Dog trainers talk about systematic desensitization a lot, but do we know what it means?

Desensitization is a psychology term that refers to a process that reduces the emotional response to a specific trigger. With dogs, we are often trying to reduce emotional responses like barking and lunging, hiding, biting or growling, or jumping and pulling.

There are many different ways for desensitization to happen, but an example is playing the sound of fireworks very quietly, and slowly increasing the volume. Systematic Desensitization is more specific. It has three main steps.

Step 1: Relaxation Training

First, the learner is taught relaxation/coping techniques.

In humans, we often learn things like box breathing, meditation, and other mental management skills to reduce anxiety. In dogs, we often use food eating. But there are other skills that work too, like enrichment activities or tracking. The things we teach dogs must be observable for the humans, because they can’t tell us how they feel. We also need to be careful not to mistake stillness or a lack of overt fear for relaxation.

Step 2: Establish Hierarchy

Triggers are then listed, and different levels of exposure are ranked by how much anxiety they cause. If there are multiple triggers, then they are all rated and worked on separately. This list enables the systematic approach.

Step 3: Gradual Exposure

The learner engages with the relaxation technique or coping mechanism, and when relaxed is exposed to the trigger at the lowest level. The goal is that they are able to stay relaxed for the duration of the exposure.

After their emotional response is decreased, they can be exposed to the next level.

So, why do we care?

Not all training protocols are created equal, and not all protocols are best for every dog!

Dog training borrows language from many other fields. Sometimes meaning gets lost along the way. When in doubt, go to the original source and see for yourself.

Being clear about what each protocol or method means can help us select the right one for each team.