Hello everyone,

On the last post we talked about keeping your dog under threshold. Today we are going to talk about the exercise we will practice to counter condition and desensitization your dog to their triggers.

I love using the exercise called Engage and Disengage. This exercise was created by Alice Tong and was built off the Look At That game created by Leslie McDevitt. I love this exercise because it teaches our dogs that looking at their triggers results in good things and that we are going to keep them safe.

This exercise has two steps:

Step One: In a yellow zone where your dog is looking at their trigger from a safe distance without having a reaction, mark (YES) and feed when they look at the trigger. the first step is that easy. Looking at the trigger gets them a mark and reward. This is helping condition your dog that good things happen in the presence of the trigger.

Step Two: Same as step one you will be in a yellow zone where your dog is looking at the trigger but not having a reaction. This time when they see the trigger wait 3-5 seconds, if your dog looks back at you then mark and reward. This is the goal of step one, is they become conditioned to expect food in the presence of a trigger so they will check in with you. If after 5 seconds your dog does not look back at you, go back to step one. We want to make sure they understand that really well before moving to step two.

You can set up this scenario in controlled environments with someone you know and their dog to be sure your dog will have enough space to be successful. The more you practice this the more your dog will understand the concept!

When you are out with your dog, red zones happen. We can avoid them as much as possible but sometimes we get stuck and your dog may have a reaction. Now in these times the best thing to do is to get out of there first of all. Take distance from the trigger so your dog can get back under threshold in a yellow zone. I also like to keep in mind how many times has my dog gone into a red zone in this walk? When our dogs go through that negative emotional response multiple times in a short period, trigger stacking can happen. Trigger stacking is exactly what is sounds like, the amount of triggers your dog has seen in a short time builds up and becomes more scary each time. Depending on the dog you may want to quit the walk and training session once they have gone over threshold even once. For my own personal dog he has a hard time being successful once he has had a reaction in a single walk. This is a good thing to monitor with your dog so you know when is a good time to quit and how to set them up for success. Some dogs shake it off better than others and may be able to continue to learn after a reaction.

Working with a dog that has reactions is not easy, we get it. The more you practice and are compassionate with your dog the better things will get. Your dog is doing their best and so are you!