Could some one offer up a definition, et al, of the concept of 'counter or contra conditioning' in re dog training, behavior?

This is likely to be a 'duh' moment. But its early, and I'm running on only one cup of coffee.

Thank you.

I'm sure you'll get a better explanation but this is my take on it.

My dog is afraid of bicycles. When they come close she gets tense and her obedience goes out the window. She wants to bolt.

I need to work on counter conditioning by breaking the experience up into manageable steps and making each a good experience.

I could start by playing tug with her while there is a bicycle parked 200 yards away. I could build up to playing tug while a bicycle is 10 yards away by reducing the distance over time.

I could add a person walking a bicycle or even riding a bicycle at great distance and progressively reduce the distance while playing (or giving treats).

Ultimately my goal is that when she sees a bicycle riding by, much like the click from a clicker, she expects something positive.

Taking steps that are bigger than she can handle wouldn't be productive. If she's already terrified by the bicycle at 20 yards away then I should back up or otherwise dial back the negative experience until it's nearly a neutral experience.

I'm shooting for making the negative experience into neutral bite sized bits and turning those neutral bits into positive experiences.

That's a good description!

Technically, I guess we'd say that it means conditioning the dog to do something counter to (incompatible with) his old behavior.

That is, the dog can't be looking happily for a reward while he's growling and lunging.

It is often combined with desensitizing.

I've seen a pretty good detailed definition somewhere, maybe from the HSUS. I'll look.

But Bryan described it well.

I found it! http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/webfm_send/43

You will see that the desensitizing for reactive dogs we talk about so often here incorporates many of these points (especially the tiny increments, working outside the trigger zone, being methodical).

Many of the folk here who have successful desensitizing stories used upbeat ob (often marker work) with high-value rewards, with the goal(s) being focusing on the owner and regarding the trigger as nothing but background to ignore, while simultaneously polishing ob to the point that it supersedes the old dog-reactive behavior. But the steps are set up similarly.

Here's a list of 22 steps I concocted when I found that my dog was afraid of going to a recreational area (white water center aka "WWC"). The site has bicycle trails, hiking trails, a lake, and a busy central area with some concrete paths around a climbing wall, rafting area, and restaurant.

I found that after a few trips there she didn't even want to get out of the car when we arrived which is what led me to considering this.

I think her fear stemmed from bicycles flying by us on hiking/biking trails and big noisy crowds that were present at some outdoor live music events.

I tried to break down the experience into small steps so I could work through counter conditioning and desensitization.

Anyway, here's my list. I planned to address each step by doing obedience training with high value treats and a clicker or mix in some tug play since its her favorite game. If she progressed more quickly I could skip steps or if it was slow going I could back up a few steps as needed.

---

1. Condition no response or positive response to bicycle leaning against wall of living room
2. Condition no response or positive response to sitting in car in parking lot of WWC
3. Condition no response or positive response to standing next to car in vacant corner of WWC parking lot
4. Condition no response or positive response to sitting in car in busier section of WWC parking lot
5. Condition no response or positive response to standing next to car in busier section of WWC parking lot
6. Condition no response or positive response to standing in quiet grassy area near WWC parking lot
7. Condition no response or positive response to standing near the top of the stairs entering the WWC at night when it’s very quiet and not crowded
8. Condition no response or positive response to sitting at one of the tables when it’s very quiet at night
9. Condition no response or positive response to walking around the interior loop at night when it’s quiet
10. Condition no response or positive response to standing near the top of the stairs when it’s moderately busy
11. Condition no response or positive response to sitting at one of the tables when it’s moderately busy
12. Condition no response or positive response to walking around the interior loop when it is moderately busy
13. Condition no response or positive response to walking around to the trail head of the lake loop when it’s very quiet and no bicycles are present
14. Condition no response or positive response to walking to the lake on the lake loop when it’s very quiet and no bicycles are present
15. Condition no response or positive response to walking around the entire lake loop when it’s very quiet and no bicycles are present
16. Condition no response or positive response to standing away from the trail head when few bicycles are present
17. Condition no response or positive response to standing away from the trail head when more bicycles are present
18. Condition no response or positive response to standing away from the trail head when many bicycles are present
19. Condition no response or positive response to walking to the lake on the lake loop when few bicycles are present
20. Condition no response or positive response to walking to the lake on the lake loop when more bicycles are present
21. Condition no response or positive response to walking to the lake on the lake loop when many bicycles are present
22. Condition no response or positive response to walking around the interior loop when it is very crowded and noisy

Wow, good job!

And just to clarify, within each list item, you plan to start outside the dog's trigger zone and move nearer only in increments, right?

I imagine that as you go through the steps, you may well find that some of the list items are non-issues.

And that as you go through, the true issues will become very clear.

"I think her fear stemmed from bicycles flying by us on hiking/biking trails and big noisy crowds that were present at some outdoor live music events."


Yeah, I'm with her.

Thank you Bryan,

I get it.

I guess I'd be concerned that the timing of a treat, for example, didn't reward the unwanted behavior. Not elegantly expressed.

Thank you for all the effort.

And you too, Connie.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

And just to clarify, within each list item, you plan to start outside the dog's trigger zone and move nearer only in increments, right?

I imagine that as you go through the steps, you may well find that some of the list items are non-issues.

And that as you go through, the true issues will become very clear.

Exactly! It was just meant as some rough notes for me... not so much something for publication. She got progressively more stressed as we got into the crowded places so I figured starting at the furthest point in the same general area and getting her confident before progressing closer and closer to the chaotic areas.

To me, the quiet corner of the parking lot was just outside of her trigger zone by a hair so that was my starting point. If she's too stressed and I can't get her in a positive mindset, won't take food, etc then I'll have to maybe begin in the car in the driveway or someplace she's more comfortable that feels a bit like the same area.... a gravel parking lot at another site for example. Obviously she is setting the pace here, so while I wrote out this detailed list, she's going to be rewriting it as we go(exactly as you mentioned )

More than anything, I shared it to illustrate how, as far as I understand, you want to build in steps or layers to progress towards facing the stresser as opposed to just flooding/facing the stresser head on at a high level.

 Quote: Mike Arnold

I guess I'd be concerned that the timing of a treat, for example, didn't reward the unwanted behavior. Not elegantly expressed.

My take on it, and I imagine others with more experience will have better advice, is that you want to work just before this threshold so you're not actually seeing the unwanted behavior.

If your dog is scared of a bike at 10 feet and not at 11 feet, then you start at 11 feet and do something fun like obedience/marker train, play, eat lunch, etc. Move from 11 feet to 10 1/2, then 10, etc. If you find that at 8 feet you get that negative reaction then you should still be at 9 feet. Back up to the distance that you just stop getting the reaction and work from there.

It seems like the real key here is being able to read your dog. Finding that they won't take food is a sure sign of stress but reading their body language is really vital too. Mine gets very alert and looks around very actively when she passes that stress threshold. When I see this I know we are pushing the envelope too far.