Shy Dogs Part 3 - Desensitization vs. Sensitization

Desensitization vs. Sensitization

Much of socializing a dog involves "desensitization". We desensitize dogs to head patting, petting, collars, leashes, you name it. It's all about teaching the dogs how to live in our world and be successful. We go through this process because, let's face it, humans are weird! Or at least to dogs we are pretty strange creatures.

-When dogs show each other their teeth, that's usually an aggressive display, right? Well, us humans like to show our teeth to each other when we're happy.

-When one dog looms over another, or tries to get on top/above another dog, that's dominance and aggression. Humans like to reach down over dogs to pet them, pick them up, hug them etc. Strange!!

-Dogs, in a friendly encounter, do not walk directly towards one another. They actually arc around each other to approach. They never approach in a straight line, unless they are trying to threaten each other or show aggression/dominance. So what do we humans do? You guessed it! We walk directly towards each other and give a big hug or a firm handshake. We will walk directly up to a dog, stand right in front of it, stare down at it and then reach over it to give it a good head pat. What's worse: when we walk our dogs, we are always forcing our dogs to walk straight at another dog walker moving in the opposite direction.

-And last but certainly not least. When do dogs make eye contact with one another? All together now :D When they are challenging each other or showing dominance. Rarely do my dogs make eye contact with each other, unless they are about to fight. Humans? We LOVE eye contact ;-P Or at least we appreciate it. For us, it means we're focused on each other, confident in ourselves, etc.

Okay, so I've rambled on about why humans are strange, but what does this have to do with desensitization? Our job, if we want dogs that fit into the human definition of "good" dogs, is to desensitize dogs to all of our strange habits. This means that the dogs think "yeah these humans are weird, but I just put up with all of their eccentricities because it seems to make them happy..." That is what we're doing when we take our puppies to meet strangers who walk straight up to them, smile, stare them in the eye, bend over them, reach out and pet them.

What is sensitization? It's the opposite of desensitization: instead of convincing the dogs to put up with whatever we're doing to them, we accidentally make them more sensitive, more reactive to our actions. This can happen when we force a dog too far past their comfort level, or fear threshold. But it can be more simple than that. My dogs are "sensitized" to me taking the leashes from the hook where they hang. When I pick up a leash, the dogs go bonkers. They just know that we're going for a walk or a car ride. They start jumping all over me, jumping on the tables, knocking stuff over, it's ridiculous. Well, maybe I only picked up the leashes so I could put them in the wash? But, 99% of the time, when I pick up the leashes, we're going somewhere -- my action equals a consequence (in this case the consequence is a good thing, the walk), so the dogs are sensitive to the action.

Another example is a dog getting upset when you pick up your car keys. They know that jingle means that you're leaving them: they are sensitive to the jingle. To desensitize your dog to that jingle, you'd need to pick up your keys and jingle them several times a day -- without leaving! -- until your dog stops getting upset when you jingle your keys. You may need to jingle your keys without leaving periodically on an ongoing basis so you don't re-sensitize your dog by accident.

Now let's apply this concept to fear threshold. Whenever strangers come over, they invade Bella's space. She is way out of her comfort zone, and very nervous when this happens. These strangers keep cornering her, while showing their teeth. She reacts to them by growling and showing her teeth. The stranger is then appalled and offended and leaves her alone. Bella is sensitive to strangers, and has learned that showing aggression makes them go away. We need to desensitize Bella to strangers. To do this, we will have strangers in the vicinity, but not even acknowledging her existence. They will not corner her or look at her, they don't even notice she's in the room. Over time, Bella becomes desensitized to the presence of strangers because she is accustomed to them and doesn't associate them with aggression or threats.