Tools to help the Reactive Dog - Desensitisation

It's been an interesting week in the Blue Merle Minion household. After the success of submitting the text of the post 'The Emotional Toll of Reactivity' to Dogs Today as a guest essay I have been running a book promotion this week. This has resulted in 2 days of 'Fight or Fright?' sitting at the number 2 slot on the bestseller list for the 'dog care' category of the UK Kindle store, and number 9 in combined book sales. That's just a little mind-blowing for a debut author with no real reputation in the dog world, and has just reinforced to me that supporting the guardians and handlers of reactive dogs is something that has not received enough attention to this point. Get your requests to purchase signed copies in in an orderly fashion 😂😂😂

Mind. Blown.

For anyone interested, the book is still on offer on the UK and US sites, returning to full list price at 11 p.m. GMT Thursday 28th February for the UK, and 11 p.m. PST on the same day for the US site. For some reason, Amazon seem to think that only the UK and US residents like book offers!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here in my corner of the UK at the moment, giving a real feel of spring. I'm not believing it yet, it's clearly lulling us into a false sense of security before returning to the cold, sodden mess that the country usually is this time of the year. It does mean that there are a lot of dogs out and about so we're spending a lot of time at home during the day working on enrichment ideas. This translates as I create things for Finn to find food in and then destroy while I supervise and try to get some work done on future books, both canine related and fiction. In reality, the writing attempts end up looking like this:

Finn will take great delight in wrecking whatever I give him and then come and demand to use me as a pillow for a nap. Who can resist that face?

I want to continue the topic of tools to help the reactive dog, today tackling the concept of desensitisation.

Desensitisation works by exposing the dog to the trigger for their fear in controlled situations. The guardian will need to pay careful attention to the dog’s behaviour and body language as, for desensitisation to work, the dog must be comfortable with the trigger at the current level. That is the very important distinction between desensitisation and flooding. Flooding overloads the dog and leads to them shutting down and not reacting although still scared while, done properly, desensitisation allows the dog to gradually become less worried by the trigger.

This technique works well with dogs that are scared of sounds, common examples of which are fireworks or thunderstorms. Obviously, there is no way that you want to be trying to work on desensitisation in the middle of a thunderstorm or a firework display – the dog will be too scared to be able to focus, and you have no control over the situation. For this reason, it works best to find one of the CDs or mp3s available of the types of noise that dogs may typically find frightening.

These recordings can then be played at a very low volume in the dog’s familiar surroundings at home, where they are likely to feel safe. Start on an extremely low setting and pair the time that the sound is playing with something the dog finds rewarding, whether that is a high value food, a game with a favourite toy or fuss and attention from his guardian. Something like a Kong filled with frozen broth and treats or peanut butter often goes down well and can keep the dog entertained while the guardian can concentrate on observing that they are relaxed with the sound at the current volume. If at any point the dog seems distracted by the noise and is unwilling to take the treats, eat the Kong contents or engage with the game then the volume is too loud, and you need to go back a few steps, slowing the attempts at progress down. Turn the volume back down to a point where the dog is relaxed and start working back up again. Only when the dog seems entirely comfortable with the current volume should it increase at all. Any signs of hesitation or discomfort mean going back a couple of volume levels and allowing the comfort levels to return before again attempting to increase the volume. It is a slow process, but as has been mentioned in previous articles, anything that is going to have a lasting positive effect on the dog’s fears is going to take time to achieve.

It is important to note that desensitisation can help the dog in becoming accustomed to and more comfortable with noises, there may be other factors surrounding the issue that we are unable to fully control. Fireworks come with bright lights suddenly appearing in the sky. With thunderstorms, there may be pressure changes of which humans might only be dimly aware. It may not be completely possible to tackle the fear surrounding these, but by lessening the association between the noise and the frightening situation, we can do our best give our dogs an easier time when these sounds are inescapable.

Another technique, which may help with these factors we cannot control, is the anxiety wrap. This applies gentle, consistent compression, which can aid some dogs in remaining calmer when in stressful situations. They are available to purchase commercially, and the website of the Thundershirt claims an eighty per cent success rate with a large number of positive reviews. You can make a DIY version at home using an elasticated compression bandage. Take a bandage suitable for your size of dog to wear comfortably – narrow for a small dog, wider for a larger one. Placing the centre of the bandage across the dog’s chest, cross the sides of the bandage over the dog’s shoulders, then again under his stomach and bring the ends up to his back again, tying them facing away from his spine. This creates a sort of figure 8 around the dog’s body, with a final line of bandage from the bottom of the 8 to fasten over his back. If you do not have a bandage but have a long scarf, you can also use this to create the makeshift wrap. Whether using a bandage or scarf, be careful not to pull the tension too tight and risking making the dog uncomfortable or even potentially causing discomfort. One word of warning – never leave a dog unattended when wearing a wrap due to the danger of becoming entangled, although, hopefully a scared dog is not knowingly being left alone anyway. This technique is definitely worth trying as a drug free option. If it does not work for your dog, then it may be time to have a chat with your vet about medication to help keep your dog calm during the stressful occasions.