Author: Karolina Westlund, PhD

It took me years to realize this, but there are some approaches that really propelled my learning about animal behaviour management in general, and animal training specifically.

Here are the four tactics or concepts that I’ve found most useful: Continue reading “How to become a better animal trainer.”

In previous posts, I have described systematic desensitization (SD – introducing scary things gradually), and counterconditioning (CC), learning to associate potentially aversive stimuli with something nice.

The combination procedure is called SD/CC, DS/CC or CC/D depending on who you’re talking to; some people skip the first word of SD and only talk about desensitization. The procedure looks the same, though: after each exposure to the stimulus, the animal gets something it really likes.

The basic SD/CC to teach a cat to accept an injection may look like this – note that there may be up to 20 intermediate steps between each of these (for instance, when introducing the needle):

• Stroking the cat, then giving it some tuna.
• Stroking more firmly – more tuna.
• Lifting the skin – tuna again.
• Pinching – tuna.
• Needle prick – tuna.
• Injection – tuna…

But remember, do not move on to the next step until you see that the animal is completely comfortable and at ease at the current step (the relaxation part of SD) and is looking for the tuna (showing signs of learning the association: CC).

In short, this type of procedure is typically not done in one single session but over several training sessions.

Continue reading “The golden combination to prevent and reduce fear: systematic desensitization / counterconditioning (SD/CC)”

Revised August 2019.

Depending on who you ask, you get a vastly different answer to the question of whether it’s a good idea to pet a frightened dog (or other animal with whom you have an established relationship and that enjoys your touch) during noisy (scary) events.

In the scientific literature, the overwhelming majority of articles (if not all…?) recommend not petting, meaning that petting fearful dogs inadvertently reinforces the anxious behaviour.

Still, in the dog training community, many professional dog trainers do recommend petting an anxious animal, and it has been argued that “petting doesn’t reinforce fear, it reduces it”.

So which is it? Could both sides have a point?

Continue reading “Dog owners: to pet or not to pet during thunderstorms or fireworks.”

Wanna join this experiment on the effect of tone of voice on dog behaviour? Please share what you found with us in the survey! Continue reading “A challenge to dog owners – join the experiment!”