What happened? What's going on with my dog? These are common questions when faced with fear reactions that our dogs can exhibit. Often we are able to figure out where the problem came from, sometimes not. Whether or not we can conclude a reasonable explanation for a fear behavior matters not. The behavior needs to be addressed head on to help repair a trauma. ,

Trauma has many different levels and degrees. I am addressing mild trauma; something that triggers a fear response but is not all consuming on a 24 hour a day basis. Just yesterday Elsa and I went live on my FB page. Someone who attended the "Just Dogs and Wine with Sherri" event explained how her dog has a fear response to some noises. Noise is a common fear trigger. Something visual can also be a trigger.

So what do we do to help our dogs get through their trauma? Some traumas will remain longer than others; the length of time that it has been going on will factor in on repairing or replacing the trigger with something else.

Counter conditioning is what should be implemented. This involves changing how the dog responds to a stimulus by associating it with a positive activity. One cannot be fearful and non fearful at the same time.

A good example is a thunder storm. Many dogs are traumatized by booming thunder; it is a very common fear. But, if you introduce a thunder sound at a very low level and far distance while implementing a positive stimulus then you can work over time to erase the fear response. The positive association must be valuable or good enough to begin the repairing and replacement of the fear response.

Counter conditioning is done in baby steps; some times even baby steps need to be broken down into baby steps within baby steps to achieve the best results. If you consider the whole "association" in repairing a trauma it is easier to understand. You must replace the negative with a positive association. Many dogs have traumas; what you do with that trauma with either help to repair or make it worse.