Protocol for Relaxation
Dr. Karen Overall
The protocol is a program that was designed so that your dog could learn from it without becoming stressed and without learning to ignore the tasks because they were too predictable. The protocol intersperses long activities with short ones. You may have to adjust some activities to your particular needs.
The pattern is actually spelled out in the program.
It is preferable to reward the dog only for performing each task perfectly!
If this is not possible for your dog, you can use a "shaping" procedure in which you first reward the dog for a behavior that approaches that indicated in the task. The next time you do the task, the behavior must be closer to perfect to be rewarded. If the program is done correctly, your dog will perform the task perfectly within a short time.
The protocol is a foundation for desensitizing and counterconditioning your dog to situations in which it reacts inappropriately. The pages can be used as one day's tasks, or you may proceed at the dog's pace (which may be faster or slower). Some exercises are weird (asking you to run in circles or talk to people who do not exist), but these can be very helpful in getting dogs to learn to relax in a variety of circumstances.
Before you start the actual exercises, you must practice with the dog so that it can Sit/down perfectly for 15 seconds without moving. Do this with food treats as described previously. Once your dog can Sit/down this way and look happy and as if it worshipped the ground you walk on, you are ready for the more challenging stuff.
Theoretically the tasks are grouped in 15- to 20-minute units. Your dog may have to go more slowly or may be able to go quickly.
This is not a race, and people who push their dogs too quickly create additional anxiety problems! Watch your dog's cues.
Once the animal can Sit/down for 15 seconds perfectly, reward it only when it approaches perfect behavior or perfection on the other exercises. Use the shaping behaviors discussed previously if needed. If the dog really cannot perform an exercise or task, return to one that the dog knows flawlessly, reward the perfect performance, and stop.
Every member of the family is to work 15 to 20 minutes per day with the dog, but it may be less anxiety provoking and more stimulating for the dog if this is done in three or four 5 minute segments.
If everyone in the family cannot or will not work with the dog, the people who are not participating must not sabotage the program. If there is a problem with non-cooperation in the household, the dog will not behave as well as it can.
Remember that the keys to success are consistency and appropriate rewards. This means that, although we want you to work 15 to 20 minutes once or twice per day, you should work only for as long as both you and the dog are enjoying and benefiting from the program.
If this means that you use six 5-minute intervals to accomplish three or four of the tasks, that is fine.
Please do not end on a bad note.
If the dog's behavior is deteriorating or its attention is dissipating, do one final, fun, easy exercise and stop. By pushing the dog past its limits, you induce anxiety, and the dog backslides.
When the dog is able to perform all of the tasks and exercises both on- and off-lead in one location (the living room), repeat them all in other rooms and circumstances (the backyard or the park-use a lead here). When the dog performs all the tasks perfectly in all places with all household members, you are ready for Tier 2 of the protocols, which focuses on your dog's specific problems.
If at any point you cannot get past one task, try breaking that task into two or three component parts. If this still does not help, reach out to a trainer as he or she will be able to help you determine the root of the problem. Please do not just continue accepting suboptimal responses. The goal is to improve your dog's behavior. Videotaping while you work with the dog can help. Not only can you show the trainer what you are doing, but also you can be a more objective critic of your approach if you are not also an active participant.
Finally, remember that the dog will give you lots of cues about how it feels. We are rewarding the physical changes associated with relaxation and happiness and so will also reward the underlying physiological states associated with this (parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system). This means that if the dog is relaxed, its body is not stiff, the jaws hang relaxed and are not tense, the ears are alert or cocked but not rigid, its head is held gently at an angle, and the eyes are calm and adoring, you will be rewarding the nervous system responses that help your dog learn. If you mistakenly reward fear, tension, aggression, or avoidance, you will not make as much progress. If it is easier for you and the dog to be relaxed if the dog is lying down, do that.
Good luck, and do not get discouraged!
Many dogs go through a period of 3 to 7 days when their behavior gets worse before it improves. For the first time in their life the dogs have a rule structure they must follow, and they get frustrated while learning it. As they discover they are rewarded for being relaxed and happy, their behavior will improve. These programs are more difficult for the people, in many ways, than they are for the dogs. Stick with it!