I am interested in helping fearful and/or aggressive dogs and have been reading up on the difference between desensitisation and counter conditioning ( see below if you are unsure). I was interested to read some examples of how counter conditioning ( in particular aversive counter conditioning) is used with humans, thus have included an example at the end of this post!
Desensitization:
Desensitization is a process in which we reduce the strength of a response to a certain stimulus. For example, if your dog responds fearfully to the site of another dog, by desensitizing your dog to other dogs we will reduce the fearful response.
Desensitization works by gradually exposing the dog to low levels of the fearful stimulus.
In our example, we may let the dog see other dogs from a distance long enough so they do not show fear. Gradually, we will let the other dogs get closer and closer as long as the dog shows no fear.
Desensitization is usually accompanied by another process called counter conditioning.
Counter Conditioning:
Counter conditioning is really nothing more than classical conditioning. The big difference is that the dog already has an association between 2 events so changing this association and creating a new one requires a lot of repetitions.
Think of it this way. Let’s say Pavlov would have done the experiment a bit differently. Let’s say Pavlov would have started by associating the ring of a bell to a painful electric shock. The dog would have known that a bell ring means an electric shock and would have displayed fearful or aggressive behavior when the bell rang.
Now, after hundreds of repetitions and after this association is in place Pavlov would go ahead and start associating the same bell ring with food. Pavlov would have tried to counter condition the dog to the bell ring. It meant pain, and we want it to mean food from now on.
How long would it have taken to accomplish that? I can’t answer this specifically but it would have taken a long time and many repetitions.
Back to our example: we want to counter condition our fearful dog to accept other dogs. By combining counter conditioning and desensitization we can accomplish that. We will start exposing our dog to other dogs at a very low level – in this case a far enough distance (that’s the desensitization part). In addition, we will give the dog very tasty treats when he sees the other dogs (that’s the counter conditioning part). Gradually, we can convince the dog that other dogs mean good treats.
Human example!!
PS - Oops a bit long for a blog. I will keep the next one shorter!
I am wondering how long aversive conditioning lasts - till they can get alcohol without the drug??? Icecream makes me feel sick but I still eat it!
ReplyDeleteDogs, given that they don't have great comprehension skills, would just associate anything more aversive as being the 'fault' of the other dog/person/object. Tess used to love saying hello to the postman at the fence and then her behaviour completely changed - a week later the postman said she got her paw stuck in the link fence - who did she blame - the postie!
One thing Karen Pryer uses is the dog's favourite cued trick (ie. spin, bark) and instead of clicking you give the cue - it is a really strong reinforcer and excellent for overcoming fear. So say you have a dog who loves to spin, yet hates men in hats, you see a man in a hat, the dog pauses or looks at you - instead of a 'click' you say 'spin' which the dog does as it is so well cued - he enjoys it, and says, thank you man in hat, I got to spin. Does that make any sense?
I'm really enjoying everyone's exploration of idea on this blog - and the best part is that they're all collecte together in one place for later reference!
ReplyDeleteI understand that aversive conditioning could be a very effective tool in humans, but as Ang says, there is danger that this conditioning could backfire. The dog could potentially end up assdociating the unpleasant stimulus, as the fault of the very thing you are trying to make it feel more positive about ie another dog, person etc.
ReplyDeleteCheryl,I'm so impressed with your research, and level of understanding of all the different terms like counter conditioning and desensitization. It's great to see that you are thinking of ways to apply these techniques, to achieve successful outcomes for fearful dogs.
I have found that by using counter conditioning and desensitization together with Charlie, I am achieving good results, to help make him feel more confident around other dogs. Thanks Ange for suggesting these techniques to me!
I am so lucky to have a group of lovely dogs and owners to be able to do with this. I am really looking forward to our monthly catch ups on Saturdays, so we can share and apply all our great ideas and training techniques on our willing subjects
I also think aversive conditioning works better on humans when they 'want' to change, ie smokers who want to quit, so the aversive conditioning simply helps to break the addictive link, allowing the conscious min to overcome a more primitive urge.
ReplyDeleteAversive conditioning in dogs seems to work best when its remote - ie remote collars, which remove the handler from the equation, so the dog purely associates the aversive with the action.