A Study of Triggers

So I got a great book from Amazon this week called Help for Your Fearful Dog by Nicole Wilde.  In it, there was a suggestion to keep track of a dog's fearful reactions to pinpoint triggers more effectively.  In other words, what *specifically* is setting your dog off.  So I made some mental notes this week, and have come up with the following sets of triggers for Sagan:

• Men.  If Sagan is going to react to someone, 9 times out of 10, it is a man.  He is not afraid of all men, so I'll have to do some digging to figure out what it is specifically.  At Reber Ranch yesterday, he was passed VERY closely by 2 women, one with a noisy, squeaking cart...and had no reaction.  Man walks by=snarfle.
• Sudden Environmental Contrast (SEC).  I read about this in the book, and it really fits.  In the hallway at my school (very quiet, long, no movement, white, no sound dampening), Sagan always reacts (sometimes just stiffening, sometimes barking), when a student or adult comes out of a room into that hallway.  Also, after school on Wednesday, Sagan watched a group of track students noisily run by, but started to bark when one student (who had met Sagan before) came out of the pack to greet him.  He is able to walk through crowds of people with no problem, but when there are one or two, he can focus on that and tends to react more.  It is possible he is fearful in the crowd, but not barking, however, his body language does not seem to indicate this is the case.
• Adults more than children.  I'm not sure if this is a height thing or what, but I've rarely seen Sagan react to children....even one that came baseball sliding into him at Ross' school.  Yes, he snarfled at this kid, but no bark your head off reaction.
• Dogs (this is a big one right now).  Pretty much all dogs from all distances.

Counter-conditioning notes:  

We have been continuing the "look at that" game, while clicking and treating.  We've had some progress with that, but feel like I've come to a standstill with it.  I feel like Sagan is not generalizing what we are learning to different environments.    Because his threshold distance to what sets him off is so variable, I frequently have him over threshold before I can correct.

Given his ball obsession, I decided to ditch the hot dogs and treats and clicker, and start trying his jingle ball as a counter conditioning tool.  In other words, strangers=lovely jingle ball with which Sagan is obsessed.  We tried this twice...once while visiting the vet's office.  Sagan still barked upon entry and still barked at folks coming through the door, but he was quicker to forget about it and focus on play.  We also tried this at Reber Ranch...stood close to the checkout and entrance door with lots of people coming in and out.  Only 2 small snarfles in 2 separate instances, and his focus was still on the ball.  I have to be careful, though, that I am allowing him to see the strangers and not blocking him with the ball play.  He needs to learn strangers=ball.  

I was really encouraged by this, because I'm feeling like we aren't making much progress with the fear issue.  I'm still perplexed by where the fear came from.  For quite some time, I was convinced we had done something, but this fear is soooooo ingrained, I have to think some of it is genetic. I know that border collies in general can be sensitive to noises, and don't generalize well.  So I think we're on the far end of the spectrum.  I don't think the breeding or whelping was the culprit.... nor do I think we exposed him to something incorrectly....  And I'm also aware we're coming up on a second fear period, so I'm hoping to make some really good progress before that occurs.  Feel like I'm watching the sand run out of a timer.

Lots of Dog Socialization, Manners Minder, and People Update

It has been a bit since I've updated...seems like eons!  Sagan is 28 lbs., has 8 adult teeth, and lost 2 more baby teeth since the last entry.  He seemed to have regressed a bit this week with the people thing.  I've determined the hallway at my school is scary for him....  totally quiet, then one person walks out a door.  He is not being super reactive, but taken to doing a "bark, bark...  oh, you're OK, model".  We did, however, have a great experience at the Fred Meyer parking lot playing "Look at that."  We parked in a far corner of the parking lot so he could see lots of people, but get passed by very few in close proximity.  He did not startle or snarfle or bark at anyone, including a very large man who limped.... VERY close by and taking forever to get out of eye range. YAY for Sagan.  I sat in the back of the CRV with him and clicked and treated for proper behavior.

Sagan got to meet Kane, belonging to Nancy and Scott, on Sunday.  We met up at a mostly fenced, unnamed park in Hobart.  After some initial barking, Look at that, and calm behavior, (about 4-5 minutes to do the intro), they were off chasing sticks together and generally having fun.  They did get into some play bowing and such once they had been together awhile.  Kane introduced Sagan to the water....Sagan wasn't so sure.  Great outing.

Kane and Sagan showing their SKEELS. :-)

Puppy class was a mixed bag this week.  Sagan really pegged on people before class started, BUT, REALLY played with the pups this week.  (Week 6 of 12 week class).  He wrestled with the Rhodesian Ridgeback pup, Athena, and investigated all of the other dogs.  He likes the calm Shih Tzu, Sugar.... :-)  Also a major plus....during puppy play, Sagan went up to EVERYONE in class and did a polite, non-jumping plea for attention...no hunkering away from hands or men or anything.  GREAT!

Thursday night, we met Cody and his dog Tipsey, and Tracy, and her dogs Kimber and Nugget for a playdate at the Edgemont track.  Sagan had met these dogs before (Cody is one of our housesitters).  He got to play run and chase while the other 3 played Chuck it.  Sagan FINALLY didn't always get the ball, like he does at home.  He loves these dogs...great experience for him.

Two majorly ball-obsessed dogs.  Notice immense focus on Chuck It. :-)

Clockwise...Sagan at Cody's feet, Nugget, Tipsey, and Kimber

On Friday night, we got our Manners Minder, which is basically like a dog training robot on steroids.  WOW, am I impressed with this thing.  It is sturdy, and the perfect level of scaffolding to teach a lot of things.  YES, I paid almost $90 for this thing, but it will be soooo helpful.  We have already taught him to target a stick, and to down stay for a full minute, with treats dispensed every 7 seconds.  Go Sagan.  I only wish there was a Manners Minder that dispensed people of different varieties in such a consistent manner to deal with his fear of people. :-)

Saturday, we went down to Argus Ranch.  We watched Nancy run with Kane in agility (and he did well, go Kane!).  Then, we got Sagan out to meet Rye, his brother.  Sagan was really overwhelmed with Argus Ranch.  I knew this would be the case (stacking stressors and all), but he was able to recover once I provided visual barriers.  He also was able to turn to me and "touch" twice while he was slightly agitated.  The best came with the crazy play with Rye in an off-leash, unmowed area.  Here is the cute shot of the day with the two of them sharing a frisbee.  Thanks to Monique for sharing the pup for a bit. :-)

Nice of them to share, no?  Two peas in a pod!!!!

Sagan is growing up!  When I posted the following picture on my Facebook, someone commented on his very adult eyes.  He is 4.5 months old!!!  And what fun it has been to train a smart dog.  He is also really fairly calm for a puppy of this age.  He has his spastic moments, but is also a very gentle, lovey guy.  We just need to keep working on his confidence.  This week, I'm feeling like the more things we teach him, the more things we can ask him to do in distracting environments (like touch, etc.)...to get him to focus on other things.  This week we worked on targeting with a plate, puppy burpees, bow ("do your Yoga"), and leave it.

Fun Tricks and Socialization Update

Well, the past few days have given Sagan a few socialization challenges, but he has done pretty well.  These are his experiences since Wednesday:

1) Met Tipsey, our housesitter's dog.  I got pictures of them laying together on a mat, so I assume all went well there. :-)

2) Met Kimber and Nugget, our housesitter's friend's dogs.  Did great with them, apparently played with Kimber, and tugged with Nugget, who is elderly.  Sagan was described as tentative, but not fearful.

3) Met 3 different men while we were gone, reacted fine to all 3.  YAY!  One was in a uniform.  Scary.

4) Lowe's Duck Pond.  Loved this.

5) Lowe's.  We intended to take him inside, but instead worked in the parking lot, since he was immediately pegged and snarfling at things.  He calmed down.  All in all, a success.

6) My trail run.  About 100 people there.  He snarfled whenever anyone passed us on the sidewalk walking to the start.  Ross took him as close the crowd as he could to still have Sagan's attention.  After a few click and treat sessions, he took him back to the car.  Just fine!

7) Met Donnelle and Jason again. Some sentry barking at the door, otherwise fine and quick to warm up.  Maybe 1-2 minutes.  Then we took him in the front yard to meet their dog, Chunky, who is an enormous, but very sweet, 9-year old black lab.  Chunky very patiently sat or laid down waiting for Sagan to get close enough to sniff.  We played look at that.  It took a little while, but he did warm up to play bow and jump at Chunky.  He got one little snarly correction from Chunky and took it very well.  YAY Chunky and YAY Sagan.  This was great.  Here are Chunky and Donnelle (from their FB...I forgot to take pics):

Sagan was only irritated that he spent so much time in his pen this weekend while we were redoing our office flooring and walls.  This is his irritated look.

Cody taught him to "spin" while we were gone.  Awesome.  We also started working sit-stays and down-stays this week.  No specific command here.  I want him to sit or stay until I release him.  Sagan is also doing nicely on "heel".  This week I want to do some fun stuff with him:

-downward facing dog (bow)

-some naughty trick where I flip him off and he does something (I know, terrible, but fun)

??

He is also doing great on potty training.  It has been well over a week since any accidents in the house.  Awesome.  He is getting better at asking to go out.  

Four Month Birthday!

So....this week began my Spring Break, and we had lots of time to work with Sagan.  I am happy to report that his stranger danger seems to be lessening somewhat.  He has had lots of people experience this week.

1) Isaac Evans park in Auburn (very quiet day...did great with people, really pegged on dogs)
2) Petsmart in Puyallup (ROCK STAR....and I owe Cody and Tracy huge thanks for their help here...  they facilitated Sagan being in Banfield exam rooms to get experience at another vet, asked people to come up and pet him.  I did not see a single instance of people fear here at all.  YAY...and we stayed for almost an hour...an eternity in Sagan's little brain)
3)  Four sets of people coming over to meet him.  Cody and Jade (this one involved submissive peeing, but ended well), Donnelle and Jason (rock star), Patti and Jon,  Kim and Kwami (rock star).  We did the game "Look at That" each time.  Sagan did a bit of sentry barking at the doorbell, but took less than a minute or two to want attention, getting closer with Look at That.  All of these folks stayed for quite some time, playing ball with Sagan and generally getting ear kisses.  At least he learned those folks were lovers. :-)  I owe everyone BIG thanks for the help here.
4) The vet 2 times.  This one is gonna take some work.  He had a bad experience his 2nd set of boosters and absolutely HATES the vet tech, Heidi.  We took him into the lobby just to give him lots of hot dogs.  He is very alert and pegged, and the lobby isn't quite big enough that we can get him far enough away for effective look at that.  I opted for classical conditioning here instead.  Lots of hot dogs, me running and jumping like a goon so Sagan was more interested in jumping on me and chasing me than worrying about Heidi.  Ironically, he is far better in the actual exam room (our vet is wonderful and let us traipse him around through the building).  He was fine being put on the table (tail wagging)...and this is where he tried to chomp Heidi last week.  The best outcome of all of this, though, was that our vet allowed us to take his 3rd set of boosters home and do the shots at home (we've done this lots before, including IV fluids for the ferrets, so we weren't worried about this).  Shots went great.  Now we have about 2 months to get him used to Heidi before his neuter.
5) Puppy class. He was still pretty tentative during puppy play, but did come out to investigate, and did play bow once at the Shih Tzu puppy, Sugar, in class.  He did great on all the obedience stuff, but we're working that lots, successfully, at home.  He seems to be generalizing in new environments *really* well on this front.  We exchanged numbers with Debbie, who is Walter's mom (pit bull brindle pup...Adorable) to enjoy the quiet off leash park at Reber Ranch sometime.


So, we are off to Woodinville for 2 nights, and will be leaving Sagan with Cody.  I am so happy we have a great housesitter who also does dog training and understands what Sagan needs.  He is going to introduce him slowly to some well-behaved trainers' dogs while we are gone to continue the work socializing him with other dogs.

This week has also alerted me to something important concerning puppies that I think I knew, but got reminded about.  There are lots of people who have advice about raising your puppy, and there are lots of people who will judge everything you do.  While it is always important to keep an open mind and hear what people are saying, you don't have to put up with anyone criticizing your every move. Those of you that know me, know we've been through quite a ride with this guy and are working our asses off to ensure he is socialized appropriately and often.  You also know that this has been very emotional and we don't need negativity right now.  So imagine my absolutely seething ANGER when someone I thought was an ally criticized how we were playing fetch with Sagan, and told us to worry about him kissing us....that it can turn into obsessive behavior.  Then this total BAD WORD had the gaul to tell me I was being selfish by not allowing Sagan to go live with her for a month while I cooled off.  That somehow, my being emotional about the problems my dog is experiencing will prevent me from doing the right thing by him. Seriously, people, life is too short to accept this kind of BS from anyone, credentials or no.  So please, if you have anything nitpickingly negative to say right now, keep it to yourself for awhile.  I'd rather enjoy Sagan's ears:

New digital SLR camera;  Nikon D3100

Or watching Sagan and Doppler play with cardboard:

Or watching Sagan sleep in his favorite spot in the house:

Or watching him look handsome in the few moments of sunshine we have outside:

How handsome is that!!!

Or marveling at the fact that he has already lost FIVE baby teeth!!!!

Sagan is sooooo loving us right now!

Or generally catching adorable shots of him, like this one:

This is what Sagan thinks of the scariness level of the world.

Or capturing funny shots that need no explanation, like this one:

Uh......

So really, follow the adage your Mother told you....if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.  Sagan and I would really appreciate it.

The Rest of the Week

After I was about ready to throw in the towel with Sagan after Tuesday, Ross and I decided that he would take him the rest of this week.  Partially to give me a break, and partially to avoid Sagan having to sit in my car while our marching band practiced (Sagan is horrified of our marching band...)

So Ross sends me almost hourly updates about training, Sagan's fear, etc.  This is the last e-mail he sent me, titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" on Friday (Kerri is the head of housekeeping, who keeps him for a few hours a few times a week.):

Good:  Kerri said he did a great job with all the upper school girls that said hi to Sagan when they were coming down to do the laundry.

Bad (but not too bad):  He got really nervous when the grounds keeper walked into the office.  a little barking and when and hid behind her.  She told Marc to go away right away so he didn't stay scared.  (At least it wasn't a long time, and hopefully he felt protected by Kerri, can't control EVERYTHING.)

Ugly (but ultimately cute):  While I was teaching kindergarten he came running into my room, wagging his tail, ears back, tongue out obviously proud that he'd found me.  Fortunately the class (14 of 'em) were too stunned at seeing a puppy to respond.  He actually jumped up on one of the kids who was a rockstar and just stood there and took it.  I grabbed him as soon as I recovered from the shock.  He wasn't scared at all, 14 little bodies in the room standing in lines.  WOW.  Kerri showed up right after that and said they were playing with a water bottle (crinkly kind, evidently a fav).  Suddenly his ears perked up and he ran towards the door and took a flying leap over his kennel.  (apparently he can jump over it now...)  He must have heard my voice working with the kids and come a runnin'.  At least he made it to me and no one is worse for the wear.

He also did really well with the kids at our puppy class, who did "sit for greeting" with him during class.  So at least one good note is that we *might* not have a dog that will bite children.  That would be a plus. :-)