Chill Out: Incorporating Conditioned Relaxation Techniques Into Behavioral Therapy

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC (IAABC) is the owner and lead clinician at the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, OR. He received his veterinary degree from the University of MN in 2002 and became board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2010. He has operated house-call, office-based, and telemedicine-focused behavior practices. Dr. Pachel lectures worldwide, teaches courses at multiple veterinary schools and has authored articles and book chapters on topics such as Intercat aggression, Behavioral Euthanasia, and Pet selection for animal-assisted therapy. He is a sought-after expert witness for legal animal behavior cases and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for dvm360. Dr. Pachel is a Vice President of Veterinary Behavior for Instinct Dog Behavior and Training and co-owner of Instinct Portland. Dr. Pachel hosts Doc Talks, a monthly online webinar series that explores veterinary behavior cases in depth with veterinarians, behavior consultants and trainers, and animal caregivers. He is also a co-founder of LIMA beings, an online community of people who seek to apply the power of communication and learning principles to our interactions with others, shaping human behavior in compassionate and effective ways.

Overview:

Tension, stress, and hyperarousal are common obstacles for successful treatment of fear, anxiety, and aggression problems in dogs. Teaching a dog how to relax, both physically and physiologically, can be a helpful foundation exercise with widespread applications. This presentation will introduce a variety of ways to condition a reliable relaxation response using techniques that can be applied to many different patient temperaments and learning styles. Video examples will be provided to illustrate key points that maximize the success of this technique. Practical applications for incorporating this exercise into treatment plans for a variety of behavioral diagnoses such as noise phobia, resource guarding, and leash reactive behaviors will also be covered.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the goals of behavior modification and the impact of arousal on behavior
Be able to describe the stepwise progress of teaching postural and emotional relaxation
Evaluate client implementation for successful outcomes
Learn multiple ways of incorporating this technique into treatment plans
Identify obstacles to success and modify implementation for improved outcome

This course is RACE-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits hours in jurisdictions that accept RACE-approval.