Counter-Conditioning and Reactivity: What a New Systematic Review Tells Us About Changing How Dogs Feel

If you’ve worked with a reactive dog, you’ve probably heard the advice:

“Every time your dog sees another dog, feed them a treat.”

Simple enough, right?

Yet behind that seemingly straightforward exercise sits one of the most important concepts in modern behaviour modification: counter-conditioning.

A recent systematic review by Shnookal et al. (2024) published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science examined the evidence for counter-conditioning in companion dogs, reviewing 14 studies that investigated its use across a range of behavioural concerns. While the paper covered several problem behaviours, its findings have particular relevance for those of us with reactive dogs.

Because at its heart, reactivity isn’t a training problem. It’s an emotional one.

Why Counter-Conditioning Matters in Reactivity Cases

When owners first seek help for reactivity, they’re often focused on the visible behaviour.

The barking, lunging and growling. The inability to walk calmly past another dog.

But the observable behaviour is only part of the picture.

For reactive dogs, those behaviours are expressions of an underlying emotional response. Fear or frustration are driving what we see on the outside.

This distinction matters because if the emotion remains unchanged, the behaviour is likely to return, even if we’ve managed to suppress it temporarily.

Counter-conditioning takes a different approach.

Instead of asking:

“How do we stop the barking?”

it asks:

“How can we change how the dog feels about the trigger so that they don’t need to bark?”

What Exactly Is Counter-Conditioning?

One of the findings from the review was that researchers don’t always agree on what counter-conditioning actually is.

The authors found that the term was used to describe several different training procedures.

In some cases, dogs were exposed to a trigger and immediately given something positive, such as food.

For example:

• Dog sees another dog.
• Food appears.

The food isn’t dependent on the dog’s behaviour. The trigger simply predicts something pleasant.

This is often referred to as classical counter-conditioning.

Other approaches required the dog to perform a behaviour before reinforcement was delivered.

For example:

• Dog sees another dog.
• Dog turns back to handler.
• Food appears.

This is sometimes described as operant counter-conditioning because reinforcement is contingent on the dog’s behaviour.

Many modern reactivity protocols incorporate elements of both.

The review highlights the need for clearer definitions, but perhaps more importantly, it reinforces the idea that successful interventions are often focused on changing emotional associations rather than merely controlling behaviour.

What the Evidence Tells Us

Across the studies reviewed, counter-conditioning based interventions generally produced positive behavioural outcomes.

While methodologies varied considerably, the overall picture was encouraging: dogs often showed improvements when negative emotional associations were systematically paired with positive experiences.

For reactive dogs, this supports something behaviour professionals have observed for years.

Dogs that learn another dog being present means great things are going to happen respond better than dogs who are told off for barking.

One intervention suppresses behaviour (which might resurface later and with more intensity).

The other aims to change emotion.

And emotion is the more important target.

Why “Look at That” Works

Many popular reactivity exercises are built on counter-conditioning principles, whether they’re explicitly labelled that way or not.

Take the widely used “Look at That” exercise.

The dog notices a trigger.

The trigger predicts reinforcement.

Over time, the appearance of another dog becomes less threatening and more relevant as a predictor of good things.

From the outside, it can look like we’re teaching attention.

But the real goal is often much deeper.

We’re teaching the dog that the presence of another dog changes the emotional landscape from one of concern to one of anticipation.

The review supports this broader focus on emotional learning.

The Importance of Working Below Threshold

One of the practical implications of the review is something behaviour consultants repeat daily:

Counter-conditioning only works well when learning can actually occur.

If a dog is already barking, lunging, screaming at the end of the lead, or unable to eat, their emotional state may be too stressed for meaningful association-building.

This is why distance matters so much. Distance isn’t avoiding the problem. Distance is what allows the learning process to happen.

When we create enough space for the dog to notice the trigger without becoming overwhelmed, we create the conditions necessary for new associations to form.

That foundation is essential for counter-conditioning to be successful.

What This Means for Behaviour Modification Plans

The review provides support for approaches that place emotional change at the centre of reactivity treatment.

In practical terms, that means behaviour modification plans should focus less on obedience around triggers and more on creating positive experiences in their presence.

That doesn’t mean skills such as attention, disengagement, recall, or loose lead walking aren’t useful. They absolutely are.

But they are most effective when they support emotional learning rather than replace it.

A dog who can perform a hand target while still feeling terrified of other dogs hasn’t necessarily made meaningful progress.

A dog who sees another dog and visibly relaxes has.

The Bigger Picture

Perhaps the most valuable takeaway from this review is that it reinforces a shift many modern trainers have already embraced.

Reactive behaviour isn’t simply something to eliminate.

It’s information. It’s communication. It’s evidence of an underlying emotional experience.

Counter-conditioning gives us a framework for addressing that emotional experience directly.

The barking and lunging matter, of course. But they’re not always the destination. They’re often the signpost pointing us towards the real work: changing how the dog feels.

And according to the current body of evidence, that remains one of the most promising paths forward for helping reactive dogs navigate the world with greater confidence and less distress.