Agility Updates

Well, it has been a quiet couple of weeks.  Agility, rally, and control unleashed have gone well.  Sagan "graduated" from Control Unleashed 2 this past weekend.  We've been specifically working some pattern games, but largely, I'm trying to shift "look at that" into a new game, where I click on the look back at me.  It is actually working quite a bit better than our old "look at that" game.

Anyway, I'll keep this one short and sweet.  We did awesome in a 16-obstacle course in agility this past Wednesday.  A high point after a few weeks of garbage!

Starting Over....Again

I suppose owning a reactive dog involves a series of starting over.    I haven't posted for awhile, partially because there is nothing new to say.  While that may seem like a great thing, I think it is more about a lack of any change.  I can count on Sagan to be over the edge reliably every few weeks.  The last 2 episodes involve class-based things.  In Control Unleashed, a Bernese cross came up within about 5 feet of Sagan's kennel while the Bernese was doing off leash work and distracted.  Sagan has wanted to eat him the last three classes, to the point that both of our dogs have to have their kennels covered while the other is working.

In rally yesterday, a dog was there for make-up, and in 50 minutes, I went through 3 cups of treats, and experienced about 5 growling lunges for the other dog.  Sagan practically chewed my thumb off taking treats.  I finally decided just to leave 40 minutes early because it was clear he was not going to calm down.  Oh, don't get me wrong, he was "obedient" and doing his exercises, but was not in a good frame of mind.

I'm part of a FB group called "Canine Behavior Training," and I've been chatting with the owner privately the past couple of days.  I have a few suggestions from her that I plan to try.  I'm planning to spend a few weeks working focus and pattern games (Leslie McDevitt).  She suggests observational skill training for me.  I'm going to put my all into this, but the cynical part of me that has tried all of this stuff with three different dogs is prepared to be back at square one in a few weeks.

My friends try to remind me "how far I've come," and "how lucky Sagan is," and to "hang in there," and that "he will mature."  I feel a lot like I'm stuck in a failing marriage that I keep thinking I should get out of before I invest more of my emotion, time, or money.  I hate to think of Sagan that way, but I do.  I can't help but think someone else would have had more luck with him than me.  I don't need or want anyone to blow sunshine up my ass, but I have lots of regrets about decisions I made early on with him.  I love him to pieces, but I really don't feel like 70% of the time, I enjoy our partnership very much.

I have never felt like more of a failure in any aspect of my life than in owning a dog.  And that's the honest truth.

With how smart I am, and how committed I am, and how many things I have going in my favor with this dog, it just hasn't worked out the way I planned.

I'm dumping my socialization log off of this website, because it is honestly too depressing for me to keep up.  I will replace it with a log of our training sessions, because at least that will make me feel like I'm doing something positive.

I'm writing all of this down, because, again, I think it is beneficial for folks with reactive dogs to have a true picture of what it is like.  At 2 years, I still seriously consider throwing in the towel.

Adjusted Behavioral Plan

So Sagan had a pretty crappy time at the race we went to tonight.  What is normally an OK distance away from people and dogs wasn't.  While I had run the course before and thought it would be pretty conducive to a good experience for him, I really didn't think about the bigger picture that this run was through a suburban area with onlookers at the edges of yards (people who like staring at the 2 or 3 runners with dogs).

I've thought a lot about the strategies I've tried (look at that, look at me, behavior adjustment training, counter conditioning, etc.).  I also did a little bit of searching tonight, and I think I've arrived at a cohesive plan for where to go from here.  To this point, I've tried to broaden the number of tools I've had to deal with his reactivity, but I'm now beginning to realize some of these things work better than others for him.  I need to dump some of these things and redouble my efforts on others.  As I'm reading online, it really does seem like I should be further than this right now.  With almost a year and a half of very concerted, positive-style training and behavioral work, .......  we should really be at a more consistent place.

1)  Continue control unleashed.  This is one of the best opportunities for Sagan to practice self control in a VERY stimulating, but safe way.  I need to do this until I have some pretty predictable self control on his part in a variety of situations.
2) Dump Look at That.  He is "trained" perfectly to do this.  I don't think, however, it lowers anxiety.  The only benefit is the fact that he is conditioned to look at me after the click.  The rationale for this is that the dog  is anxious and needs to get information about his environment.  I really don't think he needs information about other dogs so much as he is worried, and the conditioned "click look at me" response is the only part of that that serves to lower anxiety and break the stare.  Border collies stare by nature.  I don't need him doing this. I'll continue to do this in CU as it is asked of us, but that is all.
3) Begin training and rewarding an auto "look at me." Rationale:  he needs to feel calm that I will handle it, so he needs to look for me for direction.  Looking at me results in food and increased distance to the dog.  I suppose this is really a modified, specific version of BAT.  The only difference is that the "calming signal" I expect is for him to look at me.
4) Consider dropping rally obedience or agility.  Rationale:  I need to focus on his behavioral issues, and find sometimes that in class, I'm more concerned with getting him to perform the required task than working on an overall "zen" in him.  Rally is a "calmer" class, and that is a plus.  It is also something we're also doing with Doppler, which is awesome, too.  However, since we've started removing the treat bag from me, I find his motivation is still low after a couple of months and it might be a good time to take a break and do some home work.  Conversely, agility Sagan LOVES, and the other people in class manage their dogs so well, that I feel like it is a safe environment for him.  He gets more exercise here too, and the brainwork associated with thinking and moving is great.  However, leaving class is always stressful since there are often off leash dogs in the parking lot. So we always leave a little early to avoid that, but it is this constant game of Pacman to get to the car anyway.
5) Goals:
a) I still want to be able to run with Sagan on my normal trails.  I like running with him in races, and I need to think about the complete picture if a race is conducive to his current state or not.  I've been doing this, but really only thinking about my knowledge of the course, and not thinking about all the variables.
b) I've mentioned before to not worry about competing in agility, but in the back of my mind, I'm still kinda working toward that.  While I really want him to be excellent in agility, I am not sure what forcing him to go to stressful environments with lots of dogs and people (agility trials) is doing for him or for me.  When I have to focus so much on his behavior, I will never be at ease in an agility trial environment.  And ultimately, I don't care about titles and letters after his name.  If I ever did do a trial, it would really be only to test our ability to focus in a new environment.
c) At some point do a rally trial.  I think this is a calm/slow enough environment that I can do this and appeal to my competitive nature.
6) At age 2 years, re-evaluate his behavior and determine if I want his thyroid levels tested. I'm not particularly convinced this is his issue, but I am really puzzled why we aren't at a more consistent place at this point.  I can rationalize (for now), that some of the strategies I've been using are not optimal for him, specifically, but once I've tried this new plan, I really should be seeing some consistency.

Ultimately, I think Sagan is dog reactive on leash, not out of a desire to get at the dog, nor a true FEAR of the dog, but a conflicted state....he wants to but is anxious about what could happen.  I think this because he figures out most dogs off leash, but even then, the introduction usually involves hackles.

I'm still not sure about the people reactivity, and I'm in a place where I'd like to manage this as much as possible (read: "avoid people that set him off").  Though I understand getting him to a similar place of self-control with this is critically important, I feel I can control this situation a lot better, so want to focus on the dog thing for now.

Summer Updates on Sagan

Yeah, so summer arrived, and I got a little lazy about posting.  So here's your summary. :-)

Sagan is still taking rally obedience (Seattle Agility Center) and agility classes  (Vortex).  Here's a look at him in agility this past Wednesday:






He is doing well in there, and we did a few privates earlier in the summer with Andrea Dexter as well.

Sagan's doggie pool stopped allowing doggies, so we are looking at continuing his swimming at Happy Tails in Enumclaw, but we just haven't done it yet. :-)

Sagan is also doing Control Unleashed classes at Ahimsa, which is perfect for his needs right now.  He occasionally has some people issues, and predictability has dog reactivity in close proximity.  However, foro the first time in a year and a half, I feel like it is getting better.  With the myriad of behavior games I'm trying, I feel like he is able to THINK given the right amount of distance.  And finally, that distance is getting PREDICTABLE.  Before, it was a complete crap shoot as to how far away I had to be from his triggers.

I'm also now carrying with me, on our runs, citronella dog fight spray.  Don't ask me why this has helped my confidence, but it has.   My number one fear is off leash dog bombings.    Sagan has become a nice little running buddy.  We ran with someone and her two dogs earlier this week (a cattle dog/shepherd/basenji mix and a boston terrier/chi mix), and within about 5 minutes, they were running side by side.  Sagan didn't know what to make of the little dog.  I can run 5-6 miles with him now, no problem.   One of my New Year's Resolutions was to take him with me to 3 races.  We've done one, and I have one in mind next week, also.  Should be fun!

We are also still taking him to doggie daycare every other week.  Seems to be doing fine with all kinds of dogs there.

So there you have it!

Just an Update!

So, no big news in Sagan's life, but a few successes and new things:

Rally obedience:  Starting to work on not having my treats on my person and have him still work.  That was a dark couple of classes, but it looks like he is getting it!

Agility:  Starting to do some cross work, and Sagan does fine now that I am using one of the classes' kennels, that is located off to the side (read:  out of line of sight of 90% of the agility arena).  He is doing some nice work here.

Private agility:  Just gonna do a few of this with Andrea.  The first one, she walked me through how to read a course.  Wow, was this helpful.  She was impressed with how far we had come, and she suggested she bring down one of her dogs as a stimulus dog and alternate us working.

General socialization:  going pretty well.  Took him to Petpalooza in Auburn yesterday (HUGE pet event).  He tends to do better in these busier environments, and actually LAID DOWN while multiple dogs walked by, 10 feet away.  Little tantrum about one goofy lab, but otherwise, very proud of him.

Seattle Walkabulls group:  Great, structured walking group that is meant to address the image of bully breeds, but also provide a structured group.  We walked (dogless) with them today, and I'm impressed.  I think this will help him SOOOO much, along with the BAT, and other counter conditioning games we've been doing.

Only other thing on the agenda is that I'd like to take a Control Unleashed class this summer with Sagan.  I think it would help a bunch too.

Here's the stinker!

Five Phases of Reactive Dog Ownership

Applied today to join the Seattle Walkabulls group that does regular walks with imposed space restrictions between folks on brisk walks.  This sounds great for Sagan.  Friended that group, and found another "Reactive Champion" who also has a blog I followed.

This article was posted and I related to it a great deal:
http://loveandaleash.com/2012/04/05/five-phases-of-reactive-dog-ownership/

The five phases being:
1) Realization
2) Denial
3) Panic
4) Progress
5) Management

This does encapsulate my frustration, since I feel like I am always trapped between panic and progress.  I intellectually know what to do, but I struggle, often, to execute and then panic. I do see progress with Sagan in the people fear issue (on a scale of 1-10, his people fear is at a 1-2....he occasionally reacts to an odd person, but often just looks and ignores).  YAY.  Now, I am managing situations when I see a particularly odd-looking person (hat, hood, odd gait, etc.).  The reaction, at most, involves staring, rather than barking or anything worse.

With dogs, we are unpredictable.  With some dogs we are fine with a few short minutes of protocols, and I can get him within 10 feet. With others, I either have to offer much larger distances, or severely manage with treats/toys.  I cannot help but tighten up on the leash with off leash dogs.  I need to practice the abandonment idea our trainer suggested and stop worrying about the random off leash dog.  Sagan ALWAYS figures this out at daycare.  ALWAYS.  I've watched hours of his daycare time, and he either ignores, or informs the other dog he wants his space (appropriately with short snark).  I've never seen him act reactively or aggressively toward another dog there (and I've watched hours of the webcam).  His connection to me, through the leash, is the issue.

Today, we met Teddi and Cathy for another BAT protocol with 2 of their cocker spaniels that Sagan has not met.  He did fabulous.  He also did fabulous with 2 dogs that showed up to play chuckit.  We move outside the fence, but he ignored them moving in as we moved out.  He watched them running through the fence.  The worst we got was a slight forward-posing stare (since I'm working on BAT, I allowed it, waiting for the head-turn toward me).....he eventually stopped, looked toward me, and got the distance he wanted.  One dog in question was a high energy Britanny spaniel, so I consider it a huge success..

As a herding dog, I know he is inclined to react to movement, so I think our additional steps (in addition to more BAT) is to find safe situations with fast moving dogs to expose him to, to practice self control.

All things told, I am very proud of him today for his ability to deal with a variety of situations at Auburndale park.

Rally Obedience Fun Run at Pawsabilities

So we took Sagan (and Doppler) to a fun run at Pawsabilities in Fife. First I'll share our novice run (we also did an advanced run), and then I'll share the experience.
 

The Bad:  The run itself was extremely unorganized.  It was supposed to begin at 6, and they didn't have any of the rings even remotely set up.  Ross and I had to tell the ring stewards that they had 2-3 signs in the wrong place or facing the wrong direction.  They fixed them, but stuff was still kinda off.  After the courses got set up, nothing happened for another 10 minutes.  We finally ASKED if we could go, and they were like "oh sure!"  Who knows how long we would have waited otherwise.  And backing up a minute...the registration form said "we have THREE rings!"  So we signed up for 2 rings, and they didn't say that the rings were differentiated by novice, advanced, and excellent.  (and it didn't match up with the numbers on the form anyway.  We signed up for rings 1 and 3, and they signed us up for advanced and excellent).

Then, the shining scary moment of the night.  Sagan goes up to (I think) the owner and sits for greeting.  Nice.  He did/does have some people fear issues still.  She then politely pats his head, leans down in his face, nose to nose, and grabs his head and excitedly says things to him

!!!!!

OK, I understand that many pet owners and others are not aware of proper dog language but holy heart attack, batman.  She was in his face before I could even say anything.  My logic and emotions prevailed, and I managed not to tighten up the leash.  Thank doG he had decided he liked her anyway.

On to Sagan:  This environment was challenging for him and the sudden environmental contrast "thang."  There were lots of places for us to separate ourselves from other dogs, around corners, etc.  But when a dog did appear, it was out of the blue and usually just one dog (the fun run was not well attended).  We did fine until we were in the main walkway and he had a little temper tantrum.  The tantrum involved a little lungie growl toward 3 separate dogs.  Was minor, he recovered quickly, but still unprovoked by the other dog staring or being spastic.  It didn't help that they were about 40 minutes late starting.  I wish they had said this up front, because I would have kept him in the car longer, and gotten him out later.  So that was disappointing, but....

The Good:  Sagan REALLY focused well when in the novice ring.  About 80% of the time we were in the building, he was completely focused on what I was asking (including for him to face me/away from other dogs and calm down).  He also was EXCITED to see new people.  This has been developing for some time, and I am happy about it.  His run in the advanced ring was OK...his brain was fried at that point, just due to the 40  minutes around other dogs.  I have to get him to focus while in the building, even when we're not working, to prevent his reactivity from appearing and escalating.  I did keep him on leash for the advanced run, and dropped the leash for the jumps and stay/come to heel exercises.  He did GREAT with these.  Given the less than ideal environment for his issues, I am very proud of the poochy!

Love this picture of us.

Added:  This was just a lovely day.  The weather was wonderful, and I PRed on my 5K this morning:  26:08 for my final time...about 8:20/mile pace!!

Agility Runs 4/18

A couple of our agility runs this evening.  Wasn't Sagan's finest hour, but we're making it:



This one was a short 3-jump sequence ending with the chute. He did very nice on this.
This was a 5-obstacle sequence. In later runs, we added on a jump, a tunnel, and two more jumps. This was 10 obstacles, kinda split up.

Removal of Drama and Calming Influences

So.... Spring Break was lovely.  Went back to work this week.  Sagan has still done a nice job this week.  He did a few visits to a tiny off-leash dog park with Ross where he encountered one or two dogs, successfully.  Though I don't worry about him off-leash, he is a definite victim of SEC (sudden environmental contrast), so was very pleased he did so well.

My life has gotten exponentially easier now that I've removed some people from my life.  It is crazy how you become connected to people who judge you and you just internalize and accept the judgment.  I had people who were judging my every last movement ("you know border collies aren't always sports dogs")....  you judgmental LOUT.  I'm talking about exercising his brain.)  At any rate, Companion Animal Solutions is the source of my drama.  Owner criticized the hell out of everything I was doing, judges every dog owner.  Someone who works for her thinks I'm a self-absorbed lout because I decided to keep Sagan and figure out what in the hell I was doing wrong.  Roommate of said person sicked her friend on me to supposedly post anonymous judgmental crap on my blog about what I was doing wrong.

Guess what?  I don't need your acceptance to determine what is best for my dog.  I don't lose any sleep at night.  I consult people in the know, constantly.  And now, I can sleep at night, not trying to please people who don't even know me.

Pardon the immature, teenage rant.  Sagan is my dog.  I will make the best decisions for him, and you can keep judging all you want.  Life is a process of surrounding yourself with people who will support, but challenge you.  I don't need to keep anyone in my life who determines criticizing what I do will somehow motivate me to be better.

And by the way, Sagan is improving day by day.  He is the loviest guy on the face of the planet.  I can only hope to keep doing justice by him.

Sagan's Spring Break with Mom

Sagan had a great week with me on Spring Break:

Monday:  A 1.2 mile walk in the sunshine

Tuesday: BAT protocol with Janey and her boxer Macy.
Wednesday:  Agility class
Thursday:  Swimming and the vet (OK, vet was no fun at all)

Friday:  Doggie daycare and running around in Mommy Monique's sheep fields with Rye and Lucy

Saturday:  Party at our place with all his favorite people (overwhelming, but he got lots of lurve).

Sunday:  Rally obedience

What a great week we had!

12 Weaves: One inch apart!

We've been teaching Sagan the weaves using the method found in the article "Teaching Weaves Using Channels and Guides" by Nancy Gyes.  This is about 2 months worth of work, though he has seen the weave poles before in a "new things are fun" context.

A Good Week and Congratulating Myself

So, after a bit of drama with people who decide they know best (read: better) than I do about reading my dog and what he needs....we had a pretty good week.

While he wasn't a rock star at agility, he was: focused, calm, and willing to work for me.  His recall was great when he wandered a few times.  Nice.  He was calm and able to work in rally obedience.  In a 5-minute down across from his arch nemesis, Leon, the black lab....Leon kept creeping toward him while in a down.  Sagan watched, and would look at me each time for treats.  Super nice.

I decided too, since I am tired of being criticized (including by me, since I'm my own worst critic), I would make a list of all the lovely things I do for Sagan.  Yeah, this is just to make me feel better:

1) I researched agility places, and take him somewhere where we kennel dogs inbetween runs.
2) I take him to rally obedience classes, and have taken him to some obedience class since he was about 9 weeks old.
3) I take him swimming, because it is great exercise, and he doesn't have to interact with dogs there.
4) I take him running, and stop my run or alter my run to avoid other dogs or do protocols appropriately.
5) I take him on walks, and stop or alter the walk to avoid other dogs or do protocols appropriately.
6)  I have read at least 6 behavior books in an effort to persist in what is often an unsuccessful venture to get him calm around other dogs.
7) I keep a socialization log about how things are working (or not).
8) I've consulted two different behaviorists about what I can do for him, and practice those things on a regular basis.
9) I bought him an agility jump so we can practice at home.
10)  I take him to a doggie daycare that screens dogs, so I know he isn't getting bullied, and is getting good socialization off leash.
11)  I lather up Sagan's feet with paw toughener and Musher's wax so he doesn't rip up his paw pads at daycare.
12)  I bought Sagan dog toys to feed his meals to him in to exercise his brain.
13)  I took him to private agility classes as a pup to work on our relationship stuff.
14) I got him 100 free tennis balls from the local tennis club. :-)
15) I hand make bags of treats to use for socialization and classes.
16) I set up protocols with other dogs we know we can trust so he can work on his issues.

I'll add to this list as I think of more today.  I really am doing what I can, so I'll just have to wait and see if he gets a little better with some more maturity.

A fun picture for giggles.  Ross and I watched a movie last night on the Apple TV.  Sagan developed an obsession with the clicking noise coming from the remote.  Awesome.  LOL

Also, Sagan met Tonka, a 4-month old Mastiff puppy, who belongs to Donnelle and Jason.  While we didn't do any nose to nose greetings, Sagan did great with this, and OMG, is Tonka CUTE.

Low Points and Moving Forward

So, last Wednesday, Sagan left a run in agility class and "found" a kenneled dog that he tried to attack from 3 different directions.

The world stopped for me, and I cried for 2 days.  NEVER had Sagan gone after a kenneled, "safe" dog. His issues had always been on leash.  Compound this with 3 weeks of unfocused work in class.  Compound this with 3 weeks of hating the same innocuous dog in rally class.

I was really ready to throw in the towel.

I have three dogs I can take nowhere.  I have three dogs I cannot trust.  The frustration is intense and very real.  The sense of failure is overwhelming.  The sense of humiliation that my dog is capable of dropping focus to try to attack another dog....priceless.

We saw our behaviorist on Saturday.  We did a lot of talking and a lot of playing.  No protocols.  She just tried to figure out where we were and where we could go from here.  She suggested:

1) lowering expectations (no expectation to compete in rally or agility).  Lower expecations, work with him, and forget about lofty thoughts.
2) stopping attending to the behavior. Try ignoring insofar as he is not practicing insane reactions.  When running, I shorten the leash, let him whimper, try to lunge.  Don't say anything, don't look at him, don't give treats, etc.  Tried this Tuesday.  Moderate success.  I didn't even carry treats with me on our Tuesday run.
3) Continue BAT.  This wasn't specifically a recommendation, but I just started this and want to play it out.
4) Get a bike attachment and get him moving FAST past other dogs without a chance to escalate his emotions.

Our agility instructor is trying to help. Class this week went fine, though Sagan is not as exceptional as a border collie should be, and not to the level he was 3 weeks ago.  I am strongly thinking private lessons will be the norm here and we will phase out group classes.  Strongly thinking agility trials will not be a thing we shoot for.   Adjusting thinking: we take him to agility classes to exercise his brain.  We will not be competing him.

Our rally instructor is trying to help. Dogs are kenneled for walk-throughs.  For whatever dumb reason, Sagan cannot STAND another dog in class.  I managed the situation (with help) on Sunday, but I am prepared to REMOVE HIM the F*)*@#()*$ from class if he continues the ridiculousness.  The dog is not staring at him, not looking at him, not running spastically across the room.  In the right circumstance/distance, I will let him react and have his tantrum.  Otherwise, same place with rally.  We are not going to pursue titles with him.

Depressing, but being realistic.  This dog is too reactive to continue in group classes with excitement.

I really enjoy training Sagan, and experience success in that.  I will continue BAT with him (it is still young), and am sure we will acclimate to the experience.

I do not enjoy acclimating Sagan to the real world.

It is a challenge to continue pushing.  The temptation is there to stop the fight and just let him be a "home dog."  If he were any but a border collie, I would have resigned to this a long time ago.

Next steps/decisions:

1) Determine if I can keep him in rally class.  Probability:  80% as far as I'm concerned.
2) Determine if I can keep him in group agility class.  Probability:  30%.  With good kenneling, disaster averted.  Focus is abysmal.
3) Determine if I want to do private agility lessons.  Probability:  70%.  I think he is capable of amazing things, but only with no other dogs present.
4) Determine if I can trust him as a running partner.  Probability: 60%.  Fine/manageable on leash. Off leash dog...sunk in the water.
5) Determine if nosework is an appropriate class for him.  Probability: 90%.  I am told this class is perfect for reactive dogs.
6) Determine if bike attachment is feasilble/logistically possible/helpful.  Probability:  90%.  Need to buy bike and bike attachment.

This has not been a fabulous week.  I swear if I were anyone else, Sagan would have ended up in the humane society by now.  I love that guy, and am committed to his progress, BUT.....

Owning a Reactive Dog

So after a few tears last night and thinking of how all of this must be perceived by other people with even-tempered dogs, I thought I might share a few quotes with you about what the experience is like.  Understand this is not so much wallowing as it is commiserating with those with reactive dogs and trying to somewhat educate those without as to what it is like being me, with THREE (count them, three) reactive dogs.

 I am out here for you. You don't know what it's like to be ME out here for YOU. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, ok? -Jerry Maguire

I take my dog out in the "real world" with a bunch of other unreliable dogs and people who think they know how to interact with dogs.  Despite my best planning about which way to face my car, when to open the door, when to let my dog see you, how close to get, and what method of behavior modification I choose, I won't win some (30%) of the battles I enter.  Then the uninitiated judge how I must have abused my dog/not socialized my dog/not trained my dog.  It is a "pride-swallowing siege"....for certain.

--------------------------------------------------

Andy Dufresne: You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? 

Red: No. 

Andy Dufresne: They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory. 

Having had three reactive dogs (Winnie would bite another dog, Doppler doesn't like small dogs, and unneutered male dogs, Sagan generally leash reactive), I wish I was not developing a pattern with dogs.  I was very conscious with Sagan to not predetermine anything with him, yet he still ended up with the problem.  Does make one wonder....is there a way to find a place with no memory with my next dog?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Wake up
Well it's nice to meet you
Do you have a name?
'Cause I would like to teach you, baby
Alright
If it's unfamiliar
When the sharks are swimming
We will watch them kill ya, baby
Yeah, you
I'm a little shocked
'Cause I can see the future
Lookin' through your eyes
Tonight
Don't you fall asleep
Don't you fall
It's only gonna take a little time
-AWOLNATION




A conversation with Sagan....LOL.  Sometimes I wonder if he thinks this is what I do with him...watch sharks kill him.  I feel like I plead with him to trust me.

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"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."


— Niccolo Machiavelli
The Prince (1532)






Where I feel like I'm at. I don't know that I have the leadership skills to affect the kind of change I'm looking for. Wish me luck!

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If you have a reactive dog, hopefully this resonates with you.  If you don't, hopefully this helps you understand some of the stresses those of with reactive dogs go through.

BAT: Setups 2 and 3 & Reflections on Classes

So, we continue to work with Sagan on BAT setups. The second one I tried with with Sadie, an SBT from my agility class. Sadie has a certain zest for life. Behold:

I tried an altered protocol with Sadie.  I have this hypothesis that Sagan's reactivity on leash comes mostly from frustration.  Though he does/can feel threatened and trapped, I think most of it is frustration.  So they played off leash before agility class.  Then at the end of class, I let them meet nose to nose on leash.  Success with this short encounter.

The third set-up I did was with Sagan's previous obedience instructor, and three of her pack:  Cooper (a Newfoundland), Tess, and Bert (a terrier mix).  Sagan met Tess a long time ago, but had not met the other two.  We did all of this classic BAT setup, mostly without food.  There were minimal snarks when noses accidentally touched, but nothing inappropriate.

We did some nice side-by-side treating, and then Sagan got to meet Cooper off leash.  Boy, did they romp and wrestle (for as long as a large Newfie can romp and wrestle) :-)  

Rally class continues to go well, though Sagan REALLY hates this lab (mix?) named Leon in class.  I can't quite figure it out, but he is settling down SOME in class now.  Class is packed right now with six dogs and humans, so it is a management challenge each day to ensure he is safe and not getting pushed over threshold.

Agility also continues to go well.  Nichole (who owns Sadie, pictured above) taped several of our runs. Sagan has not been super focused here or in rally lately, but you get the drift:

We've also been teaching the weave poles at home, using guides and channels.  The weaves are currently 3" apart....  with no guides, Sagan squirts out about every 5th run on a miscellaneous pole.

So Sagan is almost 15 months old.  This has been a whirlwind of a ride so far.  I find myself periodically switching between being super proud of him, and still getting caught up in "the dog I thought I was signing up for."  If that sounds sad, and a little pathetic, it probably is.  Sometimes I think I've failed him somehow, and sometimes I think he came messed up.  Regardless, I really feel like I need to view our classes right now as a culminating accomplishment, rather than a means to an end.  The reality is that I may never compete him.  The thought upsets me not because I am competitive, but because the reason he may never be competition ready is....I don't know that I have the gumption and time necessary to help his reactivity.  It is my top priority right now, but I feel like with my skillset and problem-solving abilities, there is only so much I am going to be able to do.  I feel guilty because I'm sure he *could* be a good competition dog.

.....sidenote......No wonder so many dogs from busy families end up in the shelters.  I'm fairly certain Sagan could have been one of those dogs.

I love Sagan to bits, and we are managing quite well.  I only wish I didn't feel I had to "manage" him and that we could just enjoy these classes together.

Alright, so as not to end on a negative, here's 2 stars and a wish, which I started earlier and need to keep doing.

2 stars:

1) Sagan's people reactivity is virtually non-existent about 95% of the time.  And with the 5% worry, I can tell it is going to happen and prevent the situation.

2) Sagan's recall in agility is getting better, and I don't have to tote him around by his collar all the time to keep him with me.  Excellent.

1 wish:

1) To have Sagan's reactivity limited to a dog invading a small bubble of his personal space.  That his bubble decreases significantly in the next few months as we work these protocols.

BAT Protocols: Step One and Reflection

So we met with Teddi and Cathy on Sunday to work some BAT protocols with dogs Sagan knows: Kwest and Kleo. Things were 98% good.... I pushed a bit on nose-to-nose introduction and got a little snark.

The idea of BAT is that you give the dog the reward they need/want (to be removed from scary situation) when they give you any kind of calming signal (turn to you, lip lick, shake, etc.). The idea being that the dog learns to offer you a signal when they need to retreat from a situation. They learn to self-police the situation.

This worked well, though granted, we were with 2 dogs Sagan has seen for many months, though not granted access to.

Want to continue this work, but also was looking around online, and found some information from Nicole Wilde, who wrote wrote a great book about helping your fearful dog. One thing she tried was to let her dog encounter the dog off leash, and then leash for protocols.

This really clicked with me for a couple of reasons....Sagan exists in doggie daycare fine, and can figure out dogs just fine off leash. He *does* show signs of nervousness, but he doesn't NARC on dogs off-leash. So I am wondering if I could use a few really safe dogs off leash.... let Sagan meet and figure them out, and then work the on-leash protocols. I keep feeling that this would accomplish a few goals:

1) Trust Sagan's abililty to figure out other dogs on his own. I've seen him do it at daycare. He isn't a dog to wrestle and tustle with other dogs at daycare, but he does figure out a variety of dog approaches just fine.
2) Break the "meeting strange dog on leash equals stress" cycle. Yes, I need to him to deal with on-leash dog sitings OK, but want to break the emotional chain of stress.
3) Speed up the success of working on-leash protocols. We're trying to establish a pattern of "encountering dog on-leash doesn't mean scary and doesn't mean that you have to meet other dog." This goal would be more likely achieved if he doesn't HAVE to figure out the other dog first.

So I am planning on working BAT in 2 different ways: classically and by introducting off-leash and then working on leash protocols.

Wish us luck!

L

Updates on the boy-Rally and Agility and Reactivity

Well, looks like life got hectic for awhile and I neglected the blog.

A few updates....  Sagan has done 2 rally obedience fun runs since I last posted...one at the end of November at Family Dog Center in Kent, and one at Argus Ranch in January.  The first went really well.  It was small, and his nervousness was easily managed....  minus a teeny bit of pulling the beginning of each run, he was really with me.  Here are those 2 videos.

First run:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2702605374395&set=t.1517340403&type=3
Second run:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2702626054912&set=t.1517340403&type=3

The one at Argus Ranch was a bigger challenge.  LOTS of dogs and people, LOTS of time waiting in lines with many dogs.  Given that, he didn't flip his lid, even when dogs were sniffing him.  Nice.  I'm not totally sure if this was the effect I had observed before where more stimulation is better (not able to hyper focus on one thing...SEC), or it was shutdown over so long in line.  The other challenge was that Sagan LOVES Scott and Nancy Burke, and Scott was filming.  You can see this on both videos.  :-)  I was pleased with him though, insomuch as he was able to work for me, even given lots of stimulation he finds scary.  Good work!






We have also been in agility foundation classes since I think September.  We are started to string together obstacles, and Sagan is working more nicely for me off leash (I don't have to lead him around by leash or his collar, and he will come when called most of the time.  He is still more snarky with other dogs off leash in class than I would like, but we're working on that.  Here's a video from this past Wednesday of us stringing together 7 obstacles.  A little sloppy, but he was cued into my body language on the tight wrap, and discriminated between the tunnel and the A-frame well.  I have some cueing problems, but well.....




As far as the reactivity goes....it is better in many ways, and stalled in others.  Given the situations described above, I would say he is doing better in familiar environments with familiar tasks in not having ridiculous reactions to other dogs.  The main issue now is the off-leash dog that bombs up to him, or not being able to get far enough away from new dogs in situations that I can't control.  I purchased and read Control Unleashed and Behavior Adjustment Training.  My current plan is to try to do multiple set-ups with him using BAT.  I made a list the other day of people with dogs who might be willing to help me, and plan to use that list over the next few months to get some repetition in.  The first one of those meetings is this Sunday (tomorrow) with some friends from our agility class and their dogs.