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A person on the FunctionalRewards Yahoo group posted this problem. Her foster dog had become slightly used to her husband using classical counterconditioning and systematic desensitization. But unless the husband was seated or lying down, the foster dog would bark, growl, and lunge. She wanted ideas on applying BAT to this situation. Here was my suggestion.

The benefit of living with the Scary Monster (your husband) is that you can do lots of short set-ups. In between, let your dog rest well – with a chew bone or whatever in another room (separate from hubby, ideally not alone unless the dog prefers that). I think you might be able to make a lot of progress this weekend if you strictly kept them apart except for multiple 5-30 minute sessions. Take 1-2 hours in between, longer if you went over threshold, shorter if it was fun.

You’ve already gotten him used to sitting and lying down with CC/DS. I would still do some BAT set-ups in those positions, as an easy way to get started. There may be some conflict because of the lack of balogna. If so, do Stage 2 BAT at first. Make a list of all the scary things your husband might do in real life and work on the more common ones first, at a distance. Ex: standing up, talking, moving arms, walking toward , hugging a child or you, putting shoes on, wearing a hat, carrying a box…

Work outside if any of these things are too challenging in a Stage 3 set-up indoors. Use Stages 1 or 2 (food plus retreat as rewards) if you have to.

Here’s some January news…

1. I will be giving a 2-day BAT seminar in Seattle on February 16-17,
2012. It will be held at Ahimsa’s new agility space in Ballard. We
still have some spots for working dogs in Seattle, too! Info is at
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/batting-1000.php
The 2-day seminar has more topics than the 1-day seminar and it also
has hands-on work for participants.

2. I’ll also be in Poland, Norway, Sweden, Rhode Island, Ohio (twice),
the UK, Holland, Lithuania, Spain, Connecticut, Toronto,
Massachussetts and possibly Australia (I have one likely host, but
need one more)

My full schedule is at http://functionalrewards.com/seminars/upcoming

3. If you can’t make it to one of those seminars, there is a 2-day BATting 1000 DVD available (that page also has a YouTube sample clip so you can learn more about BAT for free that way).

4. If you regularly send people to my Ahimsa Dog Training site for Freedom harneses, leashes, DVDs, the book, etc., thank you! We now have an affiliate program (US only) where you can get 8% of the sales (either paid to you or donated to a charity of your choice). Info is at
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/affiliate.html

p.s. If you use BAT in your business, you should post about your
experiences on the Woofs page of this website to get some exposure! You can also post a review of the book on Amazon, Dogwise, Ahimsa…

Here’s some January news…

1. I will be giving a 2-day BAT seminar in Seattle on February 16-17,
2012. It will be held at Ahimsa’s new agility space in Ballard. We
still have some spots for working dogs in Seattle, too! Info is at
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/batting-1000.php
The 2-day seminar has more topics than the 1-day seminar and it also
has hands-on work for participants.

2. I’ll also be in Poland, Norway, Sweden, Rhode Island, Ohio (twice),
the UK, Holland, Lithuania, Spain, Connecticut, Toronto,
Massachussetts and possibly Australia (I have one likely host, but
need one more)

My full schedule is at http://functionalrewards.com/seminars/upcoming

3. If you can’t make it to one of those seminars, there is a 2-day BATting 1000 DVD available (that page also has a YouTube sample clip so you can learn more about BAT for free that way).

4. If you regularly send people to my Ahimsa Dog Training site for Freedom harneses, leashes, DVDs, the book, etc., thank you! We now have an affiliate program (US only) where you can get 8% of the sales (either paid to you or donated to a charity of your choice). Info is at
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/affiliate.html

p.s. If you use BAT in your business, you should post about your
experiences on the Woofs page of this website to get some exposure! You can also post a review of the book on Amazon, Dogwise, Ahimsa…