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Thanks for the suggestions Fraction (I keep calling you Lola in my head even though thats your dog). I like the tethering suggestion for when she is playing. She hasn't been with me too long, 2-3 weeks so its not that really long of a time at all. My grandfather IS imposing, I know, my friend and me who she is comfortable with know how to get down, use higher pitched voices, etc, but my grandfather doesnt. Ive asked him to stop being so loud, but getting down on his knees, I can't make him do so much. She is supposedly a schipperke mix...aka, why did I get myself into this fk you dogs. Ive had 2 pits as fosters before, so. What a change. She looked terrible at the shelter though, so. I decided to take her instead and had been there since June. Ill think about these things, but I gotta run to work now argh!
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Oct 18, 2011 11:05
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This website is a great resource for fearful dogs: http://fearfuldogs.com/ Also check out the site's blog here: http://fearfuldogs.wordpress.com/ It takes time, a lot of counterconditioning and patience to get a fearful dog to come out of its shell. Good luck. It sounds like you're going in the right direction.
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Oct 18, 2011 12:57
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I have been tasked with writing up an educational booklet for my shelter to give out to adopters (or anyone who would like one). I'm going to ask that volunteers and employees be required to read them as well because I'm tired of the ignorance. This booklet will include general dog information such as nutrition, training, basic medical care/issues, book recommendations, and I thought about including a small bit on ethical breeding. If it were up to me this booklet would end up as a series of novels, but it's best to keep things succinct, obviously. What I wanted to ask is if any folks with credentials here would be interested in writing up the training section? An overview of traditional vs. positive reinforcement, dominance theory flaws, a bit on behavior and body language, and training tools. Kind of a rehash of the OP but with some added stuff, I suppose. You would of course be given full credit and sent a copy of the booklet if you like. Keep in mind this needs to be approved by officials at the shelter so professionalism is key here. edit: a life less is awesome and has volunteered for the job. 
Skizzles fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Oct 18, 2011 |
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Oct 18, 2011 15:11
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Skizzles posted:I have been tasked with writing up an educational booklet for my shelter to give out to adopters (or anyone who would like one). I'm going to ask that volunteers and employees be required to read them as well because I'm tired of the ignorance. This sounds like a really cool thing. Good on your shelter for doing it! Malalol posted:Thanks for the suggestions Fraction (I keep calling you Lola in my head even though thats your dog). I like the tethering suggestion for when she is playing. She hasn't been with me too long, 2-3 weeks so its not that really long of a time at all. I could be Lola  Yeah 2-3 weeks means that some of her problems that seem severe now (like nipping in play, being scared when you leave) should lessen quite quickly, as you're taking steps against them. With your grandfather, would it work to ask him how he'd approach a shy child? Like the softer and quieter voice, stooping down to be at the child's level? With some people, comparing dogs to kids (dogs aren't kids I know but they aren't that far off imo) helps them to understand what the dog is going through, and gets around the 'heh it's a dog it should know I don't mean any harm, silly dog' kind of thing. If there's a problem for him (e.g. medical, or personal preference, or whatever) in things like getting down on his knees, you could try hanging out with him and the dog on cushions/blankets on the floor or something. That way he'd be less imposing physically, and it'd be a good opportunity for petting.
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Oct 18, 2011 19:07
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Today I started working on blind retrieves with Mouse and I was surprised and pleased at how quickly she got the idea  . Up until this point she has been retrieving thrown items or holding things I give her. We started with a dumbbell on the floor and went back to basics clicking for looking at it, pawing it, nose touching etc all the way to lifting it up and placing it in my hand. That took about 15 minutes, and after an evening's work she'll now: - sit behind a closed door, - wait for me to drop four or five items around the room - come in on command - go searching for the items - bring each one she finds back to hand, then go searching for the next one This is an awesome foundation for working up to blind retrieves outdoors, and eventually building in directional commands. I was expecting to work for a week to get to this stage, so I'm super happy that she got the hang so quickly. She also seems to find it a really fun game, which is awesome!
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Oct 18, 2011 20:34
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Fraction posted:This sounds like a really cool thing. Good on your shelter for doing it! I actually proposed the idea to them, but they said go for it, and it'll be good on them if they approve what I and those helping me put together!
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Oct 19, 2011 03:59
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Sorry about the length... I am in desperate need of someone to talk to about this stuff. I posted in the random nonsense thread about Dexter. Long story short: He has been nibbling cloth/people so much that the vet said its most likely OCD and also noticed some red areas on his back legs where he may have been nibbling himself. He put him on Fluoxetine to help out with the redirection/training and to hopefully prevent it from getting worse. I keep getting poo poo from coworkers (work at a dog boarding kennel) for drugging my dog for something "so harmless" and its just "normal dog behavior." Here is a video showing how obsessed he is with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEYgXXFJdUw . I don't normally do this, I only did it this once to demonstrate how frustrated/obsessed he gets. He gets like this most of the times that he is awake and I am not actively doing stuff with him. To me, this doesn't seem like "normal dog behavior". Dex has been on the meds for a week now. I was told that it probably will be 2-4 weeks before it really makes a difference with the OCD behaviors. (In the mean time, I am redirecting him whenever I catch him chewing and exercising his butt off. We are also going to flyball every week and do random obedience/trick training when we find time.) However, I am pretty sure it makes him drowsy as hell right now. I give him the pill in the morning and then all he wants to do is nap/be lazy for most of the day. I have been trying to think of any changes recently that could have triggered the OCD behaviors and any way that I could make him happier. The only thing I could think of is the fact that I have been dropping him off at work when I am in class (Monday, Wednesday and then I crated him Fridays) and then I work either Tuesday/Thursday and then both weekend days. This meant a combination of always being around a bunch of dogs, and less one-on-one time with me because he was too tired to do anything when he got home. I also don't really feel comfortable leaving him with people who don't believe that he has a problem and use physical punishment on dogs. Last thing I need is someone trying to "discipline" my dog and making it worse. I decided the first step would be to cut playtime at work back to only when I am there too. So, this week I tried leaving him at home. I woke up super early before class, took him for a 45 min-hour walk, gave him his pill, crated him. Then when I get home we go for another 45 min-hour walk and play on and off for the rest of the night. So far he seems happier than ever, and he has even made progress with crate training. Here, have a much needed break from the wall of text. This is a picture of Dexter during one of our walks this week.  One thing I am worried about is that he is crated about 6.5 to 7 hours. I thought this would be a little too long for him, so on Monday I asked my roommate to take him out to potty/walk him after 2-3 hours. When she took him outside, he kept trying to pull back inside to go back to sleep. Today, I tried leaving him in the crate the whole time and he did really well. Is 6.5-7 hours in a crate reasonable for a 9 month old dog? What sort of "entertainment" items do you think I should give him in the crate? I normally give him a filled kong(sometimes frozen, sometimes not) a cow hoof with a tiny bit of peanut butter smeared in it, and one of these without the filling- http://www.snoozerpetproducts.com/red-barn-dog-treats-small-peanut-butter-filled-bone-dog-treats-p-201.html I am crazy and don't want to give him a rawhide and have him choke on it while unsupervised, but I don't want him getting bored of these three items. So basically what I am asking is: Am I on the right track? Should I change anything? Anyone else have experiences with dogs on these meds or with OCD? It is so hard finding understanding people to talk to about this or good information about it on the internet. I just want my dog to be happy/healthy again. 
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Oct 20, 2011 03:57
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cryingscarf posted:OCD First off, don't listen to other people. I have found that most people, even if they have a working knowledge of dogs, don't understand what it's like to have a dog with a problem and want to write it off, probably so they can go on believing that their dog is a 'good' dog and it can never happen to them. Obsessive behavior that leads to self-mutilation (even if mild) is not 'normal' and you are awesome for training/redirecting. The drugs are just a tool to help you along. My dog is also on prozac, mainly for her anxiety/reactivity issues, but it also helped a growing OCD issue she had. She was tail chasing, which was 'normal' and cute right up until she started ripping fur out whenever she actually caught her tail. So we started redirecting this behavior as well and after she was put on prozac, it all but disappeared. So there's one anecdotal success story for you. I'm skeptical that the drowsiness is due to the prozac because it really does take several weeks to get going in the dog's system. Still though, if the timing is worrisome, I would consult your vet and there are other similar drugs that you can try if your dog is having side-effects. Just like with people, psychiatric drugs react with different brain chemistries in different, unpredictable ways, so sometimes you just need to try different things. My dog is also a sleepy dog (she always was though) and she is typically crated for seven hours for a couple days a week. We don't worry about entertaining her in the crate because she just sleeps (she does this when we're home a lot too) and won't really play with toys by herself anyway. It sounds like your dog is getting a good amount of exercise (I would keep him at home for a while, OCD and stress can be linked), so I wouldn't worry about it, take a breather and see how the next couple weeks pan out. Good luck!
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Oct 20, 2011 04:23
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cryingscarf posted:Sorry about the length... I am in desperate need of someone to talk to about this stuff. I've been sick all week and have some crazy vertigo right now so sorry if this turns out incoherent. Prozac can cause lethargy, anorexia and general disinterest but it usually goes away within a month. Unless it's serious (Major stopped eating all together on prozac) just try to wait it out until you can see if the drug is helping. If it doesn't help or the side effects are worse than the OCD there are plenty of other options to discuss with your vet. I started seeing effects in two weeks but you won't see the full effects for at least a month, just like in psych meds for people. This blog I find really helpful and supportive of medicated dogs. It's focused on a reactive dog but the writer has researched a lot about different medications. This article helped me feel much better informed about psych meds for dogs too. I don't think 6.5-7 hours is too long for a dog to be alone (especially if your roomie will take him out for a quick pee). I would just mix up what gets put in his toys, rotate between them and make sure he is well stimulated when you're around. I don't trust rawhides because they are not easily digestible and I worry about chocking too, but I like antlers and bullsticks and the himalayan chews are alright. My dog is good at not breaking off and swallowing large chunks though so use your own judgement. Plenty of dogs spend a lot more time than 7 hours several times a week in a crate with no problems so don't feel bad about it. Having a dog with issues is all about looking at his/her environment, making changes, and seeing what helps and what doesn't. I would keep a log of behaviors, including OCD periods and crate problems if that is a issue for him, and everything the surrounded those behaviors. List when it happened, how long, who was around, what was going on around him, what he did that day, etc and just look for patterns. This will also be really helpful as you are moving forward and seeing him do better
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Oct 20, 2011 04:39
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Kiri koli posted:First off, don't listen to other people. I have found that most people, even if they have a working knowledge of dogs, don't understand what it's like to have a dog with a problem and want to write it off, probably so they can go on believing that their dog is a 'good' dog and it can never happen to them. Thank you. Kind of hard to take being yelled at(yeah, got to that point) for trying to do best for my dog. I am to the point where if anyone brings it up, I either tell them to drop it or change the subject. Kiri koli posted:Obsessive behavior that leads to self-mutilation (even if mild) is not 'normal' and you are awesome for training/redirecting. The drugs are just a tool to help you along. My dog is also on prozac, mainly for her anxiety/reactivity issues, but it also helped a growing OCD issue she had. She was tail chasing, which was 'normal' and cute right up until she started ripping fur out whenever she actually caught her tail. So we started redirecting this behavior as well and after she was put on prozac, it all but disappeared. So there's one anecdotal success story for you. This makes me hopeful Especially since you mentioned reactivity. Dexter has slowly gotten more and more reactive on leash as well. Most of the time, it is only in the parking lot/yard of the apartment complex, but he will bark at some men when we are out and about. A little girl wanted to pet him this morning and he started barking at her. So embarrassing Kiri koli posted:
At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but it has been pretty consistent. He has also been hesitant about most foods. He used to snatch up a milkbone like it was the best thing ever, but now when I show him one, he sniffs it, licks it, thinks about it for a bit, takes it from me slowly, spits it out in front of him, mouths it a tiny bit, licks it etc until he finally eats it. And then with his meals, pre-meds he didn't really care about his food, but when I put pumpkin or water in the food he would go crazy. Now it is hit or miss. He ate most of his breakfast today, but his dinner with all his favorite add-ins (pumpkin, green beans and warm water) was barely touched. I was planning on waiting couple more days to see if maybe he just needs an adjustment period. I know when I went on medicines in the past, I was weirdly sensitive and felt kind of nauseous at first. I know, different drugs, different species, so if I should call the vet tomorrow, I will! I worry about crossing that line and becoming That-Pet-Owner that overreacts Kiri koli posted:
I guess I am just overly worried about the crate. Before all of this happened, the crate was a challenge for Dex, no matter what I did. He would eat his kong, and then scream himself to sleep. Then he learned how to open the crate from the inside. Then he learned how to open the clip that I put on the crate latch. Now I have a new clip that he cannot open, and recently he is so tired that he plays with his kong and then passes out. I will just stick with the Kong for now. Thank you, again EDIT: Instant Jellyfish posted:Prozac can cause lethargy, anorexia and general disinterest but it usually goes away within a month. Unless it's serious (Major stopped eating all together on prozac) just try to wait it out until you can see if the drug is helping. Thanks for the links! I actually read some of the reactive champion one a while back before this mess started and completely forgot about it. I will read over them asap! When I went information searching I ended up finding this trainwreck: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/faqdog.htm#OCD I completely forgot about his antler. He adores that thing. I will definitely add that into the rotation of items. And duh, why didn't I think about logging this stuff sooner. That would have helped so much if I had done that from the beginning. I will do that from now on, thanks! EDIT #2: Hope you feel better soon, Jellyfish! cryingscarf fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Oct 20, 2011 |
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Oct 20, 2011 05:13
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On top of what has already been said, consider putting the chewing behaviour on cue. Dr Ian Dunbar is all about this method: name it, control it, then cue it only rarely if ever. Once you have the behaviour under stimulus control you'll have better management of the reinforcement it provides Dex. Reward him for just chilling out with a cued nibble for a few seconds, then redirect or ask him to stop. I'm honestly not sure how this method would work in an animal displaying OCD type behaviours, but naming/controlling undesirable actions can be a powerful training tactic.
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Oct 20, 2011 13:16
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cryingscarf posted:EDIT: The world is no longer spinning, thanks for the well wishes! When Major stopped eating I started adding some wet food to his meals to tempt him and was pretty liberal with kibbles as treats for things throughout the day. As long as he's not losing a dangerous amount of weight I wouldn't worry about it too much for the first month. With Major it got to the point where he wouldn't even take fresh bacon as a treat and we couldn't do any training at all so we switched to zoloft and it has worked out much better for him. Another thing to be aware of is that psych meds can cause a decrease in impulse control, but with a terrier puppy I'm not sure how you would tell the difference. Oh dogbreedinfo, don't ever change  If only I had fulfilled Major's migratory instincts better I would never have had problems with him. It's all my fault for letting him walk in front of me.
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Oct 20, 2011 18:55
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 Mouse got her KC GCDS Bronze! 
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Oct 20, 2011 22:02
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To put it bluntly I need help. There's a ton of good advice here and I've scanned through but haven't seen 'my problem' exactly. I will however apologize if this type of situation has been addresses before. And sorry for the length... Not sure how to cut this back. At the end of last year (Dec 30) after much deliberation I decided to get a dog. And after just as much deliberation I decided to adopt a dog from the local animal shelter rather than going to a breeder. Into my life came Dixie. Approx 1.5yr old border collie/shepherd mix. "She's a little preoccupied with cars" they told me, but she seemed nice enough and we hit it off so I took the plunge. They couldn't tell me much about her past other than she had been surrendered due to her 'escaping' and that the previous owners may have keep her leashed outside where she would chase cars up and down the fence line all day. 10months later, working one on one with a trainer, and Dixie has made huge progress. She still has a long way (understatement) to go but she's doing well. Now her problems...where to begin... Inside the house Dix is very relaxed most times and listens and follows commands rather well. She is a bit of a shadow to me so the stay command when I leave is her toughest. Outside the home however very different. Dixie whines and is anxious and on alert constantly. Even walking in the middle of night through the park. If she so much as sees a car or squirrel she starts to try and spin on the leash and pull towards it. She has escaped a couple times since I've had her and she goes straight for the wheels of the cars while driving. Larger vehicles she doesn't even seem to notice. It all seems very selective at times. Even when she's having a good walk she seems to realize that nothing has occurred to stimulate her so she works herself up. I think I'm having such a hard time dealing with this behaviour as she doesn't focus on me at all when outside. Once something has her attention she is lost to the world. Due to the car situation our walks are restricted to a small park by my house. I like to take her on long walks but getting her there is the problem. She has to be tied down in the back of my car and she barks and whines non-stop. She's a sweet dog and is good with people, doesn't care for other dogs but I think that's a lack of socializing. I feel that if I can find someway to get her attention she would be more responsive and perhaps we could find a way past these cars and squirrels. I walk her on a prong collar as it is the only one that I can get her out of her spins when she loses it. She doesn't seem to feel pain as there is never any sign of that it just seems to be enough of a jolt to bring her back to reality. The next step is covering her eyes and trying to take the stimulation away. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'd really like to get her to a place where we can both enjoy each others company as much as possible. I'm open to anything... Help please....
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Oct 21, 2011 18:53
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My dog is also on constant high alert. Does your dog have treats he considers incredibly high value? I cued a 'u-turn' command that automatically means we run away from his stimulus (he's dog aggressive, has crazy prey drive, and hyper-alert to movement) and it will rain chicken on the ground after about a block of running. I've used it successfully to snap him out of certain behaviors even when we're not walking. There's a good chance your trainer has gone over this with you, but these are the techniques I use right now. It's also a band-aid solution until I can get him to truly reduce his anxiety by progressive relaxation (sitting outside and rewarding him for lying down in a relaxed position while poo poo is going on, and praising him for showing calming signals - yawn, deep breath, etc), doing the protocol for relaxation (dear god it's mind numbing but I definitely see the importance of it), and BAT using my friend's dog as a volunteer. When I first started walking my dog, I was told that I shouldn't expect to go further than a block by my trainer. She was right. More than once I had to stop, run backwards yelling 'u-turn' in public, give a sit command, wait 5 minutes or more for willing (or accidental) compliance, C/T, then move on. After a few weeks he started to actually offer eye contact from time to time, and I had to be extra attentive to him so I could C/T him every time this happened. It's incredibly slow going and takes a lot of patience but the results have been worth it. I honestly can't imagine having a dog that has cars as a stimulus though. Dear lord.  Edit: Also if your schedule permits, join us in the early morning/late at night walk crew. I walk my dog twice a day - 5 AM and 10:30 PM, otherwise he's in the back yard playing with me. No, I don't get enough sleep. Kunabomber fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Oct 21, 2011 |
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Oct 21, 2011 19:38
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Peepopo posted:dog anxiety It would help if you posted a bit more about what work you've done with a trainer and how Dixie has made progress. What things have you tried that have worked for her and in what way? What things haven't worked? I have a dog and people reactive/aggressive dog that I have been working with for over a year now. Your dog sounds a lot like my dog, only with cars as the stimulus (the squirrel thing may be prey drive). My dog has general anxiety, she is on high alert when outside and initially inside as well. She rarely relaxed when we first got her and only after putting her on prozac, training, and finally moving (we lived in a loud, chaotic environment) did we get her to a point where she is not constantly stressed. First thing, lose the prong collar. Dogs have a high threshold for pain and will often not show it. Even if your dog is not in pain though, a prong collar is not the right tool in anxiety cases. The reason is this: your dog sees a car, her excitement/anxiety go through the roof, she jumps or pulls, and suddenly her throat is being pinched. She doesn't understand that it's a correction, she just understands that pain/discomfort happens in the presence of cars. If she stops reacting, that is because you are shutting her behavior down. The only 'cure' for anxiety/phobia cases is to change her attitude toward cars by associating them with good things like treats. As an alternative, try a head collar. You get the same control (I can bring my dog back under control in a quarter of the time with a head collar than on a flat) without the added punishment. For a general plan, you want to focus on three pillars: counter-conditioning, desensitization, and operant training (to build her confidence). Counter-conditioning is like pavlov's dogs. When your dog sees a 'bad' thing, she gets a treat. That's it. She doesn't have to do anything (or not do anything), she just gets a treat (or toy) that she loves to build an association that seeing car = awesome things. Desensitization is the process of starting out at a under-threshold (able to eat) distance and moving in from there at whatever pace the dog can handle. Those two are mainly for specific stimuli. For general anxiety, you want to just train your dog. Training builds confidence and, specifically, you can train your dog to look to you for direction. A reactive dog makes poor decisions, so you need to teach them that you make decisions for them. An example of this is my dog sees someone coming down the sidewalk. Instead of lunging and barking, she checks in with me to see how I'm reacting and what I want her to do. The u-turn command that Kunabomber talked about is good. Another place to start is just work on focus. Starting inside, play a game where you click/treat whenever your dog looks at you. You can call her name sometimes, add duration, just really hammer home that looking at you = awesome things happen. Once you get this going good inside, you can take it outside to your yard or whereever is the most calm place for your dog. It takes a while but eventually your dog will learn to check in with you. Once you get over that hump, then work on other training outside. Teach your dog to listen to commands (any command, even silly things like shake) from the ground up, first inside and then move it outside and eventually to more and more distracting places. Dogs like to have a job to do and following your commands gives them a reprieve from the environment so they can learn to relax. Okay, well, I could go on and on, but I'll just leave you with a thing we do to get our dog places. She attends a reactive dog class and obviously they don't want all the dogs going nuts in the cars, so we go to class with her in a covered crate in the back. It's not the safest thing, but it's really the only solution at this point. Maybe you can use that to get her to other places you can tire her out.
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Oct 21, 2011 21:26
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notsoape posted:
Awwwww that ribbon is bigger than her
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Oct 22, 2011 12:49
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Thanks for the feedback. With the trainer we typically have just been working on standard behavioural stuff. I believe she thinks if we master this the rest will fall into place. Our method of dealing with her when she loses her mind outside is to remove the stimulus by bringing her in close and covering her eyes. In the car I've tried a cage separating the back, covering the rear windows and even the covered crate. The most successful method has been restraining down so she doesn't have a good view of the windows. As much as I like my trainer I have been considering perhaps looking elsewhere for some advice. Inside the home she isn't bad. Unless she sees a squirrel in the window then she wants to jump at the windows and isn't always the quickest to 'off' when told. I have walked her with a head halter before, it works very well for her walking but when she starts spinning I worry that it's going to hurt her more than the prongs. I'll start trying it again though; even though it leaves her with a goofy looking mark on her nose. The issue we have had with treats is once we are outside she has no desire for treats. I can force one in her mouth but even then she doesn't want it. Her focus is the car or squirrel. Perhaps I'm not using a tasty enough treat?? Sounds like I have some new training methods to consider and start trying so thank you very much. The thing I find with this dog is she is very smart. So smart that she anticipates what is going to happen most times. I also think that she feels she doesn't need to respond to my commands, she can appear very stubborn at times. I do like the sounds of this 'u_turn' command. I'm not worried about looking like a weirdo in the park either as the past year has been nothing but people looking at me asking whats wrong with my dog. Thanks again, I'm off to get some better treats.
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Oct 22, 2011 15:14
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Kunabomber posted:
We have been doing this and she's much better at calming herself down now. Kunabomber posted:
Believe me it's not fun. Kunabomber posted:
I'm a shift worker so she gets a good variety of time walks, including 4ams and late nights. I think U-Turn is coming to a park near me. Thanks.
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Oct 22, 2011 15:18
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Peepopo posted:Thanks for the feedback. If your dog isn't taking treats, she's probably over threshold already. Bailey is reactive to cars and has a very high prey drive. If he sees a squirrel, I could cover a chunk of salmon with peanut butter and beef juice and he probably would not give a toss. He's better about cars now, but mainly because he's somewhat calmer and he knows that when he sees a car, he needs to sit and look at me. Part of what might help is trying to maintain a greater distance from distractions/things your dog reacts to if possible. Also, develop eagle eyes. If I see a squirrel before my dog does, I'll jog ahead with him so he's excited to run and doesn't focus on the squirrel. Trying a better treat isn't a bad idea, but I don't necessarily think its the solution.
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Oct 22, 2011 15:20
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wtftastic posted:If your dog isn't taking treats, she's probably over threshold already. Bailey is reactive to cars and has a very high prey drive. If he sees a squirrel, I could cover a chunk of salmon with peanut butter and beef juice and he probably would not give a toss. He's better about cars now, but mainly because he's somewhat calmer and he knows that when he sees a car, he needs to sit and look at me. This is definitely true, if she is not taking treats in the presence of stimuli, she is over threshold and you need to just get out of there and try again at an increased distance. Avoiding situations you know your dog can't handle is also very necessary as much as possible. I imagine that Dixie also has the problem my dog had that in exciting/overwhelming outdoor environments, she would just ignore treats/commands. I suppose you could also call this being over-threshold, but the solution is different because you can't just increase distance or remove the stimuli because it is the environment itself. Two solutions I used with my dog were to get better treats (my dog regularly gets treats like leftover steak, chicken, or pork when we're working on something hard, whatever she loves because you can't teach a dog that is ignoring the reward!), and to work on commands extensively inside and then slowly bring them outside and be persistent. Eventually Psyche went from ignoring all commands/treats in certain outdoor environments (like our yard which has a busy road nearby, neighbors, and lots of squirrels) to doing all her tricks for her kibble. So I would try better treats and work on getting her to do little, easy things outside, like sit. That may ease her into eating outside. As for the head halter, the thing to worry about is if the dog jumps or takes off fast enough to give themselves whiplash. If your dog doesn't do that, then I would give it a try again. My dog does gymnastics when she gets going, jumping all over the place and getting all tangled in her leash and everything, but she's never been injured. She definitely chokes herself when using a regular collar. Try this one from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...F0CQPW36EWTYDG0 It has padding for the nose strap, so it might not irritate as much.
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Oct 22, 2011 16:07
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Peepopo posted:Our method of dealing with her when she loses her mind outside is to remove the stimulus by bringing her in close and covering her eyes. In the car I've tried a cage separating the back, covering the rear windows and even the covered crate. The most successful method has been restraining down so she doesn't have a good view of the windows. As much as I like my trainer I have been considering perhaps looking elsewhere for some advice. Can you say a little more about this covering her eyes thing? Since you said before she was anxious and on high alert, I assume her triggers cause her to have a fear-based reaction, rather than reacting from drive/excitement/whatever, and covering the eyes of an highly strung scaredy-dog sounds like a way to get yourself bitten from panic. And by restraining her, do you mean pinning her down or tying her so that she can't see out the windows? Kunabomber posted:It's also a band-aid solution until I can get him to truly reduce his anxiety by progressive relaxation (sitting outside and rewarding him for lying down in a relaxed position while poo poo is going on, and praising him for showing calming signals - yawn, deep breath, etc), doing the protocol for relaxation (dear god it's mind numbing but I definitely see the importance of it), and BAT using my friend's dog as a volunteer. I've been thinking about doing the protocol for relaxation with Lola to reduce her general, mild anxieties. Have you noticed any improvement in your dog's anxiety since starting doing it? Fraction fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Oct 22, 2011 |
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Oct 22, 2011 16:53
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Peepopo, I think that both the prong collar and the forcefully covering your dog's eyes are both working against you. On top of the advice offered up here I would strongly recommend you read the following books: Focus, Not Fear by Ali Brown and Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt It sounds like you're rushing into the very difficult task of demanding focus in a highly distracting environment without laying a strong foundation of work in low distraction locations. These books will break down your problem into manageable chunks, and will show you how to gradually build behaviour out in the real world. Seriously, I'm sure you'll find them both worth your while.
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Oct 22, 2011 18:24
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I've noticed that my dog has stopped jumping at random noises as much. However, I'm at a point halfway where I'm required to have the dog stay while I'm opening and exiting the door - he has major separation anxiety and it's been slow going, but I've had instances where he merely lifts his head up while I exit the house, then put it back down again. It's a thorough behavior modification protocol that will take weeks, if not months to complete. It's not a blanket cure by any means but I think it's a good foundation to base other training on - if some weird poo poo happens, wait, sit, and look to me for direction. edit: Forgot to mention that my dog will go up to day 6 or 7 indoors, but outdoors I doubt I can do more than day 2 or 3. First finish it indoors, then outdoors/backyard, then dog park, etc.
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Oct 22, 2011 18:33
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Couple of questions I know have been asked before, but I would love some feedback. Maverick (4 y/o GSD) has always been a very fearful/unconfident dog, from what we know she was more or less crated the entire first year or so of her life, and since coming to our house has made amazing strides, but recently we had a few setbacks. We moved (about 3 weeks ago) and ever since then Maverick had regressed seriously in her crate/separation anxiety training. When we first got her she would pretty much pee/poop/vomit any time we left the house for any amount over a few moments we spent a long time working through that and up until this move she was fine (we have moved once before with her), but now she is getting much worse. This is a list of the things I know are probably going to set her off: -Me leaving for work when I am the only person home. -Anything out of the ordinary happening right before she needs to be crated (my mom came over before she was crated, received a package and answered the door before she was crated each time after crating she either pooped or tried to escape the crate) - Coming home and letting her out of her crate for walks/potty break and then putting her back in within the hour ( example: Boyfriend leaves at noon puts dog in crate I come home at 1 let dog walk dog for about 20 min then leave for work at 2 then she gets let out again at 9 but has either had an accident or destroyed something.) Things I am doing to help: -Pheromone Diffuser (couldn’t find any good studies on these but got one cheap and decided to try it) -Regressing 100% with anxiety training by relearning what a nice thing the kennel is, problem here is anytime she thinks I am leave she instantly goes way over threshold and becomes a whining not food interested dog. -Working with a friend of a friend with a Masters in Animal Behavior My questions are the following: Is there anything I can do to help my dog learn that independence is AWESOME! I feel like she may be too attached to me and that is making the issue worse. I know that having a bond with your dog is awesome and we have a great working relationship ,but I want to be able to have someone else hold her leash and have me walk away without her having a panic attack and I’m not sure how to work on this. My second question is about my behaviorist conflicting with my vet the vet says to leave her alone for a month or so and see if she gets better and if not then put her on anxiety meds, the behaviorists is suggesting that I put her on some now to help chill out, as since the move she has escalated past peeing/pooping to bend the cage destroying beds, crate pans, and tearing up her nose trying to escape, but I’m not really sure what the best plan of action would be. Help me!
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Oct 22, 2011 23:29
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DenialTwist posted:Couple of questions I know have been asked before, but I would love some feedback. Maverick (4 y/o GSD) has always been a very fearful/unconfident dog, from what we know she was more or less crated the entire first year or so of her life, and since coming to our house has made amazing strides, but recently we had a few setbacks. We moved (about 3 weeks ago) and ever since then Maverick had regressed seriously in her crate/separation anxiety training. First, I think you could probably also benefit from some books on working with a fearful dog that were recommended a couple posts up: Focus, Not Fear by Ali Brown and Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt (reposted from a life less's post) I have only read Control Unleashed, but it is specifically about taking a stressed out dog and teaching them to work/function with confidence. To give one example, one of the things I've been doing with my dog is trying to lay really, really basic foundations for agility through shaping. Shaping is a great exercise for building confidence and independence with dogs because it teaches the dog to try things and that making decisions and going for it are rewarding things rather than scary things. And once you get your dog trying things, you can have a lot of fun shaping them without directions outside of rewarding (which builds their independence). What I've been doing lately is I bought my dog a hula hoop. I held it up vertically with the bottom on the ground and just shaped her to walk through it (click/treat for looking through it, then putting her nose through it, then a paw, then going all the way). Once she got that, I tilted it by degrees until she had to crawl under to get through. Crawling is different and scary (and the hoop was touching her back!), but she's learned to go for things and try them out through shaping, so it didn't take her all that long to just do it and find out that it was fun and rewarding. Next I'm teaching her to jump through it. You can shape your dog to do all sorts of simple things, walking under sheets, on strange surfaces, interacting with strange things...and all of it builds confidence. Of course, separation anxiety is a different and difficult thing and needs to be addressed on its own. It sounds like you have some experience with that (more than me, in fact), so I'll just comment on the meds. First, regular vets are like regular doctors. They are really, really good at what they do, but what they do is not psychiatry. So you have to be careful when discussing psychiatric medications and problems with a vet. Some vets are no doubt well-versed and know what they're talking about, but it is NOT a requirement for them. I don't know what a Masters in Animal Behavior entails either (in terms of psychiatric care), so I don't know how much you can trust their opinion on meds. However, you should keep in mind that a medication like prozac (which my dog is on) or the other one that's for SA that I can't remember, they take weeks to get into your dog's system and start working anyway. If it was me, I would probably wait so that I could separate out the effects of giving the dog a little time/training and the medication. But you know you're dog and how bad it is, so you're in a better position to judge. If it's a long-term quality of life issue, then medication+training is a good way to go. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Oct 23, 2011 |
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Oct 23, 2011 01:42
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Kiri koli posted:Info My biggest frustration with Maverick is that she is a very smart obedient dog, we do clicker training and we do a lot of free shaping to encourage her to try new things but all of that is done with me so I don't know how to bridge the gap between "Yay!Things with mom," and "Oh god mom is gone and dead and my life is clearly over." I'm really looking for exercises that I can do with Maverick to make her more comfortable with the unexpected. She is much more likely to react calmly when everything goes 100% to our schedule, but on days where something happens out of the ordinary she goes straight from happy well behaved dog to stressed,with the behaviorist friend she told me that for normal clients she always defers to vet opinion but she said as a friend that she would suggest something different. I have a lot of experience around dogs, I've been fostering dogs with my parents since high school and on my own since then all in all probably lived with 10-20 different dogs and I've just never experienced this level of attachment.I just feel that at this point it's unhealthy for her to be so attached to me that she is incapable of functioning without me. Even when shes home alone with my boyfriend who does walk and feed her occasionally she doesn't show this level of attachment. Anytime shes in a room with me and can't get to within a few feet of me she whines and yips for a few until shes convinced I am unreachable and lays down as close tp me as possible. I'm a fairly experienced PI-er,so we've always practiced NILF with her and I rarely give her attention when shes panicking (except when she works herself into a frenzy but even then its a simple Quiet and then I go back to what I was doing). I would just like to have her be able to function without me being there. For example, if I am in the front yard and she is in the back yard (chain link fence separating) she will spin, jump, and yip herself into a complete panic until I come back into the backyard. So any suggestions on independence exercises would be awesome.
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Oct 23, 2011 21:47
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Do you currently go to any training classes with her, or do any social activities? I'm wondering if working with her in a busy class around other people and dogs, channeling her energy into something which is compatible with her drives, might help to make her a little more chill in the house and a little less intense when it comes to her bond with you? I know GSDs like to have jobs: could it be that right now she sees her "job" as being your buddy and protector, and not letting you out of her sight in case Bad Things Happen?
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Oct 23, 2011 22:03
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notsoape posted:Do you currently go to any training classes with her, or do any social activities? I'm wondering if working with her in a busy class around other people and dogs, channeling her energy into something which is compatible with her drives, might help to make her a little more chill in the house and a little less intense when it comes to her bond with you? I know GSDs like to have jobs: could it be that right now she sees her "job" as being your buddy and protector, and not letting you out of her sight in case Bad Things Happen? We really just do at home training, but spend at least one day ever other week out out and about. I take her to the self service bath at the pet store and walk around and get treats and stuff some weeks we go more often like to a dog park or something( in addition to daily walks with a back pack). But I will certainly look into getting her in some kind of training class, do you think a more serious class like agility (something only I would take her to alone) or something like a petsmarts obedience class that my boyfriend could take her alone or with me?
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Oct 23, 2011 22:10
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DenialTwist posted:My biggest frustration with Maverick is that she is a very smart obedient dog I'm not sure about SA related stuff but 'smart obedient dog' screams that you should do rally or obedience with her. I bet she'd find it a blast (and rally-o or obedience aren't anyway near as taxing on a dog's body as, say, agility or flyball). For independent exercises... have you tried doing a lot of mat work? You could teach her that working at a distance (doing cues on a mat at X distance away, for example) is much more rewarding and awesome than being stuck to your leg. You could also try giving her more toys that are independent, such as frozen kongs, boomer balls, etc, as opposed to frisbees/tennis balls/flirt poles/tug toys/whatever.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:15
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DenialTwist posted:We really just do at home training, but spend at least one day ever other week out out and about. I take her to the self service bath at the pet store and walk around and get treats and stuff some weeks we go more often like to a dog park or something( in addition to daily walks with a back pack). But I will certainly look into getting her in some kind of training class, do you think a more serious class like agility (something only I would take her to alone) or something like a petsmarts obedience class that my boyfriend could take her alone or with me? Sorry I underestimated how much experience you have and how much work you've done with her! It sounds like a really serious case of separation anxiety. I agree with the others that a class is a good idea. I don't think it matters which one as long as she is having fun and not stressed out. If it was me, I would start with a consultation with a local trainer (not petsmart) because they can usually make a diagnosis and set you up with a plan that will probably involve classes, but maybe they will have suggestions for other exercises you can do. Does your dog take commands from your boyfriend? If your dog has problems obeying other people, then I would try working on that. Have you and your boyfriend out in the yard or wherever, have him work with the dog, and once she's pretty comfortable, occasionally increase your distance from them. Have him walk her away and then back or you walk a few steps away. Maybe bonding with another person while also getting some distance from you will help her be more comfortable with independence. Fraction suggestion of mat/distance work sounds really good too, eventually you'll work that up to stepping out of the room, which I imagine will be a big hurtle. I'm not sure about the schedule thing, some dogs definitely like a schedule, but I'm not sure how to get them to be less reliant on one. I have purposely done things like make loud, unexpected noises and such to desensitize my dog, but I'm not sure that's what you mean by 'unexpected'. Good luck and keep us updated.
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Oct 24, 2011 00:10
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Already started scouting out some classes in our area that start towards the end of the month, so that maybe an option for us, in the meantime I'm going to start focusing heavily on distance work. Maybe I could get some feed back on this though, she has a really solid stay but could use some work on duration out of sight stays, I admittedly get frustrated with those as she cheats as soon as I get out of sight and moves but then she hears me come back she runs back to the spot like what? I really appreciate all the suggestions! . So far were on day two of the DAP diffuser and day one was utter failure bed destroyed and pushed out of crate and crate pan chewed bars seriously bent in nose scratched up ( this was also the day my mom came over) , day two spent one hour in crate with just towels no bed or crate pan (as it was eaten) and nothing destroyed or pooped on! Yay!
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Oct 24, 2011 03:00
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DenialTwist posted:Already started scouting out some classes in our area that start towards the end of the month, so that maybe an option for us, in the meantime I'm going to start focusing heavily on distance work. Maybe I could get some feed back on this though, she has a really solid stay but could use some work on duration out of sight stays, I admittedly get frustrated with those as she cheats as soon as I get out of sight and moves but then she hears me come back she runs back to the spot like what? I'd probably strongly consider medication. And tracking  Which I seem to suggest to every single problem people have with their dogs. But in this case it could, again, be rather benefical, since it's very natural to dogs in general and GSDs in particular. It could also do wonders to the Maverick's confidence and independence, since she'll be the one in charge. Might consider having your boyfriend as the final reward at the end of the track sometime, too. My Healy is very clingy and I did crate her for a bit (within the boundaries of the law), when she was under a year old and tried destroying stuff. She hasn't needed the crate since and is probably pretty quiet too, at least when my other dog is at home as well. I do believe she might get a thad vocal, when she's completely alone, but I haven't recorded her for awhile so I can't be too certain. Tracking and herding, growing up and lately search have done wonders to her self confidence. She would rather hang around me and starts whining quite a bit, if she is in a strange place and I'm not around. She'll be calmer at a greater distances, if she is free as opposed to being behind a fence or tethered. I know this level of attachement might already be a problem for some, but I'm fine with it.
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Oct 24, 2011 12:54
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Kiri koli posted:
I've picked up some better treats but as before if she's in 'the zone' she doesn't care. Fraction posted:Can you say a little more about this covering her eyes thing? The covering of the eyes is just as it sounds. I have her sit, pull her head into my thighs and cover her eyes with my hands. She slowly calms down and we can continue on. I don't believe her reactions are fear based and she's never been upset with this trick other than trying to move her head to see whatever it was that caught her attention in the first place. I've tried to start rewarding her when she looks at me however outside she seldom does. I had her sit and I stood in front of her for 10mins before she looked my way. I'm curious if in using this method I have to give her a treat each and every time she looks at me; inside and out. Further along the praise lines... the idea of using a clicker. Any thoughts if this would be beneficial to a dog like mine and if so where is a good place to start learning how to use it properly.
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Oct 25, 2011 01:46
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Peepopo posted:I've picked up some better treats but as before if she's in 'the zone' she doesn't care. We do something similar with my dog when she is far over threshold and we cannot get away from the stimulus fast enough and so the only solution is to pick her up and forcibly stop her from seeing it. It is not a long term solution though and if she was not so overwhelmed that she was in danger of biting those around her or of hurting herself, I would probably not do it at all. You say that you don't think your dog's reactions are fear based. What exactly does she do during a reaction? Jump, bark, growl, snap? Are her hackles raised, her posture rigid, does she stare? Any other signs that you know she's about to react or things she always does during reacting? I'm having a hard time picturing a dog that is only excited (not anxious or fearful) that is so hard to bring back down that you need to cover her eyes. Not that I don't believe you, I'd just like more details. Also you said she sits...is that voluntary? If she will sit for you, you're already well on your way.I would definitely try to move away from the eye covering thing toward getting her to calm down and focus on you or preferably focus on you at the beginning of a reaction. A good way to start is to reward her looking at you, as you're doing. Don't only do it outside. I used to play games with my dog where I would watch tv with her on the couch and give her a treat every time she looked at me (when she got really good at it, I started watching dog shows where the barking drove her nuts until she was totally ignoring the show to look at me). This will set up a foundation that will make it easier for her outside, where there are more distractions. You don't need to reward it every time she looks at you, but when you are working with her or on a walk, I would definitely do it a TON at first. I've been working on this with my dog for a year and I still randomly reward her for looking at me, and I always try to catch it if she just looked away from something she would normally react to. I love clickers for reactive dogs. It makes it so much easier to mark the correct behavior before an incorrect behavior starts. For example, the Look at That game with my dog. My dog looks over and sees another dog, I click before she gets worked up, and she looks over at me (or doesn't, depending on the stimulus), and gets a treat. It's great for counter-conditioning and for sneaking in a treat for good behavior when that behavior only lasts a split second. Timing is really crucial with dogs that get worked up really quickly. By the time I say 'yes' or 'good girl' and she hears me, she's usually already gone. The clicker is quick, loud, and she knows exactly what it means. How to use a clicker (you may want to read about it some more but this is the basics): Step 1: get clicker (pet stores, amazon, a clicky pen, etc.) Step 2: charge clicker. Get your dog, click, and immediately treat. Repeat. You are done charging the clicker when your dog starts to look at you hungrily when she hears a click. Step 3: Use the clicker to mark the behavior you want. This means clicking while the dog is performing the behavior! Not afterward. If you want a sit, click right before the dog's butt hits the ground. Timing is crucial and you should practice it if you're not good at it. If you click too late, the dog might have glanced away or yawned or scratched an itch and now thinks you are rewarding her for being itchy. Step 4: After a click, treat! The timing of the treat is not super important. Don't wait too long, but you don't need to fumble in a hurry either. Always, always treat after a click, even if you didn't mean to click or clicked the wrong thing. Otherwise you weaken the power of the click. Clickers are great and just take a little getting used to, but they make training sooo much more efficient. The number of times I have clicked just in time to prevent my dog from exploding...it's great for shaping and all other forms of training. I definitely recommend trying it out. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Oct 25, 2011 |
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Oct 25, 2011 02:50
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Dexter and his OCD- kind of not so good. My roommate has been planning on getting a dog for a while, and she just got her yesterday. She is a little 1-2 year old Papillon from a BYB situation. First day: the dogs completely ignored each other. They ate treats in the same room, they went for walks together etc. All was good and positive. Then today was a huge mess. Every time Dexter walks out into the apartment, the other dog charges over to him and scares the poo poo out of him. I kept getting between Dex and her and send her away. Then I was standing in the kitchen with Dexter and she sped into the kitchen, dove into Dex, slammed him into the cabinet, and ran away. Definitely was NOT play. When we got home from flyball she sat on the couch and growled at both of us. When I walked into my roommate's room to give her something, the dog growled at me. Dexter walked 2-3 feet away from the other dog's ball and she lunged at him, snapping at him while he tried to back away. Dexter is terrified to go out into the apartment and I already told the roommate that we need to work on this. She has a friend over now, so I will wait until tomorrow. I don't want this dog to think that she owns the apartment, and I am sure that if the roles were reversed, my roommate would be freaking out about her "little baby" Do any of you know of any good videos or websites that outline how to fix this problem? I know the basic framework of it all, but I need an expert or article or something to print out and give to my roommate. I know the dog is still adjusting, but I don't want her to get the idea that this will be how poo poo will be from now on. If you have any good resources for NILIF, small dog syndrome things, protectiveness, training etc, please send them. Anything you think would help. I tried searching for stuff but I kept coming up with bone/food guarding or cesar milan's methods of doing stuff. (Brb. Gonna alpha roll a <10 lb dog.) I also think all this stress is getting to Dexter because all last week he was an absolute angel in the crate. No barking, no trying to get out, no separation anxiety (at least, as far as I could tell). Then today I came home to this (btw this was him crated for 5 hours after he had a 45 minute walk and some play time):  He slammed the crate forward to get to a laptop charger that was out of reach, pulled it out from the laptop, pulled it apart (two sections, one plugs into the power supply thing, and one is attached to the power supply and goes to the laptop), pulled it into his crate, undid the latch that holds the bottom in the crate, slid it out into his water bowl, and also...  Unscrewed this thing. I knew he could open caribbeaner clips, but this is getting ridiculous. I guess its time for a padlock? Do you know of any crates that are designed for escape artists?  And here is just a random picture of Dexter being proud of his bone.
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Oct 25, 2011 02:55
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cryingscarf posted:
Okay, dog-dog introductions were waaaay too rushed. The two dogs shouldn't have direct access to each other for a few weeks until they're both 100% comfortable with each other from a distance. I went to a seminar on multiple dog households a while ago, and the behaviourist covered the process of introducing a new dog to the household. I've posted it around PI before. Copy/pasted from the puppy thread. a life less posted:Here's the ideal routine for introducing a new puppy into a home: You simply need to manage the two dogs so they're kept far enough away from each other that they don't react. Keep up basic counterconditioning regimens, but the key here is 100% management.
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Oct 25, 2011 13:37
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I have read that before and I wanted to follow it, but my problem is that it isn't really doable in this situation. Mainly because it is out of my control with the other dog and I am sure my roommate would not take it so well to have her dog locked away in her room. The apartment only has the 2 bedrooms, living room, hallway, bathroom and kitchen. The only rooms that have separate doors are the bedrooms and bathroom. Roommate keeps the dog out in the living room with her a lot, so Dex and I sometimes bump into them when we go to the kitchen or try to go outside/come inside. That is when they had direct access to each other. Otherwise, Dex is in my room with me. The way we introduced them was that Dex and I were at work, the dog had some time to check out the apartment and yard. Then they walked down to my work and we introduced them off leash in the back yard. (I did this because Dexter is always around new dogs in that yard and never cares, also he gets loud-mouthy on leash) Then after that, we went for a little walk together back to the apartment and then we went in our rooms. A couple hours later I started going for a walk with Dex and my roommate joined with her dog and they did really well. Then they were separate again until the next morning when they were perfectly fine. They were together for like 10 minutes in the living room while I ate breakfast. Dexter chewed a bone on the futon and the other dog ran around with her ball. I was gone for 5 hours yesterday. When I left in the morning, everything was fine. We could walk through the room no problem, dogs were fine, the dog liked me etc. When I came home 5 hours later, the dog was growling at me, attacking Dexter, growling at my boyfriend etc. Even when I wasn't doing anything near the dog. I would walk out of my room and into the bathroom and I could hear her growling at me way back from the living room. The only thing that I can think of that triggered it is that the roommate's mom (who had the dog for 4 weeks) left, and that the roommate keeps the dog in her lap most of the time and when she growls yells "NO-good girl. NO-good girl" with like. 1/2 a second between no and good girl. Edit: another part of the problem is that the dog did come from a kind of horrible situation so anything the dog does gets excused. Growling at someone? Awww. shes just a scared little baby. Barking for the whole 2-3 hours the roommate is gone? Awww poor girl had a hard life. cryingscarf fucked around with this message at 15:54 on Oct 25, 2011 |
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Oct 25, 2011 15:48
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Your roommate corrects the dog for growling and then praises half a second later? I can't even begin to think how they see that as a good idea Do you have any sway on your roommate's training? Otherwise it sounds like the new dog will escalate pretty fast, especially if she's ignoring the weird correction thing in favour of the praise. Or she might heed the corrections and stop growling - and start snapping or even biting instead. Pretty sucky situation for everyone (except your roommate apparently) though.
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Oct 25, 2011 16:41
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After I typed up that post, I took Dex for a 3+ mile long walk. We stopped at a park halfway through and watched squirrels and I thought about the whole situation. When I got home I talked to my roommate about everything. I said that we need to sit down one time and plan out how we will handle this situation because so far it is not good. I said that I would gather up some resources/reading material for her and me and go over it. And then she was saying that she doesn't think the dog means the growling because she wags her tail sometimes when she growls, so I told her to ignore her size and put it into perspective. If it was a german shepherd was growling at someone in the room, she would react differently. She seemed to agree. We started talking a little bit about training. I gave her one of my extra clickers and showed her a little bit of how it worked. The dog would come to me and sit for cheese and wasn't afraid of the clicker. But I don't think roommate will be up for clickers because she "doesn't want the dog to get too attached to food." sigh. I also told her that it would be best to reduce the time that the dogs are interacting in the apartment and to walk them at the same time more often. She did listen to me about crating the dog though. She had been leaving the dog loose in her bedroom and the dog would yap nonstop the whole time and slam into the door. I recorded the barking and suggested crating her to see if that makes a difference. When she left for class 30 minutes ago, she put her in the crate and the dog hasn't made a single peep yet. I even make noise to purposely let the dog know I was here to test her (close the fridge louder than normal, fake cough, open/close squeaky drawers in the kitchen) and I got no response. And yeah, the correction/praise thing was surreal. She would go from "NO" and then right when she finished "NO" she would have her hand on her head petting her and praising her. Of course the dog sat in her lap the whole time this is happening. On top of all this happening today, last week the grate part of my fan fell off onto Dexter. I thought he was over it and turned on the fan without thinking this morning when I was slowly waking up. When I decided to get up 15-20 minutes later I was wondering where the hell Dexter was. Then I saw him shivering in the closet. I turned the fan off, called him out, did some tricks with him and rewarded him. When I left the room to get breakfast I heard the beep of my fan turning on, so I came back to the room. He had jumped up on the bed, landed on the fan remote, turned it on, and was back in the closet shivering.
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Oct 25, 2011 19:09
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