Operation Gustav

Update

2011-01-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

Been so pleasantly busy with the start of the new semester. I am a person who loves her routine and keeping busy.

We took Gustav off the prozac as we didn't see any change and, to be honest, he actually seems a little more responsive on walks since then. Too many confounding factors to attribute that to the prozac, though.

Loona, my mom and dad's dog, is living at our house for the weekend. I took all three on a loong two hour walks yesterday and everyone was lovely. Gustav sort of dragged behind, which was odd, but did a great job with autowatches and keeping a lid on things. However, he did poor job responding to his name, which is something we've been practicing on walks. The addition of Loona and loss of the prozac are both possible factors in his behavior.

I'm looking into the possibility of another anti-anxiety drug. Justin is skeptical and I'm not sure, but I'll do some research and see what I think.

I had goals for the dogs training-wise in terms of set-ups and other things a certain number of times a week. I would say I get a "C" for fulfilling them. With the gradually warming weather and getting used to the school routine, I'm optimistic that I can get completely up to speed. It's fairly modest: a set-up a week for each (together is fine), relax-on-a-mat for Dottie three times a week, and a separation anxiety session for Gustav twice a week. And lots of u-turns and looking at me (for Gustav) on walks. The u-turns are going great, the looking at me is okay but I practice a lot so hopefully it will improve, the set-ups are pretty much on par with my goal, but the matwork and separation anxiety have not been getting done. Oh well.

So, that's what's new here.

Breakthrough!

2011-01-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

If you've read this blog for a while, you know that Gustav's "rock bottom" was snarling at Justin's mom and hitting her hard in the face, enough to cause a bad nose bleed. Granted, he was chewing on a meaty bone and she was leaning over him, petting him behind the ears.
In any case, she was over recently and we crated Gustav like always. After several hours, we decided to try having him out. It went completely fine. He totally ignored her and acted as though he were home with just us. Maybe we were being overly cautious all this time, as he hardly ever had any problems with strangers in the house before that (a few strange exceptions included him barking at certain visitors. No clue what made him fine with almost everyone but not just a few).
Anyhow, I was very happy. Definitely time to get Tisha over to test out how he does. I think crating him for the first little while is key, while Dottie calms down and there's no dramatic entrance scene, complete with looming, to deal with.
Yay! She always wanted to be his buddy. Maybe soon he'll be putting his head her lap for petting like he does with his "inner circle."
Still no prozac effect. It's been ten weeks. We just upped the dosage a week ago, since I wanted to give it two months just in case. I obviously want to be giving the lowest effective dose possible.

Stupid weather

2010-12-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

It's very cold. I'm trying to find ways to keep up with some of our training goals in the face of very very cold weather. I need two things: a large indoor (ish) training room to do BAT with Vanya and Nancy (even a barn or something would be good) and to figure out a way to do training with Gustav and Tisha in my house. I can't decide if she should toss him treats or just ignore him, and I can't decide if he should be leashed, behind a gate, muzzled, or none of the above. Finally, I need to decide on a protocol that works for inside the house. I think that just having Tish around would probably help Gustav get used to her, but it might not teach him anything useful (for example how to move away if you don't like someone).

In other news, no visible effect from the prozac yet. Friday is the 8 week mark. We may up the dosage after that. Also, Dottie's diet is wildly successful and she has her lovely slim figure back. She will be so happy when we get to go back up to maintenance rations, instead of weight loss rations. I've never seen her eat her food so fast.

One positive about the cold weather is our walks have been very quiet and uneventful, which is after all my ultimate goal. In this case, we're reaching it by not seeing any or hardly any triggers. I love walking my dogs when it's not stressful like that.

Dog park!

2010-11-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

Great news! The small neighborhood dog parks that a group of people on the eastside campaigned for over two year for, myself included, have come into being as of this weekend. I took the dogs out on a jog on Sunday and headed over to one. Once I got there I realized that they were small enough that I could go in and always keep track if anyone was coming, and then high tail it out of there. Thanks to our brilliant design recommendations, there is an entrance and an exit, and both are double-gated. So Gustav got to run around free with me completely nerve-free for the first time in at least two years. No muzzle, no heightened scanning, just fun (and Dottie being grumpy at him for trying to play, but he's much better at listening to her now). I won't lie: I might have been a little misty watching him tear around at fast as he could. His recall is just awful, as might be expected, but I'm so excited for this new training opportunity. It's maybe a ten minute jog from my house. I figure if we show up and no one is there, they can run and play. If someone is there, we can stand across the street or farther and do some nice controlled training, knowing that the dogs are fenced in.

Hooray! I love my city. And my dogs.

Serotonin? Maybe?

2010-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Gustav has been on Prozac for about a month. We haven't seen any big changes yet, except for one weird thing. Today Gustav was willing to go in the basement, something neither he nor Dottie has ever accomplished (except once for Dottie when we first moved in). Justin sort of led him down there, and he went. Usually if you encourage him he just balks at the second step and barks. Weird.

Nothing else new. I've been so busy with school that normally my walks with the dogs are once briefly in the morning and a decent one around 8:30 or 9:00 at night. These walks are great because no one is out and we are all calm and relaxed.

I have a new band that practices at my house on Wednesdays. I'd love for Gustav to get used to them eventually. He was on a leash last time, and he whined at them a little, but also barked (along with Dottie) when they all first came upstairs from the basement. I'm not ready to have him loose with them around yet, but I'm hoping to someday.

Quick update

2010-10-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

Nothing much new around here. Crazy weather has gotten in the way of some training sessions, and I still haven't managed to set up my weekly Tisha sessions. I'd better do that before the weather gets really miserable. Two new items: there are new dog parks in the neighborhood! I worked with the Eastside Dog Park coalition for a few years, and we finally won! Very exciting, and also gives me a new, closer place to bring Dottie for controlled training (i.e. we can wander around the outside of the dog park and control distance and practice BAT).

The other thing: Justin berated me for staring at triggers too much and therefore calling attention to them. Interesting idea. Today on our jog I practiced not looking at all at dogs behind fences or people out and about, except in my peripheral vision to keep track. Gustav did not bark and lunge at anyone. On the other hand, I don't really know if he tensed up a lot or not because I was just looking forward. Also, an off leash dog came up near up and instigated a pretty fierce stare-fight but was too intimidated to come all the way up to us. Dottie barked a few times, and Gustav did not bark and lunge at all, he just stood stock still and stared the dog down. Pretty interesting. Then the owner came up and got him and we all went on our way. So, while my dogs were not exactly relaxed and happy, then did not go totally crazy and the other dog was smart enough not to come up and start a fight. All in all, I was pleased with the jog. The only downside of ignoring triggers is that I am losing a training opportunity, in that I usually stop and do look-at-that or a tiny BAT set-up. Do you think Gustav learns anything one way or the other by just staring but moving past without incident? I'm not sure. But at least he didn't have any bark/lunge fests.

Wow.

2010-10-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

I have been SO BUSY. I haven't had a moment to update here. Briefly, I finished Reactive Rover with Gustav, been doing weekly BAT/mat/etc work with Nancy and Vanya (what a find! I'm so glad I finally found a committed dog owner to work with. And we're both helping one another out, I don't feel like I am incurring a huge debt with someone by taking up their time.), and jogging, walking, and so on. I have been incredibly busy with school, but mostly sticking to my one-big-formal-session a week plan plus the usual day-to-day stuff. Now that Reactive Rover is over I plan to set up a weekly or every-other-weekly session with Tisha to continue BAT with Gustav. On the off weeks I can maybe drive Dottie over to the dog park and do some BAT, assuming Justin is home or I get a little farther on my completely stalled separation anxiety treatment with Gustav.

Other big news: we started Gustav on Prozac this week. This news has sort of freaked out or disappointed some friends of mine, but I think they've mulled it over and realized it's not such a crazy decision since they've watched me work with dog for two years and honestly, not a whole lot has changed. In fact, he's still worse than when we first got him (to think: we used to go to the dog park and let strangers pet him and have parties at our house with people out and dogs visiting!!) but perhaps not as bad as his worst. It's really discouraging. Chelse just said that she didn't want to pressure me, but that every time she saw Gustav "prozac" popped into her mind. So why not. We're giving it a 3-month trial. I just can't ignore an option that could make my dog lead a more balanced and happy life.

Okay! Busy busy busy! I have work to do. And dogs to jog. I'll keep you all updated on Gustav's entry into the 21st century of SSRIs. Who knew I'd ever be here? Sigh.

Tuesday practice day.

2010-09-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

I had my training day with Nancy and Vanya (blog is: http://vanyaproject.blogspot.com). Everything went well. Towards the end, I was doing some BAT with Gustav with Nancy as the decoy. She was also feeding her dog Vanya peanut butter, but Vanya was in the car in a crate so the dogs couldn't see each other. Gustav was interesting: He would look at Nancy and be pulling forward, and when he looked away or did some other acceptable alternative behavior, like sniffing, I would say "Let's go" and try to retreat. Only he didn't want to retreat. He wanted to stay there. But he also didn't want to stay there, because once he pursed his lips and I could tell he was about one second away from woofing and maybe lunging. I switched to LAT because it was clear that one of two things was happening: 1. He was ambivalent about Nancy because he wanted the peanut butter but was also scared of her, and couldn't decide what to do. I've seen this behavior with Tish and Berit, especially after they throw treats. The functional reward people are always saying how just straight counterconditioning produces dogs who are ambivalent about the stimulus because the treats distract them from the real issue and they never solve their insecurities deep down. Interesting to think about. Counterconditioning folks would say that, done correctly, counterconditioning actually changes the dog's emotional response over time. 2. He was too close and his staring too intense to be able to tear him away from the stimulus. I'm less inclined to believe this one because I moved him farther and tried again and it still didn't work. Still, sometimes this is the problem with Gustav because he's an information gatherer and hates to turn his back on things he feels truly threatened by. I figured with LAT there was no harm either way: it's counterconditioning and also teaching him to look away from a stimulus. I didn't have to mess with the functional reward at all. There were no bad lessons to learn from looking at Nancy and getting a treat.

Gustav made it 20 minutes while Dottie and I were out without crying. To be fair, this was with a brand new bone from the Farmer's Market, with tons of gooey gross meat hanging off. I got it from him with no growling, but he did seem a tad stiff. 20 minutes! Awesome!

While Dottie and I were out, a neighbor dog came bounding into the park. At first I was nervous, then I just decided to let it play out because I knew the dog was super sweet. Sure enough, it came running over to meet Dottie. Dottie snapped at the dog in the muzzle area, a correction-type bite, and the dog backed off. I warned my neighbor that Dottie was "bitchy" (a strange choice of words, I know, but that's what came out.) The neighbor didn't care and the dog was extremely receptive to Dottie's signals. It did steal her toy once, but the neighbor got it and handed it to me. The dog also jumped on me and was very exuberant, but Dottie did not go too crazy. Her hackles were up and she barked a lot, but this incident reminded me that, on-leash displays to the contrary, she's not really out to rip out throats. Just wants to be left alone. Probably this wasn't the best experience, because she certainly learned that snapping is a good way to get a dog to leave her alone, but honestly the dog was kind of rude and the corrections were not over the top. In the end, I'm oddly pleased by the experience because it reminded me that Dottie is not a really aggressive dog, she's just doing what has worked in the past to get dogs out of her space. After the dog did that, she was able to play fetch and lay down without any problems, even when the dog was still in the park romping around.

Runner's High

2010-09-26T11:50:00.001-07:00

I took the dogs on my favorite jogging route today. It's about a 45 minute jog that goes through neighborhoods and a little-used bike path through a marsh where Dottie can run free. I swear they both get a runner's high: usually 20 minutes into the jog they both get into a groove and Dottie in particular looks up at me with squinty eyes and her mouth wide open. To me this looks like a giant grin, like she's saying "Finally! We're moving at an appropriate pace!"

We got mobbed by a loose black Lab, but I just dragged them across the street and the dog didn't follow. Dottie barked and barked but recovered quickly, and Gustav was stiff and looked back a lot but didn't flail and lunge and bark at all. I didn't say a word, just crossed the street at a jog and kept going. I think the dog was a little surprised to find such unfriendly dogs, maybe it will help him think twice about running out to greet strange dogs on the sidewalk. Gustav can be quite intimidating to friendly or submissive dogs, and invariably invites a fight with dogs with more attitude. Other than that there were no growls or barks, and we even passed some tied-up dogs across the street who were barking furiously.

Dottie got to chase a squirrel in the marshy area and also got to run as fast as she could a few times, which is really fast and very fun to watch. She started to roll in something while giving me a guilty look and I called her out of it and she came! She got a big handful of treats and no bath.

Not a lot of "training" got done, but I treasure these days because I feel it's what we're working towards: normal neighborhood experiences. I think the dogs needed a good workout and a low-stress outdoor experience. We all feel good.

Practice

2010-09-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today we did two trials for Gustav's SA. Dottie and I left for 16 minutes once and 14 minutes once. Gustav did not cry. He just chewed his wonderful bone. Also he gave it up quite nicely, with a simple "give."

I wonder if the circumstances of last time made a difference. Justin was still home when we left. Gustav saw Dottie and me drive away. Then a few minutes later Justin put him in his crate with the bone and left. Possibly the Justin factor and the driving factor played a role? I don't know. We'll keep working under twenty minutes, going up little by little with each successful trial.

Tonight is Reactive Rover for us. Wish us luck!

Gustav cries and cries and cries

2010-09-21T15:18:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back in a routine now that school has started again and I've been able to work with the dogs quite a bit. We've still had lots of bad moments. Justin reported that yesterday they both bark/lunged at a dog. I've had Gustav growl and lunge at some people, and both at dogs here and there. On the other hand, we've had some really good times too. My goal of working with the dogs separately once a week each has been going great. Gustav is in Reactive Rover class on Thursday nights, and he did really well our first night last week. He didn't growl or lunge/bark at all, although he did stiffen and stare a few times. Also, I've been working with someone with a reactive dog on Tuesday afternoons. The first time I brought Gustav and that was good, because we got to do human BAT and also dog BAT and general attention work. This week I brought Dottie, and she did great as well. We did dog BAT and relax-on-mat stuff. I have two things I need to work out, however. One, Gustav is not good at just hanging out in the car for a few minutes while I talk to Nancy, who I'm training with. I can't talk to her very well with him, because I can't get close enough to communicate. He yelps and howls from the car. I tried covering his view with a tarp, but he hated that. Two, I just got home with Dottie and checked my computer, with which I spy on Gustav to see how his Dottie separation anxiety is going. Not well, it turns out. He had a brand new meaty bone to chew on. Like, from the butcher and covered in meat and filled with marrow. He made it about 18 minutes before starting to whine and howl, and then did so in fairly regular intervals for the next nearly three hours. Here's the breakdown: 18 minutes quiet, 1 minute cry, 6 minutes quiet, 3 minutes cry, 6 minutes quiet, 8 minutes cry, 4 minutes quiet, 3 minutes cry, 2 minutes quiet, 5 minutes cry, 4 minutes quiet, and so on. Crying ranging from one minute to 8 minutes, quiet ranged from one minute to 9 minutes (not including first quiet period). Very very sad crying, as well. I've never heard him like except from recordings when I'm gone with Dottie.

When we got home he didn't even bring his nice meaty bone out of the crate with him. He just ran ran ran to Dottie and sniffed her all over and wagged furiously. Which is sweet but pathetic all the same. He is still panting and it was obviously a stressful time for him (and probably my neighbors too. Hope no one was home.)

Bummer. I'll have to start from scratch on the separation anxiety problem. I'll have to be sure to build up to at least an hour before trying this sort of thing again. Very sad for Dottie. Sigh.

Tough times for us.

2010-09-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

I took the dogs out one morning and twice people burst out of their front doors with dogs. What bad luck. The dogs were way too close and there was nothing I could do but praise the manufacturers of the gentle leader and easy walk harness and drag everyone away. Then yesterday we had barely gotten to the end of my block when a boxer popped out from behind a fence. I just dragged the dogs right back home and canceled the walk. There was no way we could rebound from that right then. I took them on a late night walk instead, with no one in sight. Then today the UPS man dropped off a package that I was not expecting so soon and knocked on the door to alert me. The dogs went nuts. I feel like we've had some setbacks that are due purely to chance. Sad.

Today I am doing a CAT session with Tish and Gustav, then hopefully I can find some unsuspecting decoy dogs in the neighborhood to run some BAT with Dottie. Reactive Rover starts this week on Thursdays with Gustav, hopefully this will help us out of the hole we're in. Sigh. On the plus side, Dottie auto-watches everytime she hears a dog bark and Gustav has been doing tons of autowatches with people. The counterconditioning, at least, is making a little progress.

One last weird thing: recently Gustav has begun to wag his tail as strangers out of the window. Usually he goes to the window, tail held high. If the tails slowly lowers, there's no one there and he loses interest. If the tail stays high and he perks up in other ways, there's someone there and he'll either just stare them away or maybe bark if they're super close or it's a dog. Recently the tail lowers a little, then sways from side to side. I though it must be a friend, but not someone he really really loves because then the tail wag would include the butt. I looked out the window and it was a stranger across the street. What's going on? It's not the friendliest wag he's ever had, and he wags while bark/lunging at people so I know it's not always a good thing. But it's not high and fast like Dottie's when she's going to go ballistic on a dog. It's a pretty relaxed wag. Strange.

Interesting blog read

2010-09-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

Jogged the dogs today, lots of great autowatches from Gustav and some excellent BAT work from far away with Dottie. No barking, no lunging. I really feel like a good month or two of this type of work will bring us back to our high point. Dottie has begun all walks with some very intense scanning and even a little pulling. She seems to be on high alert and I've needed to start walks with lots of back and forth, treats, slow walking, etc. to get us all in the right frame of mind to survive a neighborhood walk.

I've been following Patricia McConnell's blog, www.theotherendoftheleash.com, and there's a very interesting saga regarding a puppy she rehomed. Well, two actually, but Hope most recently. Very thought provoking. I recommend it.

Jogging weather!

2010-09-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

It's gotten really mild here, with highs in the upper 60s, so it means we can jog again without the dogs being completely useless due to overheating. We drove to a suburban area a few miles up the road for a change of scenery. It was lovely and we had a great time. We passed lots of dogs in houses and behind fences going crazy and my dogs didn't bark at all. They were handsomely rewarded for this choice. We jogged for about an hour and it's great to ditch the treadmill and have both the dogs and myself exercised at once.

Ever since I've been back from my trip I've noticed Gustav in particular has really regressed. He's bark/lunged at people nearly every day. I'm glad we have the fall routine, complete with jogging and our reactive rover class, to get us back on track. I also am setting up my weekly CAT sessions with my sister-in-law. I'd really like Gustav to like her. He loves her son and her boyfriend, so I know it's possible.

I'm working on two other things with Gustav: one, looking at me before we cross the street. I say "stop" and the dogs stop, then I just stand there until Gustav finally looks up at me out of boredom. Then I say "yes" and "okay" and we cross the street. Two, I picked up a booklet called the "Really Reliable Recall." It has you spend two weeks calling your dog in the house three times a day and spending literally one minute giving out great treats and praising. It's nice not to worry about criteria right now and Gustav has gotten quite speedy on his in-house recall. The booklet then has you test the recall in a set-up to see how it's going. I'll give that a try in a few weeks and see if a recall trained with no raising of criteria is of any use in difficult situations. I'm curious and it takes very little effort on my part, so why not?

The dogs are really tired now. It's a wonderful sight.

Two good days.

2010-09-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

Both today and yesterday I was able to take the dogs on separate walks. What a pleasure! Gustav made it 20 minutes without crying while Dottie and I were gone, with a good bone of course. He also gave it up without any problems. Since he growled at me once a few weeks ago while reaching into his crate to take away an amazing meaty bone, I've been doing a little resource guarding stuff here and there, not too much. I'm not sure if that's helped or if the bone is less meaty or if it's because I wait until he brings his bone out of his crate himself before I take it away.

Gustav barked at one person, a friend of mine I saw on my walk. I told him Gustav is "mean" (sometimes you have to be simple and inaccurate to get people to listen) and he stopped walking towards us and that was fine, but while we talked he inexplicably took a few more steps forward before I could say anything and Gustav did a woof and lunge. Nothing terrible, but it sure worked because my friend stopped coming towards us. Other than that we saw tons of dogs and people and he did great. I was really proud. Same with Dottie.

Bad day :(

2010-08-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Had a not so great walk yesterday. Both the dogs were high-strung from the beginning, stiff and with hackles up right out the door. I have no idea why-maybe a dog had just walked there? Anyway, Dottie barked at a neighbor and so did Gustav. Then later Gustav bark/lunged at a woman 15 feet away on the sidewalk. Disappointing.

What a summer!

2010-08-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I just got back from my vacation in Berlin, which was amazing. Justin reported that the dogs had a few bad days, including Dottie charging a dog a few times while off leash. Sounds like extra caution is needed while she's off leash, because it sounds like she was pretty mean and intimidating, but was still able to be recalled and didn't cause any damage. However, that's exactly the type of behavior I hate from other dog owners and sets everyone's training back. I was sad to hear about it. She also had a few meltdowns at other dogs.

I took them out for a long rebonding walk yesterday and it was just lovely. They did great and using distance as a reinforcer for Dottie is still amazing me with it's effectiveness. I can literally see her decide when to look at me instead of barking and freaking out. She looks at a dog, purses her lips and raises her tail, then turns around to look at me. I say "yes!" and we literally sprint away from the dog and Dottie is just as happy as can be. Gustav is a bit slower on this because he is insecure about turning his back on something that worries him and I have to give him several extra seconds. During this time, I figure Dottie is learning duration. Otherwise, if Dottie is about to lose it, I just have to sort of drag Gustav away. Interesting to do BAT with two dogs at once, but I just sort of choose which dog to focus on each time we see a trigger and try to keep a lid on things in general.

I signed Gustav up for Reactive Rover this fall, so I'm really excited about that. He made a lot of progress when we did it last year, just in general responsiveness. I think the most useful thing about the class is having a completely controlled environment in which to build trust and basic focus.

Well, I didn't get as much training done this summer as I'd hoped, but I got a little overscheduled in general and fell short of many of my goals. Lesson from this summer: relax and don't expect so much from myself and my time. Now it's back to school and routine, my favorite things, and I think the dogs will benefit as well.

Boring walk report

2010-07-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Took a long walk today. The dogs were very hot. Dottie barked at one dog, but not at two others (although I increased distance quite a bit based on her earlier performance). I brought a toy as a different reinforcer, which worked beautifully. I think Dottie was pleasantly surprised that looking at a dog and then looking at me could produce a toy she loves and a little mini tug session.

All in all, it was incredibly pleasant and almost one hundred percent what I want out of my dogs: long, uneventful walks around the neighborhood without having to make crazy routes to avoid people/dogs. I don't mind crossing the street, but taking wild detours is a bummer.

Now they are panting and laying down. I love them.

Back home

2010-07-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been gone a while. I was super busy getting ready for my band's tour, and I just got back yesterday. One thing that's fun about tour is meeting other people's pets. We stayed with some friends in North Carolina who have a great little heeler mutt named Lil' Man. He was obviously a great dog, but super super mouthy. It reminded me that no one's dog is perfect and that we love them all the same, an obvious message that sometimes gets lost nevertheless when we are trying to work with our dogs towards some goal.

Justin, who took care of the dogs while I was gone, said it went great with no barking fits or problems except one incident in which they got mobbed by two off-leash pit bulls. Dottie barked at them from behind Justin's legs and Gustav just beat up the other dogs. So typical of their crisis responses. Gustav really can take care of himself, and he knows it. My job is to convince him he doesn't have to. This message is a little harder to convey when it's not true, like when people let their dogs run amok. Gustav is extremely intimidating when he decides it's time to take care of business and I've never seen him lose a contest of this variety. He snarls and growls and pins the other dog within seconds.

Well, I'm back in the saddle for a few weeks, after which I'm on vacation again (!). I'm going to take the dogs out on a long long walk right now. Nice.

Amazing BAT session outside the dog park!

2010-06-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Dottie and I had a great time outside the dog park. We stood sort of near the entrance, and when a dog got leashed up and came out, I waited for Dottie to turn her head to me. Then I clicked, and we RAN away from the dog, then got a treat. I misjudged her distance once or twice and she barked, but I just stood there and pretty soon she looked up at me and we got to run away.

I was totally amazed at the quick progress she made. Pretty soon we were an across-the-street distance from other dogs, and Dottie was wagging her tail and anticipating her click and our super fun retreat. I guess this is more of a BAT thing, as far as I've read about it, but of course it's really just the same old principles: communicate with your dog, figure out what they want, and find a way to negotiate how to get what you both want out of a situation. It also made me think about what an "operant" dog Dottie is. She just wants to do what works, and is so whip smart that she doesn't let her fears overcome her when she's deciding what course of action to take. Of course, a key in all that is keeping her at a distance she can deal with. If the dogs had been off-leash and mobbed her, all bets would be off and she would do what works: snap and lunge.

I'm lucky that leash laws are observed, by and large, around here in the city. I think people are mostly worried about their dogs getting hit by cars, not the consideration of other people.

Anyway, I was really encouraged by it and I'll try to get a session or two a week in at the dog park or in dog-heavy neighborhoods with room to retreat. Dottie will never love strange dogs, and I honestly don't care if she can meet them or not. Just walking the neighborhood in peace is enough for me.

CAT advice

2010-06-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

I got some good feedback from my CAT list. They told me not to sweat getting to interaction, but to do lots and lots more reps using distance as a reinforcer. I think it's a good idea. Today I'm hoping to work a bit on Gustav's adorable but sad separation-from-Dottie anxiety. I taped him again recently and he can go about six minutes before started to howl and whine. therefore, Dottie and I will be taking weird four minute walks a few times in a row while Gustav chews on something wonderful. I'd love to be taking Dottie to the outskirts of the dog park more often, but it would help a lot if Gustav wasn't crying and crying at home. Of course, I can take just her if Justin is home but he frequently doesn't get done with work until eight or later.

Also, I found a blog of someone who lives quite near me in real life who has a hyper-aroused dog. The blog is vanyaproject.blogspot.com. I'm going to run over there and say hi. It's especially interesting since a lot of the trainers she's used I have as well. Small world!

CAT with Berit

2010-06-16T15:06:00.001-07:00

I did a CAT session with my friend Berit today. It was really interesting. Gustav seemed totally relaxed and indifferent to her--or is it avoidance? Who knows. So she quickly got to a small distance, about seven feet or so, and I was shaping for yawns, turn-aways, laying down, sniffing, and relaxed movement. I was curious if he would take treats from her, so I had her throw a few. He ate them up and actually had a teeny tiny tail wag-the low and slow kind!! Exciting! The next rep, though, she was one step closer and he stared at her, then woofed and lunged. She jumped, but I had her stay there and after only a few barks, Gustav turned away. Then I had her retreat. I was curious what brought on this change in emotions. Berit thinks it's because she was closer than ever, I wonder if he was a little frightened by their treat interaction as well. Gustav's triggers all involve the concept that the person might actually come up and touch him: people getting out of cars, people walking straight at him, people talking to me, etc. Maybe throwing treats is one of those things as well, even though he likes treats. Hmmm. Unfortunately, she's going on vacation so I'll have to wait to try out another session with her.

Very interesting! I'm not sure where to go with it from here. He's still not showing lots of signs of actual friendliness, maybe I should increase distance a little. I'm very happy he's choosing avoidance rather than aggression, but of course I'd love to see some friendliness to shape for. Maybe I'm pushing him too far too fast. I think I'll ask the CAT forum what they think.

Back from up north

2010-06-11T19:28:00.001-07:00

Up north Wisconsin, that is. We took the dogs camping for a week. It wasn't a resounding success, but it wasn't a disaster either. Dottie had some pretty sad moments: she's officially scared of fishing poles, and wouldn't get in the van for a long time the first night, due to her carsickness on the way up (she didn't actually throw up, but that's because we know not to feed her before car trips. She's been carsick her whole life, the very first thing she did as a puppy after I drove her home from the rescue place was throw up all over my lap). We just sat in the van (our new camping vehicle, very nice considering how much it rained) and waited for her to change her mind. She did eventually, but I couldn't believe how teenager-like she was being. She barked at every little thing at first, and Gustav got very tense very quickly.

But after a few days the dogs got MUCH better at calming down and having a good time. A few things helped: lots of CCing the various noises of the other campers, getting used to thing over time, some awesome bones to chew on that I brought along, and the fact that they were exhausted from some pretty major off-leash hikes. Finally, the last night, the dogs were laying contentedly on their beds, strategically placed under the picnic table, while we sat around the fire. Well, for about twenty minutes anyway. Which was a big deal, and I was very proud of them. I've never known Dottie to be comfortable laying around outdoors, she's just not that kind of dog.

We let Gustav and Dottie romp around off leash on some obscure fire access roads we found to hike. I was a little nervous, but he did well. He doesn't have a great recall, but he is very good at staying with the group. Whenever they seemed like they were going to chase something through the woods, I would call Dottie first (bless her wonderful recall!) and Gustav wouldn't be too far behind. He did get a little too far a few times and Justin had to use his serious voice to get him back. On our way out of one of these roads, a guy in a jeep was driving down it and stopped to chat. He asked if we had seen the bear and her three little cubs. Well, no, we hadn't, and thank God. Pretty scary thought, given Gustav's poor recall. Who knows what he would do when faced with a bear? I am sooo grateful we didn't have any incidents, and I feel a little sheepish for risking it. Gustav had such a wonderful time, though, and it was both a good bonding time and good to practice his off-leash work, which I so rarely get to do. I haven't seen both dogs so tired in a long long time.

I'll update a little more later, but I am so dirty and the dogs have more ticks than I've ever seen in my life.

Pam Dennison's book and poop.

2010-05-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

I've really been enjoying Pam Dennison's book "Bringing Light to Shadow." It's a training diary. It's great because I've always wanted to see rehabilitation in action, both the good days and bad days. The dog ends up great (of course, otherwise wouldn't be much of a book). Most interesting parts I thought were the immense progress after the first eight months or so. The dog (and trainer) just seemed to start getting it, and then progressed at a much faster pace than before. Also the importance of working when the dog is comfortable, something I've found super useful in Gustav. As soon as I started working where he was truly comfortable, rather than just "fine," I noticed he made more progress. So I would cross the street even though he could make it past the person without bark/lunging, just because he looked tight.

There's a few big differences between me and Pam. One, she's a professional dog trainer whose life is literally training her dogs. I have school, a job, a band, a boyfriend, friends, an awesome nephew, and a house to maintain. I am really happy with this life and even though I love my dogs, I am not willing to make them my full-time job. Two, luckily, Gustav is not nearly as screwed up as the dog in the book. In fact, he's almost perfect except for around strangers and dogs, and considering what a couch potato he is he really doesn't need tons of work. Three, and related to number one, Pam has big competition goals for her dogs. I want a functional pet with a decent quality of life. A much lower bar. I don't need a dog that loves being examined by strangers or can be perfect while being groomed or has a perfect heel. Just a dog that doesn't lunge and bark and, maybe, can tolerate a brief pet from a stranger (although honestly, it's not that big a deal to me). Finally, I really am not into training a bazillion tricks and cues. I know it's a good idea for some types of dogs (like Dottie), but Gustav is a bit of a slow processor and I personally think it would be more beneficial to have an amazing sit, come, down, stay, and stop, and then maybe a little target, sniff, and play bow; than to have a dozen half-proofed cues that he doesn't know too well.

However, it's been a great read, and very encouraging. I have high hopes for Gustav.

Yesterday I took the dogs in the van (trying to get them used to it) to the lake. Dottie swam, and Gustav rolled in some amazing poop. Since he was already filthy, I called him away and let him go back, just to take advantage of the situation. Then I brought them home and washed him twice and he still stank. Gross. Everyone in the band who came over for practice later laughed and complained.

Also, Dottie has figured out how to paw the blocks on her Nina Ottosson toy. It is so cool! What a great little brain toy. I just pull it out here and there for tiny little sessions, and it really seems to get Dottie thinking.

Hotter

2010-05-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bleghh, it's about 90 degrees today. I'm trying to think of places where the dogs can swim.

For my birthday, my friends teamed up and got me a Nina Ottosson toy! http://www.nina-ottosson.com/DogTurbowood1.htm

I would never have bought this on my own, they're so expensive. I was so excited. Dottie and I tried it out today and was so challenged. She sort of figured out the very first basic step, of moving the block to push the treat out. After only a few minutes, she kind of glazed over so we quit for now. It'll be so handy for cold days and so on. Thanks friends! Even though I know you don't read this because I told you it would be too boring for non-dog people!

Door training progress

2010-05-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here's our door training again:

The dogs were hot and tired from our walk, making it easier. However, they've really come a long way! I can go all the way out, let the screen door close, open the screen door, knock lightly, and come in all without moving. I'm adding in lots of "kitchen!" as a predictor that there will be food thrown in the kitchen. Eventually, I hope to have this sequence: someone knocks on the door, I say "kitchen!" everyone hustles to the kitchen, sits and stays, I open the door and either pay the pizza guy or let the visitor in, then go reinforce the dogs and release them from the stay to either greet the visitor or go back to their business. Now it gets trickier, however, because I need some actual visitors to up the ante. I'll start with the band guys since they come to my house at least once a week anyway, then eventually have more stranger-type people do it.

Interesting how slow their sits were in the beginning. You'd think they'd anticipate that by now . . .

Hot hot hot

2010-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Jogging season with the dogs is WAY over, too bad. They are walking at a snail's pace, even when it's just 80 degrees or so. If they think this is hot, they're in for a tough summer. Brought both the dogs to the park, Gustav on his line. His recalls are improving already. My secret weapon is if he performs an extra good recall I pull out this squeaky squirrel toy he loves even more than chicken. My other secret weapon was going down to a 20 foot line, a much more reasonable distance for him. His attention work is improving too.

I talked to Kathy the neighbor in front of her house with no barking from mine. Good! Also, I ran an errand with Justin and the dogs in the van so they could get used to it. They were so good! They saw lots of people outside the van and didn't bark once, just hung out with Justin and panted.

I also did some more work desensitizing the door knock and ran a few reps of me going in and out. I'll post a video of it soon.

Great CAT session

2010-05-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I did a very successful CAT session with my sister-in-law, Tish. Tish is great with dogs and even though Gustav has met her in the past, he hasn't in a long while. I flubbed the beginning (again!) and he started off barking/lunging (not out of control, just purposefully). After that, he was showing all kinds of great behaviors: shake-offs, yawns, sniffing, relaxed moving, laying down, scratching, looking at me, looking away. He started the session mouth closed and tail high and ears up, and ended with his tail nearly all the way unfurled, mouth open, and ears sort of half mast. Tish had gotten about twenty feet from him. I tried really hard not to push too fast, even though of course I got excited and wanted to go further. We took some breaks after every seven trials or so. In the second half he added in a lot of whining, which was weird again. Ambivalence about Tish? That's Chelse's thought.

Dottie met some people at the park very pleasantly and without barking.

Gustav did GREAT today on his line, came when called quite a bit (he still won't do it when distracted by a smell, that's something to work on) and had some lovely attention work. He's gotten pretty reactive about dogs so I jackpotted his autowatches when he saw a dog from afar. He gets very serious and stares at them, and will start to growl and bark if given the chance.

Here's something interesting: Gustav has been crying while I've taken Dottie. Today I tested it by taking a video. Sure enough, only seven minutes in or so, he starts to cry and howl. I think it roughly coincides with him accessing all the good parts of the kong. Then he gives up, then we come home. When we come home and I let him out of the crate, he rushes past me and greets Dottie. Not sure how to deal with this. Justin thinks he'll get over it if we just keep doing it and he'll get used to it. I'm skeptical. I'm asking Chelse for her ideas.

Just an update

2010-05-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Worked Gustav on the line at the park, his recall is just awful. That's okay, though, we'll work on it. His attention outside is also awful. Good to have one on one time to work on it.

I found out that Gustav is crying and crying while me and Dottie do our together-time without him. I'm not sure what to do about it, since he doesn't start until we're out of earshot, stops before we come in the house, and is left with really high value stuff (bones, kongs, etc.) I wouldn't even know about it if I couldn't hear him from the sidewalk. I can't imagine normal separation anxiety stuff would help, since we leave without incident while he happily chews away at whatever I've left him. Also, the high-value item is still good to go when we get home, just at some point while we're gone he stops chewing and starts crying. Weird weird weird.

I'm doing a CAT with my sister-in-law/good friend Tish today at the park. I'm curious to see how it will go.

I've started desensitizing knocking, and making it a predictor for treats in the kitchen. I knock on the door, say "kitchen!" and toss treats in the kitchen. I'm hoping this will help them memorize what to do when they hear a knock: run to the kitchen! I imagine it will take a while, however.

Dogs hung out in the van without me for about three minutes and with pretty good bones. I'll keep up on that, then start driving the van to different locations and leaving them in it.

Lots going on in the dog training section of my life!

Vet anxiety over.

2010-05-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

The vet came today and everything was fine. Hooray! Gustav only needed his heartworm checked so we could get him started on preventative for the season. He didn't love it, but he chose to attempt to disappear into the ground rather than fight. His ears were all the way back, his eyes nearly shut, and he wouldn't take treats. He was all the way on his side lying down. It was obvious his coping method was more of a shutdown than anything. However, he later came to the vet for a treat and approached her to sniff her leg once and face once. He even sat for her. So I don't think he was too traumatized. It reminded me that 1. he's not really very bad with people at the house and 2. he picks and chooses who scares him a lot, and Nancy is not one of those people.

Dottie is a little fat due to her constant treat training, I have to cut down on some kibble for sure. She's 42 pounds, which is at least three pound heavier than she's ever been. Gustav is a slim 70, right on target. Her teeth are great, too. Nancy commented on her excellent heart rate, slow despite some vet anxiety, which means she gets plenty of exercise. Hooray!

In other news, door training has been going great. I can go out, knock lightly twice, and come back in to two dogs sitting patiently in the kitchen. It's time for decoys for sure, although we still practice with just me. Shane came over and before he left did five reps knocking, then I would say "kitchen" and put the dogs in a sit stay in the kitchen, then come answer the door, then have Shane come in and sit down, then treat them and release them to meet Shane. Of course, he's a friend and he had been over for hours so it wasn't as if he had just shown up. The real key is going to be getting this to translate when someone actually knocks on the door. I think we're on our way.

Van training: Dottie is obviously going to take a while on this one. I gave them great kongs and sat with them, then stood up to try shutting the door. Dottie stopped chewing and stared at me, telling me it wasn't time to leave them in there by themselves yet. Gustav had no problem with it, however. I'm approaching it just like crate training and bought new meaty bones to give them only when they're in the van, to increase value. I think it will be at least a few days before shutting the door, however. It's so hard not to go overboard and push things too fast!

Tonight I volunteer at dog's best friend. I'm interested to see how people are doing.

Wonderful wonderful free time

2010-05-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

I'm done with the semester for all practical purposes, and it's been great dog-wise. They get a jog every day, plus three sessions of door work and, starting today, three sessions of "van time." I have this idea that my sweet van will be our vacation savior if they can enjoy the van as a little home. I don't have a super solid training plan, but so far I've just said "van" and we all get in and eat chicken for about a minute. I imagine training it sort of like crate training, but where we start even smaller because they're not alone in the "crate" for starters. I'm hoping to pick up some new meaty bones and close them in the van for like thirty seconds, then let them out. Then I'm hoping to drive around the block or so and try it in different locations than just the driveway. Hopefully with three sessions a day we can make some progress in a month or so.

Speaking of progress, running the door drill three times a day, five reps each has done wonders. I can now go all the way out the door, let the screen door close, then open it all up again and come back in with the dogs still sitting in the kitchen. I've started adding the tiniest knock, where I really just touch my knuckles to the door. I think it's just about friend time for this drill. Hooray! Maybe I'll start with Justin and Shane. Maybe I can even convince the band boys to come in three or four times each every time they come over. As it is right now, they let themselves in while I body block the dogs in the doorway of the kitchen, but there's been hardly any barking (though plenty of rubbernecking around me to see who it is.)

The vet's coming next Monday, I'm nervous again. I feel like the person who dislikes the dentist and therefore doesn't go, I was supposed to have the vet over sometime in April so I'm running late. I put it off because I was nervous. She doesn't seem nervous, however, so that's comforting.

Finally, I'm meeting up with a potential dog training helper tonight to discuss options. Plus I contacted two other people to set up time next week to do some CAT. I'm curious . . .

Summer plans

2010-05-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have big dog plans for the future, including several craigslist leads for dog training buddies, and my first day volunteering for my favorite local training company, Patricia McConnell's company Dog's Best Friend (well, she started it but sold it a few years ago. Same people, though). It's on Monday and I can't wait to see other people and their dogs and the training methods involved. Maybe I can even make some friends who would be willing to be decoys :) My goal for the summer is to do two to three CAT sessions a week and see if we can make some real progress. I'd also like to try a week or so (at least) of five mini-training sessions a day on the door, like Patricia McConnell reported some research on in her blog. Apparently brains learn things pretty well with many short sessions over the course of the day. While I'm on vacation (woohoo!) I can certainly hop up five times a day and run the door routine. My dream of paying for a pizza in peace may come true after all . . . Right now I look out the window and leap up when I see the car and run run run out the front door to meet the guy in the driveway, kind of a stressful pizza experience.

Justin and I would also like to run a practice camping night somewhere to see where we're at for a week-long vacation in June. We discovered that both dogs are afraid of campfires when we had one in the yard last week, not an auspicious beginning for camping season. And having a campsite nearby, with dogs or kids or even just people? In the dark? Forget about it. I have a sweet van that we're planning on bringing, so maybe I can convince the dogs that the van is an awesome place to hang out even if we're not in it and it can save the concept of vacations this summer.

Oh, and it would be nice if Gustav started developing a pretty good recall, so if someday he can be off-leash on hikes and such (i.e. when I'm pretty sure he wouldn't start a fight with any dog he saw or terrorize a stranger), then he'll come back when called. We had him off-leash in a secret hidden place yesterday and his recall was, um, flawed but not a totally lost cause. Dottie's could use a little spiffing up, come to think of it.

In the meantime, I have a giant paper to write and a final exam and project to finish and the dogs are being very patient and wonderful. I am completely done as of Thursday, and mostly done as of tomorrow, so I suppose I should get off this blog and get cracking.

A couple of things

2010-05-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

I did an hour of modified CAT with my friend Grace. She sat at a picnic table and read a book and I walked to a certain distance, then would wait for Gustav to do something, then turn away, then repeat at a closer distance.

It went okay, with a few bugs. One, the park was really crowded and we kept getting distracted by far off dogs/people, etc. Two, I'm having a really hard time figuring out what "acceptable behaviors" to reinforce. Of course, the easiest is just to reinforce calmness in general for ten seconds or so, then turn away. But I also would like to eventually reinforce for friendly behaviors, like a gentle approach or soft-eyed air sniffing, or a low tail wag. I didn't see any, so I had to choose other things. I ended up reinforcing a few shake-offs, a yawn, and some turn-aways. Unfortunately, due to my lack of experience, I accidentally got Gustav in a place where he barked a few times. So I had to wait it out, then reinforce subsequent calmness. It was weird, he was just standing there with me, then he started to whine (which I've NEVER seen him do out and about before), then bark at Grace. I'm not sure exactly how to fix this since he offers such a narrow range of behaviors. My options are: go a longer distance and hope I see something even more relaxed, and assume that someday he'll offer something friendly, or cue a friendly behavior if I could teach him one that would apply to people (has anyone ever trained a low, slow tail wag?). I'll probably start off with option one and see how far I get.

The next day I brought Dottie to the dog park and tried positioning myself on a path perpendicular to the entrance. It went great. I think this approach has tons of potential for Dottie because she is actually trying to do what works, she's not out-of-her-mind hysterical. As the people on the CAT list would say, she's "operant" Gustav's feelings run a little deeper, I feel like. So Dottie quickly learned that a turn-away meant I would get her out of there. I also cued a play-bow a few times, to give an idea of something friendly she could do. I wouldn't take a look-at-me, just a look away at something else.

I went on craigslist and found some people who want to work on their dogs with me, I'll be setting up some time right after finals are over (just a few weeks now!). I hope I meet some people who are really committed and who I can feel like we're being mutually beneficial by working with one another's dogs.

Finally, I had an interesting walk with them both yesterday. We were doing some CAT in a field while some little dogs conveniently walked along a path far away. I was focusing on Dottie, since it's impossible to do both at once. Things were going well, and Dottie was definitely choosing not to bark, when the dogs broke free and came running after us! I retreated backwards, pulling my dogs while they snarled and barked and lunged and the little dogs did the same but always kept just out of range (I wouldn't want to meet Gustav either!). The woman finally caught up and apologized. This is when the best part happened: I said "no problem, these things happen." And my dogs sat and waited calmly while we had a five minute conversation! About dogs, of course. I used my semi-truthful "rescue dog" statement and we talked about all the work we do to help them. The whole time her dogs just stood calmly, and mine sat pretty as can be with occasional treats from me. Speaking of CAT, I love that the final lesson in all this was that sitting calmly makes people and dogs go away. I was really pleased with the final result.

Talking to Belinda

2010-04-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

Had a loooong chat with my friend Belinda from across the street. She had her dog with me and I had just Gustav. We were sort of behind some parked cars so I think he wasn't faced with the full-on stimulus, although he certainly knew they were there. I gave him chicken and he was tense at first but eventually just sat down and enjoyed his somewhat steady stream of hush money (chicken?). It was nice and I hope he starts to associate chatting with people with lots of wonderfulness.

Belinda was one of the very first people he lunged at way back when we started noticing a problem. She had pet him (our new dog! It was so exciting!) and then stopped petting him and backed up onto her lawn. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he barked and lunged and scared all of us. That's one of the reasons me and Justin were entertaining the idea that he was a pushy dog that didn't want petting to stop, since this was the pattern with a few other people. But I think it was really that he was too frozen and scared to do anything until the dreaded petting stopped. He's since felt emboldened.

I also brought Dottie to the park with just the two of us to play some frisbee. She is an amazing frisbee dog. Wow. I love one-on-one time with my dogs, I only get to do it every so often but it's so relaxing and easy compared to two. I feel like I'm going into battle every time I take both out by myself. When I get just one at a time, I feel like I'm walking a super awesome laid back dog. Who just can't be on the same side of the street as people/dogs.

Talking to Kathy

2010-04-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

After I did a bunch of CCing with the workers next door, Justin came home after I had left for something else and went outside. He said he was able to have a conversation with Kathy about the landscaping she's having done. The perfect thing happened: Gustav started by woofing and trying to get Kathy to leave, but everyone just ignored him. So he gave up and Justin chatted with Kathy with no interference from the dogs and no treats. I hadn't had success with this fairly recently, so I was extra impressed. I tried to talk to Kathy but Gustav barked a bunch because I was out of treats and I was petting him to try and keep him calm. Now I know that next time I should just ignore him, and maybe he can stop on his own.

Also, both dogs declined to bark at the golden doodle who lives one house over in the back yard. I guess she's old news. She barks at them every time, and my dogs used to rush the corner of the yard barking back and we would call them, etc. etc. This time they both looked up but then just went about their business. Actually, Gustav did and Dottie came inside to avoid the issue.

Imagine it: actually talking to my neighbors even with my dogs out. Amazing. This is the summer for it, I can feel it.

I'm doing a CAT session on Wednesday with my friend Grace in the park.

Dottie's barking

2010-04-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Oh, one other short thing. I've been working from home more often, and Dottie is a giant pain. I've tried a bunch of different things, but today I decided I'm just going to ignore her barking/whining completely. Not put her on a down-stay, or wait for her to be quiet and throw treats at her, just totally ignore her. Well, actually, I'm considering giving her some treats when she does something constructive with her boredom like chew on a bone or something. At least that's something concrete I can reward. I feel like when I give her treats/attention for going to sleep I'm ruining the calm, like I'm telling her not to calm down but to keep paying attention to me in case I pay off. I can't decide.

I just get the overwhelming feeling like she's playing me like a slot machine. Smarty pants.

Progress report

2010-04-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Good day today. I informally signed up three friends for future CAT sessions. Now I just have to call them. I'm hoping to do one to two a week this summer.

Also, I had a brief conversation with the mailman again, from across the street, with no bad behavior from my dogs. Hooray!

Also, there are guys working in my next door neighbor's backyard and we went out and the dogs ate chicken while looking at them. Gustav didn't bark once, even when they said hello to me. No hackles and a nice low tail.

I've been thinking a lot about how to get Gustav beyond just tolerating people and actually changing his mind even a tiny bit about them. Supposedly CAT is really good for it. I see what they mean when they complain about counterconditioning being good for tolerating people, but they never learn to switch over and actually be friendly. That's exactly what I see in Gustav; a begrudging tolerance. Hmm.

A stranger comes over

2010-04-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Good day! A friend of mine, but stranger to Gustav (I think they met once a long time ago, and Gustav barked at her. We were out on a walk) came over. I brought Gustav out on a leash and he was really good. I sat down and pet him and she just ignored him the whole time. After a while he was calmly approaching her. I decided I wasn't ready to try a meet and greet, so since he didn't want to lay down by me anymore I put him in his crate with a big meaty bone. He was happy with that. Dottie got her to throw a ball a bunch, so Dottie was happy with that. I was very pleased with the calmness.

It reminded me that Gustav has actually never had a problem with anyone in the house and we used to have plenty of people over, some of whom would pet him. Well, actually, there was one person he disliked and barked at and danced around. I never figured that one out. And of course the famous bone incident that was just doomed to failure, where Gustav lunged at Justin's mom and hit her in the face because she was petting him on the head and leaning over him while he chewed a meaty bone. But that's different.

It made me want to have people over more, now that it seems pretty manageable. I don't know how I would decide to let him roam free. Any ideas? When is a dog comfortable enough to trust around visitors? Would I be able to relax a little, or would I just spend the whole time staring and feeling nervous? How do I know when he needs a break in his crate? Hmmm.

CAT videos and DAP: Acronym day!

2010-04-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here's my videos of Gustav during his CAT procedure yesterday. The first one was right away, then the second one was after about a half hour of work. There was more, but the camera ran out of memory. Warning: these will seem incredibly boring, because it's pretty much about 7 minutes of Gustav and Justin standing in a field. However, here's what's going on:

Chelse, the behaviorist, is standing really far away, like 40 yards away. She walks up to a certain spot, then stands there. Then when she sees Gustav do something she likes, she retreats. After she retreats, she sort of pretends to be examining the prairie grass and just hangs out. Then after 15 seconds, she repeats, this time going a bit closer (about three steps). She used her keys to mark her spot in the grass. Justin held Gustav, and I taped it and also communicated with Chelse via hand signals. If I saw something she should shape for I made a sign. Then about every five trials we took a little break and Gustav and me and Justin wandered around the park a bit.

Interesting details: Gustav is a pretty stoic guy, but I've identified some of his signals of relaxation. The first video and second video show how much more relaxed he's gotten. His tail is lower (a big one), his mouth is open more often, his general body position/muscle tone is more relaxed. You can also tell when he notices Chelse or something else in the environment: his mouth closes and he stiffens slightly.

Here they are, enjoy my inane, one-sided conversation with Justin :)

Also, I tried out DAP spray on bandannas for the dogs today. My personal opinion is that it made a big difference. I had a conversation with the mailman from across the street with no hysterics. Gustav got a bit tense at a few dogs, and Dottie barked once at a lady on a bike who said hello. But other than that they were exceptionally calm. I'll keep it up and see if I see a big difference. I was thinking about maybe running a scientific experiment where Justin either does or doesn't spray them, without telling me, and I can report on behavior on the walk. After maybe ten trials maybe a clear pattern will emerge. Or maybe I won't do that, it sounds hard. We'll see.

CAT session

2010-04-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today Chelse, from Dog's Best Friend, came and did a CAT session with Gustav at the park. I brought Dottie over to my mom and dad's house so she wouldn't feel left out.

Chelse started from really far away and just walked up to a certain point and stopped. Then when Gustav offered something we liked, like sniffing or head turning, she walked away. She worked waaay under threshold, even more than I expected, but I can see how that would be a good idea. He definitely noticed her but never reacted more than closing his mouth. No hackles, no growling, and no super high tail. We talked about what to reinforce and shape for. Chelse said the best thing to shape for is signs of actual friendliness: soft eyes, a relaxed approach, friendly air-sniffing, maybe even a little tail wag. None of those were displayed too much, but it's good to know what to look for.

My verdict: Gustav definitely never got reinforced for being anything other than totally relaxed. The big question is: did he begin to associate his relaxed state and/or specific behaviors with Chelse walking away? That's the goal. I couldn't say for sure whether he was making that connection or not, it's hard to tell.

Chelse said the biggest draw-back to CAT is the impracticality. It has to be a pretty set-up situation. I also pointed out that, to the untrained eye, it basically looks like nothing. Expensive nothing.

I was really happy to see a professional do it, because she's got a great sense of body language and was very careful and precise. I video-taped Gustav during the procedure. It basically looks like he's standing with Justin in a field, since I couldn't get both him and Chelse in the shot.

Next up I'd like to try it out on my own. I'm hoping I can get a friend who Gustav doesn't know to volunteer. For me, I will believe in it when I see Gustav make a new friend and change his emotions towards a particular person. Now I'm trying to think of someone who wouldn't mind hanging out in a field with me for half an hour or an hour a few times, who Gustav doesn't already like (that cuts out Dad, my brother, and everyone in the band. Basically all the people I would normally ask to do something like this.)

I'd also love to try it out with Dottie and a dog, but I need a good decoy dog. Chelse said her dog is a great decoy dog and would be willing to do it. I'll think about whether I can afford it or not. If it's hard for me to think of someone to do it with Gustav just as a person, it's double hard to think of a person AND a bomb-proof dog who would be willing to do it.

So, it wasn't a dramatic success (yet?), but it wasn't a letdown either.

Poor Justin

2010-04-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Poor Justin had a bad experience in the park. A little boy around four saw him from waaaay across the park and started running towards him and the dogs. Justin shook his head, then said "no, no, my dogs aren't friendly, you can't pet them" Then he had to yell "stop! go back to your dad! stop!" and the kid still didn't stop. The dad finally noticed and came running over and stopped the kid when he was about ten feet away. Yikes! Dottie was barking and Gustav growling, but no real lunging. We talked about it and decided next time (hopefully never) Justin should probably just run away. Surely he can outrun a four-year-old. Justin felt bad since technically we aren't supposed to be in the park. He went back to apologize and clear things up after returning the dogs home, but they had left.

I reassured him, since nothing terrible happened and the kid is fine. And he did the right thing being assertive. Who knows, Gustav might have been fine, but who wants to find out?

On the bright side: tomorrow is our CAT session! I'll will post all about it tomorrow.

Sycamore run

2010-04-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

We went on a new favorite route of mine: around the dog park and into the neighborhood beyond. This is a great route because: 1. it's a five minute drive from my house 2. apparently people in the suburbs hardly ever walk their dog or hang out in the front yard, so it's not a constant obstacle course, and 3. I can use the giant fenced dog park as a beautiful controlled training situation. The dogs are free in the dog park, but I can absolutely control the distance between us and them thanks to the fence.

Today was also pretty good, with a few less-than-stellar-moments. Well, just one really. There was an off-leash little lap dog hanging out and it started running towards us (this was in a neighborhood). I started dragging the dogs across the street awkwardly as there were lots of parked cars to negotiate. The lady was yelling at her dog to stop. No dogs had barked yet, amazingly. I got the dogs across the street and her dog stopped and I said "my dogs are not very friendly" so she would take extra care not to let her dog come up to us. She scooped up her dog and said "oh, that's too bad" in a snarky tone (grumble). I responded "we're working on it." During this little exchange Dottie started barking. I had her sit and said "enough" and she stopped. Then we continued on our way, but Gustav took that opportunity to turn around and start barking at the dog. So neither dog was perfect, but to be honest both of them seemed kind of half-hearted about it. When Gustav started I stopped and had everyone sit, because I don't like these incidents to end "I threw a fit and that dog went away, I should definitely try that again next time." I like them to end in a calm quiet sit while the dog goes away. If only I could control everyone else and their dogs! So it wasn't the end of the world, the dogs weren't lunging like crazy or anything, just being a little barky and sassy.

Dottie found a snake, which was funny. I've never seen her respond so gratefully to "leave it!" in my life.

Otherwise, we saw tons of dogs and a fair amount of people. Gustav is still really slow with his watch cue, he still doesn't trust me to take care of the situation completely. Especially with dogs, with people he's a lot better.

Run with my brother

2010-04-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

Took a jog with my brother and the dogs today. Dottie thinks Christian is the most exciting human being ever to walk the earth, but managed to greet him with only one bark, thanks to my big bag of chicken. We met at a park and it was interesting to see Gustav switch from "stranger!" mode to "friend" mode once he recognized Christian. His whole body changed from being forward and hackled and tail up to being much more relaxed and a lot less offensive. When I let Dottie off leash during a certain part of the jog she went up and jogged next to Christian, looking up at him adoringly. Also when we got to my house and he walked away, they couldn't stop looking at him and had to watch him walk away for a few minutes before I could coax them towards my house. Awww.

Jog went great. Once Dottie barked at a dog across the street. I was busy keeping Gustav good, so after Dottie barked I just let her bark it out. She never was hysterical, and I didn't want to give her chicken for barking. If it had been just her I would have had her sit or do a trick and then reinforce her, but I just couldn't manage. Sadly she was still reinforced since the dog went away, but oh well. Also Gustav growled and sort of lunged towards a woman on a bike, not a proud moment for him. But otherwise they were both great and we saw lots of dogs and people and got all tired out.

Danger zone

2010-04-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

We had a really cool fun scary walk yesterday. We went to a secret patch of land with unique features, like creeks and fences, that make it a pretty good candidate for letting Gustav run free. He was doing pretty good: maybe 80% compliance when asked to come when called. Obviously not good enough to warrant letting him off in places where we might see people or other dogs because I guarantee he would be gone while I shouted apologies from afar. But he kept up with us and stayed fairly close by. If he weren't such a jerk I would let him off more often, that's how Dottie learned to be a great off-leash dog. She wasn't perfect. but with lots of practice she is very nearly perfect off leash now. Even if she did stray and go up to someone or some dog, it wasn't a big deal like it would be with Gustav. Our old dog Morgan who died a few years ago was also very helpful in teaching this skill to Dottie, I hope she can now help teach Gustav the skill of staying within a certain range of your people even in the face of distractions.

We also saw a coyote, which was exciting and a little scary, in my humble opinion. It wasn't that far off and stared at us picturesquely from a ridge. Not sure if the dogs saw it or not, but they were definitely leashed up while we looked at it.

Excited to think about a few years down the road, because I feel reasonably confident we can do stuff like this more often and less "training." I'm not really a training nut, I don't really love dog sports or anything. I just want dogs that are trustworthy in the woods, can handle visitors, and can take a neighborhood walk/jog without major problems. Come on, Gustav! You can do it!

The dogs are still exhausted and smell like the creek.

Gustav's regression

2010-04-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

Gustav has been pretty tense recently, and we don't know why. He's bark/lunged at two people in the last few days: one was while I was jogging with him, as we passed a house a guy came out of his front door suddenly. The other was with Justin. Justin reports that they were passing someone and Justin said "howdy" and the guy nodded, or vice-versa I can't remember (does Justin ever say howdy? Hmmm). Then at the last possible moment Gustav growled and moved towards the guy. Could be the guy made eye contact; any possible sign that the person might actually come over seems to be a trigger for Gustav: eye contact, walking quickly right towards him, and talking between the humans involved.

He had been so relaxed, I don't know what this little regression stage is all about. Maybe he found this kind of behavior useful recently and has increased it in his repertoire. We were on a good path of extinction up until now. Dottie has had a similar situation with her dog thing, but I'm pretty sure it's from that one time with the off-leash dog. I've taken a step back and heavily counterconditioned even the sound of barking dogs, plus leaving extra room between us and other dogs. I also hadn't had to use Dottie's watch cue (her name) for a while, since she was autowatching so reliably. I've had to go back to getting her attention proactively, rather than it being an automatic response from her. Sigh.

Oh well, I've been here before and I know what to do, we'll just keep chugging along. On the plus side, Dottie is improving in her sit-stay in the kitchen while I go in and out the door. I can now close the front door completely and she has about an 80% stay rate. Next I'll be letting the screen door close as well-I'm sure that will take a few weeks. Then I'll add knocking or the sound of the mailbox lid going up and down. Once that's solid it's time to take the show to other visitors. Maybe I'll start with Justin, then the band boys, and so on.

Also, their "bow" is coming along, despite my delinquency in practicing a lot.

Edgy dogs

2010-04-06T22:14:00.001-07:00

Boy, the dogs were edgy today. Maybe the thunderstorms? Less yard time? The dog who ran up to us the other day? Spring time? Astrology? Who knows. Gustav bark/lunged at a guy who came out of his house unexpectedly. When Steve, a good friend, came over, Gustav wagged his tail but also started staring so intently, and his hackles went up, that I called him away. It was unnerving. Dottie compulsively licked the couch cushion while the band friends were over. Gustav gathered all the toys he could find and put them in a little pile in his space while everyone was sitting around in the living room. I disapproved and took them all away to avoid any guarding. He even woofed once in the kitchen from excitement when I came up from band practice in the basement, a really unusual thing for him to do. All this after a forty minute jog, which was refreshingly brisk since they seemed so full of energy. Weird weird weird. I can think of a million possible reasons (change in schedule: I just went back to school after spring break, meaning fewer jogs and home time; the aforementioned weather and possible connection to stress and/or less yard time; the off-leash dog incident); but alas real life doesn't provide us with perfect experimental conditions so there are too many variables to consider.

Oh well. No class tomorrow, so we can take a nice jog. I scheduled a CAT session with Chelse in a few weeks. I'm thinking about recruiting someone from the dog training group to try one with Dottie and a dog.

Set back.

2010-04-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

We got mobbed by a friendly and exuberant off-leash dog yesterday, and Dottie has been way worse around dogs since. The dog came up and met Gustav, who was on-leash. Gustav kicked its ass, as he is wont to do, and the dog decided it didn't want to play with a crazy bully. Dottie, off-leash, helped out by barking incessantly from the sidelines. It only lasted seconds, and the dog was easily called away. The next day we saw a dog from at least half a block away, across a street, and Dottie lost it. Totally freaked. Later on the walk we just HEARD a dog barking and Dottie put up all her hackles and stiffened quite a bit. Sigh.

The silver lining is that I was more or less unruffled, which means I've come a long way in not getting upset by bad days and setbacks. I just thought "oh well, we'll just keep doing the same thing and build up again."

Great day!

2010-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

I took a great jog with the dogs today. We saw tons of dogs and people, and there was no drama. Three things of note: one, we happened across a group of children playing duck duck goose on their front lawn with their mom. Perfect training opportunity! They were running and screaming, but totally predictable location-wise. We stood there and I fed treats until I saw a really relaxed Gustav (tail down, mouth open), then we left. I tried to time it such that maybe possibly he might associated relaxed behavior with leaving.

Then we saw two little yappy dogs on those long extenda-leashes barking like crazy at us from across the street. In addition the guy was walking really slowly, so it took a long time for them to pass. We just stopped and the dogs looked at me and I tossed treats in the grass. I like this technique because it gives them something to do for two seconds (sniff out the treat) and buys me more time to deal with two dogs at once.

Finally, we were doing our sprint across the park at the end, with Dottie off leash. I noticed her tense and pull the corners of her mouth forward and put her tail up like a flag. I looked back and there was an off leash dog running towards us (a dog I had "rescued" before, to the annoyance of the owner who clearly had no problem with her dog running around the neighborhood all alone). I told Dottie to come and we outran the dog and got across the bridge. By then the dog gave up. Hooray!

I feel really good that we can have a nice pleasant jog around the neighborhood without drama, provided there are streets to cross. I'm also experimenting with stopping in sight of some stationery trigger (like a dog on a line or behind a fence, or a person doing yard work or waiting for a bus) and waiting and watching for calm behavior. Once I get a low tail and no hackles and maybe an open mouth or small tail wag, I say "okay" and we increase distance. Kind of like a mini-CAT where we move instead of the trigger. It makes sense, since even though they like food, what they really really want is to get away from the thing. Like if your dog comes when called and then you release them to go chase the squirrel if it's safe. Why not use the reinforcers present in the environment if at all possible? Another way I use this is when Gustav pulls on the leash, and I stop. As soon as he looks back and loosens the leash, I say "good" and we get to go sniff whatever he was pulling for.

Jogs and CAT

2010-04-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I guess I haven't posted in a few days. Not much to report, we've been jogging on the days I'm don't work (hooray spring break!), which has been going great. The dogs get tired, I don't have to jog that fast and I have a ready excuse why not. Yesterday I drove them to a different neighborhood for the novelty, an aspect of dog exercise that Patricia McConnell pointed out on her blog. I think it's smart, even I have a better jog when there's new scenery. So they're getting aerobic exercise, novelty, choice (they get to sniff a lot, it's not a force march all the time), and mental stimulation through the brief door training we do at home. They seem pretty content to me. Yesterday we also had both my nephew over and the band later for practice and a show. I think visitors are very tiring for them, especially my little nephew who is a tornado and also a constant source of food for them. They like to follow him around in case he drops his cracker or whatever, but they also have to be on guard since he makes loud, unexpected noises sometimes. If they seem stressed I put them in their room for a break. I also put away all dog items when he comes over to avoid an inadvertent resource issues, I know this isn't Gustav's strong suit and I'm not sure what his reaction would be if he felt like Bjorn (my nephew) was after his stuff. When we go play in the yard I don't allow Bjorn to approach Gustav if he has a toy in his possession. It's not that fun, but I think it's important.

Pretty soon I'll be doing a CAT session with Chelse, our behaviorist. I was thinking how a great "watch me" is perfect for jogs and other neighborhood outings (we couldn't be doing the jogs we're doing without Gustav and Dottie's major progress in this area. The fact that I can be across the street from anything now is huge. We can also deal with people just by stepping off to the side if needed, although I still prefer crossing the street if possible to reduce pressure on Gustav). CAT would be good for getting Gustav to like specific people: Justin's mom and her boyfriend (huge!), the vet, the behaviorist, and my sister-in-law would be great. Otherwise just getting past people is fine with me. CAT would be nice for Dottie to learn some alternative ideas on how to increase distance with dogs, but there's no specific dogs I'm dying for her to be friends with. I'm really excited about this procedure, and it makes a lot of sense to me.

Spring jog

2010-03-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Great jog today. The dogs were just wonderful. We saw some, but not too many, dogs and people and got lots of quality counterconditioning done, plus fun running around and otherwise enjoying one another's company.

I'm watching the constructional aggression treatment I bought on ebay. Really fascinating, I'm curious to try it out, but I think I'd like my behaviorist to be involved, at least at first. There's some decisions to be made, like what constitutes "acceptable alternative behaviors" that get reinforced by the scary thing walking away.

My goal of enjoying the dogs is going great, I feel less anxious and more just appreciative of them. I ignored Dottie's whining for about twenty minutes the other day, and lo and behold she just gave up and went to sleep, rather than tricking me into fixing her a kong or otherwise entertaining me.

Morning walk

2010-03-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

We actually talked to the guy who owns the hated JRT across the street. He didn't have his dog with him, but he chatted with me from about 15 feet away as we walked down the street. Gustav was tense but checked in with me and got loads of treats. Dottie barked and was her usual hysterical self, but maybe Gustav is learning to ignore her a little better. Talking to people is usually a major trigger, good job Gustav! We also walked right past some hobo types hanging out on the bridge that crosses the creek. They talked to me and Dottie barked and Gustav was good. Had them both sit fairly close for a second, then moved on. Dottie got to play some frisbee, Gustav ran around on his line. Nice morning for us, Dottie's barking nonwithstanding. In accordance to my more relaxed view, I decided that Dottie is a barky dog and not every bark is a cause for immediate and extensive training. At least when she barks at people it's out of a sense of overarousal and excitement, not "I'd like to kill you, please."

The people on the bridge stayed there and we ran around the park a lot. Gustav was able to completely ignore them and have a good time, and even came when called a few times. It showed me that the people were not a big deal to him. I've definitely seen him bark and lunge from very far away at joggers in that same park. People sitting are much less threatening to him than people jogging, plus he's just better in general.

Back from vacation

2010-03-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation. The dogs were excited to see me, as I was to see them. They seemed so happy and relaxed and Justin said they had a great time. It got me to thinking about priorities and attitudes, etc etc. Justin pointed out that we already have a workable treatment plan in place for the dogs, and it seems to be working. So lots of little new ideas and constant research are maybe just making me anxious instead of helping. I think he's right. So my post-vacation resolution is going to be prioritizing dog things and spend more time just enjoying their company and doing things I know they like and are good at.
Here's my thoughts on my most important dog training goals:

1. counterconditioning: people and dogs for Gustav, dogs for Dottie. Really really important for both of them, obviously effective, and can be done during routine walks, or in more set-up situations if I feel like it.
2. Door work: good for both of them to associate the door with good things and reinforcement for staying in the kitchen and being calm. Easy to train in tiny sessions throughout the day, and gets automatically worked on with visitors due to band practice once a week.
3. Play bow and sniff: good for eventually meeting people and dogs. I don't think this will happen in a long time given the current state of things, but it's easy to train and might be really useful down the road.
4. Rev up games: Mostly good for Dottie, who is high strung in general, to help her with emotional control. Would be useful in weird situations like camping or when she gets too excited about visitors.
5. Mat work: Again, mostly good for Dottie, who sometimes does not want me to do homework but would rather whine and bark at nothing. Also would be useful for weird situations as mentioned above. Easy to train in the sense that I can shape it while working at home, as I have a mat right next to my desk and a jar of treats on my desk.
6. Gustav's recall: Similar to number 3, in that it will eventually be indispensable but he sure isn't being let off leash anywhere besides the back yard for a long time. I work on this with a line at the park. It takes a lot of planning, frankly, and slips pretty quickly if I don't keep it up. I've decided not to feel bad if I don't do a lot of this.
7. Miscellaneous: meet and greet protocol (great idea! Someday when we might meet someone it will be a great tool); shaping, clicker training, etc.: fun but not crucial for now; a dog friend for Gustav someday: I'm not going to push this because it stresses me out just to think about it and Gustav really doesn't have it so bad right now; leave it and stop: great cues but not on the front burner right now; Gustav's light tendency towards resource guarding: not an issue with us and might only be an issue in the future with visitors and high-value items, therefore easily avoided for now.

Miscellaneous are all things I've gotten into for a while, then let it slip, then felt bad, etc. etc. I've decided I don't care and if I feel like it I'll do it, but numbers 1-5 are most important. I've always liked Patricia McConnell's idea of mastering a few things rather than having okay response to lots of things. If Gustav can someday be off leash or meet people or dogs, then I can hone in on those issues. But for now I think it's best to relax a little and focus on what's most needed and what's most effective.

In other news, and in total contradiction to what I just said, I got the CAT (constructional aggression treatment) DVD on ebay for cheap. I can watch all ten glorious hours of it during spring break. I think it would be most useful for Dottie and her dog issues, because I've seen her snap pretty rudely at dogs and boy, does it ever make them go away except for the few times its gotten her attacked and bit. She's smart enough, I think, to start exhibiting other behaviors if she thinks it would make a dog go away. I'm hoping to watch the DVD then enlist Chelse, my behaviorist, to run a session with us to get some professional advice, then go from there.

Gustav barked and lunged at a big lady with shopping bags today, because he was barking at a bird or cat or something in the bushes, then turned around and saw her and transferred that arousal to her. He was able to calm down pretty quickly, but it wasn't a shining moment for him. Otherwise both have been doing great. Oh, also Dottie can't seem to hold her door stay while I close the door. Not sure how to get past that one, I guess just practice and reinforcing Gustav heavily.

We've had better days . . .

2010-03-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

Dog training group today! I brought the dogs on what was supposed to be a jog this morning to burn a little extra energy before training. It was not really a jog, because there were millions of people out and we had to cross streets, turn around, stop, etc etc. Everyone did well except Gustav growled at a couple of guys who came out of their house unexpectedly. And Dottie barked at a kid running across the street, which was annoying since I was focusing on Gustav and didn't expect trouble from her.

So we went to meet Kelly and her pug Olive to do some training. Gustav did great, he was wagging his tail and looking at me with soft eyes and seemed pretty okay. He did look at the dogs in the dog park a lot and would get tense or stuck, but I could call him away with no problems. Me and Kelly walked towards one another until a certain point, then turned away. Gustav did great. People with dogs walked through the park, he did great. He lay down at one point but then Olive moved suddenly and he jumped up and started barking at her. I asked Kelly not to move away so Gustav wouldn't be rewarded, and sure enough thirty seconds later he stopped and looked at me (after hitting the end of his leash), then I praised and treated him and moved away.

Then I asked Kelly if she wouldn't mind putting Olive in the car and doing some people training. I decided to try out the concept of CAT, at least in a small pilot sense. So I had Kelly walk towards us until I sensed Gustav was uncomfortable, so we could mark off that spot. I watched Gustav, and he all of a sudden started barking and growling. So I said to put the cone there and Kelly walked away. Then I had her walk towards us not nearly as close as the cone. Unfortunately by now Gustav had gotten pretty freaked out by her and the concept that she might actually come all the way over and his threshold was much easier to reach. I was really torn. Kelly was standing at least 20 feet away or so. I didn't want Gustav to take home the message that barking and growling is a good way to make people go away, but I also didn't want him to have a bad experience. I decided, wrongly I think now, to have Kelly stand there until he calmed down on his own. He was barking really defensively, which is somewhat new. That is, instead of lunging and hitting the end of the leash, he was leaning his whole body against me and barking in a sad, slightly high-pitched sort of way. He was obviously frightened and it was sad to watch. After not very long (maybe ten seconds?) he decided to stop and turned away and sniffed other things and sat down, etc etc. I had Kelly move away then. The key issue is whether I think he stopped because he got less fearful since she wasn't moving forward anymore and his barking wasn't working (i.e. habituated), or if I think he stopped out of helplessness and despair, or feeling shut down (i.e. flooding). We did a few more where he didn't get to barking but as soon as he looked up at me or did some other affiliative behavior, like turning away or sniffing or sitting, then Kelly walked away.

Definitely I misjudged the threshold. I didn't want him to go over, I didn't want to make this a flooding exercise because I don't believe in that method. I hope that by the end, after we corrected distances and he could be more relaxed, that he took home the right message: relaxation makes good things happen, either treats or the person going away.

I got him in the car and he lay down and I was really conflicted. Most of the session went great, with lots of attention and relaxed behavior from him (tail wags! out in public! in the presence of people and dogs!). I hadn't been faced with his fears about strangers for a while since I'm so careful while out on walks, and it made me stressed and sad to see it again. Also his switch from lunging to pushing his body against mine while frightened was encouraging, but also made me feel like I let him down when he was appealing to me to get him out of there! I will be more careful about this in the future and I'll try to err on the side of decreasing the stimulus instead of being worried that he'll be reinforced for bad behavior.

While I was gone Justin brought Dottie out to play frisbee. It was fun, except that they got surprised by the hated JRT on the way back. Justin said she absolutely freaked out. They were about twenty feet from it and had no escape. Justin said she tried to get out of her harness and basically wanted to kill the dog. Ugh. Poor Dottie. I hope they never meet, that's the only dog I think Dottie would actually injure on purpose in a horrible blind rage.

Well, I need to not think about dogs for a while and get over it. Sigh.

Fun with wet spring weather

2010-03-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

I brought Dottie out to a pretty hiking area, Governor's Island, with my friend to jog this morning. There was no one there, and Dottie got to jog along off leash. We had a great time. Right on our cool-down walking lap, a ton of dogs showed up. We managed to avoid all of them but one. I could tell from afar this was a sweet old dog that wouldn't pose any problems. I warned the owner that my dog was a little snappish but it wouldn't be a problem. Her dog approached slowly and very politely. All of Dottie's hackles went up, but I just threw gobs of kibble and cheese on the ground. Dottie happily slurped these up while the dog gently sniffed her butt, then came over to meet me. I chatted with the owner briefly and gave her dog a treat. Dottie's hackles stayed up the whole time, but hopefully the gentle nature of the greeting and the loads of treats made her feel okay about the whole thing. I was very proud there was no snapping or barking.

Tomorrow morning it's Gustav's turn to go to dog training club, the Good Dog Society. It's not a formal thing, just that group I put together for people who want to run drills for free. Hope it goes well!

Another video

2010-03-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here's Dottie and me doing tricks:

I love her enthusiasm. She's a very sweet dog and loves to eat.

In other news, we went to the park today. I put Gustav on his 50-foot line to practice coming when called. In the meantime, Dottie gets to play frisbee. I will take a video of her someday, she's really a remarkable frisbee player. Something I read on Patricia McConnell's blog recently made me think about how Gustav's responsiveness drops off significantly after about five repetitions. I first discovered this when I was first working on his "watch" cue. True to my type-A overly enthusiastic personality, I was asking for a watch about every half block. After about five of these, Gustav would give up and just start ignoring me, which I found very irritating. But on the blog, people talked about short and sweet sessions being both more effective and easier for lots of dogs. Dottie could probably do this stuff all day, although she does get a little overwhelmed sometimes and starts offering random behaviors (in the video she goes to her mat halfway through shaping, and at least once she rolls on her back in response to a totally different cue). With Gustav's recall I noticed he would start off strong then fall off pretty dramatically. So I'm trying to do five recalls tops while we're out. We did a few from far away but he wasn't doing anything, and a few while he was sniffing but I was only five or ten feet away. Then we did one as a bicyclist went through the park, far away. He got them all, although was a bit hesitant and slow on a few, so I know it's not time to get harder yet. I also give him treats just for showing up, I appreciate his check-ins. Distance and distraction. (duration N/A)
I have to remember to work them separately.

Ok!

Video!

2010-03-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

I took a video of door training and a few other things. So far only door training is uploaded. Thanks, Kate:happy-houndz.blogspot.com. She takes a lot of nice videos of training her dogs.

I also have one of Dottie tricks and a short one of Gustav tricks. I'm still working on uploading those.

Another tail wag!

2010-03-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Got another little tail wag out of Gustav while we watched a guy with a backpack go to the bus stop. He was looking at me while he wagged, but it right after he was looking at the guy. I brought the clicker along on our morning walk today and clicked while he looked at people. Then he would swivel his head to get the treat he knew was coming.

In sad news, Justin reported to me that Dottie got pretty unhappy with the presence of elderly people yesterday. I guess her hackles were up and she was a bit growly. To be fair I can't think of any experience she's had with older people. Maybe I'll do a little people CCing for her just to safeguard, since I'm already doing it with Gustav. She also had just barked at an old guy with a beagle across the street, maybe she was associating slow shuffly walking with beagles? Sometimes she anticipates that certain people will have dogs with them, even if they don't. Hmmm.

Sniff cue

2010-03-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

This has been really fun to teach. Since I've long since realized that I'm the neighborhood crazy lady with my crazy dogs, I don't really care what I do when out and about. I've started labeling "sniff" when the dogs are sniffing a tree or hydrant or whatever. So now I'm the neighbor who says "sniff!" out loud while my dogs sniff. Ha. At home I hold a piece of kibble in my fist and tell them to sniff. Then they get a "good dog" and get to eat it. Someday when I think they get it they'll sniff it without eating it. No rush. I find I can point to nearly anything and say "sniff" and that's what they'll do. Wonderful to work with nature on this one.

Some strangers came over today. Gustav was crated for ease, but Dottie got treats thrown in the kitchen. She met them and only let out a few excited barks. Not bad for her. Throwing the treats really helps, she thinks it's fun to go sniff them out and it gives her something to do besides wait for me to feed treats to her.

A little testy

2010-03-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Gustav was a little edgy this morning on our jog, getting awfully tense and hackly at a jogger that I didn't think would be a big deal. He made it with no outbursts, but it looked like he was pretty scared.

Dottie barked briefly at a dog behind a fence I didn't see. Luckily we had time to sit there and calm ourselves and eat treats. The dog stopped barking, which I think is a great lesson for my dogs: chill out and maybe they will too.

Started clicker training sniff and a play bow last night. It was pretty funny, half the time they end up in a down, but hopefully I can use shaping and the magic power of clicker precision to tighten that up over time. I'm also working extra on "get your toy" for Dottie, my ultimate plan is to leave a squeaky toy in her room where she spends her time alone, and ask her through the door to get her toy rather than bark. I'll be able to tell if she did it because it will squeak. Clever, huh? I never open the door while she barks, but she's gotten smart and barked to her heart's content, then stopped for a few seconds for me to open the door. Finally, the dogs can hold a sit-stay in the kitchen while I go in and out of the door. Next I add a knock. Once they're perfect while I go out, knock, and come back in, I can try friends/Justin, then some day a stranger. (Hello, pizza guy!). I estimate this will take at least a few months, my goal is to have it down by September. Having a stranger knock at the door is a big deal, having them come in while the dogs hold a stay sounds like some kind of impossible paradise to me.

Dog jogs

2010-03-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

What wonderful jogs we had today and yesterday! The dogs are totally pooped and I get that "two birds with one stone" feeling that comes with exercising and walking the dogs at the same time. They did amazing. We saw tons of dogs and people and nary a bark and hardly a hackle.

The big moment was today. We stopped to countercondition across the street from a family: two adults, and two kids on noisy little big wheels. Gustav looked up at me, lowered his tail, and WAGGED it. A teeny bit, but still. What a fabulous display of relaxed behavior in the presence of something that is frightening to him. I won't lie, I may have gotten a little teary. Our months and months of work seem like its translating into real life a little.

I'm feeling really good about it. Then we had a family snuggle on the sunporch on the futon. It made me think about what a sweet and gentle dog Gustav really is. Dottie was licking a wound he has managed to scratch into himself on his head. When he got tired of it, he did the gentlest most low-key correction I've ever seen. He just sort of aimed his open mouth at Dottie's muzzle without any contact or growling or anything, and she stopped. He also loves being close to us and cuddling, something that Dottie's not all that into even though she's friendly to people. If can just get him to give newish people the benefit of the doubt, I think he'll be a really sweet dog to others as well.

I love spring.

Dogs dogs everywhere

2010-03-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it's forty degrees today, which means everyone in Wisconsin puts on shorts and takes their dog for a walk. Justin and I walked the dogs up the street. I had Gustav and he had Dottie. First we saw the doberman mix thing about half a block up, walking perpendicular to us. We went back a bit and got some great attention and counterconditioning done. This particular dog is funny, because its owner always walks with a big stick and a scowl. The stick is not for walking with, but presumable for whacking things with. The dog is always held within about six inches of the owner and gives a pretty hard stare to everything. So I was proud of the dogs. Then a few minutes later the hated JRT from the apartment building appeared across the street. My dogs hate this dog so much that they hackle up even when they smell it, even if it's already out of sight. We stayed across the street and both dogs made it without a fuss! Yay!

Now I'm taking them for a jog, and I expect a lot of people and dogs out, so wish me luck.

Also, the whole neighborhood smells of skunk, which is a little worrisome.

Smile to feel happy

2010-03-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking a lot about shaping relaxation cues, thanks to a good discussion over at Patricia McConnell's blog, theotherendoftheleash.com If I could get Gustav to play bow or do some other action that he only does when he's relaxed on cue, I could use it as a feedback loop whereby by acting relaxed he could feel more relaxed. Dottie could surely use something like this too.

What should I try to train? I'm thinking either play bows, because they've both been trained a bit on it already and it's such a big obvious one, or maybe an open mouth for Gustav. He NEVER opens his mouth on walks, except if it's super hot. And he's not a nervous panter or anything. For Dottie, I'm not sure. She's so good at trick learning that it wouldn't take long to do a whole bunch, so I can go more trial-and-error to see what works for her.

In other news, still getting lots of autowatches and keeping our distance, which has been working great. Also, a dog barked from that same truck on that same street. Dottie put up all her hackles, but restrained herself and came looking for a treat instead. Hooray! We've been having really nice walks, they have nice leash manners and are a real pleasure to be out with as long as there are no big bad scary things.

We went to the park and did some line work, which reminded me that Gustav's recall has really fallen off. It would be nice if he had a decent recall if/when he is not a total public health hazard. Dottie has a great one, with the exception of when she's mid-roll in something disgusting. Oh well, dogs will be dogs. I'm not going to worry too much about it, Dottie deserves a good roll once in a while :)

Dad comes over, I feel proud

2010-03-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

My dad had to drop by to pick something up so I decided to try out the sit-stay in the kitchen I've been working on. Most days I put the dogs on a sit-stay in the kitchen, which is within sight of the door but not right next to it. The front door opens onto the living room, so conceivably a visitor could come over and sit down while the dogs sat and stayed in the kitchen but could still watch all the action. I don't think I could successfully train them to actually exit the situation entirely. So every day I do the stay, then go out the door and come back in, then go give them a treat and release. I give the cue "kitchen!" so they run to the kitchen without too much confusion. I've gotten so I can go out and in the door, but haven't been able to add the knock yet. Interestingly Dottie is the real stinker at this one, Gustav just sits patiently and has yet to break his stay. Dottie needs lots of reminders.

So today I instructed my dad not to knock, that I would just let him in. I was watching for him out the window, but totally missed him! So we weren't off to a great start. The dogs barked while I crazily jumped up and directed them to the kitchen in a less-than-calm manner. I knew they wouldn't be able to pull this off, so I had Justin stand in front of them and give treats. They got past him anyway and barked a little and rushed my dad, so I sent him out again. Good old dad! We tried again. This time I put the dogs on the stay and opened the door myself, holding out my traffic-cop hand. Dad sat down on the couch and I released the dogs. He had Gustav sit and gave him chicken. Gustav loves my dad, so I wasn't worried about aggression. Dottie still let out an errant bark, but was quickly quieted. We did this a few more times and the dogs held a stay in the kitchen until he was let in and sat down each time! Yay! I was feeling cocky and proud so I ran Dottie through her tricks (bang!, go to bed, spin, place, targeting, head down, through-the-legs). I was feeling pretty great. Dad was impressed and I was bursting at the seams. Good dogs!

Gustav wagged his tail low and slow, but he was pretty intent on my dad. After Dad sat down Gustav pushed his head onto dad's lap and dad pet him. I was a teeny bit nervous. Gustav has always liked my dad and has never been aggressive to someone who he has chosen to approach, with one exception. The first behaviorist we met with stood sideways with treats. I let Gustav out of the car on leash. Gustav took the treats, then bark-lunged from behind the behaviorist. It was weird. He took the treats from her side, but went out of his way to do his bark-lunge from behind, even though he easily could have retreated.

Justin was a little nervous about Gustav's pushy approach with my dad. He pointed out that if Gustav changed his mind about someone, he was in very close proximity to do some damage. I don't know how I feel about it. It's true, it's a little scary. On the other hand all his body language is relaxed, if alert (read: alert for treats, I think), and he's never been aggressive to anyone in that situation. Also, like I said, he likes my dad even though he hadn't seen him since before we decided he's aggressive. Gustav used to be loose and free with lots of guests, even parties. We hadn't had a problem. But we got spooked when he got a little weird and he hasn't had experiences like that since. So I don't know. How do you learn to trust a dog who's broken your trust? To his credit he hasn't actually bitten anyone. He sure can be scary, though.

So! Great entrance from someone they haven't seen in a while. The band boys come over tomorrow, I'll give it a try then. Someday I hope to have a knock, then the dogs run to the kitchen and I can either let the person in and sit down, or just pay for the pizza without a big fuss. I have to admit, it's pretty impressive watching them sit in the kitchen. Dottie was so beside herself she let out a sad whimper/squeal, but she managed to hold the stay. Good girl!

Dog group II

2010-02-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

We had our first dog group today! It went really well. I brought Dottie and we were able to walk right past Kelly and Joel's dogs on the same bike path. I was proud.

Patricia McConnell is doing a blog post soon about "steps 2 through 25," basically why your dog can sit and be good in dog class but sucks everywhere else and what to do about it. I'm excited for it, because it's the middle steps that are most important but hardest and there's the least information about them.

Speaking of lack of information, I've come across a few new dog training topics that me and folks in the dog group are interested in. Is it possible to train your dog to play nicer? Is it possible to train your dog to be calmer in general? Is it possible to train your dog to meet other dogs nicely on leash? If so, how? These are all issues me and other people in the dog group are dealing with. Curious if anyone has any thoughts. I had never even entertained the idea of Dottie or Gustav actually meeting a dog on leash, because I just assume it would be a problem. Ditto for playing off leash. Dottie's reactivity has always been hard to deal with: what do you do with a well-trained dog who get's riled up super easily? It's hard to take her camping or other non-home places where she won't get constant attention, because she barks and won't just settle in. Hmmm.

Progress

2010-02-26T20:25:00.001-08:00

Justin saw a mother-child pair that both dogs had a weird problem with a while back. This time the pair walked pretty much right past the dogs with no problems. Ah, progress!

Also we saw a dog across the street who has really bossy body posture and everyone was cool. Barely. Especially Dottie, although at one point I had to literally shove treats in Gustav's mouth to keep him calm enough.

Having a hard time coming up with titles when all I do is talk about the same thing

2010-02-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Great day today. I brought Dottie to the dog park but we only wandered around in the field outside. It was great. Her hackles were up, but she wagged her tail and didn't bark once. We got lots and lots of great counterconditioning done, with zero possibility that a dog would come up and harass her. I tried to think hard about how the good work is down way below threshold. I kept thinking "ooh, I bet we could go in!" or "maybe I should go a little closer." I managed to restrain myself and everything went great.

After getting home, I took Gustav out and we saw a million people and dogs and he was a star. He even wagged his tail a tiny bit, albeit in the absence of any triggers.

Also, a raw meaty bone turns out to be the key to the dog left behind not crying while I leave with the other one.

All in all, I'm feeling happy about the day.

Dottie learns a lesson

2010-02-24T10:58:00.001-08:00

Similar situation on this morning's walk: we saw a dog in a car unexpectedly. This time, however, Dottie gave a brief bark and then responded really nicely to a sit and look cue. But then there was ANOTHER dog in the car right next to it. Dottie lost it then. But we made it through. At the very end of the walk I circled back past those cars and was prepared. Both dogs made it without losing their tempers. Yay!

Times over threshold: Dottie: 1. Gustav: 0.

Also Gustav is doing GREAT with auto-watches. His eyes are squinty and tail at half-mast when we see people around half a block away, and he's autowatching every time. Yay!

Dottie has a hard time

2010-02-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update so I don't forget: Dottie's been over threshold three times in the last two days. Once with a big guy making loud noises getting into his car, while Justin was walking them. The next two times were with me and both involved unexpected dogs. A little pug came out of nowhere and Dottie lost it. It was probably 30 feet away. I was walking Loona at the same time. Yesterday we were walking down the street and I thought I heard a dog from someone's yard, usually not a big deal. Turns out the dog was in a parked car on the same side of the street as us. I dragged them along a bit, but then stopped and had them sit and Dottie was able to calm down and take treats and the dog eventually stopped barking, then we kept going.

So times over threshold for Dottie recently: 3 :(
For Gustav: none.

I only count these on walks, not from the house or the yard. That is somewhat frequent.

This Sunday the dog group is meeting to conduct some walk-bys. I'm bringing Dottie and I think it will be really good for her. I met Katie and Laura's dogs a few days ago and they are really sweet and non-reactive.

Dog group

2010-02-21T09:37:00.001-08:00

I had the first meeting of the training group today. I am really excited to work with people in set-up situations, I think it will be mutually beneficial for everyone. We're going to get together and do some walk-by type drills. I think I'll bring Dottie to start since she's easier, then try out Gustav later on.

Yay!

In other news, Gustav and Loona got in a bit of a fight last night. I wasn't there, Justin was. He said Gustav was winning and he yelled "no" and they stopped. Sounded a little scary, and sort of interesting considering Gustav had been so submissive until that point. Guess he'd had enough. Sound like they were competing for Justin's attention, maybe a little resource guarding from Gustav? Loona growled and lifted her lip when Gustav approached Justin while Loona was getting pet. Dottie has never treated us as resources, so I wonder if that's the one area where Gustav won't just take it. When I pet Dottie, he always comes up and tries to horn in. I usually put him on a sit then pet him. Hmmm.

Also, I feel like Gustav is really turning a new leaf in terms of strangers on walks. He just seems extra relaxed and super willing to give up an autowatch. I think it's the increased distance I'm giving him. I haven't pushed him at all in terms of getting closer than half a block or so to people. I wonder if he feels more trusting that I won't get him too close, so he can relax. I also actually got a tail wag out of him while CCing from the backyard. There were some people on the street fixing a car and talking loudly, and we went to the fence to watch them. A tail wag is huge, I think. If I ever got one out on a walk I would probably throw a party.

Head down!

2010-02-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

I taught Dottie "head down" while shaping relaxation on her mat. This has been awesome. It was Chelse's idea to teach Dottie a super long down-stay to keep her from bugging me on the days I work from home, like today. I gave her "go to bed" and "stay," then gave her treats every time her head hit the ground. Then every time her hips flipped. Then when she rolled all the way on her side. The stay was so solid that she didn't hop up to bark at something out the window with Gustav, just lay on her mat and bark. I appreciated her attention. This is a perfect happy medium, since I can do my work while training my dog, with peace and quiet, and Dottie can feel like she's entitled to sporadic attention and treats by being calm and quiet rather than making up things to see out the window. Yay! This has been the most relaxing homework day ever, thanks for the tip Chelse! I suspect Dottie really likes the "permission" to just be told what to do and not have the scary responsibility of making her own choices.

Skinny minnie dog on the street

2010-02-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

Arrgh. Justin and I took the dogs out, against my better judgment since I had work to do. We saw a skinny golden retriever on a busy street. Justin wanted to save it, so I brought the dogs into the park while Justin lured it with hot dogs and got the phone number. But he didn't have a phone, and I did, so an extremely frustrating encounter ensued. My dogs were barking like crazy, especially Dottie, because their other owner was across the street feeding hot dogs to a strange dog. I essentially reinforced this by drizzling cheese all on the ground so they would shut up long enough for me to hear the phone number that Justin was shouting across the street. I finally got it, after losing my temper more than once and yelling and stomping my feet like a four-year-old rumplestiltskin, and the guy who answered the phone actually told me his dog was in his backyard. No joke. I said, "well, no, he's out here on the street." The guy said to hang on, he was going to check the backyard to see if the dog was there, no kidding. Well, lo and behold, the dog was not in his yard, because, as we already knew, he was on the street being fed hot dogs by Justin. Turns out the guy was like three houses away, came out and got the dog, and we went home with me in a foul mood and the dogs with barely a walk.

Times over threshold: 1 loooong one for Dottie, a short one for Gustav.

Unpleasant.

Briefer report

2010-02-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

Good walk today, saw a few people and Gustav seemed especially at ease and performed some amazing auto-watches.

Dottie has been lagging behind and I'm not sure what that's about. Justin thinks it's that she's obsessed with the hand that has treats in it, I think she's cold and her feet hurt. I cut her nails tonight to rule out painfully long nails.

Times over threshold: 0.

Brief report

2010-02-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

Our walk this morning, briefly:
Gustav does not care for his backpack much, but homeboy is fat and needs the extra exercise. So too bad.
Saw maybe three or four people, no dogs. Lots of good CCing, especially the neighbor who came out to warm up his truck and some diner patrons going in and out of the diner.
Times over threshold: 0.
I'm thinking about experimenting with the type of protein for Gustav, as suggested by Chelse. This will make an excellent Skinnerian ABA type study, which I just learned about in skool. A is Baseline: Iams. B is Treatment: some other type of protein (Iams is chicken). A is back to baseline (Iams). This step can be skipped I think if needed, but is nice to control for some validity threats that can pop up with the passing of time (history and maturation come to mind, my teacher would be proud.) The measure will just be times over threshold over the life of the big bag of food. I think this will even out other variables. Interesting to try, anyway.
Shane came over and Dottie barked, but not Gustav. It was tough since they didn't really expect it. Weird, though, since he's in the band and nothing else was different. Dogs are bad at generalizing, it's true.

People shoveling make good practice

2010-02-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

I did separate walks today. Both dogs cried and cried as I left with the other, which I thought was irritating considering they had in their possession an amazing yogurt-milkbone-hotdog kong. Gustav and I snuck back within earshot to make sure Dottie had quit crying since the neighbor guy was shoveling and I didn't want him annoyed by loud barking. She had stopped, or was at least quiet enough that neither me nor the neighbor could hear her.

Dottie and I had a lovely time playing frisbee. These times make me a little sad, because having one dog is easy. But I remember when we just had Dottie, and she was a bit of a wreck. So I know it's better.

Gustav and I barely got a block because of our "quality, not quantity" focus. We stood about half a block from a lady shoveling, making for a perfect pilot study of the CAT procedure. Gustav got fixated, then looked up at me for treats. I jackpotted him. This went on and on, but I didn't see any signs of relaxation to reward him for. By reward I mean briskly walking away from the woman. Lots of good CC, no CAT. The lady eventually had shoveled her driveway completely and went home. We repeated this idea with a guy with a snowblower, who said hello and I told him I was training my dog because he's afraid of people and he asked if he could come over and I said no, he's the mean kind of afraid. The guy said that's ok I have a dog. Gustav did not visibly relax for this guy either.

Great, consistent CCing, though, even though we didn't make it very far.

It was practice night and my dogs love everyone in the band and Gustav solicited lots of petting and nobody even thought about barking as they came in. The dogs, that is. Gustav was super relaxed and draped himself all over Christian's feet and got good behind-the-ear petting from all three boys. It made me really happy.

Times over threshold: 0, although Gustav let out a little woof at the snowblower guy when he talked to me. Talking is definitely a trigger.

Training group

2010-02-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

The training group is coming together slowly but surely. We'll have an initial meeting in a few weeks to see where everyone is with their dogs and what people's goals are.

I bet we'll need a non-reactive dog at some point if anyone wants to volunteer! Or if you want in on this group, let me know. I anticipate a lot of leash-reactivity work, maybe some doorbell drills, and some CC with people for Gustav.

I bought new toys for the dogs and they love them. I am a sucker.

Quality time

2010-02-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Separate walks today, Gustav off with Justin and Dottie off with me. We met up in a park. Dottie seems extra concerned to be out without Gustav. She did a lot of scanning and was tense in general. Saw three dogs, no barking from Dottie. Lots of awesome frisbee-ness as well.

Justin reported good behavior for Gustav, notably walking past a yard full of barking huskies, mostly at 12 feet distance, with no problems from Gustav. At 20 feet he even rolled around in the snow.

Times over threshold for both: 0.

Long jog

2010-02-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

I took the dogs on a longish jog yesterday, about an hour (well, admittedly I didn't actually jog the whole time, there were breaks for training, sniffing, etc.). The very first thing that happened was we left the house and saw a guy and I was giving Gustav treats, but then the guy saw something in his car and pivoted and started hustling towards us. Gustav lost it and started barking and lunging, Dottie joined in barking but not lunging. Details: guy was wearing sunglasses and was on the same side of the street as us, but we were on the sidewalk. Gustav also hadn't had tons of exercise recently so maybe that played a role. I was frustrated so I just took them back home for a few minutes. I ignored them completely and waited until Dottie stopped whining at me, then got up and tried again. I'm not sure if they understand the meaning of this time out, but I know I needed it to get in a positive frame of mind again.

Which I'm glad I did, because I needed it. On our way out we saw plenty of people, plus some running kids and a few dogs behind fences. Both dogs did well. In light of two facts I tried to keep extra distance: one, in my experience if Gustav's lost it once recently, he has a much lower tolerance for scary stimuli and is prone to react in situations where maybe he wouldn't have another day. Two, I have been giving a lot of thought to two of Chelse's ideas: one is quality over quantity, that one really nice controlled set-up is better than haphazard but longer training. two, counterconditioning works best waaaay under threshold, like the dog is actually relaxed but still noticed the stimulus. So I've been trying to stop way far away from people and do the counterconditioning until the person disappears, if their path of travel makes this possible. For example, if someone is coming towards us I can give treats until they're maybe three-quarters of a block away, then actually turn around and walk away. This is also like a tiny, poorly-executed version of CAT (relaxation equals scary thing goes away). The other advantage of this is that the real trigger is people approaching him, not Gustav approaching the person voluntarily. So this system addresses that issue more precisely by having us stay still.

Okay, so then we got to a nice part, a bike path with no one around and Dottie got to do these crazy runs around the field just because she wanted to, which always makes me happy to watch. Me and Gustav started sprinting around and having a good time.

Then at the bus transfer point we did some more long distance CC (I actually got a tail wag!) then walked up Milwaukee street. Milwaukee street is busy and has no sidewalk on one side, so it's a gamble for safe walking. We walked up it and past some people standing in their garage, no issue. Then we saw a guy walking towards us. I looked around and realized that due to snow and traffic, etc, there was no was this was going to work. So I turned around and when we walked back past the driveway a little dog came running towards us. He only got about half way when his owner got him, but Gustav was spooked. He started barking and lunging and due to the guy coming up behind us and wanted the little dog to not come to the street, we just started jogging quickly away from it all. I can't remember if Dottie was barking or not. But Gustav was really concerned, had all his hackles up and kept turning around and whimpering this horrible whimper. I interpreted that as his discomfort at not being able to see the two scary things, the guy and the dog. When I recounted this to Justin he interpreted it as frustration at not being able to meet the dog. The whimpering made me feel really sad for Gustav, like he is really terrified. Since he's usually such a jerk about things he's scared about, it made me really sad to see this more pathetic manifestation of his utter terror. We finally got to a side street and turned up it. I stopped so we could collect ourselves. We watched the guy who had been behind us pass and Gustav got lots of treats for that. A little kid got into a car across the street with her mom and the dogs got lots of treats. Then after everyone was gone I gave Gustav some firm petting down his spine like Chelse suggested and some calm talking and deep breaths. Gustav got all squinty-eyed and leaned his head into my leg and I felt much better and he obviously did too.

Whew.

The rest of the jog home was mostly uneventful. We saw more people and I stopped super far away to do CC, which was definitely the right decision based on Gustav's tension even with the people over a block away. On our last turn towards home we were suddenly faced with the husky from across the street. I one-eightied and the dogs didn't even notice the husky. Thanks to dog's best friend classes for teaching us an automatic turn, it has saved us from hysterics more than once. The dogs know it, but more importantly I automatically cheerfully say "this way" or "let's go" (I know I should be consistent but I forget in the heat of the moment) and turn on a dime. I used to just stand there dumbly for a split second while I decided what to do, and in that moment my dogs would decide on a course of action for me.
I brought them back about half a block and CCd at the husky passed and I'm not even sure my dogs noticed the husky, but regardless they were perfect and I was proud, and I know the husky owners noticed and they know I'm working hard on these dogs, so I felt good about that.

Daily stats:
Times over threshold for Gustav: two.
People CCd for: probably about ten.

Read read read.

2010-02-04T07:38:00.001-08:00

I've been binge-researching, which is a moderately unhealthy phase I sometimes get into. I get interested in a topic and spend hours reading up on it, somewhat compulsively and usually to the exclusion of other healthy, balanced activities, like sleeping and doing homework.

That being said, I feel like I have a decent handle on this CAT thing, and I'm intrigued. I won't go into all the details, but I found the master's thesis that it's based on and read it. I wasn't bowled over by the scope of the research. The sample size was dismal, definitely in case study range (six dogs). There was no control group or comparison group, and no reliable long term follow up with the treated dogs. I thought the theory was sound, but I'm no expert in applied behavioral analysis.

The real issue is whether it might help Gustav. I have a real problem with the shoddy translation of research to practice in the dog training world, and if I hear one more testimonial as proof that something works, I'm going to scream. All it really means is that someone tried something and their dog improved. The connection is not certain, and doesn't mean it will translate to my dog. Even if the research was really solid, though, my dog could always be the outlier. So Justin and I have to sift through all of this and choose responsibly.

Next step: find out a way to get a hold of the ten-hour, $135 CAT DVD. Chelse thought she might be able to lend it to me, that would be awesome. Then find a decoy and call up Chelse to run a session. I think we should chat about the details, because the application can vary a bit.

Ok! I guess I should attend to other aspects of my life, like getting dressed and going to school. Sigh.

Consultation day!

2010-02-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Just got done with our consultation with Chelse, from Dog's Best Friend. We talked about a lot of stuff, but I'll just highlight a few things:

1. My entry plan worked beautifully! I had Dottie in the kitchen being fed treats, Gustav was in his crate, and Justin went out and met Chelse before she knocked then had her come in and sit down. Then Justin went and got Gustav from his crate on a leash and had him lay down on the dog bed next to where Justin sat, far from where Chelse sat. Dottie didn't bark once, and Gustav barked a few times from his crate but not at all otherwise. Yay!
2. Chelse mentioned the CAT program, which I know a little bit about but not a ton. In brief, you use negative reinforcement to encourage relaxation behaviors, which will hopefully translate to emotional state over time (like smiling to feel better). A person appears on the horizon, and every time the dog shows signs of relaxing, the person goes away (hence the negative: you take something away; the reinforcement refers to increasing a behavior, i.e. relaxation behaviors). I like it because it elegantly manipulates the dog's fears to end up reinforcing what you want. Since he likes it when people go away, you use that fact to gradually encourage relaxing as people approach. Interesting. I'll post more about it as I learn more.
3. We have a few things to think about, mostly the use or nonuse of drugs and the possibility of switching foods. Chelse had the same thing to say as Nancy about the low protein study: too small a sample. I think this is a fair critique.
4. I got answers to all or nearly all my little minute training questions, that are too numerous to go over right now.
5. The take home message: quality over quantity. A high-quality, well-controlled training situation is more important than exposing Gustav to a hundred people a day. This was good news to me.
6. We ran a few door trials, and Gustav even wagged his tail a tiny bit. From the kitchen, as Chelse threw treats. Closer was not as hot, Gustav got a little fixated and grumpy.

Gustav is pooped now from the stress of having a stranger in the house. He was great, though. If anything Dottie was a touch annoying, as she now thinks that visitors mean constant treats and thinks that whining will speed up the process.

Lots to think about, I think forming a training group and setting up some good training situations is next on the list.

Driver's ed video day

2010-02-02T15:55:00.001-08:00

Boy, who knew the prospect of homework would make me such a prolific blogger?

Today's walk was what I call a "driver's ed video" walk. Remember those simulations from driver's ed? Where you have to swerve around a little girl chasing her ball in the street and stop suddenly because the car in front of you did? On days where we barely get a breather between, um, let's call them training opportunities, there is a similar feel. The good news is we passed the class and had lots of great moments. We saw an angry woman yelling into her phone across the street, a jogger, a golden retriever, punk-ass kids swaggering and yelling a bunch, neighbors shoveling, mailman in--I'm not kidding--a snowsuit, screaming children frolicking in their yard, etc. etc. etc. I got some excellent auto-watches from Gustav. I've been waiting a second longer to see if he's going to, then I jackpot him if he does. Another great way to get him to look is to stop abruptly, then he usually looks around at me after a few seconds. When he spotted the retriever, he got all tense, then actually decided to turn and look at me. Jackpot! Good boy! I executed an excellent and smooth U-turn when I spotted an off leash dog up ahead, the dogs responded beautifully. Not a peep out of them the whole entire walk. Hooray!

I was on my absolutely last piece of cheese as we got home, and I never ever thought we'd get close to running out. I was also sweating and pretty stressed out by the end. Whew! We played in the yard a bit to cool off, and I got the opportunity to practice "leave-it" with Gustav, as he had uncovered his favorite backyard treat: a poopsicle.

I also just saw Gustav lift his lip at Dottie for the first time ever. I gave him a kong with hot dog in it to entertain him while Dottie and I went to the front yard so I could shovel. After we came back in she got close and he lifted his lip. I said "Gustav!' in a shocked tone, which I regret now because he gave me a (what I interpreted as) mean stare. I made up for it (I hope) by approaching him while tossing treats which he gladly ate. I really think he has the potential to be a pretty nasty resource guarder, so every once in a while I stand over him and drop chicken while he eats, or take away his bone and give it right back. I would never ever have these things around with outsiders (i.e. not me or Justin).

Ha ha, now Dottie has managed to get said kong without incident and is working on it in his crate. Of course Dottie can take care of herself, silly me.

Oh, one last question for the behaviorist: how do I interpret his molasses response to cues? When I ask him to lay down, he frequently does so verrrry slowly and with a bit of an attitude (in my opinion). Do I ask him again? Walk away? Is he being sassy or just dumb?

The boys are coming over for practice tonight and Chelse comes tomorrow morning, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to report.

Second-hand report

2010-02-02T05:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I've taken to playing with the dogs in the yard as my daily time with them. I'm doing this because I'm trying to focus on pure aerobics with Gustav, since it turns out he's a bit overweight. He's supposed to lose about ten pounds. The upside is that it's convenient and they are both panting (as am I!) by the time we come in. The downside is that there are fewer counterconditioning opportunities.

That being said, Justin still walks them. He said yesterday that they passed three people right on the sidewalk while he shoveled treats into Gustav's mouth. Good! Also, however, he took them on leash in a park-like woodsy area near our house last night and got mobbed by an off-leash dog. Dottie barked incessantly and Gustav reared up and did his scary low bark, and Justin got pulled down because it was so slippery. The dog quickly realized that his potential playmates were insane and definitely no fun. The owner apologized profusely. This sort of thing is unfortunate, but I honestly think we deserve some of this karmically (does anyone remember Gustav mobbing a sweet dog out for a ski with his owner? From about 100 yards away? And me frantically calling him to no avail? Yeah. I do. I can't get too self-righteous about other people with no control over their dogs. And at least her dog was friendly, if naughty).

Tomorrow is our visit from the behaviorist. At some point today I'm going to sit down and refine my list of questions. Here's a brief overview of my thoughts:
1. might doggie drugs help for a bit? Should we consider them?
2. what about food? It seems intuitive to me that Gustav's behavior is affected by food, just like anyone would be. Is there something I could be feeding him to help? The vet was skeptical of the low-protein, I thought she had good points (i.e. small sample size, and the reasonable assertion that if a dog food company had solid evidence that a certain food was prone to reduce aggression, we would be hearing a lot more about it.)
3. Is it best to go crazy with counter conditioning and expose them to as many people/dogs as possible, even with the increase in over-threshold incidents inherent in this approach? Or best to do mostly yard exercise and then only really controlled exercises, albeit necessarily less frequently?
4. Is it really beneficial to walk them separately? I could do this, and have, but it really cuts down on their exercise in general.
5. Given Gustav's pushy nature, is it best to have visitors just ignore him rather than shower him with treats? Or maybe assert themselves by having him sit first? Sometimes I worry that he will abuse the expectation of treats from visitors by becoming pushy or rude (I've already seen a bit of evidence of this with the band guys).
6. When I start my training group, what's the best way to proceed?
7. What about Dottie's part in all this? Are our dog park visits too much, or a good exercise?
8. What small things can I do with Gustav regarding other dogs? This issue is less important to me than people, obviously, but it would be nice if he could have a few dog buddies or could cut down a bit on his need to be a bully.
9. How tough do we need to be in regards to his general pushiness? Does he have to sit for everything, or are some freebies okay?

I am excited to hear her opinions, because I think Gustav has his own special set of needs that requires a little professional attention.

Feisty Fido IV

2010-01-31T09:12:00.000-08:00

I did NOT want to get up for Feisty Fido this morning (hmm, might this be a recurring theme? Dog class early on Sunday mornings is not a great idea for me? Especially if there's fun happening the night before?). But I did, and Dottie and I had a good time. She did well, I learned things, etc. etc.

Right now my mom and dad's dog Loona is over since they're out of town. The three dogs make a really funny pack. I'm glad they all get along so well. When Loona first came over, Gustav tried to get in her space in a friendly way and she growled and he lay down and exposed his neck and otherwise acted the submissive. Funny that he's so cowed by the women in his life, and happily so. I think having Dottie/Loona types around really helps him develop his emotional control. They will not hesitate to put him in his place if he's rude or pushy. If he wants to play, he has to be incredibly delicate and careful or they won't play anymore. Not that they really play with him much, but there are some brief moments where they indulge him. Dottie and Gustav are really both better off with each other rather than being an "only dog."

Time to go back to bed, then start brainstorming questions/issues for Chelse on Wednesday. I have so many training questions, so I need to focus in on what's most important and how to get Gustav on a really solid, individually-tailored plan. I've been wondering recently if neighborhood walks are even the best thing for him. They've been perfectly happy getting mostly just yard-time (Justin or I goes out and plays with them) while it's been cold, and there's no scary strangers or potentially upstart dogs in the yard. Hmm.

Interesting

2010-01-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Today the pizza guy stopped by unexpectedly because he had given us the wrong receipt earlier. Interestingly, instead of freaking out, Gustav ran to his bowl of food he had been eating and wolfed the rest down. What does this mean about him? Was he worried the stranger was going to eat his food? Hmmm. Also, it really freaked ME out because I feel vulnerable at night when I'm in my pajamas, apparently. I didn't really know, but after Justin took care of it and the guy left, I was trembling and feeling anxious. Who knows what kind of creepy subconscious anxieties I'm constantly passing on to my dogs. No wonder they're crazy.

Eeeee!

2010-01-28T12:27:00.001-08:00

I have Chelse from Dog's Best Friend coming over next Wednesday. I am really excited to get some specific ideas on how to tighten up Gustav's program. I'm worried that he's getting the wrong idea sometimes. For example, last night I decided to run some door-knocking desensitization. So all I did was knock on the front door from the inside, then give kibble (assuming the dogs were quiet). They were great, but after getting treated Gustav would let out a silly little woof, confusingly. Does he think that's what I want? Am I accidentally reinforcing reactive behavior, and making him worse? I know that technically a reinforcement has to happen within a half-second or so of the behavior to be reinforcing it (unless a secondary reinforcer is used, like praise or a click), but anecdotally I have watched Dottie game that system. For example, she barks out the window at nothing then trots over to me, sits and wags her tail, and ceases barking. She is clearly chaining events and anticipating a reward. Stupid smart dog.

I've also been mulling the best way to handle the entrance. Gustav will be in his crate, for sure. I'm hoping to make it so Chelse doesn't knock at all (maybe a note on the door?) and so that one of us can let her in while the other treats Dottie out of barking (probably me). Then we'll put Gustav on leash and bring him out, and essentially treat Chelse like Justin's mom, who Gustav has acted aggressively toward in the past. Gustav will never be within bite-range of Chelse, unless things look really really good.

Phew!

2010-01-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

The vet visit is over. I was incredibly stressed out, but tried hard to remain calm. Justin was in charge of holding Gustav while Nancy examined him and gave him shots. Gustav's heart was pounding and Justin said at one point he gave a big shudder of fear. Nancy said she's pretty sure he expressed his anal glands from fear.

But, Nancy said she never felt like he was about to go off on her, and that when that happens she gets a particular feeling and notices enlarged pupils and a quivering lip. After he was examined we put him in his crate.

When she came in we had the dogs in the yard, then let them in after she had entered. Gustav was good until Dottie barked, then he put up his hackles and acted more fearful. Just underscores the importance of keeping Dottie calm. Nancy recommended next time that everyone stands around ignoring them until they aren't reactive anymore. Otherwise pre-emptive treat giving for calm behavior is good. That's what I'm striving for, obviously.

We talked briefly about the possibility of putting Gustav on some doggie drugs for his fear. I'm going to talk over this possibility with the behaviorist when we have an appointment.

All in all, I'm super stressed and slowly calming down, but incredibly relieved that nothing bad happened. Poor Gustav was just absolutely terrified. In other news, Gustav is fat and the low-protein diet we have him on Nancy thinks is a low-quality food. So we'll probably switch him. Can't decide whether to go to some other low-protein or back to normal Iams.

I know I will feel better if I make a behaviorist appointment, which I was planning on anyway. That's my personality: I have to take steps to solve problems to feel better. Even though my resolution is to chill out a little.

Phew!

Children and bands

2010-01-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't done much outside with the dogs today, just yard play and training in the house. Justin walked them before he went to work, however, and said Gustav growled at a kid from 30 feet away. Dottie barked after Gustav growled. He went off to the side and had the dogs sit and gave them treats. No lunging and barking, but not an encouraging reaction either.

Band practice was today and Gustav actually pulled off a windmill tail wag for Shane. I was anticipating everyone, so there was no barking as everyone entered and then I had all the boys throw treats for the dogs. I am pleased with how the visitor situation is going.

Tomorrow is our vet visit. I am nervous but will try not to be.

Not strictly dog related.

2010-01-25T19:05:00.000-08:00

Nothing to post today because Justin did all the dog walking. I'm a lucky girl.

Feisty Fido III

2010-01-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Boy, did I ever not want to get up early and drive Dottie to the other side of town. My band had a show last night and I was up late. We went anyhow (nothing like a super-expensive class to motivate you). Dottie did really well, I was really proud of her. Yesterday we were all of a sudden right next to a dog behind a fence that was going crazy and Dottie didn't make a peep, just looked up at me for treats as we walked away. I can't say the same for Gustav, but he did pretty good. These facts make me think that Dottie is all done with dog classes and that they'll be more useful for Gustav at this point. I'd like Gustav to be in another reactive rover class, and I'm also planning on scheduling a one-on-one appointment as a sort of behavioral check-up, to take stock and fine tune the training plan. I should probably think about stepping up planned training activities, like having my dad come over or other people, rather than just the band once a week. And start running door training now that it's not super freezing outside.

What I'd really like to do is form a training club, where people with like-minded training goals can get together and run controlled trials with our dogs. I'd also love to find Gustav a dog buddy who will play with him and not get into fights. Like maybe a high-energy submissive male dog who likes to wrestle, or a high-energy dominant female dog who likes to wrestle. Anyone know anyone? Hmmm.

New Year's resolution, sort of

2010-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

I have resolved to take a more positive, strengths-based approach towards my dogs. I think it will make us both happier with our time together. It's hard to learn so much about training without falling into a fixing-type attitude, where there is some imagined end-point and problems to be addressed in order to reach that goal. My dogs have many lovely attributes. I have found myself ruminating on their need for improvement during quiet moments in walks, instead of just enjoying that portion of the walk for the peaceful time it is. I'm going to try to focus on issues only when they arise, since I already have a plan in place.

Easier said than done.

Why her?

2010-01-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

Today Gustav took exception to a woman with a scarf and glasses and canvas bag, maybe in her upper thirties. From almost a full block away. Totally weird. I do not understand why he decides some people are unacceptable and some are not. I didn't even have treats ready, because he doesn't normally react from that distance. We crossed the street and I had him sit and gave him treats once he stopped growling and started looking at me.

I also saw the mailman from not quite all the way across the street and the dogs were perfect.

Otherwise the walk was fine. Justin said they were really good this morning when a guy jogged past them with his dog in the street, while Justin was on the sidewalk. That is, until the guy said to his dog "look at your dog friends!" Then they lost it. Oh well.

Good enough

2010-01-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

I took the dogs on a jog last night after I got home from school. They seemed so relaxed when I got home, they didn't even bark when I came in. It doesn't make me feel that great to know that when I'm gone all day they are calmer and happier, but I guess it's better than the other way around.

We walked RIGHT NEXT to a lady with a shopping bag on the sidewalk, and I was pushing chicken into Gustav's mouth so fast he barely had time to look up. No problem.

We saw a whole bunch of dogs, and Dottie was perfect. Gustav did some pulling and growling and hackles, but nothing out-of-control and each time I was able to have him sit and look at me. He did one amazing look-at-me when he was pulling at the end of his leash trying to get a better look at a dog. With just one "Goose!" he turned all the way around towards me and licked his lips, despite the fact that he was so aroused and intent.

All three boys in the band came in the front door last night with nary a bark from either dog. It helped that I saw them out the window and was already in position by the time they knocked, but still!

Gustav was affectionate and snuggly to the boys. A ball rolled under Christian's (my brother) feet and Gustav decided he couldn't take it. I pointed this out and Christian threw the ball for him. Then he pet Gustav on the head while he had the ball in his mouth. Gustav was pretty pissed about this, he got rigid and put his ears back and kind of stared at Christian from the side. I told Christian to stop and there was no problem. I don't know if this was primarily from resource guarding (the ball) or being pet on the head when it wasn't his idea. I think Gustav makes a huge distinction between going up to someone to be pet and having someone approach him to pet him. After a while he went to the other room to scratch his ear (I think he knows that Justin and I will tell him to knock it off if he does it in front of us, he has a scabby ear), then returned and sat near Justin. I felt like he was getting increasingly stressed and overwhelmed, but I could be projecting. At least once he lay down on the floor near Christian, very relaxed, which was great. If the boys had stayed much longer, I probably would have considered putting him in his crate for a break or having the boys toss treats or encouraged Justin to keep him over by him. Sometimes I stare so hard at him during these types of events that I think I'm imagining some body language that Gustav isn't actually displaying. I'm not sure. After Feisty Fido is over, I think I'm going to have a check-up appointment with a behaviorist to gauge his progress and get some ideas for the future. Sometimes I think he's improved a lot, and sometimes I think it's just seems that way because Justin and I don't put him in situations he can't handle anymore. After all, he's always been fine with the band, it was just our own concern that led us to isolate him from visitors for a while. So a reintroduction to a situation he never showed any problem with doesn't feel like such a triumph. Oh. I just typed my way into feeling less proud. I think I'd better stop.

Back to the grind

2010-01-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

The spring semester started today, so it's back to a nice normal schedule for everyone. I think this will be good for the dogs, because when I'm around too much I think it puts them on edge a bit. Without a consistent schedule, they never know when I'm going to hop up and take them for a walk, so they tend to stare at me a lot. Now they get an early morning walk, then a midday walk with Justin, then an evening walk with one or both of us. Nice and normal.

This morning we saw the little wheaton terrier from down the street while we were playing in the park. It was pretty far, but Dottie was off-leash and I was in the middle of untangling Gustav's leash when it appeared. I called Dottie and leashed her and untangled Gustav, and during all this craziness they saw it and Dottie only barked once, half-heartedly. Once I got them situated I treated them like crazy and I saw the lady with the wheaton smile. This made me especially happy because she knows my dogs are terrible and she could see the improvement. Hooray! A really good feeling.

No consensus on the low protein diet yet, except that Gustav's poop is way bigger and stinkier. Boo.

My friend Erin started a blog about her own special dog: www.finleydidwhat.wordpress.com It's great to be able to read about other people's process with their dogs who, um, make our lives more interesting. Plus she's an amazing writer; I'm jealous of her clever blog title.

Feisty Fido II

2010-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

We had a great class this morning. Dottie had been so freaked out in the car last time, I had to lift her in this time. This time, however, I didn't turn on the heat or defroster so there wasn't that scary blowing noise. I also put the window down for her. She spent the whole ride with her head out the window and was markedly more relaxed by the time we got there. In addition, I spent a good deal of effort making sure she'd pooped beforehand. Dainty Dottie won't go just anywhere, she especially doesn't care for deep snow. I had to walk her around the block, play with her in the backyard, and walk her around the front yard before her highness finally found a suitable place.

At class we did attention work (looking at my face when she hears her name) and got to do some nice counterconditioning while other dogs were led into the room one by one. I especially liked the "make a choice" game. In this game, you hold a treat straight out by your side, then wait for your dog to look at your face instead of the treat. This took Dottie a little while, but she got it. It's basically like shaping, where your dog has to volunteer a behavior and learns to offer it up without a cue. The game can get harder by bringing the treat closer and closer to the dog's face, until they can ignore the treat and look at you instead.

Dottie and I took a walk afterwards, behind the dog training place. I think it's only fair after forcing her to pay me undivided attention for an hour in the presence of other dogs.

Now we're home and she's absolutely pooped. Gustav was super happy to see her, which was cute.

Two things I'm thinking about: one, Justin thinks we should work on Dottie's admittedly terrible treat-taking skills. She is very snappy. We think this might be partly due to tossing treats at her a lot, which encourages her to snap in the air, and also due to anxiety (a "hard mouth" is evidence of stress in both my dogs). Lisa, a teacher in the class, advised giving the treat in a fist pointed down at first, then when the dog seems ready flipping the fist over and allowing the dog to take the treat. I think offering the treat from below the dog's mouth is really helpful too. Half the time, though, we're tossing the treats on the ground so Dottie can pick them up while we get Gustav's attention.

Two, when I took the dogs jogging a few days ago, Gustav barked and hackled and pulled towards a few people. Justin is always surprised to hear this, as Gustav is on better behavior with him. This makes me sad and I'm trying to figure out why it happens. I've been trying to act more relaxed and put a little more swagger in my walk, like Justin, to see if it helps. Gustav doesn't think I'm a very effective leader, apparently. At least compared to Justin. I hope to ask one of the teachers of the class about this if I can. It could be that there's nothing I can do about it, but if there is I'd like to do it.

I'd love to take another Reactive Rover class with Gustav, I think it would be really helpful.

A few days ago my brother came over to pick something up. The dogs freaked, but I got them to sit and take treats and then he came in. Then I had him knock and enter a few times and give them treats. That part they did beautifully with. I wonder how to bridge the gap between practice sessions and someone actually coming to the door for the first time.

F- for Cynthia

2010-01-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

Boy, I did something dumb. Nothing terrible happened, but it really could have so I'm feeling sheepish.

Yesterday I took the dogs to the lake, which is frozen, and started walking out. We went past the sledding hill, where Gustav got noticeably tense so I gave him chicken to countercondition. We walked far far out, with Dottie playing frisbee. Then I put Gustav's muzzle on and we saw some dogs with a skier in the distance. I gave him treats and he was able to move on. We were having a good time, with perfect recalls and so forth, when all of a sudden Gustav tore off at top speed towards the sledding hill. I called "Gustav, stop. Gustav come!" and ran off in the other direction like I'm supposed to. No response. Turns out there was a golden retriever along with a skier next to the lake shore. Gustav ran up to the dog, who was in turn about twenty feet from all the screaming sledding running children. He met the dog, tried to initiate his version of "play" (I'm gonna knock you down and it will be fun for me, okay?), then ran back full speed in a straight line to me. Whew. He didn't bother any kids or the skier. I was just in shock. I didn't even know if I should give him treats or not. I called him repeatedly and he didn't come, so should he still get rewarded? I waffled. I praised him and petted him, which was good, but I didn't give him chicken and I leashed him, which was bad (I think?). Then we went home. Hmmm. Was that the right way to handle it? In any case, I was grateful that he didn't find it necessary to address any people (can you imagine a muzzled Gustav charging sledding children? The horror! Oh, I can't even think of it. Oh. Oh.) I was unhappy that he found it acceptable to venture so very far from me. It was so far, it took him a good thirty seconds at a dead run to return. He was a speck. Anyway, lesson learned: he is not trustworthy if there are any distractions at all at any distance. I'm going to have to eventually set up some distractions to work on the recall, since it's pretty good without them and I have to up the ante if he's ever going to come out of a situation like that successfully in the future. Not like he'll have a chance for a long long time, that's for sure. Whew.

Today: a nice, leashed walk with Justin along. I'm taking the day off. No risky dog walks. Just safe, safe neighborhood leash walking.

Visitors

2010-01-13T11:43:00.001-08:00

All the band members except Shane came in through the front door with a little barking and a little hackles, but lots of from-the-butt tail wagging and general okayness. Everyone threw treats for them. I caught Gustav staring intently at Steve's hand looking for treats. As it warms up I'm hoping to resume me and Justin's door training, as going in and out over and over again is terrible for our heating bill. All in all, I think everyone in the band is on Gustav's "fine" list, which is good in case we ever have to go out of town and need someone to walk him. My next goals for this: my mom and dad and my sister-in-law, Tisha.

Encouraged!

2010-01-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Great long walk today! We went on a circuit I like in the summer for jogging that includes a bike path along a marsh. We passed tons of people on the way. I worked extra hard to stay calm and breath, and Gustav didn't even put his hackles up! I wasn't brave enough to stay right on the sidewalk, but I went up into driveways to buy us a little more space.

We had a great time tromping through deep deep snow. Gustav got to chase ducks with his muzzle on and did three amazing recalls-once from pretty far away and while staring at ducks! At a dead run!

We had one hiccup, when we were walking along and a dog on a line in its front yard suddenly lunged at us and started barking. I did a 180 without any barking from my dogs. There was no sidewalk across the street, so we had no choice but to run past the dog in the street. The sidewalk would've been way way too close for comfort. The dogs barked and carried on, but once we got past the dog, I had them sit and we went back towards the dog a little, to impress upon them that quiet sitting and good listening makes the scary dog go away, not tantrums and hysterics. They did great. Hooray!

Dottie stayed in her room all alone while I was home for five minutes with a great kong. I'll keep trying to increase the time/distraction (separately) so I can put her away when necessary without a lot of whining and barking.

Discouraged

2010-01-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

Our walk last night was ill-fated enough to be funny. Nothing terrible happened, just annoying circumstances.

It was ten at night, in cold cold weather, so I envisioned (ha!) a quiet brisk walk. I didn't even take the time to chop up chicken or cheese or hot dogs, just grabbed a bunch of Charlee Bears. The very first thing I saw was a dog across the street. Great thing about feet and feet of snow: I can see way before they do. I treated them and it was fine. Next up: the bike path. I was going to go left, but then saw some people and decided to go right. As I walked, I turned around and noticed the people were: a. coming our way b. jogging and c. had a big ole doberman. Ok. I hustled up to a side street and went up a distance I thought the dogs could handle. I waited until the joggers came. Surprise! They needed to come up the tiny side street. Ok. I went up farther, thinking they could go across the street and go that way. Dottie and Gustav have totally noticed the dog at this point, but are being great, especially since all they get for their trouble are crappy dry charlee bears. Well, the joggers aren't moving and I look up to hear them say, "Um, that's exactly where we're going." I had stopped literally right in front of their house. The joggers don't really take the hint that my dogs are under training and start walking briskly home while I drag the dogs across the street, having lost their composure by now. Thank god for gentle leaders, I had no handling issues. We got across the street and I got them in a sit. I feel like even the intensity of freak-outs is less since our counter-conditioning program started, especially for Dottie. She acts like she's thinking "Oh, dog! I hate them! Bark! Oh wait, something usually happens . . . it's treats! Treats! I love them! Oh, the dog is too scary! But I love treats!" The effect is a wild turning back and forth from the dog to me, trying to decide on a course of action that she can live with.

After something like that happens, everything else on the walk is twice as bad. We walked down a bike path through a field and all of a sudden a guy on his BIKE with TWO dogs comes racing down the path. We dove for cover by leaping into the deep deep snow. They did pretty good, with some lunging and barking at the point when the dogs were closest. Oh well. Dottie gets the most improved award, while Gustav wouldn't even look at dogs while on leash when we first got him, so definitely most unimproved. I completely blame Dottie along with Gustav's increased sense of bad-assness for this development. Free advice: a two/three year old dog is not a grown-up dog. Older and bolder, they say. Caution at two is aggression at three. We don't really know precisely how old he is, but he came into his own over his time here, and "his own" includes taking action in situations that used to cause him to just ignore people/dogs or go into the other room.

A great way to make a dog walk go awry is to think "Oh, a nice quiet night. I won't see anyone." Still, it wasn't the end of the world and I've personally come a long way in learning to take the setbacks without too much disappointment. Justin can attest that I used to come home nearly in tears if we had some embarrassing bark-a-thon. My type-A personality wants everything to be fixed and right and all that, but that's just not the way it works.

Some musings: I used to think of dogs as either trustworthy, or not. Kind of like when I had a behaviorist come over for Dottie because I wanted her to teach me a "stop barking" command. She helped me realize that it's not about the "no barking," it's about the internal state that's causing all the barking. Very few dogs are trustworthy in all circumstances, and even if they are it's no reason to give people carte blanche to do whatever they want to the dog. My dogs are just proactive in letting me know what their comfort level is and what kind of a life they enjoy the most. I think Dottie has profited most from Gustav's aggression, because I would routinely put her in positions that she really didn't enjoy because I wanted her there and she would be "fine." Think potlucks and State Street. Justin was always wise in this respect, but I didn't want to listen. He would ask, "do you want her there because it will be fun for her, or for you?" Now I have no choice but to carefully consider their threshold and internal state of being, because if I don't someone might get hurt or at the very least my training would be set back.

That being said, I sure get jealous when I see dogs tied up outside the store, or laying next to the swing set while their family plays nearby. Sigh. I always bitterly think "Those dogs have no personality, anyway. Who needs it?"

Today my calming signals book came in! I've heard some people clicker train their dogs to display calming signals on demand, helping in dog-dog aggression cases especially. Given Gustav's difficulty in listening when out and about, and general slow learning style, I think this might be a distant possibility. People are my number one priority, but someday it would be nice to work on his dog-dog aggression too.

Well, another day, another training session. Hoping to do some off-leash work today, as it may get in the (*gasp*) upper twenties!

Feisty Fido!

2010-01-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

This morning was our first Feisty Fido class. This class is for dogs who are reactive on leash, like Dottie. There is a great Patricia McConnell pamphlet of the same name that has been invaluable in helping Dottie deal with seeing dogs on walks.

Honestly, it wasn't a great start. I put Dottie in the car and scraped the inside of the back window because my p.o.s car needs that. Dottie was literally shaking after that noise, and was a total wreck for the 35 minute car ride. She only hates the car in the winter, which I hypothesize is because she gets carsick because she can't stick her head out the window. I also think it might be the loud defroster. As of this morning, I added scraping to the list of things to hate about the car in the winter. She hid in her customary spot on the floor right behind the driver's seat.

When it was her turn to go in the class (they do it one-by-one, smart in a class full of reactive dogs!), she had her hackles all the way up when she could smell dog smells. She wouldn't sit or take treats from the instructors (Chelse and Lisa) and generally behaved like a whipped puppy. She concluded this portion by taking a gigantic poop on the floor. I guess she didn't go in the yard this morning, I will remember from now on to ensure she's gone before dog class. Yuck. It was a funny type of embarrassment. I wasn't embarrassed she pooped, per se, or that she has problems. It was just a problem she doesn't actually have and I was only prepared to display problems that I know of. Funny. I almost felt like she was wasting time by displaying behaviors that are not representative of her actual and myriad problems. This makes me laugh even as I type it.

I brought her back out to the car to wait for other dogs to have their turn, where she shook and looked terrible. I was really concerned at this point that I had totally overwhelmed her. I brought her back in for the class and she perked up a little. She took treats from me and the whole time only emitted a teeny little bark. The most surprising part to me was the way she treated the dog bed. We do some relaxation protocols and "go to bed" and down-stays on the dog bed, but she's not super at them. At the class, I led her to the dog bed and she lay down on it right away, and I didn't even ask her to! I even had a hard time coaxing her off of it. I was really proud and a little confused.

Her lack of barking, while nice, seemed to me to be a partial shut-down on her part. She was so happy to be given cues and led around. It reminded me of our flyball class, where she moved like she was about 100 years old even though I know she's a super fast dog when she's comfortable. No barking or shenanigans, just quiet resignation. What a fragile little creature she is . . .

We worked on attention and mat-to-mat, but mostly the benefit came from being counterconditioned against a room full of reactive dogs. Hopefully over time the treats will outweigh the fear.

After class we took a walk along the bike path behind the building. She sprinted up and down happily, and we played chase. She had a great time and clearly had a lot of energy/anxiety to burn. Lots of hilarious play-bows and running as fast as she could. I'm glad we got to do that.

The car ride home was similarly traumatic. Once we walked in the door, Gustav was soooo happy to see her and vice versa. They really are security blankets to one another. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Having Dottie as your leader, as she is to Gustav, must be a constantly unnerving experience, since she's hysterical and insecure. Like living in a dictatorship with some insane leader.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the class, because I think it will be good for Dottie and me. Ultimately, though, it's for Gustav. I don't really care if Dottie chooses to bark here and there, but it makes Gustav go into super-defensive mode, because one of his bosses is freaked out. Also, she's improved a lot even without the class, but for Gustav's sake I need to step it up a little. To keep her from barking when seeing dogs or greeting people or when people come to the door will really help Gustav stay calm.

In closing, I'd like to list the things Dottie's really great at. I want to do this because when she came home, Justin remarked that she looked terrible and smelled as though she'd been attacked. I think these are valid observations, because her ears were plastered back, her stress veins on her face were engorged, and she started compulsively licking the couch. Don't worry though, she was barking out the window again in no time!

I'll start with things I'm grumpy about:

She's not good at camping or dog parks or laying down anywhere except home or waiting quietly while you talk to someone you met on a walk or meeting dogs on walks. She's not good at being left alone unless it's in her room with something to do and music on. She's really good at accessing me like a slot machine, barking at imaginary things out the window then running over and sitting nicely and waiting for treats or a kong given in frustration when I just want a few hours of peace. She's good at alerting me when the UPS truck is within a few blocks or anyone at all is on the street or, heaven forbid, coming to the house. She's good at getting me to buy crazy dog toys.

Here's things I read about on my aggressive dog site that I thank God she doesn't have:

She's not aggressive to Gustav (except when she's being a bitch about bones or wants him to stop trying to play with her, but she's plenty appropriate in her communications) or people. She doesn't have separation anxiety. She's healthy (knock on wood). She doesn't run away or chew things to bits (anymore). She's house trained. She's not pushy to us and can be on the couch and bed without issues. She doesn't resource-guard from people.

Here's the things I really really love about her:

Dottie is friendly and gentle to children. She is an amazing frisbee dog. She has a nearly perfect recall, such that I have seriously considered walking her off-leash all the time (I can't take the stress of the possibility she'd get hit by a car, so I don't). She can go on hikes in the woods or to any park without causing problems. She knows tons of awesome tricks. She is really smart and loves to clicker train. She loves to run for no reason, and she can run super fast. When she does this, she sometimes starting bounding as high in the air as she can, which makes her look like a gazelle. She taught this move to my mom and dad's dog. She is what I call a billboard dog, so cute and dog-looking. When she naps, she curls in a ball and puts her chin in between her back leg and back, a pose I call "the duck." She goes "mmmmmmmm" when you pet her just right, but has never ever ever solicited petting. Sometimes if you want to pet her she won't let you and licks you instead. She is really treat motivated, making training easier. She loves to go jogging with me and gives me a look that says "Finally! you figured out what a walk is really supposed to be, none of this meandering slowness, but an appropriate clip." She sleeps under the blanket, which she gets under herself, then curls up and warms my feet. She is spunky. She is loyal. She is attentive. She taught me to accept her for who she is and what she can do, and enjoy what she enjoys.

Here they are hibernating in perfect symmetry:

Sometimes it's overwhelming to be solely responsible for the quality of life of a living creature . . .

Getting cocky

2010-01-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Short walk this morning and Gustav lunged and barked at the dog across the street, causing Dottie to bark once (not bad-she also then immediately sat and looked at me-good girl!) and the leashes to get totally tangled. I blame myself, I wasn't prolific enough with the treats. I got cocky. Saw a few other people and by then Gustav was a little riled and tense. But all I got from him was hackles, no barking/lunging. I would much rather have him improve with people than dogs, if I have to choose.Excellent attention work, with one exception: a very long delay. I still gave him a treat when he finally looked up, but I was on the fence about it.

I've been working on his compliance on basic commands. He definitely has that dominant "only if I feel like it" attitude. I've started asking for sits before going in the yard. Any dog that doesn't have their butt on the floor within three seconds doesn't get to go out right then. They get a second chance a few minutes later. I really think it's reasonable to expect a three year old dog to sit promptly when in the house with no distractions except wanting something (like to go out or eat). It's really funny to watch him lay down when he doesn't want to, he slooooooowly stretches his paws in front of him so he slooooowly slides onto the floor. I read in Dr. Dodman's book that dominant dogs should get three seconds to sit for their food, or they don't get it until the next day! Then you decrease the number of seconds over time until it's instantaneous. That seems overkill for Gustav, but I won't pretend I haven't thought about it. Luckily he sits pretty quick for his dinner. I'm also trying to remember to have him sit to get petted, a "say please" type protocol. Dottie's so good in that regard, I literally can't remember her ever pushing herself on me to get petted. She doesn't seem to love that type of attention as much as Gustav does.

Twenty whole degrees!

2010-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a few days of zero degree weather to make twenty feel toasty warm! I took the dogs on a fun creek romp yesterday, as it's frozen. Gustav still likes to chase tennis balls, even with the muzzle on (a sad/funny sight). Dottie enjoyed some frisbee. Gustav came beautifully when called, four times at a dead run. I'm trying to balance distance and distraction, the two enemies of recall. Sometimes he finds something distracting right at the last second, so I'm outmatched. He hasn't been tested with any serious distraction, i.e. a person or dog is in sight. I would probably have to set that up special, since I can't practice on unsuspecting passerby. I would definitely freak out if a seventy pound muzzled dog came charging me. That's the paradox of a muzzle: just when everything is safer, people feel more threatened.

The chew antlers came in the mail today. The dogs took a while to figure them out, but seem to like them now. They don't seem any more special than a bone in terms of attractiveness. I don't think I can use them as room-training treats for Dottie to teach her to be in the bedroom alone. However, a kong with liver and a milkbone worked really well yesterday. The trick, as I recall from Patricia McConnell's crate training advice, was to take it away and let her out before she's done with it. She worked on it without whining or anything while Gustav and I did clicker training in the rest of the house. Hooray!

Two funny observations today: one, Gustav was trying to get the chew antler that lay about a foot and a half from Dottie, who was chewing on the other. I watched in fascination as Gustav made himself small and unthreatening and slowly crept his way towards it. He had his face turned away but his eyes firmly planted on Dottie. For her part, she chewed vigorously and kept her eyes on him. It seemed like he was going to win, and just as he started sloooowly lowering himself to the ground, she put her ears back and let out a teeny growl. Gustav stood back up. Boy, she is such a bitch about toys, pun intended. I have never seen such a mean look on her face as when she thinks Gustav might get something. I'm lucky he's so happy in his subordinate place, otherwise I would have a fight problem. Considering she's such a shaky leader, with her submissive-with-people attitude and general unbalanced-ness (I have seen playful dogs at the dog park take one look at her and go off in the other direction), and he is so dominant with both people and other dogs, I find the hierarchy in the house totally baffling. There can be no doubt about her place: she can literally take a chew-thing from right under his nose without so much as a growl from him. Weird.

Second, I have been fascinated by Gustav's tail movement while looking out the window. I call it the flag method: he goes to the window ready for trouble, tail high in the air. If there's nothing, the tail slowly descends into a lowered position. If there's something but it's far, the tail stays up. If there's something close or threatening, the tail stays up and is accompanied by hackles and barking. It's convenient for me, because if the tail stays up I can go over and counter-condition whatever is far enough not to put him over threshold, but is concerning to him.

I'm feeling a little discouraged about lack of natural people-training opportunities, since I'm on vacation and have plenty of time to do it. Turns out people aren't out and about as much when it's freezing cold. Also Justin and I have been delinquent on our door training, since we don't want to come in and out of the front door and lose all the heat. I still knock from the inside then throw treats, but it hardly phases the dogs. Usually band practice serves as the natural training day, but Shane the singer is in stupid warm Mexico so there's been no practice. I guess I could stand to set something up with my dad or brother, two people on his "ok" list. I don't think we could do a stranger yet.

Gustav needs shots, and so Justin and I are starting to mull over the visiting vet's visit. Muzzle, or not? I'm thinking he'll be crated for the entry, Dottie will be provided with an amazing kong to distract her, and then we'll bring Gustav out on a leash. Or not? The leash can make him worse. Hmm. Ideas? I talked to Nancy (the vet) about it, and she said she would alert us to her impression and whether she wants him muzzled or not. That doesn't solve the problem of initial introduction though.