09/03/2024
I have seen so many sad videos on social media recently of dog trainers working with anxious and reactive dogs. These trainers are dragging dogs towards their trigger and only allowing the dog to move away when they offer desired behaviours. Some dog trainers have the cheek of convincing clients that this is positive reinforcement. In reality, this is negative reinforcement, which simply means to remove a unpleasant or aversive stimulus ( reducing exposure to feared trigger) to strengthen or increase a desired behaviour.( In this case calmness around the trigger)
Fully exposing a dog to something they fear and expecting them to learn how to cope is a very controversial training method called flooding. Flooding is forcing an animal or person to be in the proximity of a feared stimulus without any option to escape or end the situation. Flooding is considered an effective therapy in people but there's a significant issue that needs to be addressed. People can give consent to this training, but dogs can't. They don't have the option to take breaks or beg for the training to stop. Their options are twofold: Continue to react fearfully or emotionally shut down.
Worse yet, punishment is often added to the mix by applying pain and discomfort to speed up the process. What you're left with is a dog that has learnt you don't make them feel safe, the trainer causes pain, horrible things happen in the presence of the trigger and there's no point communicating how they feel.
This is known as learned helplessness, a phenomenon observed in people that have been held captive against their will, for prolonged periods. They've tried escaping so many times and failed, so when the option to escape presents itself, they are unable to do it. They have emotionally shut down and are not capable of helping themselves. In dogs, people often see this as a calm dog because the dog is magically not barking and lunging anymore. In reality, the relationship and the dog's resilience, has been decimated, and it's only a matter of time until the guardian appreciates the real fallout of flooding.
Ironically, flooding is commonly used by unqualified dog trainers to address anxiety and reactivity, but it often sensitises dogs to their triggers to an even worse degree. It's a very much sink or swim situation, and often dogs figuratively drown.
So, If a dog trainer tells you that your dog needs to "face their fear", or "get over it", see it as a red flag and find a trainer or behaviourist that is qualified to offer what your dog deserves, stress management, systematic desensitisation and counter conditioning.
Remember, when we force dogs to face their fears, we remove everything they need to conquer them . -Holly Leake
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