A Realistic Timeline

How long does desensitization actually take? For a moderately anxious dog, a typical pace looks like this:

• Week 1: one second up to one minute
• Week 2: one to five minutes
• Weeks 3-4: five to fifteen minutes
• Weeks 5-6: fifteen to thirty minutes

Go glacially slow. Leaping from thirty seconds to five minutes usually triggers a setback. And if you hear barking through the door, your simplest answer is already there: you stayed away too long.