Okay it's embarrassing but I have to admit Shaker and I started our 3rd round of puppy socialization class. Kathy pointed out last night that Russ had completed intermediate and was working on advanced at the same age. But as you already know, Shaker got the wits scared out of him by a couple of devil dog St. Bernards, an aggressive yellow lab (whoever heard those words strung together) and a terrorist Airedale all in the same day on the same walk. Oh and I should mention that it happened during a fear period. One of these days I am going to write a rant about electric fences but today I'll write about puppy class and progress.
I have been working with Shaker Baby on watch me and focus. There are tons of reasons for this but on the reactivity front if he is watching me he is not barking and growling at other dogs. So last night at puppy class, I was the last to enter the "class room", and the only spot available involved navigating through 3 puppies whose owners weren't paying much attention to leashes. I picked Shaker up and walked to my spot--he didn't bark or growl. Now that's progress.
I put him on the floor and immediately asked him to watch me. He did, and he got fed liver treats as long as his beautiful brown eyes were attached to mine. No barking or growling. Now that's progress. He actually laid down next to my feet and looked out into the class. Now that's progress!
Our only hitch during class was when a terrier came up to the fence and starred at him. He barked and growled, but when I put my hand over his eyes he stopped. He is figuring out that if he wants to watch he can't growl. We'll get there.
Then it was time to go. I waited until everyone left the ring and then proceeded out, but I didn't predict that one of the puppy owners would turn around to ask one last question. This freaked him out so we stopped and backed up until he settled. He was quite on edge at this point so we left PetsMart slowly. If he barked, I stopped and asked for a "watch me" and when he did he got a "cookie."
So in the end I would say we are getting there. I just have to remember to be patient. The patience thing is hard with him because he is an eager dog to learn and please. I mean seriously yesterday I taught him the 3 step back up in 2 mins. Oh yeah patience with him is hard....I want to move ahead!
2 comments:
Sounds like you are working thru the issues. Keep it up. I failed with my 1st Cardi Stoney. He got scared by a Great Dane when he was in the fear period and I could never get him complete recovered. I might be able to do it now with 8 more years of dog experience.
Kim, you might try the "Look at That" from Control Unleashed. Syd and I got a point where we were not getting ahead, and into the phase where she could stop the barking at the start. I was having her always watch me, and so she couldn't "handle" the looking at other dogs. So we started gradually with Look at THAT, and when she looked at another dog for a split second, it was all happy and cookies. She got more comfortable and I think she's really had a leap of progress overally using that method. Maybe she realizes that she *can* look at the other dogs and they won't necessarily try to kill her. I dunno. She still definitely has moments where the stress takes over, but we can walk through the group of dogs at class and have no problems. That's impressive to me, since two of the terriers in class are wickedly reactive and have their own issues. :-) Good luck, and keep working! It WILL get better.
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