Fear Based Behaviors - An Overview

What are fear based behaviors?
The easy answer is that it is a behavior caused by fear. Fear is a stressor and the dog will
often try to reduce the stress in a way that works for it. These fears can manifest in many
ways, but tend to fall into a couple of categories: aggressive type behaviors and
avoidance type behaviors (please note that I am generalizing here for the sake of brevity).

What are aggressive type behaviors?
These behaviors include, but are not limited to, barking, growling, lunging, and
nipping/biting.

What are avoidance type behaviors?
These behaviors include, but are not limited to, hiding, running away, and avoiding the
object causing the fear.

Can a dog display both categories?
Yes. Many dogs will show a combination of both.

How do we treat fear based behaviors?
We use a technique called desensitization and counterconditioning. Basically, we pair the frightening object with food. The important things to remember when working with a fearful dog is that the food should be high value (no kibble) and that the distance between the dog and the frightening object is very important.

To recap: food and distance! Food and distance!

The Basics of Desensitization and Counterconditioning (reprinted from a previous
article)

• This is not luring or bribing.
• Food does not make aggression worse.
• The dog does not need to do anything but take the treat (no sits, downs or stays)
• If the dog takes the treat and spits it out, some benefit will still be seen.
• Distance between the scary object and the dog is critical. Start with more distance
• at first and slowly work up to being close to the object.
• Do not force the dog to be close to the object.
• Food fundamentally changes the emotional response that the dog has to the scary
• object. Praise and petting does not do this. Punishment will make the fear worse.
• Remember this equation
• Object = scary
• Object = food
• Food = good
• Object = good

When to use desensitization and counterconditioning:
When the dog is extremely shy or fearful.
When the dog is afraid of objects or things that are unclickable (like wind and rain noises).
When the dog is afraid of the clicker
Anytime!

Flooding
Flooding is a technique that forces the dog to be next to the object it fears until it stops fearing the object. Food is not involved with this process. Many people see the dog shut down and think that the dog is over its fear. In reality, the dog has given up. Flooding is considered to be aversive by many positive reinforcement trainers. It has been shown to backfire in many instances, since the dog does not overcome its fear, but,
instead, either shuts down completely (given up) or becomes even more fearful.

Some examples of flooding:

• Hunting dog is afraid of gunshots, so owner forces dog to be in a kennel next to the firing range.
• Herding dog is afraid of sheep. Owner forces dog to stay in the pasture with the sheep.
• Dog is afraid of strangers. Owner forces the dog to allow pats by strangers.
• Dog is afraid of being outside. Owner forces the dog to be outside.

In each of these instances, it is a rare dog that overcomes its fear and gets used to the objects. Instead, we tend to see more behavioral issues: inappropriate urination/defecation, avoidance of the object to the point where the dog will hurt itself or the owner in order to get away, aggression towards the objects it fears.