Behavior Modification
is a systematic process to change undesirable behaviors by addressing the underlying emotional response, rather than just teaching obedience. It involves understanding the root cause of a behavior and using different techniques to help change the emotion behind the behavior.
We will help YOU understand your dog's behavior, and provide you with management and training skills to help prevent undesirabe behaviors from occurring. We will also work on changing your dog's emotional state so that the undesirable behavior changes over time.
Key aspects of behavior modification include:
- Identify the cause: A professional trainer or behaviorist assesses the dog’s health, environment, and triggers to understand why a problem behavior is happening.
- Change the emotional response: The main goal is to change the dog’s feelings about a situation. For example, instead of just stopping a dog from barking at the door, the aim is to create a new, positive association with the door being opened.
- Use specific techniques such as:
- Desensitization: Gradually and safely exposing the dog to a trigger at a level that doesn’t cause a reaction, slowly increasing its intensity.
- Counter-conditioning: Replacing the negative emotional response to a trigger with a positive one. For example, giving the dog a high-value treat when it sees a person it previously reacted to.
- Redirection: Distracting the dog from the trigger and redirecting its attention and behavior to something else, like a strong training behavior (this is typically where obedience training comes into play.)
- Positive reinforcement: Rewarding desired behaviors with treats, praise, or toys to increase the likelihood of them happening again.
$280
Consultation
$200
Follow-up(s)
It is not recommended to use punishment when trying to change a dog’s behavior. It can cause fear/anxiety/stress, increase aggression, damage the human-dog bond, and is often ineffective for long-term behavioral change. Punishment only tells a dog what NOT to do, it does not teach them what they should do instead. This can lead to confusion and frustration.
How does behavior modification differ from obedience training?
Obedience training focuses on teaching a dog what to do on command, such as “sit” or “stay”. While these commands can be used as a tool in behavior modification, they are not the primary focus. Behavior modification focuses on the root emotional cause of a problem. For instance, teaching a dog to “sit-stay” may help, but behavior modification aims to change the dog’s fear or anxiety that causes the jumping or barking in the first place.
KAREN LANOUE-LAMBRECHT
CPDT-KA, aCDBC
Karen Lanoue-Lambrecht founded PAWSitively Obedient in 1995 and is still working part-time seeing clients on a limited basis. Karen focuses on behavior modification cases, but also offers general training services as well. Karen offers in-home services as well as virtual services. Karen's mission is to educate and coach dog owners through the use of management and positive reinforcement techniques. Karen is a certified professional dog trainer, knowledge assessed (CPDT-KA), as well as an associate certified dog behavior consultant (aCDBC) through the IAABC.
Note: To book sessions with Karen, we start with a 30 minute Discovery Call. This will allow Karen to discuss your goals and give recommendations for further sessions.
