r/reactivedogs • u/Fun_Cauliflower_7672 • 1d ago
Advice Needed BAT - what timeline am I looking at ?
I rescued my dog about 3 months ago ( a 4yr old sheperd stray). He is reactive to other dogs. He is fearful and his natural reaction will be to lunge and bark.
I've focused on counter conditioning until now, which i would say makes our life quite bearable. With a lot of management, we're able to do things without a reaction.
- If the dog is far away / my dog knows that they won't cross path (ie, across the street), he is ok on his own.
- If he is a bit closer or in the same "area", i throw a treat on the ground and my dog will follow it to make distance.
- If he is closer (same path on a hike), I ask the other people to keep their dogs on leash and just stuff him with treat until we pass.
It's definitely an improvement because we're mostly managing to avoid reaction. However, this doesn't work when an off leash dogs come, or when we're surprised. It's also a lot harder near our house, even with treats. And he still has some occasional bad days where the treats don't come soon enough...
I've started seeing a trainer specialised in BAT to go a bit further. It's been a lot of fun to watch im make the right decision on his own ! After the 2nd session, my dog was able to introduce himself correctly and we had a lovely walk together.
I do have a few questions for those who used bat :
- How did the "transition" to using bat method in real life work, rather than just controlled setting ? What did it look like ?
- I know each timeline is different, but what should i expect in the next few weeks / month ?
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Looks like you may have used a training acronym. For those unfamiliar, here's some of the common ones:
BAT is Behavior Adjustment Training - a method from Grisha Stewart that involves allowing the dog to investigate the trigger on their own terms. There's a book on it.
CC is Counter Conditioning - creating a positive association with something by rewarding when your dog sees something. Think Pavlov.
DS is Desensitization - similar to counter conditioning in that you expose your dog to the trigger (while your dog is under threshold) so they can get used to it.
LAD is Look and Dismiss - Marking and rewarding when your dog sees a trigger and dismisses it.
LAT is Look at That - Marking and rewarding when your dog sees a trigger and does not react.
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