BH160: Sound Advice: Conquering Noise Sensitivity

Classical Conditioning: working with sound

Helping a dog with sound sensitivities is all about connecting those scary sounds to a variety of Good Things for Dogs.  Right now, they think that noise is a problem (for whatever historical reason) instead of a neutral event, and so to counteract that opinion we need to show them that the noise is actually a good thing rather than a bad thing.  How? By showing them that it is the thing that happens right before the Good Things for Dogs shows up.  Over time perhaps that sound can become neutral like it is for most people and dogs, but during rehab, we need to counteract those already-negative opinions with a push of that pendulum that moves those opinions in the positive direction!

We need a lot of power to push that pendulum, though.  After all the noise is taking root, right? The opinion is pretty far into the negative side of things?  To get all the way where we need to go, we need some power.

For those of you who have tried to follow noises with Good Things, and have failed to make any change in your dog, there are a few likely culprits getting in the way.  One is that the Good Things aren't strong enough to push the full weight of the pendulum all the way over, resulting in no movement.  The other is that the pendulum is just too heavy in the time you're trying to push it, resulting in no movement. Or both! Still resulting in no movement.

Now, we can keep pushing at it, straining with all our might, trying hard, but still that heavy pendulum is going to stay there. Until we change the forces affecting this movement, we're not likely to get very far. 

One way to address this power imbalance is to beef up the strength of our Good Thing.  This is what you are doing right now with the parties.  Your parties are your Good Thing, and the more fun they are, the more power they have to move opinions.  Will they be strong enough to move the pendulum? Not at first, or maybe only a notch or two. But in time, with repetition, that power grows. You'll get better at including the best elements into those parties, the factors with the highest value, and you'll add as much of your own excitement and connection as you can so that it continues to grow in strength.  On its own, though, it'll have limits. 

The other way to address this power imbalance is to lighten the weight of the pendulum!  Come join us in class to find out how, and to get the tools you need to really make this shift for your dog!