For now though, I want to write some more about Lita. She has been with us just over 10 weeks now. The last time I wrote I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I knew my girl has issues, I just wasn't sure of the best way to solve them. Then, I found it. A thread on Dog Forums that answered so many questions, made me realize that I wasn't alone in my frustrations, and showed me that there was HOPE! The thread, The Fearful Dog Thread, is a continuously updated log of how owners are dealing with their dogs fears. What works, what doesn't. Good days, bad days. It's wonderful! Full of ideas and successes and set backs, of course. This is actually also very helpful. It made me recognize that this is going to be an ongoing process.
After reading all of this and "speaking" with several of the more experienced posters there, I decided to implement a positive reinforcement-based training program for our girl. Yes, I totally made this up myself with out consulting a "professional trainer" based on things that I have read and the experiences of others.
The first thing that I did was buy her a new "collar" for walking. She wears a flat collar at all times with her tags, but it's impossible to walk her on this thing. She just pulls far too much. We then tried the Illusion Collar from Cesar Milan (more thoughts on Cesar in an upcoming post). It was definitely better. But I think that all the corrections (jerks on the leash) were making her more nervous. I did some more research and then picked up a Halti at PetSmart. The Halti is a head collar.
Despite the fact that the strap goes around the dog's mouth, this is not a muzzle. Yes, I've been asked several times already if it was a muzzle, but, as you can see from the picture, dogs *can* open their mouths in the Halti. In fact, they can even eat and drink comfortably as long as the leash is held loose. If the leash is held up above the dog's head, the Halti does force the dog's mouth closed. It's still not a muzzle though and this action only makes is easier to control the dog when necessary.
There were some initial protests when we changed over to the Halti. Lita would rub her face against everything--the fence, the door, our legs, and scratch it with her feet during walks. We still have occasional "freak outs," but, for the most part, she has completely adjusted (with the help of treats, of course). And the best part? She has stopped pulling nearly completely. Seriously. The first time I walked her with it I thought that I was walking an entirely different dog! So, now that we were able to better control her, we were able to start working on other things.
One of Lita's issues seems to be a fear of barking dogs. She may see another dog at a distance and it won't bother her, but if she hears barking, even if she can't actually *see* the dog, it becomes an issue. Easy solution? Desensitization. Making the sound of barking dogs a positive experience. We purchased a treat pouch to clip onto our pants and it goes with us on every walk. Hear a barking dog? Get a treat. We've been doing this for about 3 weeks and we're not to the point where she's completely nonchalant about barking dogs. But she is definitely calmer. She doesn't try to pull us away quickly or hide behind our legs. In fact, some of the time she even looks to us in a "where's my treat?" kind of way! Which is exactly what we want to happen. We're getting there.
We have been completely avoiding head-to-head confrontations with other dogs and are still learning her threshold distance. Right now she can usually handle another dog walking on the other side of the street or walking past a fenced-in yard, but if the dog starts barking, all bets are off. I actually did have an encounter with an off-leash dog last week sometime. I didn't even know he was there until I heard the owner yelling and then saw a whitish blur charging up to us. I got between the stranger and Lita. Tried to keep the leash loose, but put my hands on her "shoulders." She let the strangers sniff her without issue. He definitely wanted to play with Lita. She started pulling a bit and actually slipped out of the head loop (which is why the safety chain is SO important) so I had to restrain her a bit more. By that time the owner showed up and led the naughty boy away. I'm honestly not sure what she would have done, but I don't *think* there was any aggression in her at that moment. I put the Halti back on properly and we moved on. That in itself made me feel good because there were many encounters previously that just spooked her so much that she was nervous the rest of the walk. Not this time.
Yay for small victories! Around the house she is still great. She sure does love her jumbo beds from CostCo.
Other notes:
~Thanks to salmon oil, I believe her skin is starting to improve.
~Bathtime is becoming more tolerable thanks to the use of, you guessed it, treats! She'll even climb into the tub on her own now.
~We've been practicing catching small treats mid-air. She's a rockstar.
~All these good things and yet she skipped breakfast this morning. The first time that she has ever refused to eat for us. Nothing else out of the ordinary that I can think of, she did eat her biscuits when I left the house. Let's hope she's just having an off day.
Next up, I'd like to actually start training the "watch me" command. And maybe the quick 180 degree turns too. Eventually, I'd still like to get her evaluated by a professional and think about getting her into regular obedience classes as well.
Last time I posted I was feeling overwhelmed. I still have those days. But, for the most part, I'm taking a more positive outlook now. I do think that we can handle this dog. And that makes me incredibly happy.
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