Consultation day!

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.