This is where your pet might display "better" behaviour when exposed to more than one fear at once or after the fear is at a certain distance from them. However, this is not a "better" behaviour but actually a type of shut down response.
For example, if you’re scared of spiders and one enters the room, you might scream and run away. This is your fear response and you have acted as you see fit to protect yourself.
If suddenly, a swarm of spiders entered the room your response might be different. At this point, you're likely to experience behavioural flooding, so you enter self-preservation by keeping quiet and still, or slowly leaving the room before screaming and running. Therefore, this means your outward response was better than with one spider, however your emotional fear was much worse.
Therefore, it makes no logical sense that your pet is fearful of one stranger, but yet fine with large crowds unless a behavioural flooding response is playing a part in the process.
We recommend strongly keeping pets out of any behavioural flooding experience as it is counterproductive to behavioural plans. Flooding only confirms a fear, not helps to make the pet feel better about the fear.
If you feel your pet displays this response, contact us today to discuss your concerns, so we can help you and your pet
