Find The Learning Zone

If we know how they feel, we know when they can learn.

There’s an emotional threshold for every animal, beyond which learning isn’t realistic. Think “survival mode.” We often get frustrated and feel hopeless with our pets’ behavior because we’re trying to get them to listen in this state.

If you encounter your pet in “survival mode,” to the best of your ability, remember they’re not thinking logically, respect their needs by getting them out of the scary situation, and give them reassurance until they are settling. Give yourself the gift of letting expectations go: they aren’t going to listen, they aren’t going to learn. Try to remember what happened before they got over threshold, so you can start behavioral modification training at another time when your pet is feeling much less scared/stressed (when they are below threshold, in the “behavioral adjustment training (BAT) zone”).

Thankfully, there’s typically a predictable escalation from completely relaxed to fight/flight/freeze. Knowing what this threshold thermometer looks like for your pet is essential.