Counterconditioning and Desensitization Basics Ep 216

[00:00:00] This week, episode 216, we are talking about counterconditioning and desensitization. I keep hearing these terms in the grooming industry, and boy, they are not being used correctly. A lot of groomers believe that they're desensitizing a dog just by introducing them to a new tool or a new experience.

[00:00:19] Or by continuing to groom that, that will make them less sensitive and counter conditioned, and that's simply not how this works. So we're gonna chat about that this week. You are listening to the Creating Great Grooming Dog Show. I'm Chrissy Neumyer Smith.

[00:00:32] I'm a master groomer behavior specialist, a master canine stylist, a certified professional dog trainer, a certified behavior consultant for canines certified professional groomer, and a bunch of other things. I'm also the Dean of academics and an educator at the whole pet Grooming Academy, and this my friends and colleagues, is the show where we talk about teaching pets to be good for grooming and other types of care.

[00:00:55] Let's talk about counterconditioning and desensitization. , I keep hearing them used incorrectly. I often see a dog who is overwhelmed with a groomer saying we are counterconditioning him right now and. If they're overwhelmed, you are not counter conditioning. If they're overwhelmed, you are not desensitizing.

[00:01:18] What you're actually doing is still kind of pushing 'em through a grooming. You're putting them in a situation that they know is scary and you're continuing the scary, and let me put it to you this way. Yeah, there's a really good chance you are making them more sensitive. There is a reason why I've been trying to tell people for such a long time that continuing while they're afraid makes the problem worse.

[00:01:42] And I think that we've all observed that, but once in a great while. Once in a great while. We have one little dog that's like, oh, okay, I'm fine now. Just often enough for that myth to continue that they'll learn to be good, but they are not going to just learn to be good. That's not how this works.

[00:02:01] Desensitization is when a dog is very sensitive about something already and we want them to not be sensitive about that. . For example, if this is a first time meeting the dog, or it's a new puppy and it's their first exposure to something, you're not desensitizing 'cause they're not sensitive.

[00:02:19] You might be sensitizing. You might be making them sensitive to something if you're continuing at a level they can't handle. And yet I see a lot of groomers doing that. We need to keep them at the point where they're calm. We need to keep them at the point where they're comfortable. We need to gently expose them to new stuff in a way that builds confidence, in a way that makes them trust us.

[00:02:43] It makes them feel safe. That's calm, comfortable, and cooperative. If you've been listening to the show for a while, that's been our, um, a mantra. If you will, where we think about how we want this dog to behave in the future and for their future groomings, which is to be calm, comfortable, and cooperative.

[00:03:02] So if we are exposing a new puppy to something that they've never seen before, this is first contact. This is our opportunity to make this as pleasant as possible. Pleasant. Not make them feel like they're unsafe, that's not gonna teach 'em that it's safe. Sensitive moment for us to say, Ooh, is that too much for you?

[00:03:26] Lemme back off. Let me make sure that you're in the zone where everything feels safe. Early socialization for our puppies involves trying to make them feel safe with everything, not just expose 'em to everything. And I often hear people , saying that they're desensitizing this puppy. And I'm like, no, that puppy is having a really hard time right now and you're continuing.

[00:03:49] That's not desensitization. Now, when does desensitization come in? Desensitization is when an animal is very sensitive about something. Maybe they're already afraid of loud noises or somebody touching around their eyes, and we have a controlled situation where we're trying to teach them. They don't need to be sensitive about that by not making it scary.

[00:04:16] By making it as pleasant as possible and not triggering that scared feeling. I know we're talking about feelings with dogs. Oh, Chrissy, you're so anthropomorphic. I'm not being anthropomorphic. We know that dogs have fears. We know that. Think they can find things scary. So we're trying to find that sweet spot.

[00:04:36] What can you handle and how can I gradually help you handle more until you are not sensitive? That's desensitization a slow and gradual process that if you're doing it right, looks about as interesting as watching paint dry. It should not be, , big, loud, crazy. It should be really calm. It should be looking like nothing is happening.

[00:05:05] This is why I don't have a whole lot of videos about, and then he was screaming and panicking and I jumped in and ta ta he's desensitized. That's not how it works. If we're doing it right. They do not reach the point where they're afraid and we work at that sweet spot where they can handle it. And then we build, we're expanding their comfort zone, and we build and build and build on it.

[00:05:29] Now, desensitization is a process, so it might mean that you are not going to be doing the grooming. I know. And as groomers, we're like, well, of course I have to do the grooming, but we don't. We don't, this is now stepping into a little bit more of a, I am offering a behavior service so that your dog can handle a grooming service in the future.

[00:05:52] And groomers, I want you to know you do not have to become a dog trainer. Okay? , I know I love dog training, and I want y'all to be behavior geeks, and I'd love for you to learn more about it and feel comfortable doing dog training procedures with your customers. I do teach the Master Groomer Behavior Specialist Diploma Program at The Whole Pet

[00:06:11] Grooming Academy if you're interested, but you don't need to know how to do that. But what if just having an awareness of, oh, wait a minute, if I continue, I could be undoing all of the work that that owner is doing. I could be undoing all of the work that that trainer is doing. I am not doing this owner or this dog any favors by continuing grooming if they're sensitive about it.

[00:06:35] Not unless I'm trying to help the dog feel safe. I want the dog to trust us. To feel safe, to be calm, comfortable, cooperative, to have a good time during their grooming process. And if I just continue pushing, I'm probably making the problem worse. And if every groomer out there recognize that part, things would be a lot better for these dogs.

[00:07:01] Like, Ooh, I don't wanna make the problem worse. I don't wanna make the problem worse, so I'm not going to continue and keep going and keep going. The amount of times that I see videos of a groomer with a dog who's screaming, saying, and we're counterconditioning and we're desensitizing, I'm like, you're literally not.

[00:07:18] That is not how any of this works. That's, those are big words that you've heard, and you might be thinking, well, Chrissy, that's the way I was taught. Do you have any documentation? You can Google the word desensitization. You can Google the word counter conditioning. You Go ahead, Google it. There's tons of information out there.

[00:07:35] That it is not just about forcing 'em through. We're not, we're not just continuing. They're not going to just figure it out. If they're panicking, you're not desensitizing, you're actually sensitizing. You're teaching them. This is very, very frightening and people don't stop. You're teaching avoidance behaviors.

[00:07:54] You might be teaching aggression. That's not desensitization. Gradual, gentle exposure to something that we know they're sensitive to at a level that they can handle. At a level where they feel comfortable. Maybe that's, I'm turning on the dryer, pointing it at the floor and getting them used to, oh, the dryer turned on.

[00:08:18] The dryer turned off. The dryer turned on. The dryer turned off. Oh, that used to be scary. Now I'm kind of used to it. You don't even necessarily need to use food or petting or praise. What if you're just telling them a little bit about what's going on? Giving them the chance , to acclimate, to get used to things.

[00:08:35] And if it's their first exposure, that's not desensitization 'cause they're not yet sensitive to it., It's really easy to accidentally make them sensitive to it, so desensitization controlled, gradual exposure at a level the dog can handle. We're not pushing 'em through it. We're not trying to assume that they'll just figure it out.

[00:08:56] We're not holding onto them while they're panicking or flailing. We're trying to teach them, Hey, you're safe. Everything's fine. Let's make you less sensitive to something that you used to maybe think was scary. And it comes up a lot. And in the next part, we're gonna talk about counter conditioning, which is a separate process from desensitization, but also they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

[00:09:23] So they're often used together because they're really effective friends. So in the next part we'll talk about counter conditioning.

[00:09:31] Counter conditioning is when a dog or a pet or a person, anybody. When our learner in dog training, we often talk about our learner. 'cause in dog train, did you know that dog training's all about teaching the people who own the dogs too? Yeah. True story. But counterconditioning is when our learner thinks about one way and we're trying to change their mind.

[00:09:54] Counter two. Their old beliefs., in dog grooming, what we're trying to teach them is like, oh, something that you used to think was very frightening. We're going to change your mind about it. So let me give you an example. Counter conditioning for, let's say you pull out the nail clippers and the dog sees that inanimate object and has a fear response that has been accidentally created by the way someone used those nail clippers.

[00:10:25] Right. If they see nail clippers, this inanimate object and have a fear response to it, not just like a little bit like I've never seen that before in my default setting when faced with something new is like, Ooh, I don't know what to think of new things. That's a little bit different than the dog who's like, oh my God, I'm outta here.

[00:10:42] I've seen those things before. They have a sensitization to it. They're very sensitive to it. They have a bad experience, is the, the way that we often word it, like, oh yeah, I've had a bad experience. So they see these nail clippers and they start thinking like, I, I wanna get out of here.

[00:10:57] There's a fear response and if we want to change that, first thing we need to do is we need to recognize where that fear response came from and never do that again. That's a big one for us as groomers. Wait, are you saying we never do his nails again? Nope. But I am saying we never just hold him down while he screams or strap him up 5,000 ways and get his nails done while he screams.

[00:11:21] We have to decide that we're not gonna let this tool be used for something scary again. It's a big decision, isn't it? And I think people listening to this show are saying like, yeah, I'm on board. I don't know how to do it. Or maybe you do know how to do it, I think. I think there are a lot of you out there who are doing fabulous work.

[00:11:41] I am consistently humbled by all of you, by the way. You guys are awesome. The creating great grooming dog's family is pretty big and pretty awesome. So I want you to think, if we know that this dog sees nail clippers and thinks scary things are gonna happen, we wanna change his mind to think I see nail clippers and maybe good things are gonna happen.

[00:12:02] That's counter conditioning. We're gonna now pair those nail clippers with something the dog likes Now. Timing means a lot with this, and I want you to think about how sometimes we're using, let's say, food or toys as a distraction. That's gonna be different than counter conditioning. Counter conditioning is I want the dog to see, oh, no Clippers appeared, but I want them to see it at a point they can handle that sweet spot.

[00:12:32] Again, like we talked about with desensitization. Ooh, the points that I can handle and work there. So for instance, if it's nail clippers, maybe I don't just come over and touch the dog with the nail clippers. Maybe I hold them next to me and I'd like, Hey, look this tool's next.

[00:12:50] And then put them down again and then add something the dog enjoys. What if I make the nail clippers the precursor for something good? Because the dog thinks the nail clippers are the precursor for something bad. Hmm. Now. I want you to think back. I think everyone has heard of Pavlov, but Pavlov wasn't trying to study dog behavior.

[00:13:17] Pavlov was trying to collect samples when dogs salivate, but the tone, it was a bell or a buzzer for the lab technicians to feed the animals was causing the dogs to salivate before the food was presented. And they thought, what an interesting thing, what is making that happen?

[00:13:38] And that turned into the first real studies about classical conditioning. Counter conditioning is a classical conditioning process, so classical conditioning. Why were dogs salivating when they hear the bell as if they were presented with food? Because the bell had come to mean food is coming. Food is next.

[00:14:02] The bell means food is going to happen next. Think about that. So if the dog sees nail clippers and thinks holding me down while I scream is coming next, then they, find the nail clippers terrifying. Even though nail clippers aren't nail trimming. They're an inanimate object. They're just a thing.

[00:14:21] They're just a tool that until they've learned to be afraid of them, most dogs are like, Hmm, what's the thing in your hand? Okay, whatever. I don't know why my dog voice sounds like Kermit the frog today. Heidi ho. But it does today. I don't know, I'm a Muppet, but I want you to think about if the dog sees a tool and thinks, oh, bad things are coming, what if we taught them, oh, I see a tool.

[00:14:45] Good things are coming. I see a tool, good things are coming, and that's where we have to say, all right, my process is when I show the tool, then I add a good thing. In so many cases, that's gonna be a food treat, but they have to see the tool first. The tool has to predict the good stuff. Yeah, not just be paired with the good stuff, but predict the good stuff.

[00:15:12] I see the tool and I think, oh my God, they're gonna give cheese. , make it taste like cheese. , if every time I heard that noise or I saw that tool, somebody handed me something that I really, really like, I'd be like, oh, I love it when I see that tool. That is the process we're using.

[00:15:33] It also means that we can't use that tool the way it had been used before. You have to really think about, I'm not gonna let that happen again. So the timing is important. This, predicts that something good is gonna happen and we change their mind. We counter to what they thought before.

[00:15:57] Counter conditioning and conditioning being classical conditioning we're not really doing any dog training in the sense of teaching them something new, like, sit, stay down. We're not even using, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or negative punishment.

[00:16:12] Those are all operant conditioning, not classical conditioning. I know I got a little bit geeky techy in there, but, for anybody out there who's like, oh, I've heard these terms before. Classical conditioning is more about I'm gonna adjust the environment around this dog. And watch for what the dog's responses are.

[00:16:33] It's on the trainer, handler, owner it's on us, the human end, not on the dog. If we're doing our job right, it's about as interesting as watching paint dry and then they start getting kind of happy, like, oh, wait a minute. Um, every time that tool comes out, good things happen for me. And it's happened often enough, and the old thing that I thought was gonna happen with this tool has not happened.

[00:16:59] Again, counter conditioning. And in that process we're also gradual exposure at a point they can handle to make them less sensitive. That's why Counterconditioning and desensitization go together, lack peanut butter and jelly. They go together. They work really, really well together because our goal is to make them less sensitive.

[00:17:21] And change their mind. As an example. Maybe it's the brush, you see a brush and now I show you a brush and you get a cookie, show you a brush, get a cookie. But I have to show the brush at a point where the dog is not yet afraid if I come at them with the brush and start brushing and then give cookies, that is not the same.

[00:17:42] That's not the process. If we're doing it right, they don't become afraid. And yes, it is stepping out of your role as dog groomer and stepping into offering, a behavior service. And if you do not wish to offer a behavior service, that's fine. Have them go to a trainer, but also know if that's what they're working on.

[00:18:03] Then you can't use that tool in a way that makes that animal afraid because you'll be undoing all of the training they've done. Or the training that they're working on. And frankly, it's not the way that I would love us all to use our tools. If an animal is afraid, we should readjust and figure out what we're doing.

[00:18:22] We should not be doing things that make animals afraid. We should always be thinking about their feelings so that we can kind of say like, Ooh, you seem a little afraid of that. I think maybe I need to talk to mommy and find out if anything's gone on. Maybe you need to go to the dog trainer if you do not wanna be the trainer.

[00:18:37] That's okay.

[00:18:38] But too often we are undoing training that they've been doing at home. Because we feel that, well, I have to, to get the job done. You do not have to to get the job done. Guess what? If they're not ready and prepared for our grooming services, isn't it a better idea for us to help them be ready for our services, to maybe help them find the help that they need, maybe find the trainer that they need, or the homework that they need to do.

[00:19:04] Or maybe it's a simple matter of not having them at home traumatizing their dog with these tools, but we don't want the animals to be afraid of our tools. There are plenty of dogs out there who, with some work. We can change their mind, we can make them less sensitive. We can counter condition, change their mind through classical conditioning, Pavlov.

[00:19:26] And every once in a while someone asks me can you cite your sources? So classical conditioning Pavlov, that was the end of the 1800's when he was studying this. This is well established science. This isn't. Chrissy has opinions. This is well established science, classical conditioning, simple pairing of a thing with another thing.

[00:19:51] I'm gonna give you an example. I think examples can be helpful. I had a kitty that I adopted when she was nine, and she had never really been brushed. She was kind of a nervous little Nelly. She was a short hair kitty, but she was at that age where she was starting to get , some matting on her hips because she just couldn't reach it.

[00:20:09] So when I adopted her, I also needed to teach her about being held, being picked up, being handled, things that she wasn't quite used to. And new place knew everything. She was afraid of brushes. She was afraid of everything. And I had to kind of flip the script, so like, Hey, look, you see a brush? Here's a cookie.

[00:20:28] See your brush? Here's a cookie. Touch you with a brush. Here's a cookie. And not only did that kitty learn to allow me to brush her. If the brush was out, she was purring and rubbing up against the brush. If I was brushing the dog, she was rubbing up against the dog waiting for her chance to be brushed because we helped her understand that this can be really pleasant.

[00:20:50] And let's think for a moment about some of the dog grooming procedures that we do. Brushing. Brushing can feel really nice. You know, the bath being massaged with warm soap. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? I mean, I don't think it sounds that bad. Drying, aside from the weirdness of the noise. I mean, drying is not particularly uncomfortable or unpleasant.

[00:21:18] We can do that in a way that is really quite reasonable for the average dog. I think that we start thinking everything must be unpleasant, yet it doesn't need to be, , standing on a table while someone's clipping or scissoring. Not particularly unpleasant. I think, , a lot of our pets find it boring.

[00:21:40] And if they're not afraid of our tools, if they're not afraid of these procedures, we can have a lifetime of really good grooming experiences with them. We can teach them to be good for it. And counter conditioning is a great tool. I see something that you have paired with something that's scary and I'm gonna have you pair it with something that's pleasant until you start thinking like, oh yeah, brushes, I like brushes.

[00:22:07] Dryer. Ooh, I like dryer. There are lots of things that we can do to help these animals feel better, but desensitization and counter conditioning all rely on the idea that we're not going to let that tool be scary again. We're not gonna let that procedure be scary again. We're not gonna let any of this be scary again because we might find ourselves back at the beginning.

[00:22:31] And that's a terrible waste of our time. Who wants to fight with dogs all day? That's no fun. Counter conditioning and desensitization are a process. A process where the pet is still always feeling safe, always feeling okay, and we adjust how we do stuff and things to the dog.