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VetVine Client Care

Posted On Jun 16, 2025

Updated On Jun 25, 2025

Flooding

Behavior

This question was submitted during a past webinar on "Disorders of Anxiety, Fear, and Panic" ...

Question:
Isn't one issue with "flooding" that an owner may confuse calmness with learned helplessness? In that the animal may no longer be reacting to the stimuli, but it is because they feel like there is nothing that they can do to escape it, so the pet more or less "shuts down"?


Answer by E'Lise Christensen, DVM, DACVB:
That is totally one of the issues with flooding. That's why owners should never attempt flooding on their own. Heck - sometimes it's difficult for trained professionals to tell the difference between shut down and calmness. It's also important to keep in mind that some people (not me) are actually LOOKING for the shut down when they are doing flooding. Because an unsuspecting client won't know the difference. So shady!!!!

It goes like this on TV all the time. Fearful of dogs? Like to lunge at them? I'll just put you in the middle of this huge group of dogs. Look, you're not lunging. Problem solved. UGH!!!

We could do a whole lecture on learning theory but we didn't have time to get into the nitty gritty tonight.  :)  Great question. I hope a lot of people read it!