Classical Conditioning for Aggression
Does your dog bark aggressively at other dogs? At kids? At the mailman? Do you want to get him to stop?? Of course you do - who wouldn't? The problem with most training methods for these problems is that the dog never really stops wanting to be aggressive in those situations, he just learns that he had better not or else. In which case, he can never really be trusted not to revert to that behavior again - especially if the owner isn't around. How would you like, instead, to change the dog's entire outlook? Get him to no longer even want to act aggressively? This can be done with a little time & patience on your part.
What I am going to try to explain is Classical Conditioning. Remember Pavlov & his drooling dogs? Same concept.
Let's use, as an example, a 3 year old mixed breed dog who goes ballistic whenever he sees other dogs. A dog that is well-socialized & trained from puppyhood should never become like this, but hindsight is always 20/20 (and anyway, sometimes people rescue adult dogs & can't be blamed for their childhood at all). Let's call the dog Stormy and the owner John, and say that John rescued Stormy from a shelter recently.
I would advise John to realize from the outset that this process can be a slow one - each dog will progress at his/her own rate & he had better be willing to assume Stormy will take awhile. Now, let's try to understand what is going on in Stormy's little doggy mind when he sees another dog. We don't know his past so don't know what, if any, traumatic experiences he might have had as a youngster. Apparently now, however, Stormy views other dogs as something horrible - something to get very upset about. Maybe his previous owners misunderstood his natural puppy exuberance of leaping & barking with aggression & felt they should reprimand him severely for it. So here's Stormy as a young dog: he sees another dog, gets all excited, and gets yelled at & possibly hit. It won't take too long before Stormy sees another dog and now, instead of thinking "What fun! Let's play!" he thinks, "Hey! There's another dog! Bad things happen to me every time I see one of those! I HATE them! Grrrrr bark bark grrrrrr." Can you blame him?
So, what we need to do is change his view of other dogs back to what it originally was. We want Stormy to see another dog and think, "Wow! Another dog! Great! Wonderful things happen to me when I see those! Yay!"
Are you convinced? Great - let's get down to the nitty gritty on how to accomplish this. Once you get the concept, you can apply this to many other problems as well!
I would advise John to get a huge bunch of really super tasty treats. "Human food" is best - usually tastier & healthier than "dog food." Cut-up pieces of hot dog, cheese, chicken, steak, etc., all work very well. John wants a treat that is much better than what Stormy usually gets. Before getting out & finding other dogs, John will need to do some work at home. He & Stormy need to play the Name Game.
The Name Game: Say your dog's name. When he looks at you - toss or give him a treat and praise him. If saying his name doesn't get him to look at you you may wave at him or clap (or whatever) so he looks at you. (Then give the treat). Do this a zillion times. Do it until every time you say your dog's name he stops whatever he is doing & looks at you - knowing that he is about to get a wonderful treat! Start at first without other distractions & then build normal household distractions in as he gets better at it. There is NO CORRECTION if he ever doesn't look up at you - just no treat. You can turn away & say, "Oh! Too bad." Make it sound like he really missed out on something good. Then say his name again & hopefully you will get the desired response & will be able to give him the treat & praise. When he is 100% in looking at you then proceed outside.
Have your dog on leash and have a hefty supply of the treats. Try really really hard not to come across the Bad Thing (whatever it is that sets your dog off - in Stormy's case other dogs). Your dog isn't ready for that yet. Continue to play the Name Game, only now using natural outdoor distractions like cars, kids on bikes, other people out walking, etc.
When your dog is doing fabulously at this (which shouldn't take too long ... dogs can be quite clever when food is involved!) the he is ready to face The Bad Thing.
Back to Stormy & John. John has practiced the Name Game religiously & feels Stormy is ready to face his Bad Thing - other dogs. So, with Stormy leashed & a big bag of the tastiest treats imaginable, they head out for the local park. Here is where I would advise John to take a big breath & swear to himself that he won't rush things! Stormy is NOT ready to join the doggie play group just yet.
Instead, John should walk Stormy far away from other dogs. Play a few rounds of the Name Game to warm him up. Then, allow Stormy to get a glimpse of another dog. John should instantly call "Stormy!" and hopefully all of that Name Game training (oops! and Stormy thought that was just a game!) will come through and Stormy will look away from the other dog and up at John - expecting a treat. If he does - WOW! John should give him a bunch of treats - a veritable jack-pot! John should, of course, respond with tons of verbal praise & petting, too! When doing this, John needs to work hard on his timing. He wants to say Stormy's name before Stormy has started to growl, etc., at the other dog. If he is too late, Stormy might be too intent on the other dog to respond to his name. In that case, just sigh & leave.
Play the Name Game a few more times with no distractions then try again with another dog - being faster to say Stormy's name. REMEMBER - if this is to work, there must be NO punishment for the growling! We want Stormy to like other dogs.
When John gets the timing down he should look for as many opportunities of "dog sightings" from a distance as possible to reinforce this new & wonderful behavior of Stormy's. When Stormy consistently responds to his name John should start to get closer & closer to other dogs as they continue playing the game...being careful not to progress too quickly.
SETBACKS. They occur, so John shouldn't get too bummed out when they do. Setbacks (where Stormy is too distracted to respond to his name) are clear signals that John has progressed too quickly or the treat & praise weren't good enough. Or both. Either way - the cure is just to go back a few steps & proceed more slowly this time.
With slow, consistent work, Stormy's whole outlook on other dogs should change. After all....now whenever he sees other dogs he gets tons of happy praise & treats! Other dogs are GOOD! John will know Stormy is ready to try closer interaction with other dogs when he sees another dog....and immediately looks up at John, expecting his treat!
Copyright: Mary Woodward
http://members.aol.com/RottnMary/Classical.html
