Please Don’t Throw Me in the Deep End Before I Learn to Swim

Exposing your dog to something that scares them until they stop shaking, barking, etc., is called flooding. Just because the dog stops exhibiting anxious behaviors does not mean that they have gotten over the issue. It means they have given in, they are shutdown.

For some dogs flooding may work to change their response to scary things. For others it will backfire and you will no longer be dealing with a little anxiety. After flooding, a dog that shakes or licks their lips a little when they exposed to something scary may now start barking, lunging, or biting in response to the same stimulus. In my opinion, flooding is cruel. It is not worth the risk.

Unfortunately, I have firsthand experience with flooding. This was before I knew better and truly understood dog behavior. When Luna was nine months old, we brought her to a new doggy daycare close to my office. I thought the place sounded great. In reality, it wasn’t. They had free range indoor/outdoor access and the dogs were never crated or separated. After the orientation and initial assessment of Luna’s behavior by the daycare staff, my husband and I watched them introduce her to new dogs. She was the only dog in a in a small fenced in area and the daycare dogs were let into her area one at a time. She was cowering and wanted to get away. I expressed concern. The owner assured us that she would be ok. She was wrong. Luna was trapped in a fenced in area with no rest, downtime, or escape from almost 50 unknown dogs of all shapes and sizes. I cannot believe I left her. If I knew then what I know now, I would have taken her to work and risked getting in trouble. When we picked her up at the end of her first day, daycare staff assured us that she was ok. I’m sure she appeared ok because she was shutdown due to flooding. She became leash reactive the next day. Given the choice, Luna would have fled, now she chooses fight. Over three years later, this still brings tears to my eyes. She now barks and lunges at dogs to scare them away. We have worked extremely hard to improve her reactivity and we have made great strides, but I think we will be in rehab mode for the rest of her life.

Our dogs don’t choose the situations that we put them in. Be their advocate. If observing your dog’s behavior makes you uncomfortable, they are probably feeling worse.

I will explain humane methods to help your dog feel more comfortable around scary things in my next post!

I will always be your advocate.