dididog Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Yeah same Hankdog- I'm the only one who walks Didi on lead or handles her outside of the house. My Dad drives her to a big offlead park a lot by himself which I'm fine with because she's got good recall and her reactivity is leash-based but there's no way I'd let anyone else walk her around the block. She's a lot better now reactivity wise but that's only because I manage her and am cautious and can read her body language really well, things my brother or father just wouldn't pick up on or think about. Better Late- don't worry it is hard to make absolutely no mistakes when managing a reactive dog, I know I've made a few stuff ups. It may not have set her back as much as you think though, I know Didi has often picked up where we left off after having a bad moment instead of regressing. But yeah probably best to go the muzzle and long line only route so if you do get caught off guard again you are in the clear. Hopefully your consult with Steve is helpful, I wish I could swing a road trip up there! Jemmy- sounds like Luna has come a long way, really great stuff that you were able to take her to such a big dog event with little drama! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 That's strange maybe Justice is getting grumpy old man syndrome. Jake has also decided he doesn't want Jammie's on this year. He does however go through phases when certain things won't do anymore so I figure it's just part of his charm and getting finicky as he gets older. At the moment he is absolutely refusing to walk across the lawn, he normally has a mild avoidance for the center of the lawn and will stick to the edges off lead but will train in the center. He has a cough at the moment and can't have a collar on so I tried training him outside but he simply refused to come away from the edges. My sister tried all the normal things that work on her Labrador, she learned about getting the bulldog finger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Justice and Jake have absolute Angels for owners. The love and dedication that you Ladies give to your two gorgeous boys is amazing and outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Better Late Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thanks everyone, it was a pretty deflating experience all round but we bounced back and are looking ahead. My partner is away in WA until Sunday night and there's no way I'm walking the dog around here on my own, its a recipe for disaster as there are triggers all around us and I'm not setting her up to fail, no way no how. She's getting stacks of training to wear her out and I've been refining my technique, making sure I'm getting the behaviour to produce the reward and not the reward producing the behaviour (unless I'm luring something I need polished, but then I fade it pretty fast as she cottons on quick, bless her). I'm focusing more on the reward experience which I've discovered is her catching and chasing the food, I've never seen her bound after something so fast! I've conditioned a 'lets go to work' cue, as well as the cue 'ready?' which I use after YES! and it means 'good job, here comes your reward!!!' and at the mere mention of it her eyes turn into saucers, haha. She's been conked out on the bed for most of the day on her blanket <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 This is a great thread, so many things to try with my girl. Didn't occur to me for targeting to be a find it game... This is a long thread though, is there a master list of ideas in between discussions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliecat Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 A master list would be a brilliant idea ! I'll see how bored I get next week and I might make one up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 That would be awesome! Especially since someone... Have to go find it again... Links to awesome toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) Jake had his first training session since he was sick. He did very well with the cattle dog we have been training with. At one point she was up on a box, I had just intended to walk him past the lower platform that was next to the box that we had previously used to put front paws on. As we went past he just automatically went to put his paws up so I let him. This put him right near her back end and he half stretched his neck out to do what could have been the beginning of a butt sniff. I wasn't quite confident to let him actually sniff although Lynette also thought it was more of a sniff than the beginning of a lunge. I guess I just need to catch up to Jake in confidence. We decided to follow our helper dog out of the shed. Normally we just go to a corner and have treats so as to end on a good note. Jake is very poor at generalising, as soon as we were outside our previously acceptable buddy became very scary. Good progress though as he was quite happy to walk past her indoors , he gave her a hard look each time we passed but then bought himself back without any leash pressure, slowly he is starting to make good decisions. Edited July 10, 2015 by hankdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 There's so many pages so this might have been done already, but we've been playing 101 Things to do with a box. It's fun watching her get her little thinking line between her eyebrows as she tries to work out what I want her to do (anything!) This is one of my favorite clicker games, and I couldn’t find a good visual for clients so I made one.The idea behind it is to get your dog thinking creatively and generate new ways to interact with the box to earn rewards. It’s great for free shaping behaviors if you want to teach things like agility, tricks, etc. It also serves as a confidence boosting exercise for nervous dogs and puppies. Fun, simple, cost-effective, and dogs who haven’t done a lot of work like this are usually exhausted by the end. More detailed instructions here: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) Box training gave Jake confidence and even two years later every cardboard box must be done something to. This Friday we had a line of cardboard boxes at training and he was super keen to get on and over them. At one point he and his girlfriend were happily about a meter away, completely loose leash. I actually hadn't thought about it but now I'm wondering if he was so relaxed because of all his positive associations with cardboard boxes? Edited July 18, 2015 by hankdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 It's such a shame, poor Justice. 101 things will hopefully make him confident as it did for Jake. We have some odds and ends to play with at home, hoops taped together to stand in and step through. Cones that we weave between, a tunnel I got for $10 at lincraft, a touch pad that he puts bits on. Hopefully the Prozac keeps doing its job and you can get out and about again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Poor Justice I'm finding it's helping Thistle a lot with having things accidentally touch her, like the box flaps. At first she was really worried over them but now if there's something she wants near a box she'll go grab it (used to be her kong would go under a flap and id have to fish it out why she whale eyed at me) And when she's better at the box game I might take a box to the park so we can play it there and hopefully start using it as a distraction device, ie if I've got "scary strangers" over, and just general reinforcing calm curious behaviour. And of course, future photo opportunities :D I've been doing lots of thinking and aside from dogs due to bad experiences + naturally timid, I think a lot of her issues are timid + unfamiliarity. I recently found out how old she is and it turns out pretty young. So 1.5 year now, I adopted her at 1 year which means foster carer got her at about 10 months which means she was in the pound from around 7-8 months of age! I know they're not the usual influential puppy ages but I think an untrained unsocialised timid dog in the system for about 4-5 months... No wonder everything is scary But she responds well to slow incremental introductions to new things and for those things where she's already got scared habits in place... Getting better. I think. Provided I'm with her, I think she'd go straight back to scared pound puppy attitudes if I'm not with her. She sniffed some strangers on Sunday tho and even ashes one of the ladies for a pat. And let the groomer cut her nails cause when I do it she wiggles all over the place. Edited July 21, 2015 by Thistle the dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 What a bugger about Justice shutting down when out and about. But it is great that he still copes with his play dates with Pax and visiting Gruf's paddock. I really hope that the box games and other confidence building activities help him to reclaim some of his confidence. It is brilliant to hear that Jake is going forward in leaps and bounds. It is so all consuming and sometimes exhausting dealing with a dog that requires so much attention and careful management. Both boys have such great personalities and they are a credit to the both of you. Well done Snook and Hankdog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Better Late and Thistle it is great to read that you are making progress with your dogs. Enjoy each victory. Thanks heaps for the 101 things to do with a box. So many ideas. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks grumpette for the kind words. Now you know you're going to have to post photos if the big dude in a box???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 As requested Hankdog Zeph with front legs in the box. Zeph sitting in the box, just!!! His bum is on the edge and you can just see his tail on the floor Dee with front legs in the box, with Zeph photobombing. Never one to be left out!! Dee sitting in the box, completely, as she tucks her tail in, like a true Lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Well done Dee! We haven't started shaping yet, still in the nose it around and hit it stage XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 What a bugger about Justice shutting down when out and about. But it is great that he still copes with his play dates with Pax and visiting Gruf's paddock. I really hope that the box games and other confidence building activities help him to reclaim some of his confidence. It is brilliant to hear that Jake is going forward in leaps and bounds. It is so all consuming and sometimes exhausting dealing with a dog that requires so much attention and careful management. Both boys have such great personalities and they are a credit to the both of you. Well done Snook and Hankdog. Thanks so much for the kind words, grumpette. The photos of Zeph and Dee are awesome.. and hilarious! :laugh: It seems that Justice LOVES noseworks and sniffing his way through all the boxes to find the one with the cheese, probably because he gets to eat the cheese when he finds it.. lol. I was going to try 101 Things this afternoon but he's not having a good day so think I'll leave it until tomorrow and hope he's coping a bit better. Poor Justice had a bit of a freak out after I got home this afternoon from the gym and shopping.. He was his normal excited self when I first got home and we had a cuddle before I put the groceries away and he was fine. I grabbed some poo bags after the shopping was sorted and popped out the back to do a poo patrol but when I went to come back inside, Justice was standing in the doorway shaking and with his tail tucked between his legs. I have no idea what upset him but I started using an excited voice and encouraging him and he recovered and we went inside together. Then I took him out to the car with me and he came for a drive to put the car under the carport down the back (I'm in a unit set back from the road behind another unit but my under cover car park is right at the back of the property) and trotted back to the unit with me like nothing was wrong (there are no dogs in the other units so no risk of any barking or dogs rushing out of another unit). We got inside and I put some soup in the microwave and sat down to do some "sit, stay, look" training with him while I waited for my lunch and he pinned his ears back and looked stressed. I kept going because I've gotten him out of mini meltdowns before by getting him to focus on training but after four treats he refused to accept them and was shaking and trying to climb on my lap. I forgot the training and just comforted him until he settled but I'm absolutely mystified as to what triggered the upset. This was a couple of hours ago and I just pulled out the container of treats again and asked him if he wanted to do some training (he usually jumps up and runs over at the chance to earn some treats) and he just lifted his head up, looked at me and then curled back up in to a ball on the couch. I have no idea what's going on with him today. Is it possible that he associated the poo bags with a walk? Are they the same treats that you would take with you on a walk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Well done Dee! We haven't started shaping yet, still in the nose it around and hit it stage XD Thank you. If you look really closely at the front flap you can see slobber where the liver treats were lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 love it grumpette, rotties are definitely photogenic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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