03/29/2023
A note on canine fear:
The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for fear memory. These fear memories are what makes your dog tremble the moment you start the car or drive into the parking lot of your veterinary clinic, because of a past negative or painful experience. So, it is not so much about your dog "forgiving" as it is about retraining the brain and modifying these neural pathways of fear that have developed. Depending on the stimulus and individual factors (early socialization, genetics, temperament, learning) your dog's memory of the event may have a lasting effect and over time, with repeat exposure, the dog may become more fearful, anxious or stressed with exposure or anticipated exposure to that stimulus.
If the stimulus is mild, some dogs will not be significantly impacted by the event while others will be. Some dogs, particularly those who visit my practice, require behavior modification in the form of systematic desensitization and counterconditioning, sometimes in combination with anti-anxiety medications to help change fearful reactions to a variety of stimuli or people.
More often than not, just learning to read a dog's subtle body language and recognizing triggers will allow the handler to change or modify the way they interact or avoid the stimulus to make things more positive for the dog. This can in turn help the dog to have a positive emotional response toward the stimulus over time. Dogs learn based on past experiences and with repeated exposure or negative experiences, it may become more difficult to change developing fear pathways in the brain. Adjusting our goals and expectations of our pets is a key element of pet ownership and good welfare practices.
A listing of board certified veterinary behaviorists can be found here:
certifying board for veterinarians who are specialty trained to advance the behavioral health of animals through clinical practice, research, and science-based behavior education
