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.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Morning walk
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Back from vacation
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.
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.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
We've had better days . . .
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.
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.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Fun with wet spring weather
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!
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!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Another video
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!
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!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Video!
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.
I also have one of Dottie tricks and a short one of Gustav tricks. I'm still working on uploading those.
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