Posts filed under ‘Reads’
Becoming the Cookie, Becoming the Moose, and Boogie’s prey drive…
I just did something quite impulsive.I signed myself up for Susan Garrett’s “5 minute recall formula” online training course and it ain’t cheap. (hmm… what can I sell on ebay? Who wants a doggie drawing?)
I have been seeing link recommendations to this web course on many dog trainers’ blogs and facebook pages and after watching a few intro webinar videos, something hit a nerve. I think it was the term “prey instinct” or “prey drive”. I keep coming across this term on the web, on dog behavior forums, websites, blogs etc. and the more I read about working with “drives” and “building arousal”, the more I realize that:
- Boogie has a super intense prey drive (eg, tennis balls, squirrels, birds, cats etc. in motion)
- I haven’t a clue what to do when Boogie is distracted or in prey drive mode. I no longer exist for him. The only way I can get his attention is by picking him up off the ground.
- Premack works for when he is still under threshold, but not so much for when he is already over threshold /aroused/magnetized by his target object.
- Boogie doesn’t chase. He stalks very very slowly. Then suddenly pounces or sits and waits. At which point the squirrel is already way up that tree. This is why I believe that he will never catch the squirrel and may live out the rest of his days in frustration….
- Boogie NEVER chases me when we are playing with his toys. He makes me chase HIM. And I stupidly follow every time, so this behavior of “making Mom follow me” is super reinforced.
- Food rewards and tug games help – he runs after me, but then he immediately runs off after eating or winning the toy.
- If training with a dog’s “prey drive” requires that I encourage and reward my dog to CHASE ME and fixate on me, then yep, I have a lot to learn….
Metaphors in dog training are kinda amusing. Susan Garrett’s course is about identifying your dog’s “cookies” (= rewards that are food, toys and activities), and “Becoming The Cookie”. ie, becoming the master of all reinforcements for your dog so that when you call him, wherever he is, whatever he is doing or interested in, he will turn away and he will RUN TO YOU. LIKE THE WIND.
Elsewhere on the web I came across another model of dog training that I hadn’t heard of before. It’s called Natural Dog Training and of all the web articles and authors that I have read on the subject, Neil Sattin’s website is the easiest to follow. Based on what I have read so far, the Natural Dog Training philosophy doesn’t involve any physical punishment but is somewhat dismissive of Operant Conditioning. In Susan Garrett’s webinar, she also mentioned the limits of using only Operant Conditioning because “drive states are not considered or manipulated”.
(Here’s one article that says NDT is more Freud than Skinner)
According to Neil Sattin, we should “Become the Moose”. Yep, Moose! Not Squirrel, not Cookie, but a big ol’ Moose which is NDT’s chosen metaphor for a dog’s highest-value prey object.
It may sound like a masochistic death-wish (yeah I want my dog to hunt and kill me?) but it isn’t. The Moose is supposedly big, calm, powerful and always attractive to the dog. The Moose as uber-prey is the thing that activates a dog’s hunting drive and creates social bonding between a bunch of dogs who otherwise would not be interested in bonding. In NDT, they see resolution of a dog’s innate hunting drive/prey instinct or the release of energy/stress as being more relevant to learning than food rewards.
The stress release focus reminds me of BAT because in BAT, eliminating stress IS the reward. (-R) We want to do everything in our power to keep our dog under-threshold and un-stressed in the first place. The focus is on teaching and reinforcing good choices and self-calming signals in our dog so that ultimately our dog learns how not to stress out when some scary person or dog appears.
In NDT, the goal is the same (a calm unstressed dog) but I see no mention of calming signals… The focus is on encouraging the dog to act out their “natural prey drive” through healthier outlets so that it doesn’t turn into stress/aggression/reactivity towards other dogs and people etc.
They highly recommend letting your dog’s energy express itself in games of tug and ALWAYS letting your dog win (!?!) Or playing chase where you ALWAYS have your dog chase you instead of vice versa because the human is supposed to be the prey aka Moose. (Ah! In the intro webinars, Susan Garrett says the same thing about having your dog chase you and rewarding him with play play play)
I think the logic in all this is that if I teach my dog to assert himself with/through ME when he is all revved up, then I can still hold his attention and focus even when he is all revved up… I totally fail at this with Boogie.
There is a NDT exercise called “Pushing” which involves pushing and feeding your dog at the same time to get him simultaneously “aroused” and “relaxed”. The dog is encouraged to “push back” for his reward. More here – Dogwise forum: Has Anyone Heard of The Pushing Exercise? (it’s a very long discussion between Neil Sattin & +R trainers, I haven’t read it all yet)
The first exercise in the Recall Course involves collar-grabbing & feeding at the same time and Susan Garrett explains this as a Classical Conditioning exercise. Action games of tug and chase are also encouraged to break up the exercise and to keep the dog’s arousal level high. *This is hard… Boogie backs away when I touch his collar.
Two schools of training with different behavior theories but similar exercises …
Now if I can only get Boogie to chase me. When I run off with his toy and call him, he stops and stares at me as if to say “I’ll wait here until you throw it or bring it back”.
Another Itchy Skin post
"Yo, squirrel!"
Hair Loss & Crusty Dry Skin – What is it? is possibly one of the most visited posts on Boogie’s Blog, and our vet had diagnosed this recurring problem as an allergy-related staph infection.
Recently I came across an article that confirms and sheds more light on the problem: The Killer App for Canine Itching and Skin Infections
In fact, this reads EXACTLY like what Boogie suffers from. Every summer, something in the air sets off an itchy skin reaction with crusty sores and hair loss, and poor Boogie has to take cortisone shots and excessive quantities of oral antibiotics to get some relief.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the antibiotics once relied on to clear up both human and animal infections are becoming increasingly less effective against “superbugs” like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP, formerly known as MRSI — same bug, new acronym), which makes dogs miserable but almost never causes problems for people, and its well-known human counterpart, MRSA. The more frequently antibiotics are prescribed for infections, including canine skin infections, the more bacteria develop resistance to those drugs.
According to the article, the solution = MORE BATHS.
Dogs with atopic dermatitis whose bacterial infections are under control should be bathed once or twice a week, but for dogs with resistant staph skin infections, Fadok recommends daily bathing. Dog owners should use shampoos containing chlorhexidine, an antiseptic, followed by rinses and leave-on solutions with specific fatty acids thought to restore the skin’s barrier function.
I looked up the ingredients of Boogie’s shampoo & leave-on conditioner – no chlorhexidine…
In any case, the weather is warming up and Boogie’s itchies have started. I will be giving him more frequent baths. Fingers crossed.
Two interesting dog training videos
When your dog jumps up:
Teaching your dog to “Drop” an item from his mouth:
Interesting videos – ‘Marker Training’
I actually like the term “Marker Training” more than “Clicker Training”.
The term “Clicker Training” can be misleading because people assume that you have to be married to the clicker, when Marker/Clicker Training is more about the process and approach, and less about the physical gadget.
Analogy: It’s like when some people – eg, my parents – use the terms “computer animation” or “computer illustration” to denote something radically different from drawing with a pencil or paintbrush…. and assume that it is a computer program that does the drawing for me. Yep, my dad used to think this. While I do use a computer to draw with, *I* am still the one who is doing the drawing. The computer is simply a tool that enables and speeds up the process and makes everything more efficient.
Check out this video – Marker Training a Human – Session One (and how “reward placements” are important) It’s also on YouTube:
There are more streaming videos on the Leerburg website and in this video the trainer Michael Ellis explains Marker Training. I like his definitions of the Active Dog vs the Reactive Dog. Quote:
The Active Dog (“Operant Dog”) understands that his behavior has an effect on his environment (and on his humans, who are an integral part of his environment). He understands that his behavior can make things happen. He has made the connection that his behavior causes a reward to happen. The Active Dog is easier to train.
The Reactive Dog ‘s behavior is driven by the reward. He doesn’t drive the production of the reward.
There’s also a video on using a Negative Marker (“no”) instead of Correction – HERE. Interesting!
National Train Your Dog Month
I have been doing some research on important doggie-related dates for my next Boogie calendar and January 2011 is National Train Your Dog Month!
“Dog Training” is such a loaded and contested topic, and as the parent of a reactive/aggressive Boston terrier I probably spend more time reading and thinking about this subject than the average human being. I am also blogging about it, creating drawings about it, and biting my tongue (to avoid opening up a can of worms) whenever someone quotes Cesar-isms at me…
If only I had a dollar for every time someone told me Boogie needs Cesar Millan or sees himself as my pack leader… (when I tell them that “Boogie is in training”)
Most people don’t realize that there is HUGE WORLD of dog training information out there and that The Dog Whisperer approach even though it has taken on a national cult following, is actually very old-school and limited.
Two interesting articles:
1. Slate.com – Good Dog, Bad Dog.
Read the comments too. The general gist of this article is that regardless of whether we use “Dog Whispering” (corrections, Dominance Theory) or “Click & Treat” (Positive Reinforcement), all methods work to get rid of bad behavior and lead to good behavior. According to this author, training philosophies are like trends, everchanging, and there is no one right or wrong method. This pic is from the article:
Then there is THIS article that I am more inclined to agree with –
2. K9 In Focus: A Consideration of Training Methods
The most interesting part – the danger of using a Balanced Approach (mixing corrections with positive reinforcement) which only confuses the dog because one method is teaching the dog not to do anything unless given a command to do so (so the dog remains “calm submissive”, to use Dog Whisperer lingo). The other method teaches a dog to try new behaviors to earn rewards (so you get a more active, thinking dog that is always testing you and talking to you).
” One thing I have learned is that it is very important to carefully consider your training methods and techniques. In addition to being effective, will they strengthen the relationship between you and your dog? Are they consistent with your ethics and ideals? Are they clear and fair? It is our responsibility, as trainers and owners, to do what is best for our pets. I encourage you to think very carefully about how you train.”
My personal view: Corrections Training vs. Clicker Training
I have experienced both methods – the traditional corrections-based method, and also the positive reinforcement click-n-treat method.
A year ago I was taught to use traditional punishment-based techniques on Boogie. My blog entries around May 2010 went into a lot of detail and included video clips and cartoon illustrations showing the use of a prong collar. At the time I didn’t realize that there existed other non aversive training techniques. This was all I knew and like most people, I watched The Dog Whisperer show religiously and tried to be dominant, calm and assertive. I was even contacted by the Dog Whisperer show to submit a video which I am glad I didn’t do. (see YouTube: Setting up the dog for anxiety and aggression on The Dog Whisperer Show)
Several months later, when Boogie’s behavioral problems persisted, I made the switch over to Positive Reinforcement techniques and Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) and stopped using corrections. Lots of blog entries here on these training sessions.
For me personally, the most interesting major difference between the two training approaches is not whether one approach works better than the other, but how they have impacted on Boogie’s overall PERSONALITY and MOOD.
Back when I was using collar corrections (to stop him pulling on the leash or lunging at people/dogs) Boogie responded by stopping whatever he was doing and staying by my side. He learned very quickly that he would be choked if he “misbehaved”. When the collar-corrections didn’t make him cry out or cower, I saw a slower, more compliant and subdued Boogie (with a very red scabby neck). Friends noticed that he was less likely to greet people and seemed depressed. When I took the prong collar off, he would spring back to life and play with his toys and pull on the leash again which led me to realize that he was being “good” only to avoid punishment. He was still aggressively lunging at strange people and dogs on the street.
When I stopped using the prong collar and switched over to using a clicker and treats, I noticed a totally different Boogie who was attentive, full of life, enthusiastic, and responsive. I saw a dog that kept checking in with me, and came to me when called. Sure enough, the food in my pocket was more interesting than ME, but using rewards made training so much easier and fun. Boogie was the same dog with the same behavioral issues and his hairs still stood up whenever he saw a stranger on our street (and he still thought about lunging at them) but after repeated training sessions, Boogie was able to IGNORE the trigger on his own or when I called him. He is still nervous around certain people and dogs but we know how to avoid stressful situations.
The amazing change in Boogie’s personality and mood is what made me a Clicker training/Positive Reinforcement convert. I wouldn’t say that Boogie’s issues are 100% fixed but we now have a much stronger relationship. I know how to read him, and he listens to me. There really is no need at all for corrections or punishment and it makes me sad when I see other people using the choke method or yelling at and kicking their dogs. The wonders of Clicker Training is hard to explain to someone who subscribes to the Dominance approach…
Heck, I don’t want a calm-submissive Boogie. I’d rather have a happy Boogie with good social skills.
There’s a new dog training book coming out soon – BATting 1000 by Grisha Stewart which I am very excited about and not only because I will have the pleasure of providing illustrations, but because Boogie and I have been using her techniques (with our trainer Sarah) and they WORK! * Read our success stories on Boogie’s Walk Log.
Click on “Training > BAT Sessions” in my Categories list to see my blog posts related to BAT. Also check out Grisha Stewart’s Organic Socialization DVD on BAT.
More important dates for the January —
Did you know that January 14th is National Dress Up Your Pet Day?
And January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. I think Boogie will like this one.
Training notes; reactive Boogie
I have been slackening off on Boogie’s training, but some recent incidents have jolted me back into the realization that I need to continue working with him. Everyday. Even if it’s for only 5 minutes a day.
A couple of weeks ago, we ran into our famous neighborhood crazy homeless woman. I did what I usually do … I led Boogie away from her and turned down an alleyway so that she could continue past us and there would be no cause for Boogie to react. I was a little too late because Boogie had seen her and let out a bark. And then much to my shock and horror, the homeless woman turned around and came stomping towards us down that alley, waving her hands in the air, shouting, and lifting her shirt at me (!!!) It was freaky.
Boogie was in front of me, doing his aggressive thing. I called out “Go away!!! If you come any closer, my dog will bite you!”. Of course, the woman was a nutcase so she took more steps towards us, shouting. There was nowhere for us to go… we were trapped in that alley… and for the first time in my life, I was extremely relieved that I had a vicious little dog protecting me.
The woman left eventually and Boogie turned to look at me. My natural impulse was to praise him and give him a treat (Thank you, Boogie!) … which I didn’t do because I was conflicted about whether this was something I wanted to reinforce.
In the following week, we had a few more reactive incidents… Examples:
When Butch was staying with us, I was walking the two dogs together. I noticed that Boogie was triggered by people even when they were MUCH FURTHER AWAY than usual. He stiffened and growled at triggers even when they were way across the other side of the street… a behavior that I found really disorientating because our “safe distances” were no longer safe and I was always unprepared, too late, or too close… And then there was the added risk that Boogie might redirect his aggression at Butch next to him, which he did once.
I have been told that environmental changes (e.g., having a second dog around) can make a reactive dog extra-sensitive. And the more often that Boogie practiced this reactive behavior, it felt like he was regressing… sinking back into old bad habits…
A few nights ago, (yes, night time = increased sensitivity and territorial behavior), I ran into a neighbor on my street. I led Boogie off the path because I didn’t recognize him at first. Then he called out and we started chatting. I didn’t move from where we were standing…. I noticed that Boogie seemed calm and relaxed. Body and ears soft, head turned away. My neighbor and I stood there on the sidewalk, facing each other, several feet away, and talked for about 10 minutes. Then we said our goodbyes and he turned and walked away. As he started walking away, Boogie sprang forward and growled and barked at him. It was embarrassing, not only that, the incident had me confused… If Boogie had a problem with this guy, why was he so calm, and why did he start reacting only when the guy was leaving???
The next day I noticed Boogie stiffen and stare whenever he saw people on the street who WERE WALKING AWAY FROM US, into the distance, their BACKS to us.
If distance = functional reward, it doesn’t make sense how this could be a trigger. Unless if the trigger is more about the person’s movement…
According to Sarah, Boogie has a “get you from behind” aggression style. He is extra aggressive when the mailman turns and leaves. When Boogie bit someone, their back was turned. He was most likely triggered by the neighbor’s motion of turning and walking away, being a motion-sensitive dog with control issues. (When the guy was standing still, he probably felt safe?) The growling probably meant: “Buzz off and don’t you dare come back!”
According to Emily, sudden reactivity is a common behavior with hypersensitive reactive dogs. She shared with me some of her experiences as a trainer. One client’s dog was calm and friendly when she was seated in the room with him but when she scratched her nose really quickly, the dog got startled and lunged. She said that many reactive dogs freak out when a human trigger does something unexpected like stand up or leave the room even when at first they seem relaxed and calm.
So we’re back to practising BAT on our walks. Repetition repetition.
I am again wary of distances and all kinds of triggers. Today we saw a dog leashed to a pole on the sidewalk who was definitely not friendly. The dog was standing tall and stiff and STARING INTENSELY at Boogie with tail high up. He barked a few times at Boogie. We did several trials of BAT in which Boogie turned his head and body away from the dog without any prompting from me. YES! Walk away and treat. Good boy, Boogie!
Meanwhile, I have been reading online writings on dog training (as I do) and came across this highly disturbing article – “When Dog Whisperer Can’t Help.
Canine disarming??? It sounds like such a horrible, unethical, invasive and extreme thing to do to a dog. Like debarking.
Image via this LA Times article.
I’ve said this many times before – Boogie may never be 100% “cured” — he had a bite history even before I adopted him — but there are techniques that WORK…
Another awesome Kikopup video
Via YouTube – kikopup’s Channel:
Now I know why when I try to lure Boogie into a DOWN, he does a “bow” instead! There is so much clear detail in this video, it’s great!
I am totally going to try this technique of teaching a STAY because Boogie’s STAY is not perfect, definitely not in the presence of temptations and distractions.
When I was crossing over from traditional training methods to Positive Reinforcement Training, Emily used to email me with lots of encouragement and support. She makes these videos because she believes that this knowledge should be FREELY available to all dog people (especially those who cannot afford to hire a trainer).
It is great to see her becoming famous!
Back home with Boogie!
It’s good to be back home with Boogie, whom I missed terribly when I was away for 2 weeks in Malaysia. I met other dogs in Malaysia and thought of Boogie. I watched
How To Train Your Dragon on the plane and thought of Boogie. Speaking of which, there is a new DVD training series from Grisha Stewart – Organic Socialization – which I cannot wait to watch. I have read that this latest DVD is even better than the first one, and what’s more, some of my dog training related illustrations are on it! 🙂
Meanwhile, here are some cool dog behavior related links:
Raising a Rubber Band Dog (Boogie is somewhere between a HDD and a SPD…)
Organic Training by Kathy Sdao
Never Punish a Dog For Growling
Dog Whispering Can Backfire (I have been drafting a very long blog post on how I feel about The Dog Whisperer. I wonder if it’s worth publishing seeing that there are already tons of passionate online articles on this topic…)
Sarah’s latest Newsletter – Who doesn’t already know about Cesar Millan’s “Exercise, Discipline and Affection” spiel? I love Sarah’s own Holy Trinity of Dog Training: “Maintenance, Exercise and Mental Stimulation”…
Sharing here a cute Boston Terrier magnet by TAPAS KIDS that I picked up at Hong Kong airport:
More later!
The Premack Principle (Boogie’s leash-pulling)
The Premack Principle: It states that for any two behaviors, the one that’s more likely (or that your dog prefers) can reinforce, or strengthen, the one that’s less likely (and that you might prefer). Instead of trying to get our dogs to ignore whatever excites and distracts them, we can use those excitements and distractions as rewards.
I have read about The Premack Principle and watched several YouTube videos but on Tuesday for the first time I had some hands-on experience with Sarah showing me how to use it when Boogie becomes fixated on something and pulls on the leash.The high distraction environment that we were in – Cheviot Park – was perfect for this exercise because Boogie was pulling me all over the place. The smell of squirrel was everywhere.
And so it goes that the more often that I let Boogie ignore me, the more that I am enabling his “bad behavior” and he’ll just continue to blow me off whenever he feels like it. Scolding or dragging Boogie away on the leash does not solve the problem.
So here’s the new protocol:
- When Boogie pulls, note where he wants to go.
- STOP. Stand still. Do not let myself be pulled forwards.
- WAIT. As soon as he turns around and checks in with me, I mark with a YES! (I then say “OK!” as the release cue)
- …And I let him go where he wants to go.
My questions:
Q: What if Boogie doesn’t turn around to check with me? What if he remains frozen or locked in that pulling forward position and won’t respond at all?
A: Initially we wait to mark the smallest behaviors, like an ear flick, or even if he turns his body slightly. We don’t expect a full head turn or eye contact straight away. This “splitting of behaviors into small steps” is a key feature of the Clicker Training process.
Q: What if, 5 minutes later, Boogie still remains locked and offers no signals?
A: Tap him lightly on the butt to get his attention and to break the spell. (YES, butt-tapping works!)
Q: What if I really really don’t want to go where he wants to go?
A: Let him go forwards first, then redirect him back where you want to go. Or… when he disengages from his point of fixation, just turn and walk calmly in the opposite direction with consistent leash pressure, no pulling/jerking/tugging. Hold the leash in front of the body at bellybutton level and walk. (Dogs are sensitive to different kinds of leash pressure)
——————————————————————————————————————–
BAT with FRANKLIN
On Tuesday, we also did more BAT, this time with Irith’s very friendly sweet English Shepherd, Franklin, as decoy. We got to the point where the Boogs curiously moved forward to sniff Franklin’s butt then bounced back in a play bow. (“This dog is OK! I want to play with him!”)
A more impressive moment was when Franklin moved quickly towards Boogie with direct eye contact, and Boogie instantly offered a lip lick (calming signal) and turned away. YAY!
A big thank you to Irith and Franklin for being there on Tuesday! I hope that we can organize a Boogie & Franklin playdate some day… Who wants to lend us a fenced yard?
Videos and links:
Ahimsa Dog Training: Premack Principle (youtube)
Sarah’s The Power of Premack: Fence Fighting (vimeo)
Dog Star Daily: On Shoddy Clicker Training & The Importance of Premack
Irith’s The Sophisticated Dog facebook page has some great articles on dog training.
Boogie training update & links
THIS SUNDAY’S SESSION with Sarah’s pitbull, Zoe:
We met up at a park in Eagle Rock. Sarah had her Zoe (who is also a reactive dog) and I had Boogie. We did BAT with the two dogs at a safe distance, progressively leading them closer and closer to each other. It was a really hot afternoon so I think Boogie was more interested in exploring the shady areas (and climbing the Jungle Jim) than in interacting with Zoe. I think too he was a little confused to see Sarah (one of his favorite people) with an unfamiliar BIG DOG.
Boogie did really well. He offered lots of calming signals including new ones like sniffing the ground and he often acted as though Zoe wasn’t there… which also helped Zoe stay under-threshold. Several minutes later, the dogs were able to sniff each other and walk next to each other without any problems. They didn’t love each other, but they were fine.
Then Sarah took out a treat for Zoe, Boogie barged in front of Sarah (“I want a treat too!”) Zoe growled at Boogie, and Boogie growled back. This could have escalated into a nasty fight because we made the mistake of raising the criteria too quickly – the dogs were too close to each other. And then it happened again when Boogie stared at Zoe , Zoe bared her teeth and I made the mistake of pulling on Boogie’s leash (it was a knee-jerk reaction) which intensified the problem.
Memo to self: Err on the side of DISTANCE. No pulling.
LAST SUNDAY’ SESSION with Irith walking up my porch:
We did a BAT session with Irith walking onto the porch of my apartment. On two separate occasions, Boogie has bitten people on this same porch.
Sarah’s assessment of Boogie’s aggressive behavior is that it is neither dominance nor fear-based but an “operant behavior” or “learned behavior”, a bit like a reflex behavior that he repeats because it works for him. The person backs off or leaves. Much like when a bug lands on our arm and we slap it without thinking. Our goal is to teach Boogie to replace this behavior with friendly behaviors, including the option to move himself away from the trigger.
We broke down the triggers into small components and raised the criteria slowly…
- Irith walked casually across the porch
- Irith stomped loudly across the porch
- Irith stomped loudly across the porch, stopped and stared at Boogie
- Irith stomped loudly across the porch, stopped, stared, stuck her hand out at Boogie.
- Same as 4, but one step closer towards Boogie
Boogie would pull to the end of the leash and stare intensely at Irith ( = slightly over-threshold), and then when he showed friendly signs like blinking, air-sniffing, relaxed ears, head-turns etc, I marked “YES!” and led him away into my apartment and gave him a treat. We did this several times and then once, Irith came too close and came on too strongly and without any warning, Boogie’s stiff stare turned into a quick lunge forwards.
It wasn’t an ideal scenario but I was actually glad that Sarah saw Boogie lunge at a person because until now, she had never seen this behavior and had only taken my word for it. (People rarely believe me when I tell them that my sweet, cute and friendly boston terrier has an aggression problem).
Sarah’s summary of our BAT sessions so far:
Here’s something we’ve learned about Boogie. He seems to get tense but is still be able to handle weird stuff like shopping bags, fat people in hats, crazy old lady with a cart, a mailman jangling keys, a big dog walking by, etc– most of the time—but one thing he cannot handle for sure is any kind of perceived confrontation.
The three times he has gone over-threshold in our sessions were:
–When Fred raised his voice, looked right at him and moved closer
–When Irith combined the rude hand gesture with hard eye contact and moved closer
–When Zoë got snarly and lunged
These then are the stimulus conditions we need to carefully pull apart and work through now, I think. If we can get Boogie handling these types of confrontational situations better, he should find a lot of the other stuff easy in comparison.
Yep, Boogie is a hypersensitive dog when he is dealing with someone that he doesn’t know.
Anyway, I still feel that all this Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) is paying off because Boogie is so much more responsive to me than he has ever been. He seems a much more relaxed and happier doggie in general, even when meeting new people.
I have already accepted that Boogie will never be 100% “cured”. As they say, dog training is really people training or learning how to manage the problem in the most humane way and in this sense, I feel that we are on the right track. The Boogs and I are communicating and learning new stuff together. He really is an awesome dog and I love him more and more each day. Just look at that face.
Dog Training-related links:
Victoria Stilwell vs Cesar Millan
Real Man’s Guide to Dog Training: Dominance is not Leadership
Next blog post: Boogie photo session!
Boogie's blog 