Counter Conditioning
Editor’s comment
By using proper training techniques we can reduce drug use and make dogs more comfortable at the vet.
Counter Condition for Vet Visits Instead of Medicating
By Jonathan P. Klein, CDBC, CPDT-KA
Award Winning Dog Trainer, Behavior Consultant
Veterinary visits can often be unpleasant for the pet, and sometimes actually frightening. It is important that veterinarians are part of a healing community considering medical health and the pet’s emotional wellbeing. If overall wellness and adequate medical care allows, we would be better off teaching the pet to voluntarily allow treatment and examination.
In a perfect world I’d advocate the use of proper counter conditioning to help pets learn that they can really handle a potentially unpleasant experience. That is also a much better alternative than either drugging a dog or forcibly restraining a pet for a procedure or exam. It is common to use counter conditioning for dogs that are afraid of things. We do it for fear of thunder, strangers and vet visits to name a few.
Let’s examine a few examples how counter conditioning changes the learner's response. We typically use it to improve a dog’s attitude about a situation, but it could possible do the opposite. It could add healthy or detrimental fear or caution as well. For example it is a benefit for a dog to have a sense of caution not to fall off a balcony for instance; however, a poorly executed nail trim could result in a bad experience that we don’t want to recur and would have horribly unpleasant long term consequences.
A similar human instance of touching a hot stove would give you a new response to not do that again. In fact, it's a great example of highly accurate timing. The consequence occurs exactly with the behavior, so the brain can easily connect them. If the unpleasant moment happens in a veterinary exam, the result is to strengthen the dislike for vet visits. We could try to give treats at the vet office, but it might not work, and it could even backfire. This is because behavior doesn’t exist in a vacuum or set of highly specific and simple events.
What is Counter Conditioning?
To improve a pet’s response to something we pair a pleasant occurrence with the unpleasant one. And the degree to which we can teach the dog to enjoy the formerly unpleasant event varies as to how strong the likable event is in comparison. The dislikable portion diminishes in relation to the enjoyable counter conditioning; however it is all in the mind of the learner.
But it can actually be a little more complicated, so here’s another more detailed example. Perhaps I don’t like going to grandmother's house because she pinches my cheek and calls me cute. But she gives me ice cream too. If she stops pinching I will begin to like it faster, and if I like ice cream more than I dislike grandma pinching my cheek then I suppose I could begin to actually enjoy and look forward to a visit to grandma’s.
Unfortunately it is still not as simple as that. These learning and behavior relationships are very fluid and do not occur in isolated moments. The weather, what I would rather be doing, how the rest of my family behaves at grandma’s, what clothes my mother makes me wear, etc. will all make a difference on the counter conditioning (the delivery of ice cream) to the visit to grandma's. If mother gets a little edgy and rushes me to get ready, or if there is difficulty on the drive or the visit is too long all might still overpower the enjoyment of a bit of ice cream.
How can we improve a vet visit?
This is the type of consideration a dog behavior consultant uses when he or she tries to determine a solution to a dog behavior problem. For a trip to the vet, it makes sense to look at all of the factors surrounding the visit. An elective visit does not justify that we sedate a dog (or any pet for that matter) and continue with an examination, though sedation might allow us to complete it, the experience will still be frightening to the pet. That is why there is such a strong movement among trainers and behavior consultants in general to incorporate stress free handling.
Summary
But remembering the analogy to the visit with grandma, the nail trim is much like the cheek pinch. It is only a small part of the visit and the examination. To be successful we have to control all of the distant antecedents of the behavior. Then package that all together in the training and behavior modification program. The best solution possible to promote both health and emotional wellness in a healing environment is not drugs and restraint during procedures, but collaboration between veterinarians, pet trainers and pet owners in implementing better husbandry techniques.
Jonathan P. Klein, CDBC, CPDT-KA is a nationally recognized dog trainer and behavior expert. He holds certifications as a trainer from the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers and as a dog behavior consultant by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants where he also serves on the Application Review Committee. Jonathan is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. He heads “I Said Sit!” School for Dogs in West Los Angeles, which has been honored with the “Best Trainer” award by CityVoter consistently since 2009. He is called upon as a dog behavior expert by numerous media outlets including The Associated Press, Parents Magazine, National Geographic Kids and USA Today. He writes a blog, thedogbehaviorexpert.com and serves as a legal advisor and a dog bite expert witness.
By using proper training techniques we can reduce drug use and make dogs more comfortable at the vet.
Counter Condition for Vet Visits Instead of Medicating
By Jonathan P. Klein, CDBC, CPDT-KA
Award Winning Dog Trainer, Behavior Consultant
Veterinary visits can often be unpleasant for the pet, and sometimes actually frightening. It is important that veterinarians are part of a healing community considering medical health and the pet’s emotional wellbeing. If overall wellness and adequate medical care allows, we would be better off teaching the pet to voluntarily allow treatment and examination.
In a perfect world I’d advocate the use of proper counter conditioning to help pets learn that they can really handle a potentially unpleasant experience. That is also a much better alternative than either drugging a dog or forcibly restraining a pet for a procedure or exam. It is common to use counter conditioning for dogs that are afraid of things. We do it for fear of thunder, strangers and vet visits to name a few.
Let’s examine a few examples how counter conditioning changes the learner's response. We typically use it to improve a dog’s attitude about a situation, but it could possible do the opposite. It could add healthy or detrimental fear or caution as well. For example it is a benefit for a dog to have a sense of caution not to fall off a balcony for instance; however, a poorly executed nail trim could result in a bad experience that we don’t want to recur and would have horribly unpleasant long term consequences.
A similar human instance of touching a hot stove would give you a new response to not do that again. In fact, it's a great example of highly accurate timing. The consequence occurs exactly with the behavior, so the brain can easily connect them. If the unpleasant moment happens in a veterinary exam, the result is to strengthen the dislike for vet visits. We could try to give treats at the vet office, but it might not work, and it could even backfire. This is because behavior doesn’t exist in a vacuum or set of highly specific and simple events.
What is Counter Conditioning?
To improve a pet’s response to something we pair a pleasant occurrence with the unpleasant one. And the degree to which we can teach the dog to enjoy the formerly unpleasant event varies as to how strong the likable event is in comparison. The dislikable portion diminishes in relation to the enjoyable counter conditioning; however it is all in the mind of the learner.
But it can actually be a little more complicated, so here’s another more detailed example. Perhaps I don’t like going to grandmother's house because she pinches my cheek and calls me cute. But she gives me ice cream too. If she stops pinching I will begin to like it faster, and if I like ice cream more than I dislike grandma pinching my cheek then I suppose I could begin to actually enjoy and look forward to a visit to grandma’s.
Unfortunately it is still not as simple as that. These learning and behavior relationships are very fluid and do not occur in isolated moments. The weather, what I would rather be doing, how the rest of my family behaves at grandma’s, what clothes my mother makes me wear, etc. will all make a difference on the counter conditioning (the delivery of ice cream) to the visit to grandma's. If mother gets a little edgy and rushes me to get ready, or if there is difficulty on the drive or the visit is too long all might still overpower the enjoyment of a bit of ice cream.
How can we improve a vet visit?
This is the type of consideration a dog behavior consultant uses when he or she tries to determine a solution to a dog behavior problem. For a trip to the vet, it makes sense to look at all of the factors surrounding the visit. An elective visit does not justify that we sedate a dog (or any pet for that matter) and continue with an examination, though sedation might allow us to complete it, the experience will still be frightening to the pet. That is why there is such a strong movement among trainers and behavior consultants in general to incorporate stress free handling.
A well-designed counter-conditioning program will give the dog a chance to feel comfortable in settings it previously didn’t like. We present very easy examination settings, or break down the visit into small digestible components. One of the very best techniques is to let the dog tell us he is ready for his examination. For a nail trim, we can teach the dog to hand us his paw. We can pair the presentation of a nail clipper with delivery of a tasty tidbit. After repeating this enough times that the dog is comfortable, we can present nail clippers, allow the dog to make the choice of offering his paw on his own, and then clip just one nail. That is gradual enough that the dog can learn on his own that he can be comfortable in that situation.
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| Here is the set up with all the tools to make the nail trim more enjoyable. The dog is still uncomfortable in this picture. | The dog voluntarily offers her paw for a trim after successful counter conditioning sessions. Note the comfortable body language of the dog. |
Summary
But remembering the analogy to the visit with grandma, the nail trim is much like the cheek pinch. It is only a small part of the visit and the examination. To be successful we have to control all of the distant antecedents of the behavior. Then package that all together in the training and behavior modification program. The best solution possible to promote both health and emotional wellness in a healing environment is not drugs and restraint during procedures, but collaboration between veterinarians, pet trainers and pet owners in implementing better husbandry techniques.
Jonathan P. Klein, CDBC, CPDT-KA is a nationally recognized dog trainer and behavior expert. He holds certifications as a trainer from the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers and as a dog behavior consultant by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants where he also serves on the Application Review Committee. Jonathan is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. He heads “I Said Sit!” School for Dogs in West Los Angeles, which has been honored with the “Best Trainer” award by CityVoter consistently since 2009. He is called upon as a dog behavior expert by numerous media outlets including The Associated Press, Parents Magazine, National Geographic Kids and USA Today. He writes a blog, thedogbehaviorexpert.com and serves as a legal advisor and a dog bite expert witness.
