HOW DO I GET MY DOG USED TO NEW THINGS/SITUATIONS?

How do you get your dog used to new places or items? From your home to a new dog park, it is important for dogs like Koda to feel comfortable with new places. Likewise, you don't want your dog to be scared of a new toy! Why dogs get comfortable with new places and items as well as ways to support your dog are in here.

MY DOG DOESN'T LIKE NEW PLACES OR ITEMS? WHAT CAN I DO?!

So your dog is new and they're not immediately loving their new home/family members/new toys? That doesn't mean the dog doesn't love you, they just may need to habituate to all of the changes that are happening around them!

Habituation - what happens when an item/environment/other stimuli are presented repeatedly, leading to a decrease in a behavioral response (like shaking or barking, etc.) (Rankin et al., 2009)

So, new, unfamiliar things could be scary for your dog- but there are ways to overcome that, but you just need to be careful about how you go about habituating your dog to your new environment.

SO I JUST NEED TO EXPOSE THEM TO NEW THINGS AND LET THEM GET USED TO IT?

Both Yes and No on that one. Exposure to new things for long enough could let the dog become habituated to it, but that can also backfire..

Rooney et al. (2016) found that too quickly exposing a dog to a new things (such as sounds, sights, or feelings) could backfire in the sense that you may accidentally draw the dog's attention more to the new thing than if you introduced the new item slowly.

Likewise, although it dealt with horses (not dogs) Christensen et al. (2006) found that horses who were introduced to a new item slowly needed fewer exposure training sessions than horses who were quickly and fully exposed to a new item. These gradually exposed horses quickly learned how to remain calm when the object was produced by the trainer in presentation sessions.

So, it is best to introduce your dog's new home slowly, which follows guidelines for adult dogs shown below.

BUT THEN HOW DO I DO IT WITHOUT STRESSING OUT MY DOG?!

As the research above from Rooney et al. (2016) and Christensen et al. (2006) shows, it is important to gradually introduce new stimuli to dogs. That is most likely why sites such as the American Kennel Club (AKC Staff, 2015), when detailing how to move a adult dog to a new home suggests steps like preliminary visits prior to the move:

Preliminary visits - in which the new owner visits the old owner and both owners are with the dog for a period of time.

Even if you are adjusting to something new being in the home and not a dog move, gradual exposure until the dog realizes the new item is not a threat is a good idea!

References

AKC Staff. (2015). How to help an adult dog adjust to a new home. Retrieved from: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/how-to-help-an-adult-dog-adjust-to-a-new-home/

Christensen, J.W., Rundgren, M., & Olsson, K., (2006). Training methods for horses: habituation to a frightening stimulus. Equine Veterinary Journal. 38, 439- 443.

Rankin, C. H., Abrams, T., Barry, R. J., Bhatnager, S., Clayton, D., Colombo, J., Coppola, G., Geyer, M. A., Glanzman, D. L., Marsland, S., McSweeney, F., Wilson, D. A., Wu, C. F.,

Thompson, R. F. (2009). Habituations revisited: An updated and revised description of the behavioral characteristics of habituation. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 92(2): 135–138.

Rooney, Nicola J., Clark, Corinna C. and Casey, Rachel A.. (2016) Minimizing fear and anxiety in working dogs: A review. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 16 . pp. 53-64.