#desensitisation

(I hope that this question makes sense)

No. Desensitisation happens through prolonged exposure regardless of the source. However, desensitisation is not inherently the problem. It doesn't necessarily matter if something is no longer shocking because we are so used to seeing it. It matters that despite it no longer being shocking, we still acknowledge that it is wrong and is something we need to take action against.

For example, while photos of bombings and dead bodies may no longer give you the same shock value, you can still resonate with the fact that it is an awful thing, right? Its not shocking anymore, because you know it happens and you know what it looks like, but it doesn't disincentivise you from taking action.

We live in a world that is constantly barraging us with gore, violence, bigotry and death. Its only natural that after a certain point we may not have the same visceral reactions to it as we once did. However, it should not impact the choices you make regarding what you do about those things.

Tarps are for standing on and wearing.

Just like that, Freyja found the path of least resistance is actually the easiest. She’s about as good as she’s going to be on the lunge already, perhaps not comcentrating but not being impossible to work with either. She definitely does better with more things to do rather than less, which is kinda nice.

Today we worked on foot control - making her think where her feet are and what she’s doing with them. Since she’s not totally understood stepping laterally from the off side, hopefully this will help her to trust that my cues. We started with moving around the arena, then side-stepping over a cone, and finished up with the tarpaulin. Just as I expected, she wasn’t fussed about the sound or the look of it, but still didn’t trust me enough to put her feet on it. This resulted in me increasing the reward (adding in a treat for motivation) but not letting her move any further away from the object.

After a couple of attempts at side stepping it and some sulky begging for the treat, she figured out that if she just did as I asked, she’d get rewarded. That was a lightbulb moment. Her desire to get the reward outweighed her mistrust of this unfamiliar thing and she realised that no, it wasn’t a trap, and actually why had she been unwilling to stand on it in the first place?

Pool noodles

Water bottles

Toy balls

Tarp

Whips with plastic bag on end

Balloons

Kite

Umbrellas

I came across a chap with his terrier type dog this morning whilst out with Ziggy. He proceeded to behave, somewhat, oddly with his dog.

As we approached, he turned away from us, shortened the dogs’ lead and made him sit, all the while blocking the dogs’ line of site to us. During our approach he was also constantly feeding his dog treats.

As we reached him, he continued to try to get between his dog and us. Of course, I asked him what he was doing. ‘Stopping my dog looking at your dog’ came the reply. Strange indeed.

He explained that his dog could be a little unpredictable. I asked him to relax and allow his dog to relax a little also - as the dog sat, calmly, I offered him and my dog a treat - duly taken by both dogs.

I have seen this type of behaviour replicated a number of times now. In my opinion, this is a disturbing trend in how to deal with ‘reactive’ dogs.  In fact, it is counter-productive.  Instead of dealing with a behavioural issue, owners are encouraged to take this, rather drastic, avoidance action.  This doesn’t serve the dog well - in fact, this may prevent him from getting over his behaviour issue.

What should be happen is that the dog with reactive issues should be exposed to dogs in a controlled manner - at distance and then ever closer as the dog begins to calm when in proximity of other dogs - desensitisation.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Some dogs are extremely reactive and it can prove very difficult to help them modify their behaviour.  These dogs need to be dealt with very carefully by experienced handlers.

However, the majority of dogs, can be helped with careful desensitisation to the issue that challenges them.  Simply, stopping the dog from experiencing other dogs or situations naturally is a flawed approach.