For example, instead of barking and lunging, BAT dogs can proactively choose to engage in a calm behavior, allowing them and their handler the opportunity to adjust to a “trigger” that was once causing fear, frustration or aggression.

An animal that has greater control of its environment (i.e. behavior is effective) is less likely to be anxious, fearful, or over-the-top excited, resulting in less reactivity as well as the development of calm and confident behavior.

When the communication channel between the animal and its handler is clear and accurate, the relationship may then develop greater trust. BAT teaches people how to better understand a dog’s body language, most especially before, during, and after the dog calmly experiences a “trigger.”  The goal is to empower the animal and handler to remain active in the calm, stress-free behavior vs. becoming reactive in the undesirable behavior.

In a properly executed BAT training session, the animal exhibits little to no distress during the BAT experience. The absence of distress is a critical component to BAT.

It works with an animal’s natural repertoire of desirable behaviors, and does not require much pre-training for the human to begin the rehabilitation process for both them and their dog.