that does the job just fine. Then I bought a hands free leash at the Sarah Kalnajs seminar, and oh my gosh, I love it. I can’t tense up on the leash, thus inciting a reactive moment. I can carry items in the pet store more easily. If she lunges at something (or startles and runs), the leash can’t be accidentally pulled from my hands (Okay, it only happened once, but it was still scary!). And when I work with shelter dogs, it’s much easier to manage the treat and a clicker if I don’t need to hang on to the leash, too.



5. The Ruff Tough Kennel
Car safety has always been important to me; Maisy wore a seat belt in the car for years. But I was injured in a car accident last summer, and almost a year later, I still have pain directly related to injuries I sustained (one of which was from the seat belt). Considering Maisy’s regrettable shoulder structure and her back issues… well, I freaked out.

I freaked out so much, in fact, that I bought the sturdiest crate I could, the Ruff Tough Kennel. It’s molded out of one piece of plastic, and their very unscientific (but incredibly convincing) testing video sold me on it. I tied that sucker down with ratchet straps in the back of my car, padded the sides, and quit worrying so much.



These are my five favorite pet products. I purchased them all- even that seriously expensive kennel- with my own money. The companies involved have not solicited my opinion. I just love their products. But what about you guys? Which products do you find indispensable?

Do Reactive Dogs Suffer from Decision Fatigue?

I recently read an article about a concept called decision fatigue. Basically, scientists have found that making decisions requires the brain to pay a “biological price.” The more decisions a person makes throughout the course of the day, the harder it becomes. Ultimately, the result of making many decisions is a decrease in the person’s ability to exhibit self-control. The brain begins to look for shortcuts: to either act recklessly and impulsively, or to do nothing at all by making no decisions.

Brain scans support this finding. Researchers have found that the process of making decisions increases activity in the nucleus accumbens (the “reward center” of the brain), and decreased activity in the amygdala (the area that helps with self-control). The conclusion was that the process of making decisions results in a “propensity to experience everything more intensely.” Interestingly, both the feelings and the changes in the brain could be reversed by giving the subject sugar (glucose).

So what does this have to do with dogs? Well, when I first read this, I immediately thought of Maisy. I’ve known for awhile that prolonged exposure to stress makes it more likely that she’ll have a reactive episode. I thought it had to do with stress hormones in the body (and it probably does to some degree), but could it also be decision fatigue? It certainly seems possible- a reactive dog who must make dozens or even hundreds of decisions throughout the course of a day. The dog sees or hears something, must decide if it is a threat, and then decide how to react.

 Maisy has a lot of decisions to make in this situation!

As it turns out, I wasn't alone in wondering about this, because researchers at the University of Kentucky studied the phenomenon in dogs. They found that dogs who were subjected to 10 minutes of sit and stay commands performed worse on self-control tests than the control group. As with humans, a dose of glucose restored their willpower.

The article concludes by stating that the people who are best at self-control share several traits in common: they do not schedule back-to-back meetings, which allows them to rest and recover after a bout of decision-making. They create routines and habits so that they can reduce the number of decisions they must make. They avoid going places that will test their willpower, such as all-you-can-eat buffets. And they always make important decisions after being well-rested and well-fed.

The implications for our reactive dogs seem clear. I’ve written before about how important routines and downtime are for Maisy’s sanity. I am incredibly careful to make sure Maisy gets plenty of time to rest, and especially to recover after a stressful event. For example, we didn’t enter the last trial because she’d spent the weekend before at a boarding kennel. I’m not as strict about routines, though like any household, there is an expected order of events throughout the day.

It also strikes me that the ultimate goal of training reactive dogs is to create new reflexes so that the dog doesn’t need to make decisions. This is the goal of counter-conditioning, and Leslie McDevitt talks about “environmental cues,” where the trigger itself becomes the cue for Look at That. Trained well, the dog shouldn’t even need to think about what he’ll do- he’ll simply do it, hopefully reducing his decision burden.

And then there is the matter of how we handle trials with our reactive dogs. The dog study cited in the article indicated that after 10 minutes of obedience, the dogs lost much of their ability to exert self-control. Now, granted, we are never in the ring for a full ten minutes, but still: our dogs need to be given the chance to rest after a performance. For some dogs, simply being in their crate is good enough. This has never been the case for Maisy, who finds that stressful, too. Before we quit trialing, I had been experimenting with going to the car for a break or taking “awareness walks.”

I also wonder about the glucose aspect in all this. I've never really paid attention to how treats do or do not affect my dog. I know one of my trainer friends recommends cutting out all sugar. She claims this helps, but it seems like this study suggests otherwise. (Then again, I am not good enough with chemistry to state that outright.) I also have never really trained without food- our recent forays into heeling-for-a-ball notwithstanding- so I have no real basis for comparison.

What do you guys think? Have you noticed a change in your dog’s behavior based on whether or not he’s eaten recently? Does the type of food make a difference? Do you have routines you follow with your dog? What are they like? How much downtime does your dog need? I’d love to hear from my fellow reactive dog owners.

Harassing the Neighbors

Maisy has begun to do a very peculiar thing this summer. She has begun to harass our neighbors.

Now, normally this would be cause for concern. No one wants to have a bad relationship with their neighbors, and I’ve heard enough crazy stories on the internet to be very, very careful to be a good doggy neighbor. In this case, however, the neighbors not only don’t mind, but they have been encouraging Maisy’s behavior.

It started like this: Maisy’s ball ended up in their yard. Whether it got there accidentally or whether Maisy put it there on purpose (she has a habit of entertaining herself), I’ll never know, but she has learned that being cute will usually get Those With Opposable Thumbs to do her bidding... so she got the neighbor’s attention.

The moment the neighbor made eye contact, she smiled and waggled her entire body. This, of course, drew the neighbor nearer, at which point that bright orange ball was noticed. “Oh, poor Maisy!” our neighbor undoubtedly exclaimed. “Your ball is in our yard!” And it was tossed back over the fence.

Well. Maisy’s no fool. She quickly realized she’d doubled her army of ball-throwers, and made a habit of grabbing the ball and pushing it between the picket slats any time she saw our neighbors. Of course, it didn’t hurt that 1. our neighbor’s garden is right next to the fence (making them readily accessible), and that 2. they have consistently thrown the ball every single time. Even after I told them they didn’t have to. Even after I explained that if they got tired of the game, they should simply quit throwing it. Their response? “But she’s so cute!”

Yeah, I know, neighbor. Maisy has trained me to do a thing or two, as well.

(Want to see Maisy's harassment in action? Check out the rather long video.)

Kathy Sdao Seminar: Some Frequently Asked Questions about Classical or Counter-Conditioning

What is the difference between desensitization and counter-conditioning?While the concepts of desensitization and counter-conditioning are often discussed as if they are the same thing, they're not. Kathy defined desensitization as lowering the intensity of a stimuli enough to enable the dog to eat or play in its presence. This basically changes the trigger from an overwhelmingly aversive stimuli into something closer to neutral. Desensitization is also about exposure only- it does not seek to change associations. Sometimes careful desensitization alone can help a dog learn that there is nothing to fear, but often, you need to add in counter-conditioning (which is about pairing the scary stimuli with something awesome) in order to achieve the results you want.

I’ve decided to start a counter-conditioning program for my reactive dog. Where should I go to do this?
One of the biggest factors that influences the success of a counter-conditioning program is the trainer’s ability to set up the environment for optimal learning. Kathy recommends scouting out a location in advance. You want to find a place where you can easily adjust the intensity of the dog’s triggers. If possible, you want to find a location where the triggers approach from only one or two directions, such as alongside a walking path. This can help prevent the dog from having to worry about what’s behind him. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find a location with “protected contact”- that is, having the trigger behind a fence or other barrier in order to ensure your everyone’s safety. Finally, there should always be an escape route available. You absolutely do not want to get stuck in a corner!

How long should my counter-conditioning sessions be?
Since conditioning does require repeated pairings, you need to get quite a few trials of see trigger-get treat in order to obtain the desired response. However, Kathy cautioned against having too many trials in a row. During a counter-conditioning session, your dog needs some downtime between pairings to relax. Ideally, your dog will alternate between feeling relaxed and a bit concerned (when he sees the trigger). He should not be feeling general nervousness when no trigger is around punctuated with periods of increased fear when the trigger appears. For that reason, Kathy recommends having 12-15 pairings over a 30 minute period of time.

My dog is afraid of men. Should I find men and ask them to feed my dog?
Although people often have the trigger person feed the dog treats, Kathy prefers not to take this approach. She said that dogs who have been treated this way learn to run to the scary person, hoping for food. Worst case scenario, if the person doesn’t have any, the dog can become frustrated, which increases the likelihood of a bite. But even in the best cases, the foodless person will inevitably touch the dog, possibly scaring him, which would be counter-productive. For that reason, Kathy really thinks it’s best for a dog to seek out his person, not strangers, when a trigger appears. And anyway- ultimately, the source of food is not as important as the timing of the food.

I want to start a counter-conditioning program, but my dog won’t take treats! What should I do?
If your dog won't eat, it's because he's stressed and you need to lower the intensity of whatever is going on around your dog. Increasing distance is the most common way to do this, but there are other options. You might start by working with just sounds (the jingling of tags, without a dog attached, for example). You can use stuffed/toy dogs for a dog who is scared of other dogs. Changing the direction that the trigger is facing can help (have that scary man face the other way). Your goal is to work at the edge of your dog’s comfort zone, wherever that might be, and to slowly make it bigger.

What should I do if my dog goes over threshold?
Get him out of the situation. A dog who has gone into the fight-or-flight mode really doesn’t have the ability to think and learn, so there’s no point in training through it. If you need to, you can use some food to lure the dog away from whatever is upsetting him. Then, take note of the situation and do your best to avoid it in the future! While you’ll still want to work on counter-conditioning him, you’ll need to work at a much lower intensity. Kathy said you should avoid exposing your dog to things he can’t handle.

But won’t that reinforce the reactive or fearful behavior?
No. The dog is in a brain state that is not conducive to learning. That said, if you repeatedly expose your dog to situations that are too intense for him, resulting in repeated reactive outbursts, you may get a dog who learns that such outbursts work to get him what he wants. This is not something you want your dog to learn, so it’s really in your best interest to prevent the outbursts in the first place, while gradually working to increase the intensity.

Doesn’t giving my dog food or comforting him when he’s scared tell him that being scared is okay?
Yes and no. You can’t reinforce a feeling, but you can facilitate it. If you are acting panicked or scared, your dog may take that as an indication that he should be upset, too. Kathy also told us about something called “limbic resonance,” which is the ability of mammals to ascertain another’s emotions by looking in their eyes. If you know that you can’t control your own feelings, Kathy recommended against teaching your dog to make eye contact with you in response to scary events. That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with some calm, quiet petting or gentle verbal reassurances. So take a deep breath, relax, and tell him that you're going to protect him. 

Kathy Sdao Seminar: Why That "Treat Thing" Doesn't Always Work

Classical counter conditioning is a great foundation for working with a reactive dog. It's also very easy to do: a scary thing happens, and then you give the dog a treat. Over time, the dog learns that the scary thing predicts good things, which changes his feelings. He's no longer scared, which will hopefully mean that the fear-based behavior will disappear. Still, sometimes you'll hear someone say “I tried that whole treat thing, and it just didn't work...”

And you know what? I believe those people. Classical conditioning, while pretty straightforward, does require that you get some of the details straight. Kathy shared the errors that people commonly make that can prevent progress, or even worse, create even more problems. If you're struggling with that “whole treat thing,” here are eight things you should check.

(If you aren't familiar with the basics of classical conditioning, check out this post, and then this one. Today's entry will make a lot more sense if you do.)

Make Sure Your Timing is Right
This is perhaps the area you can screw up the most. In classical conditioning, the second thing that happens is the most important because it is the one that will determine what kind of association is formed. If that second thing is positive, the association will become positive. If the second thing is scary, though, then the association will become scary, too. In other words, when you give the treat matters, and it matters a lot.

There are four basic ways to pair stimuli. Trace conditioning happens when there is a 1-2 second delay between the two stimuli. For example, if you want the dog to learn that a bell ringing predicts that food is coming, in trace conditioning, you would ring the bell, wait 1-2 seconds, and then give the dog the treat. Delayed conditioning occurs when the first stimuli is presented continuously for several seconds (the bell rings several times in a row), and then food is presented immediately. Simultaneous conditioning means that both stimuli are presented at the same time; you ring the bell and give the food at the same time. Finally, backward conditioning, like the name implies, is when you reverse the stimuli. You give the food and then ring the bell.

Although there are scientific uses for all of these, when it comes to training a reactive or fearful dog, both simultaneous and backward conditioning is basically useless. Simultaneous conditioning will simply have little to no result. Backward conditioning, however, is much worse. Instead of the bell predicting the treat, the treat predicts the bell. This can have devastating consequences. If a scary happens after the food does, then the food predicts the scary thing, and thus becomes associated with fear. When this happens, the mere presence of food can cause a dog to shut down or react. Not a good thing.

Most people don't set out to get this order wrong. We understand how it should work, but where we go astray is in assuming that the dog sees the scary thing at the same time we do. Therefore, you should be sure to give the treat only after the dog has perceived the stimuli/scary thing.

Make Sure You Avoid Rhythmic Trials
We humans are creatures of habit- when we set up training experiences, we tend to fall into patterns. Unfortunately, dogs are very talented at discerning patterns, so we need to make sure that our trials are not rhythmic. Kathy gave the example of working with a dog who is afraid of men. If she were to enlist a male friend and directed him to walk in and out of eyesight, it's likely that he would begin doing so at regular intervals. Unfortunately, what the dogs often learn in these scenarios is not that the presence of men predicts steak, but rather, that steak happens every 20 seconds or so, and if you get a positive association, it's very weak. You will get a far better result if you make sure that your trials are random and varied.

Make Sure There Are No Competing Stimuli
Since the second event matters most, we need to make sure that we know what it is. Sure, we might think the pairing is simple- see scary thing, get a treat- but dogs are highly observant. Does he know he's getting a treat as a result of the scary thing, or is something happening in between those two events? Common pitfalls include reaching in a pocket, or crinkling a treat bag as we get the snack out. Again, associations can and do happen in these situations, but they are weaker than if it was direct, with no middleman. Try to set up the situation to reduce as many competing stimuli as possible.

Make Sure You're Using a High Value Treat
Kathy advises that you use the absolute best thing you can in order to create the most intense response possible. Classical conditioning follows a pretty steep curve, which means that you'll get the strongest response possible fairly early on in training. Don't squander this opportunity by using kibble. Sure, the dog will learn that scary things predict food, and that's good... but it's not awesome. Think about it: do you want an, “Oh, yes, kibble, thank you” response, or do you want the “HOLY COW I JUST GOT RAW TRIPE” response?

Make Sure Your Treat Remains Special
Classical conditioning works best when the contingency is strong. In non-science speak, this means that it works best when the awesome thing that follows the trigger happens only when the trigger does. No matter how much your dog loves cheese, if cheese happens all the time, it becomes meaningless. For that reason, Kathy recommended that you have a treat that you use only for counter-conditioning. Actually, she said that it would be best if all food happened only as a direct result of the scary thing, but since that's pretty much impossible, practically speaking, she recommended reserving the high value treat for your counter-conditioning work.

Make Sure You Aren't Lumping Criteria
Remember what I said about competing stimuli? Well, that counts for the first stimuli as well as the second. Make sure you aren't trying to counter-condition against too many things at once. It really works best to tackle one scary thing at a time. So, if your dog is afraid of men, and he's afraid of people riding bikes, men riding bikes might be too much. Try breaking it down more if you can.

Make Sure the Trigger Always Predicts Good Stuff
Classical conditioning is not operant conditioning. As such, it is not maintained by intermittent reinforcement, and is much more prone to extinction as a result. Instead, for classical conditioning to work, the scary thing pretty much always needs to be followed by the treat. Every time the dog sees a scary toddler, a piece of chicken should follow. Every time. If toddlers appear and chicken doesn't, then the dog learns that toddlers are not a very reliable predictor. If you're lucky, the dog will still develop a lukewarm response. If you're not, though, the dog will not make an association at all, meaning that you're doing all that work for nothing.

Your job is to find a way to avoid the trigger when you're not training. This means either carrying chicken and going everywhere with your dog, or not doing certain things with your dog. And yes, this includes walks and going potty. Speaking of which...

Make Sure You Switch to an Operant Technique
Since classical conditioning requires a near 100% trigger-treat response, it simply cannot be considered a long-term strategy. At some point, Kathy said, you just have to switch to an operant training strategy. This might be something like auto-watches or emergency U-turns, or it might be something “fancier” like BAT or Look at That. The technique you choose doesn't matter as much as the fact that you choose an operant behavior for your dog to perform at some point since that can be reinforced intermittently, allowing you the ability to just relax and enjoy your dog sometimes.


As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities for you to undermine the work you're doing. This is just part of the reason I advocate working with an experienced trainer when you're trying to modify your dog's behavior. I know I certainly made plenty of mistakes along the way- I never did reserve the absolute best treat possible solely for counter-conditioning, and so of course, those treats happened all the time. I'm also often guilty of lumping criteria, and I'm sure I screwed up my timing now and then. Still, we muddled through, and while my efforts could have been better had I understood this information then, we did okay. But what about you guys? Any memorable mistakes? I'd love to know that I'm not alone in my training shortcomings...