Controlling Prey Drive

[MissMaddy]

Once again, thank you everyone for the fantastic replies, all very helpful!

Training obedience should be for fun, she should know that by doing as you ask, the result is fun. At the park you should ask for some easy obedience work in order to get the fun stuff.

You are rewarding her for switching off, you should be having a break and playing when she is at her best.

Thanks for that PAX, I didn't think about it like that! I know when I train her myself, I try to have her still fresh and training well before we stop. And I just got back from the park with her (no other dogs), probably the best she's ever been! I got given a kong wubba by a friend, and she goes nuts for it! I used that in conjunction with the food I had, and had the most beautiful focus from her! And then, as it was late and there was no one else anywhere around, I did some off lead with her retrieving the wubba. She had a ball, was racing after it, and racing back almost as fast to give it back so we could continue the game! And then when she decided to do zoomies in some puddles, her recall was absolutely fantastic, she bolted over, and skidded to a stop so she could play with her toy some more! I think I may have found her currency! Just have to really get her focused on that in more and more distracting situations (in conjunction with a professional of course).

Oh, and my dog will only "play" like you describe with dogs who are submissive to her, or rather those that dont dominate her- (mostly dogs her age or a bit younger)

Zali doesn't care if they're dominant or submissive, it just determines whether she'll jump on them or just chase them. She plays much better with a more dominant dog, though, because they'll keep her in line when she starts to do the bullying stuff. Even when there was a dog that had just tried to have a go at her for no reason, the minute he was after her ball, she still wanted to chase him (but I stopped her of course).

Hi MissMaddy ..... feel free to contact me should you wish. Trish at "4Paws" - presuming you mean Four Paws K9 Training? (there is another place which has a name that is similar and can be confused) is also one I'd recommend. Cosmolo might be a bit more local to you though.

I'm pretty sure it was Trish I spoke to, the one with the training centre opposite Kepala and in Keilor. I guess I'll get onto Cosmolo first then, and see when training starts back up, and organise some private lessons or consultations first.

I was planning on taking her to the next Kepala meet to take her for a swimming lesson, and someone else has organised a consult with Trish there, so I may see if I can organise this in conjunction with the other person before I start up with anyone closer. If she's going to be too full on though, I'll just take her in a separate run with another dog that I know will be good with her.

[Arya]

Thanks for your reply.

So would you suggest limiting her interactions with other dogs to just a quick hello, and leave until I can try to use this to my advantage?

When there are other dogs around, I find it extremely hard to try and get any sort of focus from her, unless we're at training, which she's learnt is different from our local park.

At the moment, other dogs are definitely her 1st priority, and getting her focus off them is the hardest thing, especially since she's very hard to even get to play with a toy if there's another dog around and running. The toy I use is a rolled up piece of towel, and she goes crazy for it, just loses her enthusiasm for it when there are other dogs around.

I guess I've been so focused on ensuring she's dog social, that I've let her become a bit too obsessed with them!

Although she had improved a lot in recent weeks, especially after going to Kepala. She's starting to move her focus back onto me, as the novelty of the other dogs starts to wear off.

ETA- I think I better contact k9 dog training to do their training in prey drive by correspondence. Given how focused she is on any other animal moving at a fast speed, I think if I can get this focus on me, we'll be set for obedience.

I would definitely limit her interactions with other dogs. Who is meant to be the centre of her universe? NOT other dogs. Forget other dogs and all that 'socialisation' stuff for the moment. Socialisation can be a double-edged sword imho. It is vital but at the same time, DOES NOT take priority over your dog's interaction with you. So keep her away from other dogs at the park in a nice a way as possible, by providing her with a 'more interesting' you, complete with toys, fun etc.

If she loses her enthusiasm for the rolled up towel (good choice btw but try some thick washing machine hose, the white stuff, you'll find it's better on tug and easier to throw just watch though, easy to hurt yourself or dog if you hit anything with it lol) then the drive for it is not high enough. Work AWAY from other dogs. Find the 'line in the sand' where she becomes more interested in her towel and then move in slowly. Act much more animated. Hey, think of it like a kind of dance. That's what I always do. Here's an analogy I was thinking of the other day. If someone asked me who I'd rather dance with... John Howard or James Bond, I'd of course choose James Bond every time. I would be HIGHLY motivated to learn to dance a difficult dance with James Bond but John Howard... nope. JB is action man, cute, lots of good reasons to dance with him. Think of it from your dog's pov. You need to be animated, fast moving, lots of fun, a good player... a better player than other dogs which is very very hard. I always remember the great trainer Steve Austin said something at a lecture I went to by him. He said 'dogs play REAL well with other dogs. Too well. Don't try and compete.' So... remove the competition, at least for now. Then you have a chance of winning. Hope that helps and makes some sense!

Cheers

[MissMaddy]

Thanks for that Arya, extremely helpful!

I became so focused on her being social with other dogs because my last shepherd had a bad experience and became a little fear aggressive (only growling, never ever anything else, and it stopped when she realised the other dog was friendly), and I was determined that Zali would be dog social!

But I know she's social with other dogs, and I really see where you're coming from in suggesting I limit her exposure to them.

I'll see how she is to determine what happens with the next Kepala meet, but there are separate runs there, so I can use it as a chance to keep her attention on me even though there are other dogs around (I think I might try some "me" focused play in a separate run, maybe some short interactions with the other dogs, and then a break in the car or the run on her own, so she realises they're not all that matters!).

Edited, because I accidently hit complete too early.

Great idea with the hose Arya, I'll just try a few things to see what keeps her attention under the most distraction. So far, the kong wubba is winning! The rolled up towel is very close behind, though, except that she ends up ripping holes in it.

Edited December 21, 2007 by MissMaddy

[Erny]

I'm pretty sure it was Trish I spoke to, the one with the training centre opposite Kepala and in Keilor.

That's the one . Trish also does the private work as well, as does Cosmolo.

[MissMaddy]

Thanks Erny, I might see if I can organise something with Trish next weekend at Kepala, and then decide where to go from there, after hearing what she thinks.

Then I'll decide whether to make the hike out to Keilor for training, or whether to continue training with Cosmolo. I might contact both, and see what will work out best, whether I have a session with Cosmolo beforehand, or whether I ogranise on with Trish for next weekend.