Pets and Their People Blog

This story is an illustration of something Kristina Spaulding, Pd.D., CAAB explained so clearly in her blog on The Development of Fear, published on April 1, 2021. Dr. Spaulding is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist who has worked with dogs, and now focuses on education. To read her excellent blog, follow this link.

Barking and Lunging at Cars

Recently, I worked with a three-year old Sheltie who had no training beyond performing “shake” on cue and following a food lure into a down position. For this article, I will call this dog Daisy. The primary concern of the family was that during leash walks Daisy became hyper-aroused upon seeing motor vehicles, barking, and lunging toward the vehicle. She had even slipped out of a body harness on one occasion and was loose on the street!

We discussed whether this leash reactivity was an expression of herding behavior, or a fear response.

I described how other dogs I have worked with also lunged at passing vehicles, based on fear responses and an apparent attempt to make the scary vehicle go away…which it did, every time.

Daisy’s History

Daisy had been subjected to an electronic containment system (ECS) in the yard. In that system a dog wears a collar which delivers electric shock when the dog moves within proximity of a buried wire, typically located around the perimeter of a property. The intention of the family was understandable, as they wanted their beloved pet to “safely enjoy” their yard. And, after some time, the family installed a metal fence and no longer used the ECS, but a conditioning process had already occurred that involved an association between being in the yard and experiencing an electric shock delivered directly to her neck/throat.

Daisy was also small enough to pass through a hinged cat door, installed on a larger door leading to the basement of the home. Daisy was able to pass through the cat door and eat the cat food, which was placed on the floor, to accommodate an elderly cat who could no longer reach an elevated platform. The family installed a shock device by the cat door to keep the dog from entering the basement. The intention of the family was that they wanted their elderly cat to have access to food. The shock device had since gone out of use, but that too had resulted in a conditioning process inside the house.

Initial Training Session

Fast forward to my appointment for Daisy’s initial training session. I sat quietly on the floor and gave Daisy time to feel comfortable and approach me, and then I began hand-feeding her. She chose to stay near me and seemed to enjoy my interaction. My intention was to establish trust so I could begin teaching her manners skills on cue, that her family could practice in order to help keep her both safe and happy.

At one point, I withdrew a portable iCalmDog ™ calming music player from my training bag and turned it on, which illuminated a blue light on the top of the device. The light is small and in the cute shape of a dog bone. My aim was to provide a calming aid to help Daisy feel even more comfortable with her learning experience. But, Daisy immediately showed signs of fear and fled from the room.

The iCalmDog™ device is not innately frightening. It has no moving parts and I set the volume low, so the music should have been soothing. Indeed, studies have shown the calming effect of the music upon dogs, and I have witnessed that effect on many occasions, and use iCalmDog™ on a frequent basis with my own dog.

What then could Daisy have felt was so threatening that she had to flee the room?

The Fear Response

The owner explained that when the light illuminated, the iCalmDog™ device probably too closely resembled the shock device that was used to keep Daisy away from the cat door. That is the classical conditioning fear response that Dr. Spaulding explained in her blog on The Development of Fear, “where the dog learns to associate a previously neutral stimulus with an innately frightening stimulus” such as electric shock.

And, for little Daisy, exposure to shock upon approaching the cat door was added to previous shock exposure upon approaching the perimeter of the yard.

Dr. Spaulding explains, “The effects of previous experience literally change the brain. Prior learning can change the neurons in the brain in such a way that the sensitivity to future learning also changes.”  She goes on to explain “If certain neurons routinely fire together, the connection between those neurons can become stronger. That particular pathway will now activate more quickly and easily.” There’s a reason.

Our brains are hardwired to generalize fear more easily, to keep us safe.

For instance, nearly stepping on a rattlesnake could make us fearful of all snakes, so we would be less likely to be bitten by a snake in the future. Sounds efficient. And it is…until it isn’t.

Avoidance Behavior

I placed the iCalmDog™ device in my bag, still playing the music. Within seconds Daisy returned, approached me, and relaxed so that I could engage in the fun, reward-based training exercises of Touch, Find It and Look. I noticed that the music playing out of sight was not a fear trigger.

This observation suggests to me that the visual appearance of the iCalmDog™ device, which was not identical to the appearance of the shock device, was close enough that her brain made an association.

Fear associations occur on a subconscious level.

As Dr. Spaulding pointed out, a dog may develop an avoidance behavior, as with Daisy, and thus not be able to learn that the “unconditioned object,” iCalmDog™, in this case, posed no threat. That fear learning can make it more difficult to help your dog feel safe (or more technically, condition the fear response to extinction).

Moreover, did Daisy associate the painful shock from the electronic containment system in the yard with passing cars? On walks, was she frantically barking, lunging, and trying to escape her harness in order to increase the distance between herself and the (perceived) threat?

My journey with Daisy has only begun, and her family is open to learning force-free alternatives and is excited to learn! Team Daisy is ready for the next stage, as we venture into the world and begin a counterconditioning program regarding motor vehicles.

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About the Author

Daniel H. Antolec, PCT-A, CCBC-KA, CPDT-KA began teaching dogs in 2011 and founded Happy Buddha Dog Training. He teaches dogs in a way that makes it fun for pet stewards and pets alike.

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References: 

Credit to Kristina Spaulding, Ph.D., CAAB, “The Development of Fear,” https://sciencemattersllc.com/the-development-of-fear

iCalmPet, https://icalmpet.com/streaming/

Lee, J., Russo, A.S. and R.G. Parsons. (2018). Facilitation of fear learning by prior and subsequent fear conditioning. Behavioural Brain Research, Vol. 347, pp. 61-68. 

Lindig AM, McGreevy PD, Crean AJ. Musical Dogs: A Review of the Influence of Auditory Enrichment on Canine Health and Behavior. Animals (Basel). 2020 Jan 13;10(1):127. doi: 10.3390/ani10010127. PMID: 31941064; PMCID: PMC7022433.

MacLean, E., Snyder-Mackler, N., von Holdt, B.M. and Sepell, J.A. (2019). Highly heritable and functionally relevant breed differences in dog behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286: 20190716.

McMillan, F.D. (2020). Mental Health and Well-being in Animals.

Pittig, A. and J. Dehler. (2019). Same fear responses, less avoidance: Rewards competing with aversive outcomes do not buffer fear acquisition, but attenuate avoidance to accelerate subsequent fear extinction. Behaviour Research and Therapy, Vol. 112, pp. 1 – 11.