Benevolent Sun Dogs

WARRIOR! Warrior has been at the shelter for over two years, looking for his unicorn forever home, and we want to get him out, about, and seen by potential adopters!

The rescue has received donated wheelchairs, but they don’t fit him well and he really needs a custom-built one for his particular physical situation. Meanwhile, though, we’re going to desensitize Warrior to his triggers (other dogs, cars, unfamiliar people) with the help of a kids’ wagon and get him out in the world!

www.benevolentsundogs.com 🌅
Canine Behavior Modification & Training
Broward & Palm Beach Counties
▶️ See more of our videos on our YouTube channel

DESENSITIZATION for DOG REACTIVE DOGS:

🔗 What is desensitization? It is a technique whereby we slowly and carefully expose a dog to her trigger(s) in order to decrease her emotional and physical response to it/them. Simply, she “gets used” to the trigger(s) over time.

🔗 Let’s say you move into a house near the railroad tracks. In the beginning, you’re going to be very aware of every passing train, but after a while, you no longer notice. Or you decide to cash in on the latest craze of starting your day with a freezing cold shower. Those first few days aren’t going to be very easy🥶 but you do get used to it. In my case, I have white noise machines playing 24/7 in my house (you can hear them in my home videos). Occasionally I come home, and there’s something not quite right in the house but I can’t put my finger on it. Then I realize the power went out or one of the dogs unplugged the noise machine by mistake and there’s no background noise. I have become so desensitized to the sound that I only notice when it’s not playing.

🔗 In the case of dog reactivity desensitization, it’s super important that we recognize when we have pushed the dog close to or over threshold and use time and distance to bring her back below threshold. Equally important is allowing the dog freedom of movement, so she can advance/retreat and engage/disengage with the other dog at will. Choice is a very powerful reinforcer and puts the dog in control of what is usually a very stressful and scary situation.

www.benevolentsundogs.com 🌅
Canine Behavior Modification & Training
Broward & Palm Beach Counties
▶️ See more of our videos on our YouTube channel