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.
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