1. Extinction of Behaviors  Defined: The process by which an association between two events is broken.  If behavior is no longer reinforced, the behavior should stop.  Extinction practices usually cause behaviors to get worse before they are eliminated.  When reinforcement is stopped, the animal senses a certain level of frustration and will INCREASE the behavior before it DECREASES!  Called the “extinction burst”

2. Extinction, continued  Can be used to eliminate an undesirable behavior.  Requires 100% compliance by owners and ALL members of family in order to truly work.  Remember that the behavior often worsens before it goes away. This is NORMAL!  Can also result in the elimination of DESIRABLE behavior if not consistently reinforced.  Wife requires dog to sit and stay before feeding  Husband allows dog to eat without waiting.

3. Redirection during Extinction  Some animals need to be asked to do something else to “take their minds off” the behavior they normally do.  Be careful not to redirect too quickly  A jumping dog needs to be calm before touch or voice is offered for redirection.  Make the two behaviors incompatible.  A dog can’t sit AND jump on people simultaneously.

4. Reasons Extinction Fails  Reinforcement is not properly identified  The owner believes one thing is reinforcing behavior but it’s actually something else.  Reinforcement is coming from more than one source  There is more than one person or thing reinforcing the animal. This means that the animal has no consistency when we are trying to extinguish the behavior.  The animal is internally rewarded and is self-reinforcing  The animal is physiologically or mentally rewarded for the behavior.  These cases are more difficult to extinguish  MUST find an equally rewarding reinforcement that is appropriate.

5. Extinction Failure, Continued  Many unwanted behaviors are rooted in fear or anxiety.  Thunderstorms  Fireworks  Other animals  Unknown humans  Three main methods to extinguish fear- based behaviors:  Systematic desensitization  Counter-conditioning/counter- commanding  Response blocking/flooding

6. How to Accomplish Extinction  1) Systematic desensitization  Start at a level that does not cause fear  Gradually increase exposure  Exposure time is increased until no fear response  2) Counter-conditioning  The process of substituting an alternative  Most animals are food motivated  Enjoyment of food is incompatible with fear from stimulus  Use very small, special treats as long as dog exhibits no fear.  If dog stops eating, you have gone too far in exposure.

7. Accomplishing Extinction, continued  2a) Counter-commanding  This is similar to the alternative behavior technique mentioned earlier.  If a dog barks at unknown people, ask the dog to sit, and give a constant stream of small, special rewards to reinforce the sit, rather than the bark.

8. Accomplishing Extinction, continued  Flooding/Response blocking  Exposes animal to fearful stimulus with no opportunity of escape until animal is no longer fearful.  Should be avoided as treatment for most pets.  Can cause additional behavior issues if animal acquires “learned helplessness”.  Animal believes that it has no control over response and stops responding to anything.

9. PREVENTION is best medicine!  5 simple steps!  Elicit/Reward appropriate behavior  Prevent or minimize inappropriate behavior  Meet pet’s behavioral and developmental needs  Use negative correction/punishment to discourage inappropriate behavior  Minimize positive correction/punishment and only use it (correctly) when absolutely necessary.

10. More slides are coming soon!