September, 2021 6 Entries
25,Saturday

Dog Problems

About: Here are the biggest dog problems we're having at the moment.
List:
  • Bites while harness going on
  • Bites unpredictably when stroked
  • Can't tolerate strangers in the house
  • Won't go in the car
  • Not eating
  • Lunges at other dogs
  • Will maul if prevented from getting a cat, eating plastic, etc
  • Scared of broom and surfaces
- Bliss

Training Priorities

About: Despite all those other problems feeling more pressing, I feel like maybe getting the "basics" down is best.
List:
  • Calm settle
  • Go to your mat
  • Getting the dog's focus
    • I feel like this can be done a lot throughout the day, with little low-priority tricks and cues, so he's in the habit of focusing on us
  • Treating for name
    • Doggo will listen to his name sometimes, but i'm worried it's used too often when he's kinda in trouble. Best quality treats for this.
Other Goals:
  • Get a new harness, with a single clip
  • Desensitise to new harness
  • Daily training hour, for more brain tiring
  • Friend is sending me a watch, for a "training hour" alarm
  • Find the clicker
- Bliss
26,Sunday

Resources

Themes: Attention, focus, patience
To Do:
- Bliss

Training Hour

About: Despite all those other problems feeling more pressing, I feel like maybe getting the "basics" down is best.
Time: 6:30pm, after walk
List:
  • Test old behaviours:
    • Sit, settle, up, stay, come, wait
  • Looking at my face gets a treat (attention noise)
  • Coming to me gets a treat (attention game 1)
  • Find it: waiting outside, then finding different toys
  • Look at toy by name: no luck at all
  • Playtime!
  • Two gentle bites while patting head without permission
- Bliss
27,Monday

Training Hour

Priorities: Yesterday, he was responding faster because his focus was on me throughout the session. However, his energy level was VERY high, he was NOT a calm boy and had to keep dashing back to toss his toys around to get out some frustration. How do we fix this?
Plan:
  • Test old behaviours:
    • Sit, settle, up, stay, come, wait
  • Click gets a treat.
  • Looking at my face gets a treat (attention noise)
  • Coming to me gets a treat (attention game 1)
  • Find it: waiting outside, then finding different toys
  • Leave it
  • Playtime!
- Bliss

Biting!

What happened: In the morning, being called to follow a treat; i'm pretty pissed
Fixes: My husband needs to get better at communicating to me what's about to happen? Or vice versa, but like definitely pausing and agreeing a strategy first.
Reflections: In the intensive training sessions, one thing I've noticed is doggy does get very hyper and frustrated, and quickly wants to like go back to playing biting with his toys, but it seems less that he's bored than he's frustrated and needs to get that out. I know kiko has a video on this? it'd be good to build into the training routine whatever he needs to return to calm more quickly.
- Bliss
October, 2021 2 Entries
1 Oct

Dogsitting!

Priorities: We're going to work on calm, I think
Plan:
  • Test old behaviours:
    • Sit, settle, up, stay, come, wait
  • Click gets a treat.
  • Looking at my face gets a treat (attention noise)
  • Test old behaviours, but outdoors. Leave it, outdoors. Look at me, outdoors
  • Find it: waiting outside, then finding different toys
  • Leave it
  • Calm settle on a mat outdoors: which is the basis for calm indoors?
Right now, if I say his name but he's intent on something else, he will not look at me.
- Bliss

Trainer skills

Priorities: Learn protocol, and conditioning skills
What what?: I feel like if I could recite the protocol by heart and then set up some low-stakes scenarios to use it, this would be empowering for me. I also feel like I want to learn like, "how to wean your dog off treats" skills.
Process:
  • Get dog to recognise a marker click
    • Mark - Pause - feed treat
    • Don't move treat hand while marking
  • Practice a "let's go", for if the dog fails the test
  • Think through aspects of an activity, and practice subskills
  • set up low-level challenge
  • Mark dog for looking, getting the dog to look back for the treat
  • Mark dog for looking then looking back
  • Mark dog for looking then looking back
Right now, if I say his name but he's intent on something else, he will not look at me.
- Bliss

Walkies

Priorities: Practice skills outside; don't lose the dog
What happened: His "wait" is very good. Bit patchy on coming back when called, though; and ditto with sitting and settling. I felt out of my depth. I did manage to get him following me, and back when I needed, and his lead on but none of it felt "secure". No chance of getting his attention off a dog in a "calm" way.
- Bliss
2 Oct

Training Hour

Priorities: Rest on the mat
Plan: I think i'm partly getting overwhelmed by just Too Much Stuff, and I'm wondering if instead I do one training session at a time, it'll help me focus. We took the blanket outside and it kind worked. He figured out how the game worked, but was variously not interested enough in food/too interested in other things to be at it for long. It's the first day, it'll be fine. Also, we did a bit of `Free` - rewarding him for leaving the blanket.
4:30pm was a great time to practice walking away from some other dogs, which he was fairly good at - `To Me` + `Sit`.
Right now, if I say his name but he's intent on something else, he will not look at me.
- Bliss

Walkies (2.5hr)

Priorities: Outdoor skills
What happened: We did well at `Sit` - and then OK at `Up`; but both `Up` and `Settle` he basically can't do. A chain of Sit-Up was very effective. Can't do clap-recall - he ran straight past us. Might be worth re-traiing that trick but with no running, because running puts him over the limit so quickly. Very good at redirecting from a cat, and OK using "floor" to keep him settled as they passed. Very good at having his lead clipped back on. Struggling with him not wanting to come my direction, even with `To Me`; however feeding him little bits of biscuit near my leg was popular and got him trotting alongside and looking in my eyes. So I think it might be good to practice that more?
But like, i've been overwhelmed a lot and maybe having the target of working on the basic skills more will be grounding for me.
Also, last night dogweasel came home so tired he just went straight to sleep, but no luck at that today
- Bliss
3 Oct

Walkies (1hr 45min)

Priorities: Attention and focus
What happened: Got bored early, but also hungry; me, that is, not the dog. Dog isn't tired now, obvs, but he is nibbling away at least. This dog has no recall and no ability to chill around other dogs; managed to tempt him down his favourite path, so the other dog was out of eyeline and on a different "level", and then we played fetch for like a good six minutes or more until I could get him sitting consistently enough to get his lead on. Couple of little bites, but not snarly ones at least - just when I was trying for the lead. This is a huge fuckin problem, obvs, but the key is like...he gets sooooo excited he just will not listen or switch his focus. However, I've been having some luck with incorporating intermittent `sits` into his fetch games. Get that dog to sit in between tosses-of-the-ball, and he will just begin vibrating with stress at the effort and anticip!ation of waiting, like his eyes will go blue with the intensity and his little butt will be quivering against the floor so loud you can hear it. Won't even look at food. But! If you move the ball away and wait long enough, he'll start looking around, and maybe take the food. And I've noticed him offer one, solitary sit to ask me to throw the stick which I think is good. I worry that allowing him to play with other dogs right now isn't possible, because he selftrains the hyperarousal.
He barked at a baby carriage. The WW1 memorial is an awesome spot for dog training, it's surrounded by funereal iron fences but we can see the road. Fingers crossed nobody objects to us using it. Part of the problem with us trying to train there tho is his arousal level was already so high that it was hard to get it back down.
- Bliss

Walkies II (1hr 30min)

Priorities: Attention and focus
What happened:I am so fed up of this loathesome little toad; but going back for part 2 of walkies after his & my breakfast (and coffee) turned out to be a pretty good idea, I was more focused and motivated. Great times at the WW1 memorial, we played chasing sticks with intermittent sits, and he's learnt the game and getting better at calming down and doing it quickly or at distance, and sitting in a way which isn't vibrating like a rocket booster. We also had some good sits and come-chase-the-sticks after he reacted to joggers and other dogs. Not perfect yet but you could see the improvement, and in one case improvement with the same dog coming past. ughhhh i really hope nobody objects to us being there, it's such a perfect spot.
I think he's scared of cars; or, if he wasn't before, he is now. Some fucker drove their bloody jeep through the field where we play, without stopping when they saw the dog so i could put him on the leash. I am ???. The dog was very good, and sat while it passed - then ran over to chase behind it. For the next few minutes, he would play fetch a bit, but in between kept going and looking after the car with his ears all pointy. Eventually, put him on the lead and tried to walk him home by a different route, but he was too spooked by the passing cars. Tried the field and, with some reluctance, got home.
Some more success with other doggies. With saying "floor" repeatedly, so they can come up and sniff calmly; and then with redirecting him at a distance, and also while walking away. Still not happy with how long it takes me to get a `sit`, but the dog has to be out of eyeline basically. Once he is sat, the stick will redirect him with me.
Anyway, he's now had lunch and is to sleep. Seems like 3hrs is the magic number for a napping pup. And I was happy with that 2nd walk and his progress too.
- Bliss

Biting!

Dog bit a stranger; I am so depressed, I can't cope with my day.
There's some silver linings? I'm reading the reactive dogs reddit, and our dog seems like it has WAY fewer problems than some of those. We're in a quiet, rural area, with few triggers and it's fairly easy to avoid other dogs and people. Our dog mostly doesn't bite us, and I have a good idea where my husband is going wrong - even if I'm failing to explain it. We've also got a good life for this: no kids, don't work, few commitments; if we accept our dog is just not social with people, that's comparatively easy for us to do.
I'm just so miserable, though. We're muzzle training him, and for the forseeable future he's not allowed to greet people who aren't me or my husband - which I know kinda sets up problems for the future, but like, it deals with the immediate one. This is the second time he's run over to someone, wagged his tail, showed his tummy and wiggled for pets - not growled - and then attacked, which is like Total Yikes. So, the only real solution for that is...he can't be social with people. I'm just so Mad with the various people who are lowkey responsible for this situation (some kids hit the dog last week; a relative punished him for barking; he wasn't desensitised to strangers coming into the house last month). But at the same time like, the reality of dog training is not all humans know how to behave with dogs, and you ideally want a dog who can cope with that?? But the reality also is that our dog is Not That Dog, and we do have the ability to just let him live in a way where he doesn't meet other humans, so I guess that's happier for everyone. But I am miserable and loathe the little fluffy gremlin; crushed by stress, and grieving for all the things I'm now not going to be able to do.
- Bliss