• Michael D’Abruzzo

    Administrator
    August 8, 2022 at 8:53 pm
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    I agree with Allie’s troubleshooting. The main thing you need to consider are any “biological constraints on learning”.

    For example, counter-conditioning is not equally effective or even possible in all situations if there may be a limit to what we can consider a particular dog capable of. Most anxiety plans need to really look at the management closely first. Is it possible to counter-condition certain dogs to not bark or be frustrated in very particular circumstances or is only suppression possible?

    Make sure that you are familiar with the 5.0 lecture on housebreaking and 5.0 lecture on anxiety to best troubleshoot.

    Sometimes the issue is easier solved in the management plan which is a foundation to both of these areas. When a dog is kennels we need to look at the overall comfort, accommodations, stimulus, any visual or audio stimulus that may cause a natural response (barking) and what can be changed to make it easier to make successful plans up the line.

    For instance I know if I need to kennel or have Eury behind a gate away from me she shows no anxiety unless she has visual on me. So she will be ok all day in the living room if I cannot give her much attention behind a gate, where she cannot see me in my office, but not ok in the kitchen where she would have a visual on me. That is just one example.