My Reactive Dog - The Best Thing That's Ever Happened To Me

(I should note before I start that I do not regard my dog as a 'thing'! Thing in this instance refers to the whole bundle of events that happened after he joined our family.)

I know, that title sounds insane. I've written many times of the emotions that can run rife as the guardian of one of these complex, complicated, sensitive dogs. Of how hard it can be on us, as well as them, to drift through a sea of stress and fear, or spending a large proportion of our time outside both in a state of hypervigilance constantly on the look out for triggers and problems on the horizon. And yes, I still struggle with that at times. The tears come much less frequently now, but I remember that raw, embarrassed and humiliated feeling as yet another person sneered at me and my 'bad' dog.

Counter-conditioning or Desensitisation?

These are two terms that are often seen when discussing behaviour modification, particularly surrounding fearful and reactive dogs. As with many technical terms, the definition and usage of these can seem confusing when they are first encountered. This is not helped by the fact that often people will begin to describe what they think counter-conditioning (often abbreviated as CC) is but also include elements of systematic desensitisation (DS). So what then is each of these, how do they differ, and how do they work together?

To understand fully, it's necessary to go through a bit of learning theory. It might be worth getting a cuppa before getting going on this next part!