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.

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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?

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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.

Thanksgiving Thanks

3 Stars for this week:

1) Sagan is really driven to find the entry to weave poles....ok, relatively driven.  He is doing a great job with this!
2) The contact training I am doing at home translated to a nice "stop at the end of the teeter" behavior in agility foundations class.  YAY!
3) When Sagan ran away with the toy I was using as a reward in Fun and Focus, I was able to get him back with a second toy (remember, the toy drive thing has been an issue).  Score!
4) Sagan kept a down in agility class with moving dogs this week.  Super score.

1 Wish:
That Sagan did not figure out the new game of "keep away" with the reward toy.  Damn.

Bummed our Fun and Focus class is over.  We've been working with Andrea for almost 5 months!!!  But, I will be glad to have my Tuesday nights back, and we do have a *lot* to work on.  Tops for this week include:

• Recall (it is really broken, so it needs some work)
• Build a jump out of PVC.  I am realizing how much training I could do with a jump. :-)

Thankful for all of human and pet family this holiday.  Will post pics of the special dog dinners later. :-)

Agility Continues

So three stars and a wish for this week:

3 stars:

1) Starting asking Sagan to DOWN before we do any obstacles, particularly when we have all of the dogs circling, and he is amped up with the movement.  I thought this would take some time, but he did beautifully on this on Wednesday.  Self control=access to fun, stimulating stuff.  Excellent.
2) Sagan was able to WAIT while I walked out in front of obstacles.  Held his down beautifully until I released him.
3) The toys are continuing to be exciting and Sagan was able to tug as a reward for doing things, and was interested in the toy as something thrown after an obstacle.  Even when I threw it and he ran off with the toy, he was still ultimately interested in engaging with me and the toy.

A wish:
That I not have to use the toy as a lure to get him to come back to me.  I do not feel confident that his recall is as strong as it should be.  If I am using the toy as a reward for doing the work, I really shouldn't also use it as a lure to get him back when he does NOT do the work he is supposed to.

Three Stars and a Wish-Part 2

Three stars:

-I could call Sagan off of reacting to other dogs in agility class with a "drop" command....it lasted about 20 seconds.  This is huge for him!
-Was able to square up Sagan's fronts so they were nice and perpendicular (rally obedience)
-Sagan was able to work in agility class for me, and ignore other dogs when it was his time to work.  I was skeptical of this, given how amped up he was...nice!

A wish:
-Desperately need Sagan to exhibit self-control in agility.  E-mailed instructor about opting for fewer repetitions and more self control (I'm trying to exert the things I learned in Andrea's fun and focus classes). I'd much rather Sagan show self control than get multiple practice through obstacles.  Going through obstacles won't be the issue...he gets that.

Feeling overwhelmed this week and worried agility is not my thing.  I feel all that old hatred toward class I felt when I ran Doppler.  Just not having fun.  I am having fun in rally obedience...I think because it is moving slow enough I feel like I can succeed.  I really gained a perspective on my students and those that wish things were moving slower.  It is hard to get kids on board at the pace you need them to be to succeed.

Also, 2 weeks ago, our rally obedience instructor gave us a challenge and turned over the signs on our rally obedience course (point being --> pay more attention to you dog, less attention to signs).  She made a point that you couldn't even think about signs in agility.  It made me really pause and think that agility was not something I was capable of.  I *know* Sagan is capable of it, but am 80% certain I am not.  I don't get spatial relationships, must plan out everything, and don't think well on the fly.  Not a good combo for agility.

I have Sagan entered in a rally obedience fun run 11/27....  should be good fun.  Need to decide where else to go from here.  I have him enrolled in another 6 weeks of agility class.  I will decide if we need a break or something else.....