Bragging on my boy!

Witt and I went to his first Intermediate Obedience class last night and he was the mostest awesome boy!!! He didn't react on one thing or person last night. He was really very confident and even with all the new distractions maintained good focus. He liked the trainer, actually took food from her and even went with her when she used him for showing the class techniques. For those of you who don't know Witt or his background...that is amazing.
It was obvious that the trainer and her assistant had been warned about Witt and his issues, and I saw Lisa (the trainer we have worked with) peeking in a couple times. She hasn't seen Witt for quite a while and I have been working hard with him. Everything we have been working on has been in small doses and this was the first time he has been tested to this extent so I was suprised at how well he did...as were they.
When a couple dogs in another room started barking the whole class of dogs erupted into barking and lunging...except Witt, who sat politely with his eyes on me and one ear cocked in the direction of the noise. Even when the only man in the class approached me to ask about flyball, Witt sat at my side and was neither protective or worried about the man.
He was personable, greeted people politely without fear and seemed to enjoy learning new things. At the end of the class the trainer approached and told me that she had talked with Lisa about Witt and knew what we had started with. She said he had obviously come a long way. Man that felt good! I couldn't be prouder of my boy if he had won an Olympic Gold Medal.

Here is my guy with his "Witt sized tennis ball"

 

Congrats!!!

Is it possible to outline the techniques you have using with him?

 

great news and progress!!

 

I don't know about outlining the path we have been on, but I can tell you that I have been working from the book "Cautious Canine, How To Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears" by Patricia B. McConnell, PH.D. $4.95...it's a small booklet and a godsend! It's very straight forward and easy to follow. Step by step...if you faulter...you go back a step. I started out with a couple private sessions with the trainer and from there have just been following the book steps and calling her for help when I ran into an issue. I think it would depend on the person handling the dog as to how much guidance from a trainer they would need.
I don't want to make it sound simple, it certainly is not, but basically we have worked in baby steps at desensitizing him to whatever it is that he reacts over, whether that be a person, a lawn mower or a bus. Mostly Witt seems fearful of strangers. As odd as it sounds Asian people set him off, tall men ..especially if they bend over him. people running towards him or me is a biggie. In addition to the fear...he is very protective of me. I have learned how to use my body language to tell him I don't need him to handle whatever situation he see's as threatening..."I'll handle it". This seems to take the pressure off of him and in turn make him less fearful.
The biggest skills I have learned as a handler that have made the most difference are all about body language. How to read his and how to present mine, and learning to be calm and even when a situation arrises. As a person..it would be fair to describe me as a little hyper at times, a bit "high strung" as my husband calls it. Finding a "Zen" state of mind and body has been a big part of improving my handling skills. That may sound funny...but it's how I descibe it. If I am relaxed and happy to meet a stranger..so is my dog.Every dog, handler and set of issues are different, so the training is different to some extent. The book is excellent, I would recommend reading it even if fear is not an issue for your dog. It may help you understand that dog in the park, next door or at the next dog event. It's short, easy to follow and the best $4.95 I have spent in a long time.

 

I do have that book in my library, and it's excellent!

Is how to do this in the book as well?

 

The ways in which you can convey this message to your dog are definately in the book. But it's not like a simple one liner thing...

I'll give you some examples of how I have changed situations.

At work, the front door is at the front of the shop and I am usually behind the counter that is in a straight line from that door. Witt is there with me. The counter is tall so he can't see what or who is coming. He used to get really uncomfortable when people would approach the counter where he could see them and they often bend over the counter to look at him (direct eye contact, over the top of him, sometimes reaching at him). When someone comes in the door there is a bell, I make sure that I look in the direction of the door and with a big smile say "Hello, how are you today?" to which I usually get something like "great..how about yourself?" I say..."good..hey, I have my dog back here and he is a little scared of strangers and we are working on it which is why i am sounding so HAPPY and silly". They usually laugh and nod, understanding. If they come back to the counter I ask them not to reach or bend over the counter. They generally look at him and greet him kindly. If when that person gets to the counter Witt is obviously uncomfortable I say "room" . He goes into the bathing room and lays on his bed. He has learned that this is his escape..the place he can go when he feels threatened. He now goes there without me telling him to. he makes the decision to escape when he needs to. MUCH BETTER than the growling and fear based reaction we used to get. From the start, when the person walks in I make sure to let Witt know that I am in charge, I am comfortable with the person who has come in and that it's ok for them to be there. He knows that if he feels threatened he has a place to go.

Another example and something that happens often is people approaching while Witt is on leash and we are out and about. He can't escape to a room in this situation. People seem to make a b line to him to pet him. I stop, ask Witt to sit (he is usually at my side), and then "back to"..which means sit slightly behind me. He scoots back and I step forward..this sends Witt the message that "I am handling it..you don't need to". I then tell the person with my hand up in a stop signal..."please stop". This may sound weird..but you would be suprised at how many people just don't hear you..or actually stop. They just keep coming. I simply say "I am working with my dog and he is not comfortable with strangers". If they keep coming...and they do! I abruptly turn and walk away from them with my dog. I have had people say.."my dog just wants to play", "I just wanted to pet him", blah blah blah yada yadda. They sometimes just don't get it. The idea here though is to put on the "Never Fear for MOM is here" superhero costume and let your dog know you can and will handle it.
My own life experiences have made me a suspicious person when strangers approach, I have this internal assesment thing that goes off, and I physically do things that were making Witt's own issues worse. Pulling on the leash, tightening my grip, shortening up on the leash, holding my breath, getting tense. All those things made Witt feel like he had to protect me, but he was as fearful if not more of the stranger approaching than I was so then we would get the over reacting. Thats more personal info than I'd like to share..LOL, but it's a point to show that everyone is different, the issues are different and thats why it is important to have an evaluation. Let an outside person peek at the dynamics of what is going on. My trainer doesn't know the why's of my reactions to strangers she just helped me see that my reactions were effecting Witt and showed me how I could change that. I don't think the average person walking down the street would notice my behavior changes...but Witt is intuned to me and he did.
Maybe sappy, but... if I had never gotten Witt with his issues, I probably would have gone on living with mine without any thought to doing something about them. I do believe in Fate and I do believe that Witt and I were meant for each other. I believe that he was brought into my life for a reason and visa versa. I say that in hopes that anyone out there may stop and think about the challenges they face and view them a little differently. There were a couple of times when I thought that Witt and I may be mismatched, and that I was not the right person for him...that my issues were making his worse and that it wasn't fair to him. The trainer pointed out that in any other home Witt may have been put down after the first incident. She is the one who used the word "fate" and made me think of things differently.
The book is very good for any dog (or person) who has behavioral issues that are based in fear, even if it's not aggression. The dog who falls apart at the vacuum cleaner, or deisel truck engine..maybe it's a bicycle or skateboard..whatever it is the techniques in this book, desensitization and counter conditioning work! In addition to this book you need to learn how to read your dogs body language.

 

OK now after reading my own post I feel like I need to clarify...My own issues did not cause Witt's. He has three siblings with different levels of fear aggression, so at leaste some of it is genetic/breeding. BUT my behavior and handling caused his issues to escalate. After we had one little incident...I became even more worried over strangers approaching..trust became an issue between us. I was not sure what his reaction would be and feared it would be a bad one. So I would tighten up on the leash, making sure I had a hold of him if needed...hesitate and shrink back. I would keep him at a distance from anyone. I was not making him more comfortable with strangers but giving him more reason to worry. It felt like the right thing to do, I was preventing a situation right? WRONG... I needed to present him with situations in small doses at a distance he could handle and make them feel like really good situations slowly increasing the distance at which he could cope with them.

 

Thanks for the great information, Maisey!

Bonnie has fear issues, but she isn't aggressive with it. A lot of them have decreased just being with us for the past year where nothing bad happened to her. When she gets worried about something, I just pretend I don't notice and go on being happy. I'm not sure it affects her at that moment, but I'm sure in the long run it helps. But this situation is MUCH different than what you faced with Witt.

I try to let the dogs know when we are at the park that I will protect them if they need it. I step in front of them if another dog is being too pushy. I'm not sure if I am conveying what I intend, but I don't know what else I can do. Naturally, I leave if another dog is being a pest persistently.

With Witt, did you pick one particular type of situation and work on that first? Or did you work on walks and being in the shop and wherever else he had problems all at once?

 

I work with Witt all the time. It's pretty much the same issue just different circumstances. Same technique. I did stop doing some things with him. I backed off on flyball even though I was encouraged to keep doing it with him just not compete. The thing is we were getting alot of new people into the group and they don't have the experience or know how to understand what I was doing with him and I didn't feel it was fair to them to alter how a practice would go in any way. Also, I began running Dooley and i can't handle two dogs at once at flyball. I do take him to small get together training sessions for flyball occasionally, it's a good distraction to work with. I choose times when it will just be certain people and dogs. I try to make sure I put him in situations where I can control the experience he will have. I am only just beginning to introduce the "unknowns"..because he can handle that now. I am more confident in my ability to handle a situation should it occur. He is a much more relaxed dog and it takes a bigger thing to ruffle him. I tried not to change too much of WHAT we did..just worked at a distance he could cope with. When something freaks him out he looks to me now instead of reacting aggressively.
Smaller things like when someone comes to my door, I used to get uptight trying to handle three dogs at the door. Now I holler for the person to wait. I get a leash on Witt, put the other two away and answer the door handing the person treats and I ask them to help. It's my house...lol either do it or don't come. My own mother balked the first time..telling me "Witt is not scared of me"..ya well when I pointed out his body language to her she couldn't argue much. I also made it clear that she was now "under my roof and these were my rules". Man did that feel good! She now is really helpful and Witt loves to greet her at the door. he thinks Grandma is pretty cool..she always has treats ya know. My step dad who was horrible, did everything he could possibly do to make Witt feel threatened and just didn't get it when i tried to expalin..now does well too. He was greeted at the door with the same demands from me =) They both NOW see how differently he is when they come to visit. Every one of my kids friends now knows how to enter my house. They have all learned some skills too. One of them actually thanked me, she said she was teaching her old dog new tricks and was understanding him better. She convinced her mother to feed him a better food too..and you know I love that!

 

Wow! I really need to train the kids' friends, but they don't come over often enough. I can't even train my own husband! I swear, he encourages Nala to jump up and it drives me NUTS!

 

Thats great Maisey! I'm so glad to hear that you are making progress.

 

LOL Jimaya...I know how to train the husband....buy a citronella collar and blast him whenever he needs it. Of course you will have to be extra careful he never gets a hold of the remote control.

I bought one and it has worked fabulous with a couple issues the dogs had...I keep telling Shawn .."you are next!"