Whining In Class

[BC Crazy]

Yes I think I am too soft & too attentive with her. With self observation I know I jump to her attention to quieten/calm her almost every time she squeals as she

gets herself in a real state very quickly & if I don't she just 'ups' her volume. I have found though when I ignore her she gets herself into such a anxious mess

that she shuts down. Her eye's go all glazed & she grabs her sucky toy & just sucks away on that. Oblivious to everything & everyone. She is by far the strangest dog

I have ever had. she is very complex. A lot of dog. If I was honest way to much for me at times but I am determine to do the best I can with her. I know she has tonnes

of potential. Very smart girl. Loves to learn. I've just got to do my best to get her past these few hurdles. Wish me luck with that :laugh:

[corvus]

Sometimes it can look like attachment but be something else. I almost never split Kivi and Erik up and they are BFF, but on the odd occasion they have necessarily been split up they both cope far better than either of them do being 'left out' of a training session. Erik is the one that stresses most being excluded, yet he seems to be fine about being separated. Kivi is pretty okay with being excluded, but may fret being separated. I think it's helpful to properly diagnose the problem. Is it the other dog, you, the fact she knows you're training without her, or the fact that the majority of her social group has left her? If you know the trigger you can desensitise or counter-condition.

Because this is Stella we're talking about I would say it's safer being attentive and calming her than ignoring her and letting her work herself into a state. But neither is ideal IMO. We know her recovery time can be long and she is prone to over-arousal, anxiety and hypervigilance. I expect she is also very clever and capable of learning to manipulate you. So don't give her the impetus or the opportunity. Mat work is like anything. You have to build it up in baby steps and make it rewarding to stay put and gradually increase how intense the training with the other dog is so she can keep being successful while she is still learning.

[BC Crazy]

What you are saying about Stella I totally agree with Corvus. I feel I'm in a bit of a catch 22 with her because I need to be a little more disciplined with Stella but I don't want to push her too much as I also can't let get to

anxious/stressed. There is only a very fine line with her between coping & totally off her nut. So I need to tread very carefully. She just doesn't have a lid for her anxiety. No control what so ever.The slightest thing eg. noise

in the distance & she just flips out, she just takes off yelping & running blind. So I am really trying to keep her attention on me in a vain hope of trying to teach her some emotional control. Then I have the other issue of

miss smarty pants, the opportunist, taking advantage of me where ever she can. Some days I cope with her better than other. One thing that is to her benefit is she always tries so hard to please me. She is a very sweet

girl by nature & I can tell she doesn't enjoy being upset & she tries so hard not to go off her nut. I watch her & I know she is thinking, will I run, wont I...... Oh blow it I'm off. Must be very difficult for her.

Edited July 8, 2013 by BC Crazy