Click To Calm And Avoidance

[grumpette]

I have a question for those that have used click to calm to deal with dog aggression.

Dee developed DA as a result of three separate dog attacks when she was 7 to 13 months old. She is now just over 2 years old. For the last 9 months we have been doing obedience training and calm walking in safe areas of the neighbourhood (ie around controlled, contained dogs) to increase her confidence and mine and regain her trust that I can deal with any danger. Over this time she has been able to gain her CCD title and one pass in Novice. She is able to be around other dogs of various breeds without too much stress and very little aggressive reaction.

However, she has now developed avoidance as a coping mechanism when around excited/barking dogs and tends to shut down to the point where she will not follow obedience commands.

So my question is will the click to calm method be of benefit to both Dee and myself? She loves to work and be out and about, so I want her to be able to continue to enjoy these activities, as this is our one on one time.

Where can I get more information about click to calm?

[Kavik]

From:

http://www.k9rawdiet.com/Click-to-Calm-Hea...ons-pr-127.html

Your dog does not have to be aggressive in order to utilise this book! Click to calm is about keeping our dogs calm as much as it's about helping the aggressive dog. Is your dog a little too much to handle for you? Here's your answer!

K9 Raw Diet recommends that before using this book a basic understanding of clicker training will ultimately provide you with the most benefit. As such, purchasing the Clicker Training Starter Kit and becoming familiar with the techniques is going to greatly assist you as you begin to Click to Calm your dog.

Learn a path-breaking, effective approach from someone who's been there. When Emma Parsons, canine trainer and behavior consultant, discovered that Ben, her own prized golden retriever, was aggressive toward other dogs and that traditional remedies took his reactivity to nightmarish levels, she turned to clicker training. In the process, Emma developed innovative and highly effective strategies to calm, alter, and re-shape Ben's aggressive displays.

Her work has since helped many clients successfully reduce—and even erase—their dogs' reactivity to both dogs and humans. This proven path is now laid out, clearly and empathetically, for you to follow.

Click to Calm has more than 40 exercises presented in an easy-to-follow “training recipe” format, teaching how to:

•Desensitize your dog to approaching stranger dogs

•Allow you to grab your dog's collar without him snapping

•Have your dog perform canine calming signals, instead of aggressive displays, on cue

•Have your dog turn and give you eye contact whenever another dog approaches, or you tighten on the leash

•Use your own body language when under stress as a cue for your dog to remain calm

•And many more creative and effective uses of managing behavior through clicker training

181 pages of fun.

[Nekhbet]

what method have you used so far?

[grumpette]

I used mainly distraction by going into obedience mode or getting her to watch, and in the beginning I was very aware of her critical distance. I am also aware that if I am calm then she is calm.

I cannot use a correction using a correction collar or flat collar as this only loads her and escalates the aggression. I also cannot use the command “leave” as this also escalates the aggressive behaviour. These reactions I believe are due to the fact that this is what I did during the three attacks.

Now when she goes into avoidance and shuts down around other dogs that are reacting or boisterous I cannot use verbal correction as she shuts down further. I can get her back into working/listening mode if I encourage her and lighten up.

Yes there is handler error as I am so not used to this.

She is food motivated but has extremely high prey drive that can take a lot of pressure.

The two extremes are hard for me to comprehend.

[Nekhbet]

sounds like she's still under too much stress and all that has happened is her anxiety is pushing her into alternative behaviour. Does she just ignore you or start turning her head, crouching, rolling her eyes etc?

I think this is something you have to start back from the start with. What would happen if you corrected her with the collar and then called her to heel/sit in front of you?

[grumpette]

I did correct her with her collar on Tuesday at training, re-commanded heel and she came. She was then praised for this and her mood changed back to happy and relaxed.

A possible contributing factor is that she came into season yesterday, which is 3 weeks early.

She crouches and goes into a submissive drop when I turn to look at her when I know she is not there or when I return to her. She can tell from my body language that I am not happy with her.

She can be calm, even excited in a friendly way around other dogs, but on other occasions like Tuesday night she can be anxious and looking around at the other dogs and not comply with commands. On Tuesday there were new dogs in her class and one owner was frustrated with her dog, constantly yelling at him.

She confuses the hell out of me sometimes and I don’t know what to do.

[Nekhbet]

Never take a bitch in heat to obedience training. Her hormones will be throwing her all manner of ways, and the unwanted excitement/attention from the other dogs will be stressing her more. If you want to breed her down the track the last thing you need is a bitch in heat that has learned to stress around dogs giving her attention.

She crouches and goes into a submissive drop when I turn to look at her when I know she is not there or when I return to her. She can tell from my body language that I am not happy with her.

learned behaviour? Have you been frustrated with her and she's giving you a signal to be more exciting/happy? I would pull her up into a sit happily and reward her, teach her what you actually want adn there is nothing to be frightened off. As for you not being happy with her - sorry but tough titties on that one you can't train a dog when you're not happy or frustrated. Yes, trust me I KNOW how it is and how frustrated you must feel sometimes but it means your dog will not progress, learn or trust you 100%. You can see your dogs compliance can go out the window when she's under pressure ... why should she turn to you when she still sees you as somewhat of a bad thing? Not being mean but do you get my drift I can tell you even with big strong a-hole dogs, I'm really nausiatingly nice with them when I train. Oh they get a correction if they need to, but that comes from the collar - thats what it is for. They learn I'm one to pay attention too because I'm so nice to them when they comply. If they don't, the collar corrects them and I say nothing until they do comply and focus on me. Once that trust is there the compliance goes sky high because in making the decision, they decide I am the better option between that stimulus and me. They are also more relaxed because 1) they are always near a source of confidence and reward and 2) I lay things out black and white, showing the dog exactly what emotion and behaviour I want from them and reward it consistantly, even if I have to add the odd 'good dog!' in there to keep the pace going.

I would give her a break from training while her hormones take over for a while my bitch was the same when she came in heat at a younger age, by a few years old she didnt care and loved working even in season. I would step obedience training back a few steps and look over your body language and routine - are you subconsciously pushing her too far? Are your expectations of her behaviour realistic? Are you consistant in your training, praise and corrections? Are you reading your dog right? What have you actually taught when you taught all your obedience commands

for example, one dog I have worked with. Owner says SIT and dog does this half assed, sloppy sit and is not paying full attention to the handler. Handler tries to get dogs attention, eventually does and rewards. So to this dog, SIT means plonk down, look over there, fart, sniff the scent of the horse next door and OMG FOOD WOW AWESOME I"M EXCITED!

Extreme example, but do you see the one word allows the dog to basically hold on to excitement despite actually performing the action. What anxiety levels have you linked with your obedience commands?

Edited September 16, 2010 by Nekhbet

[grumpette]

Yes now that she is in season she will be house bound for the next four weeks.

I agree that I have probably moved to quickly with her with regards the number of dogs that she has around her when she is working. I need to step back and ensure that she is comfortable around the other dogs before starting to work. It is also probably a good idea that between exercises I just let her chill out, as I usually play with her with her toy.

My frustration shows as I know that she can do the exercises so well. I also think that for her the greatest punishment is when I ignore her. If she is sloppy in the execution of commands she does not get praise, but we do it again and then she gets praise. I need to lighten up a bit and be less stressed.

We are a work in progress and she is still very young.

Thanks Nekhbet for all your replies and suggestions. ;)