04 JanIntro to Counterconditioning
Most of us are familiar with the work of Ivan Pavlov and his famous drooling dogs. Pavlov observed that through various exposures pairing food (a positive, appetizing stimulus) with a bell (an unconditioned, seemingly random stimulus) the salivation response could be elicited just by the sound of the bell without the presence of food. This all might sound too science-y but it is the basis for the clicker training we do every day at School For The Dogs. By repeatedly pairing the clicker or marker with a food reward, we are conditioning our dogs understand that that noise always leads to a delicious tasty treat. This kind of learning is called “Classical Conditioning” or “Pavlovian Conditioning.” Or, in layman terms it's simply “Learning By Association.”
With the same idea of pairing highly positive, rewarding stimuli with a random stimulus, we have a concept we call “counterconditioning.” In a simple breakdown of the word, we have conditioning meaning to teach and counter meaning to change. The concept of counterconditioning in dog training is to help re-teach a dog to have a positive and new association with something that was once disliked or feared. Over time, the dog will begin to associate the odd or feared item with the delivery of a delicious reward. Counterconditioning can be used to create positive associations with a sometimes scary object, like a subway grate, or a possibly stressful situation, like coming upon another dog dog on the street.
Sometimes we cannot anticipate or know how fearful associations might develop within our dogs. Some of us might adopt adult dogs with past associations to certain things or despite our best efforts, our young dogs might have a scary experience with a certain item or situation. By implementing counterconditioning, we can help our dogs feel comfortable over time.
One of the most important things to realize when attempting counterconditioning with your dog is to start off slow; full exposure or presentation of the item or situation will most likely be too overwhelming for a dog. Understanding a dog’s limits and threshold is the important first step of implementing any counterconditioning plan. By starting off small (looking at the subway grate) and gradually working up (walking near the subway grate; putting one paw on the subway grate, etc), a dog can gain confidence and get comfortable at a gradual pace.
Counterconditioning may seem like a daunting task, but in a city full of potentially scary triggers, there are lots of opportunities to forge good associations with things that could be scary. The key is to start the conditioning before fears ever form. If a dog can make it here, he can make it anywhere.
For a more detailed description and good example of training counterconditioning, check out the video below from Dr. Sophia Yin.
