There are moments in life when you can feel the emotion welling up inside you, the tears creeping their way out of the corners of your eyes, and you can do nothing to stop them. I had one of those moments on the way home from class last night. Here's the thing though... class went pretty darn well! Once again, no outbursts, no significant reactions. We even survived and did pretty well with some brief parallel walking sessions with another dog.
However, Lita continues to be SO wound up, SO excited, SO overstimulated that every time we try a walking exercise it is a struggle. Hell, just getting her in the front door is difficult as she pulls and huffs and puffs her way towards the building. On top of that, actually feeding her treats is a total nightmare. I can't even count the number of times my poor fingies were nipped and grabbed last night. I *know* that she is not doing it on purpose--there are times at home when she's not excited that she'll grab a bit reaching for a treat thanks to that bully underbite--but that doesn't make it hurt any less or make it any less frustrating.
We are practicing the foundation loose leash walking skills at home. She is good at giving attention and even has a nice default sit. The "Find my Face" game is going well. She is comfortable walking and eating in the "heel" position in the house, without a leash on. Our next step is to add the leash in the house without distractions and then move out to the backyard, the driveway, the sidewalk, and then, finally (maybe) walks around the neighborhood. Even out on walks though, she does not pull anywhere NEAR the amount or with the force of what she is doing during class. Of course not, it's a different environment, there are DOGS around. Of course it's different. But how to fix it? Ignore it for now and focus on the fact that she's not trying to EAT the dogs? That's kind of what we've been doing to this point as the reactivity was more of a concern to me than having the most polite leash manners. But our trainer called us out last night and specifically told us "you need to practice loose leash." *sigh* We're trying.
Sort of.
Being a tree doesn't work. And in the interest of getting Lita some exercise I know we put up with more pulling on walks than we should. But, again, she's really not that bad in her own neighborhood.
Anyway, the point is... that after class last night, despite the fact that our dog was reasonably well-mannered and had no reactions, I felt like we were the "bad dog." And it's mostly because I can't handle her by myself. That's what it comes down to... at class right now, my Husband holds the leashes, I do the clicking and feeding. I've tried doing both and she can just drag me around. SO frustrating. NONE of the other dogs have this issue. If anything, they all seem SO well behaved on a leash! And then we were done and we got in the car and I noticed that the Elizabethan collar that Lita has been wearing for a week and a half while we're at work to allow her face to fully heal has caused 3 small abscesses on her neck where the edges rub her. And her feet are red and blistered. And she has hives on one of her back legs and her stomach is red and irritated. And my Husband told me he wouldn't be able to make it to class next week because he'd be traveling for work for 4 days. And I knew all these things before, but now they were just running through my brain and I felt like a failure. And that's when the tears started coming.
Ohmidog, how am I ever going to be able to handle this on my own?!?! It's too much. It's just too much. My Husband actually said "You did good tonight." And I just shook my head, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. So I cried. And I mumbled. And I gasped. I think my Husband thought I was seriously ill, but I managed to choke out "I'm disappointed." Over-reaction much? Heck yeah. But sometimes, just sometimes, you *need* to have a good cry.
Don't get me wrong, I am still terrified at the premise of showing up at that class alone next week. I fear I will emerge with freshly gnawed fingies and bruised palms from clutching leashes so tightly. The good news is that my emotional breakdown has caused the Husband to recognize that loose leash walking is something that we really do need to work on. Like I said, on walks recently we've been more concerned with not reacting and so we have been shoving her favorite squeaky toy in her mouth, which has been working brilliantly! But it is only a management device and not actual training--meaning, we take away that chicken and we're back to an excitable, pulling pooch (although still not to the level we've seen in class).
And so, for the next 6 days, Lita will be attending the amateur version of loose leash walking bootcamp. We already know that the whole "become a tree" thing doesn't work with her--I think she could ignore us for days. So we're going to focus on some other techniques--walking around cones, walking calmly towards a toy or food item, penalty yards for pulling, changing directions, clicking and treating when she's paying attention to us and walking where she should be. This is going to be a *real* challenge for us. Our other homework for the class is working on stay (thankfully, she's pretty good at this already) and teaching "get back," where the dog will move behind you and sit behind your legs. A voluntary body block kind of position. Busy, busy week.
Hopefully I can start viewing this more as a personal challenge and less as something I need to just get through. And I really need to remember the great progress that we have made. It's just so easy to forget all of the positive in a moment of disappointment.
So here: a list of things that Lita has learned....
~Sit/default sit
~Down
~Stay
~working on Backup
~Find It
~Get him (for getting Kong)
~Touch
~Go to your spot, which has transitioned to being cued just by picking up her food bowl, where she sits and waits for her meals before being released
~Go to bed
~Tug--get it and give
~going up the stairs backwards!!!
~check ins
~learning the look at that game
That's a lot! Look out world, here we come (hopefully with a loose leash)!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Lita: RAD class, session 3.
Last night was the real test--all the dogs in the same room at the same time. Scary! I won't lie, I was nervous. I think I was more worried about the reactions of the other dogs though and not so much Lita. I know by now that on the scale of reactivity, Lita is on the lower half. Granted, we've done a LOT of work with her, but really she was never *that bad* to begin with. She never attacked, or barked viciously, or pulled us down. More often than not what we were getting was a pull in the opposite direction of the scary dog.
Anyway, we knew that last night would be interesting. One of our group did not make it to the class, but that still meant there were 3 other dogs in attendance. There were screens set up in the room so that the dogs could not see each other the entire time, but they were definitely aware of each other's presence. We each brought our dogs in and guided them to a position behind a screen--only one dog moved into or out of the room at a time. We then we told to basically just click and treat for *anything*--sitting still, sitting at all, downs, touches, looking at other dogs, ear flicks at barks, interest in the surroundings, no interest in surroundings, *anything*!!!! It was all about calming them down. Then they all went back to their cars for a break. After a few minutes they all came back in again (still one at a time) to a new position in the room--oh my, change! We calmed them down and took turns bringing one dog at a time out from behind their screen. This was a challenge to each individual dog (coming out from behind their protection) and to every other dog in the room (where'd HE come from, what's he gonna do?!). At one point, we brought Lita out from behind her screen and did a small circle in the room before heading back, there was another dog right in front of her about 10 feet away, instead of being concerned about the dog, Lita was more interested in the piece of hot dog that had been left behind about 2 feet in front of her. How awesome is that?!
We had no major outbursts from her. No lunging, no barking. Her mouth was rather "hard"--as in when I was giving her treats there were lots of nips because she was so nervous and wound up. I had to start just dropping the food on the ground, which I don't like doing. She was able to do a lot of interactions, we played tug, she sat and even performed downs, was able to do touch sometimes and was still very curious about the environment. And her exit was a dramatic one--playing with her beloved squeaky chicken and then carrying it all the way out to the car. Honestly, the hardest time that we had with her was just getting her in and out of the building--she's so excited that she's pulling and just trying to see everything. And being that she's a big girl (nearly 90 lbs!), she can be a bit hard to control, even with 2 leashes. We have to just keep shoving food in her face and trying to keep her attention, but it's hard. Real hard. And The Husband just informed me that he may be out of town for class in 2 weeks. I have no idea how I will handle this on my own. Guess we better start working on some more loose-leash walking ASAP!
All in all, thing went MUCH better than we could've expected. I think all of the other owners were pleased as well. I didn't really get to focus too much on the other dogs, but didn't see anything that concerned me greatly. In fact, in at least one case, I wondered why the dog was in the class in the first place.
Our homework this week includes playing the Look at That! game and... loose-leash walking! Hurrah! I am so excited about this class.
Anyway, we knew that last night would be interesting. One of our group did not make it to the class, but that still meant there were 3 other dogs in attendance. There were screens set up in the room so that the dogs could not see each other the entire time, but they were definitely aware of each other's presence. We each brought our dogs in and guided them to a position behind a screen--only one dog moved into or out of the room at a time. We then we told to basically just click and treat for *anything*--sitting still, sitting at all, downs, touches, looking at other dogs, ear flicks at barks, interest in the surroundings, no interest in surroundings, *anything*!!!! It was all about calming them down. Then they all went back to their cars for a break. After a few minutes they all came back in again (still one at a time) to a new position in the room--oh my, change! We calmed them down and took turns bringing one dog at a time out from behind their screen. This was a challenge to each individual dog (coming out from behind their protection) and to every other dog in the room (where'd HE come from, what's he gonna do?!). At one point, we brought Lita out from behind her screen and did a small circle in the room before heading back, there was another dog right in front of her about 10 feet away, instead of being concerned about the dog, Lita was more interested in the piece of hot dog that had been left behind about 2 feet in front of her. How awesome is that?!
We had no major outbursts from her. No lunging, no barking. Her mouth was rather "hard"--as in when I was giving her treats there were lots of nips because she was so nervous and wound up. I had to start just dropping the food on the ground, which I don't like doing. She was able to do a lot of interactions, we played tug, she sat and even performed downs, was able to do touch sometimes and was still very curious about the environment. And her exit was a dramatic one--playing with her beloved squeaky chicken and then carrying it all the way out to the car. Honestly, the hardest time that we had with her was just getting her in and out of the building--she's so excited that she's pulling and just trying to see everything. And being that she's a big girl (nearly 90 lbs!), she can be a bit hard to control, even with 2 leashes. We have to just keep shoving food in her face and trying to keep her attention, but it's hard. Real hard. And The Husband just informed me that he may be out of town for class in 2 weeks. I have no idea how I will handle this on my own. Guess we better start working on some more loose-leash walking ASAP!
All in all, thing went MUCH better than we could've expected. I think all of the other owners were pleased as well. I didn't really get to focus too much on the other dogs, but didn't see anything that concerned me greatly. In fact, in at least one case, I wondered why the dog was in the class in the first place.
Our homework this week includes playing the Look at That! game and... loose-leash walking! Hurrah! I am so excited about this class.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Lita: RAD class, session 2.
Last night we had our second RAD class (reactive and/or aggressive dog) with Lita. It was the first night where everyone brought their dogs. Last week it was humans only to lay the groundwork, discuss the rules and just to meet the other owners. Last night was supposed to be an easy night for the dogs and for most it was. All they had to do was walk into and back out of the building, just to become familiar with the territory, the props and the people. There are 5 dogs in the class and each dog came in and out 3 times, adding some more distractions each time. Lita didn't seem nervous at all, if anything she was anxious to explore and showed this by trying to drag me (and sometimes succeeding!) all over the place. I was surprised at some of the other dogs in the class. There were a couple that looked outwardly nervous, but some seemed very calm and just walked next to their owners nicely the whole time.
4 more classes to go. And next week all the dogs will be in the building at the same time. That's when things will get interesting.
So, how are we doing otherwise?
Last week our homework was to work on spontaneous sits and name recognition. She's pretty good with her name these days. And can do 8 sits in a minute. Doesn't sound like a lot, but she's a big girl and it takes her awhile to settle into and to get out of a sit. :)
Walks are going... okay. We have had to switch over to a harness thanks to an abscess on her face that became infected and has led to her wearing the cone of shame for the last week. She definitely pulls more with the harness versus the head collar. It's usually manageable as long as she has her chicken though. Yes, our dog carries a chicken on her walk, okay? What's wrong with that? I'll get pictures eventually.
The Husband's newest irritation (aside from the cone of shame, the daily foot washings thanks to her allergies and having to constantly monitor her outside due to our ill-mannered neighbor dogs) is the fact that she has started eating grass and plants a lot. I started working on that this morning by giving her a quick "eh, eh" when she headed in that direction and rewarding her with a click and some chicken when she moved away. That should be easy to remedy if I can keep it up for awhile. We then did some touch in the yard. Touch is actually part of this week's homework, although I know she'll be far too amped to make use of it in the RAD class with other dogs around. We're also going to work on collar grabs ("gotcha") and establishing direct eye contact ("find my face"). I actually really enjoy this part of the training. It's the walks that frustrate me--although I did have a pretty nice walk with her the other night when The Husband was out.
This morning however, The Husband forgot the magic chicken on the morning walk. Apparently it didn't go well. We definitely need to work on her leash manners as the chicken is only a tool, not a solution. But for now, calming her reactivity is top priority, and we've actually made decent progress already.
She's a smart girl and although we both get frustrated with her on occasion she has made great progress and I have high hopes for this class.
4 more classes to go. And next week all the dogs will be in the building at the same time. That's when things will get interesting.
So, how are we doing otherwise?
Last week our homework was to work on spontaneous sits and name recognition. She's pretty good with her name these days. And can do 8 sits in a minute. Doesn't sound like a lot, but she's a big girl and it takes her awhile to settle into and to get out of a sit. :)
Walks are going... okay. We have had to switch over to a harness thanks to an abscess on her face that became infected and has led to her wearing the cone of shame for the last week. She definitely pulls more with the harness versus the head collar. It's usually manageable as long as she has her chicken though. Yes, our dog carries a chicken on her walk, okay? What's wrong with that? I'll get pictures eventually.
The Husband's newest irritation (aside from the cone of shame, the daily foot washings thanks to her allergies and having to constantly monitor her outside due to our ill-mannered neighbor dogs) is the fact that she has started eating grass and plants a lot. I started working on that this morning by giving her a quick "eh, eh" when she headed in that direction and rewarding her with a click and some chicken when she moved away. That should be easy to remedy if I can keep it up for awhile. We then did some touch in the yard. Touch is actually part of this week's homework, although I know she'll be far too amped to make use of it in the RAD class with other dogs around. We're also going to work on collar grabs ("gotcha") and establishing direct eye contact ("find my face"). I actually really enjoy this part of the training. It's the walks that frustrate me--although I did have a pretty nice walk with her the other night when The Husband was out.
This morning however, The Husband forgot the magic chicken on the morning walk. Apparently it didn't go well. We definitely need to work on her leash manners as the chicken is only a tool, not a solution. But for now, calming her reactivity is top priority, and we've actually made decent progress already.
She's a smart girl and although we both get frustrated with her on occasion she has made great progress and I have high hopes for this class.
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