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Good posted:
Kikopup has a great video on that. Basically it involves training the dog that when there is tension on the least it means good time to move away and get treats. Let me try to dig it up.
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Oct 1, 2011 17:02
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a life less posted:My dog is minimally reactive, but I tend to adopt pretty obvious "I'm working with my dog" body language where I'm tuned into my dog and not at all anyone else. I'll audibly coax her along, "c'mon, let's go, that's right, let's go..." if we're passing another person walking a dog. Their dog may be straining to say hello, but mine is focused on my handful of food and my face, so the other handler is normally savvy enough just to pull their dog away. This is really good advice. My dog is okay when we meet smaller dogs on walks, but he can be weird around dogs his size or bigger. So when I see another dog coming that might be a problem, I take Dex a couple of steps off the path, ask him for a sit, and praise/treat him for being calm as the other dog walks by. And there are lots of people who see me physically leave the path to avoid them and they still let their dog come over and get in Dex's space. Cue bristling and growling. I'm going to try your way in the future. That way, at least I can get him out of range quicker.
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Oct 1, 2011 19:05
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I closed my thread here because I didn't realize this thread was for behavioral issues as well. Either way, to make a long story short: Rush (5yr M/N GSDmix) has leash reactivity and separation anxiety. Two separate issues, but the leash reactivity is one I want to focus on. He's been getting worse, screaming and strangling himself when he sees other dogs, and snapped off his collar yesterday and almost bit another dog. ---- What I've done since last night: I ordered a front clip harness and will switch from the prong collar to that since its really not that effective anymore. I also realized one HUGE thing I was doing wrong - food motivation outside. I feel hugely retarded, so yes make fun of me. I misconstrued information given to me and gave Rush treats on walk only when he was being good. Obviously that didn't work. I read a bit of this thread and other resources and decided to start from square one - the shoveling treats down his mouth right AFTER he sees the other dog. I'm keeping an excel sheet to write down what happened on every walk and if I keep up with it I can see how he's progressed. We live in Queens, NY so it is a very populated area with lots of dogs, cars, people and sudden corners. Our first walk today went great! We saw a dog a short block away and I started giving him treats. He completely ignored the dog and ate the treats. After the dogs did their business, I took them for a longer walk but we only saw one other dog. I was on the corner with the dogs and was trying to grab more treats out of my pouch, when I look up and there was a dog like 4 feet away. I took a few steps backwards and by the time my dogs saw the other dog, he was a good 10ft away. Usually this is when my dog would flip out, but I started giving him treats and there wasn't one bark, lunge, growl. Because, TREATS!  A few stupid questions: 1. I've left the other dog out mainly because he's 8lbs and nonthreatening, and the other dog is worse, but he barks at other dogs too. But for different reasons, really. I'd like him to stop barking because he's an annoying and loud rear end in a top hat so I'm working with him as well. Should I walk the dogs separately or together? 2. What do I do when I see another dog and we're walking towards each other? Continue walking and giving him treats, stay in one place and give him treats as the dog passes, or give treats and cross the road? 3. What happens if we turn a corner and a dog suddenly appears and Rush's immediate reaction is to lunge/bark? Still give him a treat?
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Oct 1, 2011 20:52
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Carebear posted:Our first walk today went great! We saw a dog a short block away and I started giving him treats. He completely ignored the dog and ate the treats. After the dogs did their business, I took them for a longer walk but we only saw one other dog. I was on the corner with the dogs and was trying to grab more treats out of my pouch, when I look up and there was a dog like 4 feet away. I took a few steps backwards and by the time my dogs saw the other dog, he was a good 10ft away. Usually this is when my dog would flip out, but I started giving him treats and there wasn't one bark, lunge, growl. Because, TREATS! Sounds like a great start! The sudden appearance of dogs when I'm trying to feed (or, even worse, clean up after) my dogs is my worst nightmare. It happens so much too. Carebear posted:A few stupid questions: 1. I'd walk the dogs seperately. If you walk them seperately at least for now, you can lay the foundations for each so that when you're at the 'look at me' stage, rather than the shovelling treats stage, you can walk them together. 2. If you notice the dog when it's far enough away, either cross the road, or jog back a little and get your dog excited to follow you. A head-on confrontation is not a good idea. 3. If you're classically conditioning (shovelling treats for as long as the dog is there), then shovel those treats no matter what he's doing - as long as he's willing to accept them. If you'd be in danger by putting your hand near his mouth, or he's over threshold and won't accept the food, just get him out of the situation: if the latter is the case, he isn't thinking any more (just reacting), so he can't learn.
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Oct 1, 2011 21:04
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Carebear posted:A few stupid questions: Not stupid questions! It looks like you're on the right track and that Rush is a quick learner. At this point, you'll need to experiment with a lot of things to see what works best for you and what works best for Rush. But here's my advice on your questions: 1. I would walk them separately for now. Dogs learn from one another and your small dog may pick up bad habits (barking) or even real anxiety just from observing the body language around him (from Rush, you, or another dog who reacts badly). To keep that from happening and just because it's really, really hard to counter-condition two dogs at once, I would work on them separately. Then when you feel Rush is in a good place, maybe start working with them in a stationary way like take a trip to a park and people/dog watch from a bench. That way you can watch and feed both dogs without also trying to not walk into a tree. 2. This really depends on the situation, but as a rule, dogs who are not comfortable with other dogs do not walk toward each other head on. It's unnerving and could be taken as a challenge. If you watch two strange dogs interact who aren't sure about each other, you will see them walking toward each other in arcs. It's a natural thing to do. So if you have room, try doing the same. If you need to, stuff Rush's face the whole time you walk. If he's okay or as he gets better, you can start asking him for focus and then just treat when he checks in with you (whether you asked for it or not). If you don't have room to do an arc, then I would cross the street or step off to the side and let the other dog pass and counter-condition as the dog passed, with the most treats at the closest approach. As you practice, you'll get a sense for what you need to do, how close is too close, etc. 3. Counter-conditioning doesn't require the dog to do anything. So if you round the corner and Rush jumps or barks or growls, that's okay, feed him anyway. If he eats, then that's good, just keep feeding. Once you get a feel for counter-conditioning and think Rush is doing well, then you can ask for a sit so he'll stop jumping (or a turn around and walk/run away) and combine that with counter-conditioning. You should work on focus in no-distraction environments and then eventually you can have Rush sit and focus on you either before he reacts or as a 'recovery' after he starts to react. But you need to work up to that slowly and you start with just shoveling food in his face in the meantime.  If Rush won't eat when he's startled, then he's over threshold and won't learn anything. In that case, just remove him from the situation as fast as possible. Distance is always a good thing, so just get him away and then work on calming him down. Edit: Soo beaten.
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Oct 1, 2011 21:20
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Carebear, I just want to repeat/stress something that both Kiri and Fraction mentioned. Counter conditioning does not require Rush to actually do anything (like behave). You're simply trying to get the association between See Dog = Get Treats. Counter conditioning's purpose is to get a dog operant. Basically when dogs are freaking out the way Rush is they're physically incapable of learning, so we're approaching the problem via emotions. Basically seeing a dog evokes a negative association and we're trying to overpower it with a positive one. If Rush starts freaking out continue to feed him. The mistake isn't his, but yours for allowing him to get close enough to another dog to spur a reaction. No big deal - just move on, learn from it, and try your best not to allow dogs within Proximity X in the future. The problem with counter conditioning is that it takes a long time to create that emotive association and the association is fleeting without constant booster sessions. Which is why our goal is to do CC until a dog is operant. Operant conditioning requires action on behalf of the dog, and it can be cemented more securely and (eventually) will require less food reinforcement. Re: your questions 1. It's ideal if you can leave your other dog at home and work on their issues separately. 2. It depends on Rush. Experiment with all three options and see what's best. The easiest/best solution is to cross the road. The most convenient solution is to keep walking with a fistful of treats in Rush's face. Of course, the easiest (for you) solution is the most difficult for Rush, and vice versa. Basically, cross the street unless Rush can handle closer proximities without freaking out. 3. Yes, still treat. I would slap a handful of food on Rush's nose and get out of there ASAP. Do a u-turn, get Rush's attention as best you can, be happy as gently caress and increase distance. Try to use the food in your hand to move him, as opposed to the leash. If you put pressure on the leash it's likely to escalate the situation.
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Oct 2, 2011 03:36
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I am trying to work on counterconditioning Bailey's aversion (he tries to mouth and bite) to having his feet touched. Is this an appropriate instance to use a super high value treat? I got some of those sausage rolls from Natural Balance that I want to use with him, but I don't want him getting over excited.
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Oct 2, 2011 18:15
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wtftastic posted:I am trying to work on counterconditioning Bailey's aversion (he tries to mouth and bite) to having his feet touched. Is this an appropriate instance to use a super high value treat? I got some of those sausage rolls from Natural Balance that I want to use with him, but I don't want him getting over excited. Go for it! I tried really hard to compartmentalize my treats at first, having one for every situation. This was really frustrating and Psyche kept getting sick of things anyway and prefers variety. So simplify and ask yourself, is this something we really need to work on and is it important that we get it right? Then yes to super high value treats! Have one or two special treats for super important things like recalls if you want, but otherwise, don't worry about it. If he's too excited to sit still and learn because the treat is sooo good, then I would try to turn it into a self-control thing. Keep the sessions short and see if you can get him to sit still for a really-quick-feet-touchings! Then you get two things out of one.
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Oct 2, 2011 19:12
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Silver Nitrate posted:How much work have you done on ” leave it” ? With my lurcher we had to work a ton on that, and then apply that to the kitties. With my presa all it took was the cat scratching his nose a couple of times. I know someone had success with putting the cat in a carrrier and working on leave it that way. Then the cat is safe, you don't have to hold it and its easier to reward that moment the dog looks away from the kitty. He is pretty good with leave it, we have been working on that daily. But the whole 'moving cat' thing has been challenging. I suppose we will just put the cat up on the counter for slow movement and see if we can go slow with regard to cat motion.
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Oct 3, 2011 13:57
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How to Create a Reactive Human in 10 Minutes or Less. 
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Oct 4, 2011 15:50
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If you don't like sad skip this post. I don't know if anyone remembers or even wants to hear about it but Charlie, the black Labrador was put down this afternoon. He aggressively bit my stepbrother who is someone he LOVED so it utterly shocked everyone and then on the third trip to the trainer he started to aggressively push against her like he might bite her. The trainer took that as a serious sign because on the previous visits he acted friendly. So he was getting more and more aggressive with everyone and it wasn't just me after all. The trainer said that something was wrong with him that probably can't be corrected. I know him and me didn't see eye to eye but I'm still sad because he was a beautiful 11 month old pup. 
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Oct 4, 2011 23:42
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Death Himself posted:If you don't like sad skip this post. Its sad that it had to come to that but its probably for the best for him. Now he can be at peace and no one else has to get hurt. I'm sorry for your family's loss 
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Oct 4, 2011 23:47
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Just an update about my dog Sebastian with the stranger reactivity issues! I took the advice of getting him used to seeing people in non-threatening situations and he seems to be doing a lot better. We started a training class after a few private sessions with a trainer to see the extent of his issues, and we discovered some of his triggers - he doesn't like people reaching over his head, doesn't like being approached sneakily from behind, and as I suspected, is more wary of women than men. But! He is in a training class with other people and their dogs now, and the trainer (a woman) can give him treats and scratch him under the chin, he will take treats from strangers nicely if they don't try and pet him, and he totally rules at focusing on me even in really distracting places. I really think he must have been somebody else's dog before because he automatically heels on walks and has really good house manners. I took him to a really busy park yesterday for the first time, one with lots of kids (I kept him close obviously) and he didn't freak out once. There was a point when I had him sit by the fenced-in dog area - still not ready to go in there, I want him to perfect "come" first - and he just sort of looked wistfully at it and sighed, so hopefully soon we will be able to play with other dogs. Thank you for the great advice!
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Oct 5, 2011 01:34
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Wire vs. Leather muzzles? I'm looking for one for walking. Hypothetically, some drunk rear end in a top hat tried to pet the dog after I told him not to and turned to walk away... No harm was done in this hypothetical situation, but it's time for a muzzle because this is a party town and I live by the bars. I'd like one that's easy put on and take off and is not restrictive of water and allows treats. That means wire, right? I'm not totally blaming the dog for this one because hypothetically the guy was acting funny and approached me from behind with his hand out after we'd exchanged not so pleasent words. But either way, not cool. Looking at this one now: http://www.fordogtrainers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=240&products_id=4484 Any advice on muzzles would be great.
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Oct 5, 2011 04:02
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Silver Nitrate posted:Any advice on muzzles would be great. I think generally people prefer to use basket muzzles. I like ones like this:  Lots of room under the jaw and lots of airflow. However I know you've got a snub-nosed dog so I think finding one that fit in that style might be tough. I think you're better off looking at similar styles in wire muzzles. The leather ones that I've seen don't seem to allow for great air circulation, and I saw a bull terrier almost pass out wearing what looked like a nice one last summer. The one you linked looks kind of heavy, but I couldn't say for sure unless I saw it in person. I would try to find one as light as possible while keeping in mind how strong it needs to be. Also, don't slap a muzzle on and call it a day (not that I think you'd do this). Be proactive in your training, and vigilant for potential problems. Aim to make the muzzle unnecessary as quickly as possible.
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Oct 5, 2011 04:25
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My labrador mix puppy has become very confused, and has confused me in the process. He's 8 months old and seems otherwise healthy. We recently switched him to sentinel from frontline + hartguard, but I don't think it's related. Well as soon as he was old enough to start training, I started making him wait to eat until I told him "Go", and then he would eat. He was always very excited about it, and eventually I added that he had to be sitting next to me before I would say go. This also went very well and he would stand and watch me fill his bowl at meal time and would then excitedly sit next to me and look at me and be all sorts of impatient about getting to eat, but he quickly learned to wait and became very good at it. Slowly over time I realized that he was gradually needing more encouragement to eat. GO wasn't good enough... eventually it needed me telling him a few times, then a few times with some hand waving towards his bowl, but whenever he started eating he would devour his food very quickly. Well, he's 8.5 months now and almost 70 lbs. Within the last few weeks things have taken a strange turn.... he doesn't want to eat! His energy levels are normal (high), he still scrounges and begs for food, he still steals our other dogs food if we're not paying attention, but when it's his meal time, it's become very hard to actually get him to eat. We haven't changed foods on him, and we're feeding him Nutro Lamb & Brown Rice Large Puppy Formula. He does have a history of a sensitive stomach - Science Diet and Blue Buffalo both give him diarrhea, but things are good on the poop front with the Nutro. So anyways - I fill his bowl and when I'm done he runs over all excited and sits down next to me and keeps looking at me. I'll start telling him to "go" and after some encouragement he'll run over to his bowl or maybe half way and come right back and sit down like I never told him to go eat. It seems like I can stand there for a minute or two trying to tell him (in a fun, positive tone of voice, not frustration) to go eat and he just wont. It's like he learned that waiting to eat makes me happy, so waiting even longer to eat will surely make me even happier. So that worked for awhile, but now even after he starts eating he'll stop and run back over by me and sit down and give me that look again. Getting him to eat is becoming a real chore. Sometimes he isn't even finishing his food. Tonight I tried a new thing where I pet him and told him what a good boy he is while he ate... I was thinking that positively rewarding him for actually eating would be helpful. He did eat while I did this, but then I'm worried he's going to get trained that we have to be standing there petting him for him to eat, and that's no good either. So here's the question - can you "over train" a dog where a good behavior goes bad like what I think is happening? Or is this something else? What the heck do I do to fix this? Just leave him alone and he'll start eating when he gets hungry enough? Sorry for the length.... Edit: my wife is getting the same behavior from him as me. We both did the wait to eat until told to thing, and he's doing the exact same thing to her as he is to me. `Nemesis fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Oct 5, 2011 |
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Oct 5, 2011 05:56
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After seeing my dog get 'leave it' within 3 minutes with the trainer, and noting that his anxiety-ridden self had tried to tear apart the doorknob in lieu of the carpeting and the door frame, I have now concluded that this dog might be smarter than I can handle. 
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Oct 5, 2011 13:05
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`Nemesis posted:dog not eating It is possible to train a dog one way such that they are confused when you ask for something else. My dog knows leave it so well that she automatically waits before going for anything, which was annoying when I was trying to shape Hold and offering her a toy to grab. When he steals the other dog's food is it the same food? Our dog got sick of her food after about 9 months (also we were storing it improperly and it was going stale), so we switched it up and now she's back to being enthusiastic about it. So if he's turning up his nose at the food, it might be time for a change. Changing the dog's food every once in a while is good, though you'll need to hunt for something he's not sensitive to again. If he's eating the same food in different contexts (like does he eat it if you just offer him a handful), then maybe your routine has made dinnertime a little stressful and/or he thinks it's always a training exercise? Try changing it up, feed him in a toy like a Kong Wobbler or in a different room. I wouldn't stand there while he eats. You can ask for a quick sit, put the bowl or toy down, and ompletely ignore him and if he doesn't eat in like 20 minutes, take the food away. Dogs are fine if they don't eat one of their meals and he won't starve himself. He'll eat when he's hungry enough and learn that you will be disengaged at dinnertime.
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Oct 5, 2011 14:30
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I've skimmed this thread, but haven't seen anything about what I'm looking for in particular. My 6mo pup is learning loose leash walking really quickly and effectively, I'm afraid I might be messing her up though. Currently we start out, she is at my side, watching me. Originally, I clicked and treated every time she was next to me, regardless of the rest of her body language, but now I've started clicking and treating when she actually looks forward while still at my side, rather than looking up at me, just because I assumed that's more comfortable for her and what I eventually want her to do while out on a walk. Is this okay, or should I always want her looking at me when I click and treat? She also does a series of actions, where she is at my side, I click/treat, she runs forward slightly, realizes she isn't getting treats, so she slows down and looks back at me until she is at my side again, at which, I click/treat. Is this a natural progression in loose leash walking, or am I somehow training her to do these series of actions? I've been rapidly clicking/treating whenever she takes a kibble and then doesn't run forward, but stays at my side. Also, I've been training her to sit every time we stop on a walk, which is usually either at a cross street, or when a person/bike or dog passes by. When a person/dog walks by, I tell her to look at me when she sits, click/treat, and if she looks at person/dog while still sitting without any other reaction, I click/treat her again and again until the distraction passes. Is this the best way to train my dog with encountering/reacting to distractions? I'm really paranoid about her developing any reactivity since my other dog is leash reactive. She has one dog behind a fence on our walk that makes her bark with her hackles raised, but otherwise she just wants to jump on everyone to play (puppy  ). My biggest question though, is her meeting other dogs on walks. Obviously, I want to socialize her tons (decrease reactivity!!!!!), but I'm not sure how to approach the whole meeting other dogs on leash thing. I have her sit, look at me, click/treat, I ask the dog walker/owner if dog is friendly, and if my puppy could me their dog? If I get a yes, I let her out of the sit, and then she runs up and jumps all over the other dogs. But at this point, I have no idea on how to proceed. She's always over excited and won't listen to me, and I usually have to physically pull her away from the other dog. I don't feel comfortable stuffing treats in front of her face to distract her (other dog might be food aggressive,react badly to food being brought forward). How can I tell/show her that yes, meet the dog for 30sec/min, that's okay, but now we've gotta go? Completely unrelated, she has some food guarding issues, but only with kibble, and only with Ike, our other dog. No issues with toys/treats/humans. So, I've been hand feeding both of them kibble while next to each other, and I've been feeding Ike first (he has no food/resource issues at all), and when she just looks and doesn't lunge to get the kibble, I feed her right after. Is this okay? How is the best way to deal with this, while fairly minor resource guarding, I don't want it to develop into something worse.
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Oct 6, 2011 00:54
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moechae posted:I've skimmed this thread, but haven't seen anything about what I'm looking for in particular. My 6mo pup is learning loose leash walking really quickly and effectively, I'm afraid I might be messing her up though. Currently we start out, she is at my side, watching me. Originally, I clicked and treated every time she was next to me, regardless of the rest of her body language, but now I've started clicking and treating when she actually looks forward while still at my side, rather than looking up at me, just because I assumed that's more comfortable for her and what I eventually want her to do while out on a walk. Is this okay, or should I always want her looking at me when I click and treat? She also does a series of actions, where she is at my side, I click/treat, she runs forward slightly, realizes she isn't getting treats, so she slows down and looks back at me until she is at my side again, at which, I click/treat. Is this a natural progression in loose leash walking, or am I somehow training her to do these series of actions? I've been rapidly clicking/treating whenever she takes a kibble and then doesn't run forward, but stays at my side. I ran into the same problem you are -- my dog was looking at me too much. So I did the same and started to click/treat (C/T) when she was looking forward too. Sounds like you're on the right track. The click almost always signifies the end of the exercise, so it's pretty normal for a dog to get the click and their treat then look for reinforcement elsewhere (the forging ahead). I would start offering treats at a more variable rate. Sometimes she'll get two or three just for staying next to you, sometimes she has to work for 30+ seconds to get her reward. Again, I ran into the same problem you did. On top of varying the reinforcement I also would re-cue the behaviour I wanted right after my dog received her reward so she understood that I wasn't done with her yet. Not everyone likes re-cuing the behaviour, but it worked pretty well for me. moechae posted:Also, I've been training her to sit every time we stop on a walk, which is usually either at a cross street, or when a person/bike or dog passes by. When a person/dog walks by, I tell her to look at me when she sits, click/treat, and if she looks at person/dog while still sitting without any other reaction, I click/treat her again and again until the distraction passes. Is this the best way to train my dog with encountering/reacting to distractions? I'm really paranoid about her developing any reactivity since my other dog is leash reactive. She has one dog behind a fence on our walk that makes her bark with her hackles raised, but otherwise she just wants to jump on everyone to play (puppy It really depends on your dog. The finished behaviour that I like to see is my dog looking up at me as we heel past distractions. The act of focusing on you/moving/ignoring the distraction can be pretty tough. Whether you decrease the level of difficulty by removing moving from the equation (ie, just sitting off to the side) is up to you and your dog, but the end goal should likely incorporate walking. A great way to nip reactivity in the bud is the Look At That game. Try searching this thread for LAT to read up on it a bit, or buy the book that started it all, Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. It's where you allow your dog to sneak quick looks at distractions then back at you for a reward. It both allows you to do a sort of classical conditioning where the dog understands "see object, get treat!" as well as allowing your dog to keep an eye on things that may bother him. The older method was to ask for your dog to hold your gaze until the distraction went away, but that's pretty stressful for a dog -- a dog is more relaxed when he can keep an eye on what's bothering him. moechae posted:My biggest question though, is her meeting other dogs on walks. Obviously, I want to socialize her tons (decrease reactivity!!!!!), but I'm not sure how to approach the whole meeting other dogs on leash thing. I have her sit, look at me, click/treat, I ask the dog walker/owner if dog is friendly, and if my puppy could me their dog? If I get a yes, I let her out of the sit, and then she runs up and jumps all over the other dogs. But at this point, I have no idea on how to proceed. She's always over excited and won't listen to me, and I usually have to physically pull her away from the other dog. I don't feel comfortable stuffing treats in front of her face to distract her (other dog might be food aggressive,react badly to food being brought forward). How can I tell/show her that yes, meet the dog for 30sec/min, that's okay, but now we've gotta go? I like that you're getting the sit, the focus, then asking permission. I would also put on the breaks for the greeting. Check out this video: The Heavy Hand Myth - You Don't Need Fear & Pain to Train Dogs The whole thing is good and might be of interest to anyone reading this thread. Specifically look at the dog-dog greeting that occurs right after 13:10. See how the handlers encourage the dogs to slow down and circle each other before connecting? That's good doggie manners. A pup rushing up to jump all over a strange dog will inevitably be told off for its rude behaviour. And that's alright - sometimes puppies need to be told off a bit, but you can minimize it through encouraging proper greetings like this. moechae posted:Completely unrelated, she has some food guarding issues, but only with kibble, and only with Ike, our other dog. No issues with toys/treats/humans. So, I've been hand feeding both of them kibble while next to each other, and I've been feeding Ike first (he has no food/resource issues at all), and when she just looks and doesn't lunge to get the kibble, I feed her right after. Is this okay? How is the best way to deal with this, while fairly minor resource guarding, I don't want it to develop into something worse. First off I would do some heavy duty management. Dog-dog resource guarding is tricky to deal with. I would feed them in separate rooms, and only allow them close around food when you're able to manage them both closely. What I would do is work hard to create the association between "dog approaches, I get something awesome" when food is in the picture. To do this first lay the ground work with an object she doesn't guard, like an old toy. If Ike approaches, feed feed feed, and as Ike leaves, food stops. Gradually start working on the association using more and more valuable items, but leave food for the very last. Resource guarding is relatively easy to deal with if it's a dog guarding objects from a human, but when they're guarding from another dog everything becomes more tricky. That's why the go-to answer is always management, followed by counter conditioning maybe if you can manage it. If you ever see your pup behaving well in a situation where she might have lashed out in the past you have to make sure you recognize it and reward the poo poo out of her!
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Oct 6, 2011 01:35
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Thanks everyone for the advice so far! Just wanted to give a little update on Rush. The last few walks we haven't ran into too many dogs so its hard to judge how any progress has been made. I've been working on getting him to direct all his attention to me when say his name, because before he would sometimes ignore me. He has been getting a lot better at it, and a lot better at sitting on command while we're outside. One problem I have noticed is that he seems too excited now, like he is on sensory overload. He freaked out once with a dog that came up on us suddenly, and I shoved treats in his face and walked across the street with him eating the treats and trying to bark at the same time. It was actually kind of silly, but if I didn't have the treats on hand, it would have been hard to get him out of that situation, because the other dog was on a retractable leash and the owner wasn't paying attention. I got Rush's new harness in the mail yesterday - the Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness with the martingale loop at the chest. I'm worried its not fitted correctly. How tight is the chest strap supposed to be? I think I may have mine too loose, but I am not sure. When he's standing it looks fine, but when we're walking, something about it doesn't seem right. I do like it a hell of a lot better than the prong collar, but the leash sometimes gets pulled around to the other side of his head and I have to fix it repeatedly.
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Oct 6, 2011 14:45
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The belly strap should be pretty tight, like maybe being able to fit a finger underneath it. That should stabilize the chest strap pretty well. Also, you can latch both the chest strap and Rush's regular collar together if you want the extra failsafe and it has the added benefit of raising the metal loop so the leash won't get caught up in your dog's legs as easily. I don't think the martingale does much because even without it the dog will get pulled diagonally, stopping him from pulling. I switched from the nose harness to the chest harness and it's made my dog so much more agreeable. Great product.
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Oct 6, 2011 15:12
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moechae posted:
Just found this article which should help you with your problem: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/3339 Carebear posted:Thanks everyone for the advice so far! Just wanted to give a little update on Rush. Progress will be sloooooooooooow. It takes quite a bit of time (and a lot of consistency) for you to change those underlying negative emotions. But you can do it! It's science!  Barking and eating is fine - as long as he's eating. With enough repetitions he'll be much easier to distract/feed. Regarding the sensory overload, do your best to exude calm. It sounds like some Dog Whisperer poo poo, but just relax and breathe deeply. Rush may be picking up on your anxiety while you try to remember how/when to use food, while juggling the leash and keeping an eye out for other dogs and... . I can talk my dog down from quite a few stressful situations. I just kind of laugh and use a lazy sing-song voice when she gets startled. It helps settle her down a lot. You can get little straps designed to work with the Halti to attach to both the harness and Rush's collar. It should help keep the harness in place a bit better. I have a friend who puts the EasyWalk on upside down on her dog (grey strap over the shoulders) since she found it fit better that way. I find the fit is kind of weird on shallow chested dogs. Just try to ensure he's not banging the martingale/leash clip each time he walks - I imagine that could eventually bruise.
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Oct 6, 2011 15:52
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I know you guys have told me how to work on my dog jumping up, but I seem to be having a hard time teaching Bailey not to do it. If he jumps up on me, I walk back (especially when I am putting his harness on) to show him he doesn't get what he wants any faster that way. If he does it when I'm walking around, I stop and stand still. Would me just leaving the room when he jumps help? I worry that there's not a direct enough relationship for the dog to understand it and the behavior must be very reinforcing if he's willing to slow down walk time to do it.
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Oct 13, 2011 21:03
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My advice would be to go back to basics and work on 'sit'. If a dog is sitting, they can't be jumping up! Start working on sit in quiet moments, and work towards 1) getting an instant response to the 'sit' command and 2) building up duration and introducing distractions. Then you can ask the dog to sit at times when he would otherwise want to jump up. My dogs know that they have to sit calmly before I greet them, and also while I'm putting leads on them - it works pretty well
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Oct 13, 2011 21:40
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notsoape posted:My advice would be to go back to basics and work on 'sit'. If a dog is sitting, they can't be jumping up! Start working on sit in quiet moments, and work towards 1) getting an instant response to the 'sit' command and 2) building up duration and introducing distractions. Then you can ask the dog to sit at times when he would otherwise want to jump up. My dogs know that they have to sit calmly before I greet them, and also while I'm putting leads on them - it works pretty well To work on duration, should I just click longer after he's done the action? Or how can I show him to sit longer? He's usually fairly good about sitting for short periods of time.
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Oct 13, 2011 22:14
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wtftastic posted:To work on duration, should I just click longer after he's done the action? Or how can I show him to sit longer? He's usually fairly good about sitting for short periods of time. This depends on how you want to work on stay as well. Some people go by the idea that a sit or a down means staying sitting or down until released (so then you build duration the normal way). Other people do it separately. So when I ask my dog for a sit, she is allowed to get up whenever, unless I'm asking for something else like stay or focus or a wait for me to attach a leash or whatever. The problem with the former is that you MUST release the dog every time or they will learn to release themselves. The problem with the latter is that your dog can wander away while you're trying to do something unless you explicitly tell them otherwise. For the jumping though, what you want is to teach your dog to say please. You can do this by asking for a sit (natural for a jumper) before your dog receives any attention. So when I get home or if I'm sitting and my dog comes up to me, she needs to sit before she gets attention. At first, I asked for the sit and then immediately gave her attention and eventually she figured out that she gets what she wants quicker if she does it herself.
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Oct 13, 2011 23:08
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After months of shaping Major has decided that bringing me things can be more awesome than taking them off to destroy, even his favorite squeaky toy! He has also started bringing me random poo poo from around my house when I have something he wants. "I see you are eating a roast chicken, how would you like to trade for this filthy sock I found under the couch?"I kind of love it
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Oct 14, 2011 00:47
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Instant Jellyfish posted:After months of shaping Major has decided that bringing me things can be more awesome than taking them off to destroy, even his favorite squeaky toy! He has also started bringing me random poo poo from around my house when I have something he wants. Wow that is awesome. Care to elaborate on the process?
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Oct 14, 2011 12:11
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I would LOVE to teach Ginny to fetch me a tissue when I sneeze. I've seen it done a few times when watching Youtube videos of dog tricks, and I think it's absolutely adorable. She's got a pretty great repertoire of tricks already, but I haven't taught her anything new since we've moved into our new house and I want to get going on our training again. Anyone have any good suggestions on how to get started with this one? It seems like it will be a multi-step process.
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Oct 14, 2011 12:49
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Ginny Field posted:I would LOVE to teach Ginny to fetch me a tissue when I sneeze. I've seen it done a few times when watching Youtube videos of dog tricks, and I think it's absolutely adorable. She's got a pretty great repertoire of tricks already, but I haven't taught her anything new since we've moved into our new house and I want to get going on our training again. It's basically a retrieve to an "atchoo" cue. This is the link I go to when trying to explain how to teach a retrieve: http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html Basically get your dog targeting the tissue in your hand, then on the floor, then mouthing it in your hand, then mouthing on the floor, then picking up, then picking up from further away, etc. You add the verbal cue when the behaviour is starting to really look like what you want.
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Oct 14, 2011 14:22
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Chachikoala posted:Wow that is awesome. Care to elaborate on the process? I started with this method and added a few ideas from this one (moving the bumper while he held it). Eventually he knew that getting the toy back in my hand was the game but he found it more rewarding to steal it away to destroy. When he did this I took it away and fun learning time stopped. Then I brought in the best reward ever for bringing it back all of a sudden (surprise, it's raw goat chunks!) which was way more rewarding than chewing the bumper. Now he never knows if bringing something back is going to get him a pat on the head, a biscuit, or ~goat chunks~ so he always wants to bring the bumper back to find out.
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Oct 14, 2011 15:16
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Does anyone have any crating suggestions? We just got a rescue dog this past week, that by all considerations is amazing. Super relaxed, gentle, and exceedingly smart. He likes my wife and I, but not to the point that he even bothers to get excited when we get home (other than a minor tail wag), and he sometimes will follow us around, but is often content to lay around on his bed. While we are home he does nothing but sleep, he isn't that interested in playing. The challenge is with his crate. For the first few days he was super chill in it, no issues what-so-ever, but now he is starting to get restless in it. The other day we came home to him having destroyed his bed, then the following day he almost broke out of it completely (an airline plastic crate). This concerns us slightly as his is a severly underweight 50lb dog, that is only going to get stronger. He's a shepherd of some sort. I've been trying to exercise him more, previously he was getting a longer 1 hour walk in the evening, and two 15-20 minute walks in the morning before going to work (both my wife and I taking him out separately). I plan on getting up earlier and taking him out longer, and trying to get him to play fetch, run around a bit more. I've also been putting more toys in his crate (kong with peanut butter (will freeze the next batch), chew toy). I'm wondering if he is just acting up because we had him in the crate too much. He's not house trained fully yet, so we have been keeping him in it at night, and then during the day (4 hours in the morning, with a lunch break we come home to, and then another 4 hours in the afternoon). Its almost as if he becomes destructive in his crate the second we leave him alone in it. While we are home he just sleeps in it, but then we leave and he gets restless in it. Any suggestions on making this new relationship work?
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Oct 15, 2011 08:22
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Folk Song Hero posted:Any suggestions on making this new relationship work? Has he been crated before you got him? If not, you've gone way too fast in your introduction of it. Don't forget he's in a stressful new place to begin with; if he hasn't been crated before, then not only is he in a stressful new place, but the people who pet him and give him food and make everything a little less stressful are sometimes leaving him and putting him in a terrible small box. He just wants to get out and find you guys. If you can, try to reduce the big blocks of time he's spending in the crate at the moment, but increase the time he's in there for a short while. Feed him in the crate, crate him for half an hour after a walk in the evening, crate him after playing, etc. Get him relaxed and tired, pop him in the crate, and he'll associate the crate with that relaxation. - Lola is doing well in getting used to my mice. (A lot better than Jess. gently caress you Jess.)  We're slowly decreasing the distance between me and Lola when I'm handling the mice. She was a little more alert here because a) it's the closest we've got so far, and b) I had my camera and camera = food or something. Before now she's been conked out snoozing before whilst the mice are out, which is awesome.
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Oct 16, 2011 11:56
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a life less posted:It's basically a retrieve to an "atchoo" cue. This is the link I go to when trying to explain how to teach a retrieve: http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html Thanks! That link was super helpful. I worked with her on it this weekend and she's just reached the point where she's picking the tissue up off the floor from a short distance away and starting to bring it towards me. When we do our next session, should I start adding the "atchoo" or should I wait until she's interacting with a tissue in the box?
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Oct 16, 2011 16:12
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Folk Song Hero posted:He likes my wife and I, but not to the point that he even bothers to get excited when we get home (other than a minor tail wag), and he sometimes will follow us around, but is often content to lay around on his bed. Depending on the type of dog he is, don't be surprised if he becomes more clingy in the coming months. Dogs aren't really themselves when they first get adopted, and their true personality will emerge with time. When I first adopted my dog, she'd get up and settle down a few feet away from me every time I sat down next to her. Now she likes to be in the same room as me, and will randomly come to me and demand either playtime or ear rubs.
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Oct 16, 2011 18:10
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Hey guys! I'm really not sure how to handle my foster dogs scaredyness with the world, and other things. Long rambling post about a few things that I dont know how to approach at all. Shes come a long way since being here but still more to go. She loves me and a friend, thats about it... it is getting to know other people around the house and will go up to them for treats, etc, sniff them. However, when Im gone at work (I dont crate her because...) she just stays in a corner right outside my room door. And doesn't move until I am back. I'd love for her to just start exploring the place and playing when I am not there but I don't know how to get her to do so. ....she actually stole some food off a table this morning near my door but that doesn't count. My gramps has really been trying to get her to be friendly to him, treats, walks, feeding, etc. But she is still afraid of staying near him. Do we just give it more time or is there other things we can try? Shes friendly enough when Im around, will go up to people to sniff them but if anybody tried to approach she will run away. I've not worked with her on being outside... no walks.. mostly just go out the house, find the two nearest trees - pee poop and shes choking herself trying to run back in when there is people around. Its not too bad in the middle of the night, she is a lot calmer when theres no people, but in the day she does get more fearful. I've been trying to put her out in the yard, coax with treats, etc. I'm thinking that I should get her comfortable in the back yard (no people) on a leash and just throwing food at her, then try my front yard. If I don't use a leash, she just prefers to stay by the door. In the house, I try to get her to stay in the kitchen more (furthest away from my room, and door to outside is there) by praise, treats. A lot of times shes just all 'to hell with this' and goes back to my room. She doesnt seem scared in the house, her tail is normal and when I'm around shes jumping, prancing everywhere being a dickhead. Another thing, shes pretty rough with playing. Every single drat time I get up to walk to the kitchen, shes after me, jumping on the back of my legs, nipping me occasionally. I've tried ignoring her, or stopping when she starts jumping until she calms down to walk again, I've never actually played with her when she does this. She bites hard too when playing I'm doing the yelping thing and then stopping play/ignoring but the next time she'll just get all riled up again easily. I've bought a bunch of toys to redirect onto them but body parts are still so much better. ...shes a cute little rear end in a top hat though thats still shedding all over my floor from scratching. >:\ I've asked the shelter if it would be possible for vet stuff but she just said I needed time, use flax/olive oil in her food instead. Shes going to the vet tomorrow though for an abscess? on her foot which I think got infected from all her chewing, licking.  e: I'm wondering if she somehow was abused by bigger men, or just more intimidated.. my grandpa is the only one really trying to be nice and I feel bad that she is "rejecting" him! I am glad he is patient. She seems a lot less fearful of the ladies in the house. Malalol fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Oct 18, 2011 |
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Oct 18, 2011 04:54
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Malalol posted:Hey guys! I'm really not sure how to handle my foster dogs scaredyness with the world, and other things. Long rambling post about a few things that I dont know how to approach at all. Sounds like the poor girl has a lot of issues! Good for you for fostering her AND taking the time to try and help. First up, how long has she been with you now? RE fearfulness when you aren't there - she's obviously latched onto you as a safe person, source of comfort, etc. So when you go it's terrifying and she pretty much shuts down. Have you tried leaving a pile of worn clothes for her to lie on? RE your grandfather - is he much taller than you? physically imposing? loud? uses big hand gestures? Fearful dogs react negatively to those things often, so if he scares her (unintentionally) then that could undermine his relationship with her. Is there anything she really enjoys that you and she do, like playing, that your grandfather doesn't? Trying to include him in everything might help--especially doing things like hand feeding. RE sniffing but running away - a lot of dogs (fearful as well as 'normal') have issues with people approaching if the people look threatening (direct eye contact, smiling, holding hands out, etc - all things we as humans naturally want to do) or if they associate approach with head patting, which many dogs try aversive. With your foster, I'd try a mixture of shaping her to go up to, touch, accept pets from, etc, people (I do this with Lola and people at my house) and maybe try going through resource guarding steps, i.e Jean Donaldson's Mine! It sounds strange but that book has many step by step guides to get dogs comfortable being approached and touched while eating - it would probably transfer well to being approached and touched in general.
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Oct 18, 2011 07:51
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Continuing because it's hard to type on my phone and didn't want to lose everything I'd written: RE fearfulness outside: before you go outside, how is she inside? At doors and entrances? You want to make sure she's comfortable inside before you work outside really. When she's ready for outside, I personally would: - Go to the edge of the back yard when there will be no people. Throw food, play games, maybe do some Protocol to Relaxation outside. Maybe some TTouch would help too. Get her to associate outdoors with everything good. - Progress forward further into the yard, and repeat step one. Measure you progress in centimetres across the yard, not in metres. - Generalise these two steps by having her in the back yard at different times of day, different weather, etc. - Bring one person she's confident with (your friend) out and alternate between who throws food, plays, etc. - Bring one person she's not AS confident with (your grandfather) out and do the same. - Bring two people (friend and grandfather) out and repeat above with one of two (whilst other sits or stands quietly). Then introduce the other so you, your friend and your grandfather take it in turns playing, feeding, petting, etc. - Slowly increase the number of people out in the back yard (taking a step back every time you add - so you could bring in an unfamiliar person but only them, and have them sit/stand quietly first). - Once she is fully happy with a number of people outside, start at step one in the front yard. RE rough playing -- keep a short leash on her at all times. If she nips, tether her and leave (tethering so she can't chase you to the door). Eventually she'll make the connection between nipping and all fun (you) going away. I've also heard that short tug toys are good for proofing bite inhibition when you get to that stage (though we'd naturally want a long one) as the dog much more quickly learns to be careful with their teeth. Good luck! I think I've (tried to) answer everything 
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Oct 18, 2011 08:04
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Malalol posted:Hey guys! I'm really not sure how to handle my foster dogs scaredyness with the world, and other things. Long rambling post about a few things that I dont know how to approach at all. Our dogs are twins:  Any idea what breed she is? I'm not sure from the picture how big she actually is. It sounds like she's fairly new to you; to a large extent it just takes time to adjust to the new surroundings and gain trust in new people. If she's a schipperke mutt like she looks, you might want to check out the primitive breeds thread to get an idea of possible temperament and strategies for handling it. My dog Clyde had similar issues to what you're describing (though not as bad) and by far the best strategy is counter conditioning with really good treats (always have them on hand, practically stuff down her face as long as she's behaving the way you want). After a year he is totally fine with people but not interested in being pet by strangers, and has some lingering dog aggression. With other dogs I've just learned his triggers (e.g. he HATES Westies and is not trustable with similar small white dogs).
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Oct 18, 2011 08:10
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