so, i decided that rather than my dogs assuming they were to stay inside until released, they may assume they can come outside with me unless told to stay in. this has totally transformed our doorway behavior. a simple "stay in" and all the dogs know theyre not coming with me. we even have it down to the point where i can tell one dog to stay and have the other two come with me. its very slick. Lok is not totally calm about exits yet, but he is a lot better than he used to be, and Jun and elo are perfect.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Our new exit strategy
i think i posted awhile back about our issues with calm exits from the house. or at least Loks. well, we seems to finally have that sorted out. my initial vision for entryways was that my dogs would not bolt out of doors without permission and they would exit calmly upon receiving permission. well, we've had the not bolting down for ages. my dogs very rarely go out the door without permission. but we were having major issues with calm exits. it seemed that at least Lok had put far too much value on leaving the house and his release word "ok"had taken on the character of his flyball "go"command.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Elo and LAT
I can't believe how far Elo has come since I started seriously working with him on his behavior in public a couple months ago. He blew me away last night! I have to say, LAT is miraculous! Elo, as far as I can tell, freaks out at stuff simply because he doesn't know any other way to respond. LAT has given him a different way and it's so much fun to watch the wheels turning!
We went to the park last night to work on his "asshole training." There were quite a few cars there (mostly parked), lots of kids running around the playground, and even a dog WAY off in the distance. I didn't know if it would be too much for him, but we were quite a long distance away from the action, so I figured I'd give it a try. As soon as I got him out of his crate, he knew the game we were playing and his eyes were glued to mine. He didn't even bother to look around for things he might want to bark at. He was totally fine, so we moved a little closer, then a little closer. Giving me attention while walking (especially with any distractions) is way too much for him at this point, and motion gets him worked up, so we just took a few steps forward and kept working while stationary. He did awesome the whole time! Alternating between offering me little over the shoulder LAT glances, and giving me eye contact. Relaxing in a sit or a down. I thought we might have some trouble when a couple people came walking quickly towards us, but I broke his focus on them before he could react by calling his name and running backwards. He responded immediately and came to me, so he got a jackpot for that and we called it a day.
My other Elo brag--I took him to the park to run on a long line. Brag number 1: He was calm enough in the park to play fetch with a ball!! Last time we were there, he was WAY too distracted to play. Brag number 2: There is never ANYBODY in this park and nobody ever walks by, but of course some lady walked by with a dog and Elo saw it and took off before I could grab his long line (if he's this fast on 3 legs, I can't imagine how fast he would be with 4!). However . . . . when I called (ok, SCREAMED) his name, he STOPPED, turned around, and came to me!!!! Having no treats or toys for him at the exact moment, I rewarded him with a dog catch (his favorite trick) and some love.
It's been almost a year that he's been with me and I can't believe how far he's come! He really wants to be a good boy and I know we'll get there!
We went to the park last night to work on his "asshole training." There were quite a few cars there (mostly parked), lots of kids running around the playground, and even a dog WAY off in the distance. I didn't know if it would be too much for him, but we were quite a long distance away from the action, so I figured I'd give it a try. As soon as I got him out of his crate, he knew the game we were playing and his eyes were glued to mine. He didn't even bother to look around for things he might want to bark at. He was totally fine, so we moved a little closer, then a little closer. Giving me attention while walking (especially with any distractions) is way too much for him at this point, and motion gets him worked up, so we just took a few steps forward and kept working while stationary. He did awesome the whole time! Alternating between offering me little over the shoulder LAT glances, and giving me eye contact. Relaxing in a sit or a down. I thought we might have some trouble when a couple people came walking quickly towards us, but I broke his focus on them before he could react by calling his name and running backwards. He responded immediately and came to me, so he got a jackpot for that and we called it a day.
My other Elo brag--I took him to the park to run on a long line. Brag number 1: He was calm enough in the park to play fetch with a ball!! Last time we were there, he was WAY too distracted to play. Brag number 2: There is never ANYBODY in this park and nobody ever walks by, but of course some lady walked by with a dog and Elo saw it and took off before I could grab his long line (if he's this fast on 3 legs, I can't imagine how fast he would be with 4!). However . . . . when I called (ok, SCREAMED) his name, he STOPPED, turned around, and came to me!!!! Having no treats or toys for him at the exact moment, I rewarded him with a dog catch (his favorite trick) and some love.
It's been almost a year that he's been with me and I can't believe how far he's come! He really wants to be a good boy and I know we'll get there!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
traveling with three dogs
We got back from our trip to CO last night. Traveling with three dogs was interesting, and definitely a learning experience. I am VERY glad I bought a second car-sized crate before we went. Jun always rides crated. Lok and Elo are both great loose, but it was a huge sanity-saver to only have to deal with one of them loose at a time. Two crates fit perfectly in the back of my truck and Lok and Elo switched off during the drive.
Elo impressed me greatly on this trip! Not once did he react to a moving car, no matter how close to him they were!!! He only barked at motorcycles when they drove by us on the road. He did react to people in the hotel parking lot a couple times, but stopped that fairly quickly. During the competition days, he mostly stayed at the hotel, but near the end of one day I went and picked him up and brought him to the field. I carried him around on my shoulder for awhile, since he is not reactive when he's being carried, and just let him take in the sights. Then I finally set him down and let him hang out on the ground for a few minutes. We didn't try to walk around at all. We just worked on eye contact and LAT. Another dog walked towards him and he reacted, but recovered quickly, and after that was able to do LAT with other dogs sitting nearby without reacting. He was attentive to me when I called his name and sat or laid down calmly the whole time. I only gave him a few minutes, then picked him up and carried him back to the car, as I wanted to quit while he was successful.
Lok nearly got us kicked out of the hotel due to his barking, which caused Elo to howl. Pretty sure they woke up everyone in the hotel on Sunday morning at 7:30 and I learned that I cannot leave Lok loose while Elo is crated. I knew that, but haven't had them in that situation for so long that I forgot. Lok came with me wherever I went for most of the trip.
Other than that, they were pretty good dogs. It was a lot to handle, but we managed pretty well. It's good to be home though.
Elo impressed me greatly on this trip! Not once did he react to a moving car, no matter how close to him they were!!! He only barked at motorcycles when they drove by us on the road. He did react to people in the hotel parking lot a couple times, but stopped that fairly quickly. During the competition days, he mostly stayed at the hotel, but near the end of one day I went and picked him up and brought him to the field. I carried him around on my shoulder for awhile, since he is not reactive when he's being carried, and just let him take in the sights. Then I finally set him down and let him hang out on the ground for a few minutes. We didn't try to walk around at all. We just worked on eye contact and LAT. Another dog walked towards him and he reacted, but recovered quickly, and after that was able to do LAT with other dogs sitting nearby without reacting. He was attentive to me when I called his name and sat or laid down calmly the whole time. I only gave him a few minutes, then picked him up and carried him back to the car, as I wanted to quit while he was successful.
Lok nearly got us kicked out of the hotel due to his barking, which caused Elo to howl. Pretty sure they woke up everyone in the hotel on Sunday morning at 7:30 and I learned that I cannot leave Lok loose while Elo is crated. I knew that, but haven't had them in that situation for so long that I forgot. Lok came with me wherever I went for most of the trip.
Other than that, they were pretty good dogs. It was a lot to handle, but we managed pretty well. It's good to be home though.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Stuff and Nonsense
This is the most boring blog entry ever. If anybody is bothering to read this (and I don't know why anybody would), let me just sum it up: Elo: working on not being an asshole in public, doing a little better, also learning frisbee (sort of). Jun: working on a bunch of stupid random stuff. Lok: maybe better on prozac, maybe not. All 3: Road trip soon, outlook grim. Damn, even the summary is boring. I should just delete the rest, but since I already typed it out, I guess I'll go ahead and post it.
Well, I've been keeping up with my training plans pretty well lately. I've been working with Elo regularly on desensitizing him to everything, which I've found basically translates to working on calm and focus in a variety of different places, as well as desensitizing specifically to different triggers. We've probably been out five or six times since my last post, working on quiet neighborhood streets or empty parks. Even empty parks are a big challenge for Elo. Planes flying overhead are enough to set him off, but he is getting better little by little about focusing on me and not being a little spaz. As long as I am clicking and treating regularly. We are also working on loose leash walking, which he is doing nicely with. He's doing better about cars from a long distance. We're working LAT and the other night were probably within 50 yards of cars going by on a road and his eyes were glued to mine, just giving little LAT glances at the cars. Dogs are still a BIG problem. I can't get him under threshhold, no matter how far away we are he reacts. And even out of sight of the other dog, barking will set him off. Elo is also working on drive building with frisbee and that is looking kind of promising!
Jun has been working on random retrieving fun and useful tricks, like loading the dishwasher and fetching things from the fridge. I've also started trying to work a handstand with her. I think she's too much of a clutz to do it, but we're trying. Just random stuff to keep her brain occupied. Frisbee is her main job right now.
Lok's prozac seems to be working. Sort of. Sometimes. The main difference I've seen is that he is calmer when I am home, usually chilling in a back bedroom v. obsessing over Elo, which is nice. Storm phobia doesn't seem to have gotten any better. Separation anxiety seems to be a little better. And he is walking out the door better and responding to recall away from toys better. At least sometimes. Last night/this morning we had all of these issues. It's so hard to tell whether it's better or I'm imagining it.
In 8 days all three dogs will be coming with me to Colorado for a competition. Lok and Jun are good at traveling. Elo has traveled with me once and is a bit harder to manage. It should be interesting!
Well, I've been keeping up with my training plans pretty well lately. I've been working with Elo regularly on desensitizing him to everything, which I've found basically translates to working on calm and focus in a variety of different places, as well as desensitizing specifically to different triggers. We've probably been out five or six times since my last post, working on quiet neighborhood streets or empty parks. Even empty parks are a big challenge for Elo. Planes flying overhead are enough to set him off, but he is getting better little by little about focusing on me and not being a little spaz. As long as I am clicking and treating regularly. We are also working on loose leash walking, which he is doing nicely with. He's doing better about cars from a long distance. We're working LAT and the other night were probably within 50 yards of cars going by on a road and his eyes were glued to mine, just giving little LAT glances at the cars. Dogs are still a BIG problem. I can't get him under threshhold, no matter how far away we are he reacts. And even out of sight of the other dog, barking will set him off. Elo is also working on drive building with frisbee and that is looking kind of promising!
Jun has been working on random retrieving fun and useful tricks, like loading the dishwasher and fetching things from the fridge. I've also started trying to work a handstand with her. I think she's too much of a clutz to do it, but we're trying. Just random stuff to keep her brain occupied. Frisbee is her main job right now.
Lok's prozac seems to be working. Sort of. Sometimes. The main difference I've seen is that he is calmer when I am home, usually chilling in a back bedroom v. obsessing over Elo, which is nice. Storm phobia doesn't seem to have gotten any better. Separation anxiety seems to be a little better. And he is walking out the door better and responding to recall away from toys better. At least sometimes. Last night/this morning we had all of these issues. It's so hard to tell whether it's better or I'm imagining it.
In 8 days all three dogs will be coming with me to Colorado for a competition. Lok and Jun are good at traveling. Elo has traveled with me once and is a bit harder to manage. It should be interesting!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
What we're working on
I have been SUCH a bad dog trainer since we stopped doing obedience classes! With three dogs, sometimes I just get so overwhelmed and we end up doing nothing even when I DO have time to train. If I don't feel like training all of them, I don't train any of them, and I need to realize that training doesn't have to be a marathon. It can just be a few minutes here and there and working with one is better than working with none. I've been a bit better lately, but it's hard when I don't have any specific goals. So here's my plan for the next bit:
Lok
Not really doing anything, just trying to get more one-on-one time with him and hoping his Prozac kicks in soon. He's been on it for about 6 days now and so far it hasn't seemed to do anything, but I guess it takes a few weeks to kick in. I'm hoping to see improvements in the following behaviors: storm phobia, anxiety in his crate (barking, digging, chewing, drooling, paw licking), anxiety in strange places, obsessiveness over Elo, obsessiveness over toys and being outside, not responding to commands and pretending I don't exist most of the time, barking, digging, and chewing for stress and frustration relief. All of this stuff happened so gradually I didn't really notice it until one day I looked at this black and white dog living with me and started to wonder who he was and what happened to my Lok? He is so sad and frustrated. I just want him to get better.
Elo
I decided to take Elo out in public last night. Bad idea. We went to the lake, and I brought Lok with too. He was obviously very stimulated from the start, but other than pulling on the leash, seemed to be doing fine, leaving people alone. I had him on a long line and he was recalling ok, and checking in with me. Then these ladies walked into the lake and Elo apparently decided that was NOT ok. They were way out in the lake and he was standing knee-deep just barking and growling at them. Then he started barking and growling at EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. I decided to leave and the whole way back to the car he is barking, growling, lunging, practically twisting out of his collar to the point where he was scaring people.
Elo was never supposed to stay. He was supposed to be a foster. Here for a good time, not a long time, and then on to a new home after a couple months. But of course, none of my fosters are ever good, normal dogs. It's been almost a year and he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. So I guess I need a plan to work on this. But where do you start when you have a dog that is reactive to EVERYTHING?!
Jun
Jun, my good girl, my princess, my easy dog. . . . . . . never in a million years did I think I'd be saying THAT!! Jun (and all the dogs, but mostly Jun) has been working long stays and doing WONDERFULLY! Its crazy how starting an evening with a 20-minute down-stay has a calming effect on the rest of the night. I started working on a handstand with Jun last night. She is the world's clutziest dog, so we'll see if she has the coordination to do it, but she was having fun getting to use her brain for something new for once. And I realized last night that she has completely forgotten how to SIT. So we did a refresher on that. Still working on our new "back-up" method. We were stalled out for awhile, since Jun in seemingly incapable of backing up in a straight line, so she was missing the target a lot, thus not getting rewarded and getting frustrated. But I realized that if I turn my body 90 degrees to the left, she backs up straight. So, that was working for us better last night. The only behavior issue I need to work on with Jun right now is barking in the yard. That will be easy to fix. I just have to commit to inconveniencing myself to taking her out on leash long enough to break the habit. One of these days . . .
Lok
Not really doing anything, just trying to get more one-on-one time with him and hoping his Prozac kicks in soon. He's been on it for about 6 days now and so far it hasn't seemed to do anything, but I guess it takes a few weeks to kick in. I'm hoping to see improvements in the following behaviors: storm phobia, anxiety in his crate (barking, digging, chewing, drooling, paw licking), anxiety in strange places, obsessiveness over Elo, obsessiveness over toys and being outside, not responding to commands and pretending I don't exist most of the time, barking, digging, and chewing for stress and frustration relief. All of this stuff happened so gradually I didn't really notice it until one day I looked at this black and white dog living with me and started to wonder who he was and what happened to my Lok? He is so sad and frustrated. I just want him to get better.
Elo
I decided to take Elo out in public last night. Bad idea. We went to the lake, and I brought Lok with too. He was obviously very stimulated from the start, but other than pulling on the leash, seemed to be doing fine, leaving people alone. I had him on a long line and he was recalling ok, and checking in with me. Then these ladies walked into the lake and Elo apparently decided that was NOT ok. They were way out in the lake and he was standing knee-deep just barking and growling at them. Then he started barking and growling at EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. I decided to leave and the whole way back to the car he is barking, growling, lunging, practically twisting out of his collar to the point where he was scaring people.
Elo was never supposed to stay. He was supposed to be a foster. Here for a good time, not a long time, and then on to a new home after a couple months. But of course, none of my fosters are ever good, normal dogs. It's been almost a year and he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. So I guess I need a plan to work on this. But where do you start when you have a dog that is reactive to EVERYTHING?!
Jun
Jun, my good girl, my princess, my easy dog. . . . . . . never in a million years did I think I'd be saying THAT!! Jun (and all the dogs, but mostly Jun) has been working long stays and doing WONDERFULLY! Its crazy how starting an evening with a 20-minute down-stay has a calming effect on the rest of the night. I started working on a handstand with Jun last night. She is the world's clutziest dog, so we'll see if she has the coordination to do it, but she was having fun getting to use her brain for something new for once. And I realized last night that she has completely forgotten how to SIT. So we did a refresher on that. Still working on our new "back-up" method. We were stalled out for awhile, since Jun in seemingly incapable of backing up in a straight line, so she was missing the target a lot, thus not getting rewarded and getting frustrated. But I realized that if I turn my body 90 degrees to the left, she backs up straight. So, that was working for us better last night. The only behavior issue I need to work on with Jun right now is barking in the yard. That will be easy to fix. I just have to commit to inconveniencing myself to taking her out on leash long enough to break the habit. One of these days . . .
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Elo fun!
Elo is so much fun to free shape! Lok and Jun generally only "get" free shaping if there is an object around they are supposed to interact with. "101 things to do with a box" . . . no problem! "Show me something new" . . . both of them generally just sit and stare. As. Motionless. As. Possible. I've tried to play the "click anything and everything" game with them to encourage more offering of behaviors. But I run into a few problems. First, they get stuck in a rut of offering the same behavior over and over again. Second, the motionless staring, with the only movements made being unconscious things, like ear flicks, which they don't seem to associate with the clicks they get for them. Luckily I've found ways other than free shaping to teach them all their non-prop behaviors. But with Elo, I free shaped pretty much everything right from the beginning. Sit, down, stay, pick up objects, touch objects, all his tricks. Because of that, I think, Elo is awesome at offering behaviors and it's so much fun to do shaping with him! I'm working on shaping a "wave." In his first couple sessions, I concentrated on moving his front paws, since we've never done any front paw work. Then I focused on moving just his right paw. Then I worked on lifting that paw. Last night he was offering me a right paw lift to chest height, so we're halfway there! Fun!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Teach around the skill
We spent last weekend at a disc dog training camp with Pawsitive Vybe. Learned a few things and had a great time!
Jun
Jun did her very first flip this weekend. In two years of disc dogging she has never done a real flip, and suddenly she's decided to do it! (Kinda like what happened with her vaults--she wouldn't do them, then one day she just decided to.) I also asked Ron Watson to help me with Jun's backing up. I've been working on it lately and have not been able to get her to back up more than five or six feet. She stops and lays down and won't go any further. Ron had me work on backing up to a rear-foot target. Jun is loving this "new" game so far. I don't know why I never thought of that. Ron said something that really stuck in my mind : "When a skill is hard, don't teach the skill, teach around the skill." That's exactly what's going on with the back up. Rather than continuing to try to get a back up, I'm teaching around it. Jun's not backing up anymore--she's rear-foot targeting and the back up is just incidental. Very interesting stuff.
Elo
Elo had a big break-through this weekend! We've been working on the windshield wiper reactivity kind of sporadically, just here and there when I get a chance. On the way home from the seminar it started raining REALLY hard. I didn't have any treats. I didn't really have a way to restrain Elo. I held out as long as I could, but eventually HAD to use the wipers. I worked single-wipes for a little while, marking with a "yes" and rewarding with praise, which was all I had. Elo barely batted an eye. Then I finally had to turn them on high in order to see at all. I knew Elo wasn't ready for this. I grabbed his collar and just held him back. He was fine for a couple seconds, then started reacting, as I figured he would. He wasn't nearly as bad as he used to be though, and didn't redirect on me at all, and then . . . he stopped!! He chilled, laid back down, and was FINE!! Totally fine. So I guess my work there has paid off! One trigger down, six gazillion to go. We worked some reactive dog stuff at the seminar that I am going to continue to try to implement.
Lok
What am I going to do with Lok? His newest thing: turning and walking in the other direction when I call him. (His recall used to be PERFECT.) Refusing to lie down. Basically, just generally tuning me out anytime I'm not throwing a toy for him. I get frustrated and correct him, even though I know it's not helping any. No idea what to do with this one.
Jun
Jun did her very first flip this weekend. In two years of disc dogging she has never done a real flip, and suddenly she's decided to do it! (Kinda like what happened with her vaults--she wouldn't do them, then one day she just decided to.) I also asked Ron Watson to help me with Jun's backing up. I've been working on it lately and have not been able to get her to back up more than five or six feet. She stops and lays down and won't go any further. Ron had me work on backing up to a rear-foot target. Jun is loving this "new" game so far. I don't know why I never thought of that. Ron said something that really stuck in my mind : "When a skill is hard, don't teach the skill, teach around the skill." That's exactly what's going on with the back up. Rather than continuing to try to get a back up, I'm teaching around it. Jun's not backing up anymore--she's rear-foot targeting and the back up is just incidental. Very interesting stuff.
Elo
Elo had a big break-through this weekend! We've been working on the windshield wiper reactivity kind of sporadically, just here and there when I get a chance. On the way home from the seminar it started raining REALLY hard. I didn't have any treats. I didn't really have a way to restrain Elo. I held out as long as I could, but eventually HAD to use the wipers. I worked single-wipes for a little while, marking with a "yes" and rewarding with praise, which was all I had. Elo barely batted an eye. Then I finally had to turn them on high in order to see at all. I knew Elo wasn't ready for this. I grabbed his collar and just held him back. He was fine for a couple seconds, then started reacting, as I figured he would. He wasn't nearly as bad as he used to be though, and didn't redirect on me at all, and then . . . he stopped!! He chilled, laid back down, and was FINE!! Totally fine. So I guess my work there has paid off! One trigger down, six gazillion to go. We worked some reactive dog stuff at the seminar that I am going to continue to try to implement.
Lok
What am I going to do with Lok? His newest thing: turning and walking in the other direction when I call him. (His recall used to be PERFECT.) Refusing to lie down. Basically, just generally tuning me out anytime I'm not throwing a toy for him. I get frustrated and correct him, even though I know it's not helping any. No idea what to do with this one.
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