Coddling When Frightened

[kudzu]

philosopher77, thank you so much.

[Guest iconsmum]

And just to throw my 2 cents in: You can not reinforce fear. No one wants to feel scared. You can, inadvertently, reinforce behavior that is shown when the dog is fearful. But if you can change the underlying fear state, then you can work on altering any behavior you may have reinforced without meaning to.

 

And for a reference, because I just think that this is an amazing example of counter-conditioning and why it flies in the face of what most people think: Dr. Yin counter-conditioning an aggressive dog. http://youtu.be/sI13v9JgJu0

 

This is an example of an aggressive case, but the same idea holds for fear cases.

 

 

 

yes, for sure - some clients worry that the behaviour is being rewarded and don't understand that it's the pairing of the blowing with the food that reconditions the dog to the blowing. The up side is, when you explain it to them and then show it, they usually "get it" right away and relax.

And you're right, you can't reinforce fear - it's a primary - but you can tell the dog that he's right instead of ignoring the flight reaction and just electing to work on counter conditioning from the first time you see the behaviour. What we don't want is the dog rehearsing the behaviour any more than we can possibly help. Hope that helps.

[Guest budsmom]

And just to throw my 2 cents in: You can not reinforce fear. No one wants to feel scared. You can, inadvertently, reinforce behavior that is shown when the dog is fearful. But if you can change the underlying fear state, then you can work on altering any behavior you may have reinforced without meaning to.

 

And for a reference, because I just think that this is an amazing example of counter-conditioning and why it flies in the face of what most people think: Dr. Yin counter-conditioning an aggressive dog. http://youtu.be/sI13v9JgJu0

 

This is an example of an aggressive case, but the same idea holds for fear cases.

 

 

Exactly. Patricia McConnell had an article in Bark, I think, some time ago about this subject. If the dog is truly afraid, it's impossible to condition them to be afraid . The fear is so great that there is nothing good enough to make that fear feeling acceptable. My Twiz is terrified in storms, and I try to comfort her in any way she will allow, if it helps her even a little, it's worth it to me.