What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

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Fundog
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Fundog »

MP, it sounds like you had a successful weekend afterall. The challenges you describe make me realize I often take Dottie Monster for granted, as now I know her "issues" are not quite as difficult as I sometimes make them out to be. :lol:
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
delladooo
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

I feel like we've hit a bit of a snag with MiMi and I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and work with her.

I know that sounds a bit of a silly thing to say and like it's an obvious solution. My "issue" with doing that has been that she's my mum's dog and I didn't particularly want her (I feel awful saying this but when we were talking second dog peke wasn't my first choice and she definitely wouldn't have been on my list of candidates) add to that I didn't click with her and in many ways I've just left mum to it and offered a bit of advice. I have taught her sit, down, paw and intermittently work on spin but I digress... I consulted our agility trainer (also a trained behaviourist) about her dog issue and she confirmed what I thought about her and told mum how to work on it. Personally, I would say that mum has tried to be proactive but hasn't got the consistency nor has she managed to create space.

MiMi has always had low level dog nervousness but that became full blown terrified of dogs after an unfortunate incident with a friend's puppy. She has also been suspicious of some people and whilst some she'd walk past with no issues, others she would stop and eyeball as they walked past her. Recently, she eyeballs more people and has taken to approaching some. I hesitate to call it a fearful lunge as she doesn't vocalise (something she does regularly when anything upsets her) but I definitely don't think it's just a case of "I like the look of you can we say hi". I'm going to mention it to our behaviourist and see what she thinks when I next see her.

So, me working with her. I think I'm just going to have to dive in and take her out doing some serious counter conditioning with her to everything she sees that she reacts to - pretty much everything to some degree. Sound of a car door, she has to look. Sound of someone walking behind us, she has to look. Birds, have to look. I think maybe general confidence building will also help her. I realise I don't talk about her much but I think I need to just take an attitude of she's here, she lives with me, I can help her so I need to. If I needed purely selfish reasons for it, in a few years I want to add another dog which will definitely not be an option if she carries on as she is.
Sanna
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Sanna »

Delladoo, are you familiar with LAT (Look At That)? Might be a good game to play with MiMi ;)

Completely unrelated to anything, turns out P is scared of quacking ducks. Or more accurately, he's scared of duck quacking :lol:
Though it seems other variations of quacking and sqwauking and squeaking is nothing to worry about...
delladooo
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

Bless him Sanna! I have, our behaviourist advised BAT for her dog reactivity but our main issue has been the creating distance portion as her reactivity range increases hugely once she's seen it. For instance when our neighbour (living opposite) came out with her dog, MiMi fixated and wanted to bark at it the whole length of the street whereas if we're outside our house and a dog crosses the end of the road she doesn't bother.

We sort of desolved more into LAT because getting her to disengage for a treat was much easier than trying to disengage and move her. Incidentally, I was doing LAT with Laufey without realising for his excitability.

Would you use LAT for literally every time she stops to build her confidence? I feel this would be every few steps and possibly lead to her vomitting more often (happens when she gets so worked up that she can't breathe properly anymore and generally results from owners letting dogs tear up to her despite the reacting and using Laufey as a buffer) :? I realise once she's at that stage all hope for the session is lost and it is getting less frequent
Shalista
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Shalista »

Started a new regimen for Bax today. Absolutely ignoring him at all times unless he's calm. the jumping and barking and more jumping and running around like a lunatic is just getting out of hand. It's not possible for me to give him any more chews or play any more mind games or take him on anymore walks. I'm tired and my family is getting to the point where i worry for Bax. They yell at him all the time and a little less attention can't be worse then all the wrong kinds of attention. 2/3 of the household is on board with this so I'll take what i can get... just so tired and so frustrated :cry:
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Sanna
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Sanna »

delladooo wrote:Bless him Sanna! I have, our behaviourist advised BAT for her dog reactivity
I'm a big fan of BAT but I think it's tricky unless you have access to a space you can control and suitable stooge dogs.. So for me, in 'real life', LAT is easier for most owners and dogs ;)
Would you use LAT for literally every time she stops to build her confidence? I feel this would be every few steps and possibly lead to her vomitting more often (happens when she gets so worked up that she can't breathe properly anymore and generally results from owners letting dogs tear up to her despite the reacting and using Laufey as a buffer) :? I realise once she's at that stage all hope for the session is lost and it is getting less frequent
If it was me then yes, I'd probably play it with pretty much everything in the beginning.With one of the rescue dogs last year we literally started with looking at a bucket in an empty field.. That way you can reinforce really heavily and keep the sessions really short, so she can be really successful and end the game wanting more- long before anything stresses her. And you could reserve an extra special type of treats for seeing dogs. She doesn't have to stop to look though? Can you maybe mark the look but encourage her to keep moving by delaying the treat for 1-2 steps?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean if it will make her vomit more (sorry if I'm being thick) :?:
With or without LAT or BAT (or this, that or t'other..) you really need to prevent her going over threshold in the first place (way before any vomiting happens :shock: :lol: )- or do you mean if you're in a situation where you're just trying to get the heck outta dodge (in that case I'd just get the heck outta dodge ASAP)?
delladooo
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

Sanna wrote:I'm a big fan of BAT but I think it's tricky unless you have access to a space you can control and suitable stooge dogs.. So for me, in 'real life', LAT is easier for most owners and dogs ;)
This is what I've been finding, especially as she can't cope with seeing a dog on the other side of the road at this point.
And you could reserve an extra special type of treats for seeing dogs. She doesn't have to stop to look though? Can you maybe mark the look but encourage her to keep moving by delaying the treat for 1-2 steps?
Part of the issue is her lack of food motivation but I'll try making some new treats and see if she has a favourite I can reserve for dogs. I would love to have her move and she does a bit - we're working on it - but at the minute she fixates and then reacts no matter how much space you create. It also doesn't help that if you end up following a dog that she's seen she pulls to get closer to it :? I don't really understand that bit but it's very much "chase it to bark at it more" and not that she's gaining confidence.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean if it will make her vomit more (sorry if I'm being thick) :?:
With or without LAT or BAT (or this, that or t'other..) you really need to prevent her going over threshold in the first place (way before any vomiting happens :shock: :lol: )- or do you mean if you're in a situation where you're just trying to get the heck outta dodge (in that case I'd just get the heck outta dodge ASAP)?
I think it's my explanation, not you. I think part of it is being braccy but she gets herself so worked up that she can't breathe properly and ends up being sick. For instance this evening, we were walking down the street and a dog was incoming. We were trying to cross the road but due to traffic and nowhere behind us to go we were stuck and despite setting off across the road before it reached her, she was barking and stressing herself out so much she was sick. It's not food sick but lots of white foam and any treats she's had.

As a side note, mum says she better when she's out without Laufey but I've not seen enough to comment but I'm dubious on how true it is - I think she possibly just has more patience on the occasions it's just been her and MiMi out
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

MiMi sounds like Violet Elizabeth Bott in the William books :lol: "I'll thcweam and thcweam until I'm thick!"


Great if lat or bat or any other at works, but I am a fan of increasing distance. There WILL be distance at which she feels safe. Once she can trust you to take her right away from that stimulus and reward the calm, she will require progressively less distance.

If you are following a 'trigger' turn around or go off to one side. We humans can get so fixated on a walk being from here to here to here that we forget we can turn around or go another way. Walks don't have to go anywhere in particular.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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delladooo
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

Nettle wrote:MiMi sounds like Violet Elizabeth Bott in the William books :lol: "I'll thcweam and thcweam until I'm thick!"[\quote]
She really does! It's absolutely awful and to look at you'd think there was something really wrong as all this white foam with dark spots just comes spewing out of her.

Great if lat or bat or any other at works, but I am a fan of increasing distance. There WILL be distance at which she feels safe. Once she can trust you to take her right away from that stimulus and reward the calm, she will require progressively less distance.[\quote]
I'm still trying to find this distance, whole street lengths and fields so far aren't enough although with our behaviourists older dogs she did manage to calm down and even approach them once she saw they weren't going to jump on her.
If you are following a 'trigger' turn around or go off to one side. We humans can get so fixated on a walk being from here to here to here that we forget we can turn around or go another way. Walks don't have to go anywhere in particular.
That's a good point and something I endeavour to do more of but I often forget to begin with that she sees it as following as they can be on the other side of the road and turn off elsewhere and she's still chasing them. She's an odd little dog and I think I'm going to have to have another session with our behaviourist specifically working with her as opposed to the snippets we're currently engaging in around agility practise.

In other news, it was Laufey's first agility competition today. It was interesting to say the least (I wrote a post about it on my blog if anyone's really interested in the details) but we were e'd from all 4 classes but by the last one it was only my fault and not his so huge improvement and I was very impressed with him!!
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Oh well done Laufey! :D I love watching dog agility when the dog decides he knows a much better route :wink:

Jasper has a few holes in his leg after spotting a deer on the far side of the heath yesterday and going to say hello to it :roll: When he came back he held up his paw to OH and clearly (OH reports) said 'Magic it better, Daddy.' OH felt rotten that he couldn't magic it better but had to make do with ear rubs and 'What a brave boy you are' instead :lol: He's been fine since, though, so I think what I was worried might be puncture wounds are just scrapes.

We had a lovely group lurcher walk in the New Forest today. It was cold and drizzly, but J had a wonderful time, with several forays off to the sides. I whistled him back several times but he was beginning to turn a bit deaf towards the end. It was bliss to get into the warm woodsmoke-filled pub at the end of the walk :lol: I gave his legs a good wash-down when we got home due to his sores and the slight risk of Alabama Rot, though there haven't been any reported cases in that area for ages.

Why is it that lurchers insist on having the most comfortable beds available, and then lie with their heads on the floor?

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Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
delladooo
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

JudyN wrote:Oh well done Laufey! :D I love watching dog agility when the dog decides he knows a much better route :wink:
Thanks Judy! He was excellent and I'm just so glad he managed to focus at any point so I have high hopes for the future.
Why is it that lurchers insist on having the most comfortable beds available, and then lie with their heads on the floor?
Bless him, I have no idea but just wanted to say I love the bed! Somehow we managed to snag a real bargain when we found an orvis bed in a charity shop :shock: it's really a bit big for either of ours but it would have been rude not to buy it :)
Fundog
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Fundog »

Lol, Judy, it's not just a lurcher thing. Dottie Monster does it too. :lol:
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
MPbandmom
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

Well done Laufey! :D

On Friday OH sent a message that Sky was limping badly so he made her come inside. The limping has been an on and off thing since our New Year's Day 6.4 mile walk and seems to be associated with cold weather. (Something Sky usually loves.) I determined she should go to the vet to have it checked out. I took Sky in and she limped not a step. Examination revealed no creaking in any joints but stiffness in her hips. Which was not a surprise. Supplements were recommended. We are starting with omega 3 oil as vet seemed to think that was the best of the supplements being considered, and I think it is the one most likely for Sky to be willing to take.

Sky having been essentially cleared, and the day being warmish, and the vet visit having disrupted my week long plans to complete 5 miles with both dogs on Saturday morning; I decided to head off to the quiet park across town after a just under 2 mile hike with both dogs and OH at the battlefield. Sky was fine until about the last tenth of a mile, when she somehow got a front leg tangled in her leash and then limped slightly the rest of the way back to the van. After a nap, she seemed none the worse for the hike. My GPS read 5.24 miles when I turned it off at the end of the hike. I turned it back on at home to take a picture for proof, and just as I took the picture, the GPS jumped to 6.41 miles. :shock: I'm pretty certain we didn't go over 6 miles, but the GPS does sometimes seem to "catch up" with distance after we have stopped walking. Not usually by that much of a distance though.

Our walk got off to a rough start as the big van tends to be a big blind spot and just as I had gotten dogs out of the van and was closing doors a GSD appeared walking by from behind the van. My dogs have issues with GSDs, so I was given a bit of a challenge to stay on my feet, get Sky away from Sirius who was redirecting, and also at the same time try to calm both of them down. Fortunately GSD owner had the sense to move further away and I must say that distances are getting shorter for my two to settle back down after such a disruption. :D

Then we headed off to the field where someone was flying a motorized model airplane. Sirius had issues with the plane. Once past the plane our walk went well until our last loop when plane owner seemed to decide it was a good idea to buzz person walking dogs with airplane. :evil:

Two 5 mile walks of the last 3 that we need to get in for the dogs' DSA traildog titles down. No more required 5 mile walks for Sky and just one more for Sirius. I really questioned having Sky do the last 5 mile hike, but at the same time it seemed like we were too close to quit. In some ways I felt I was being selfish. Certainly Sky doesn't know she is earning titles The titles are for me. But in the end, I felt like we had a good day, a good walk, and mission accomplished.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Fundog
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Fundog »

Did you give model airplane person a piece of your mind? I sure would have! :twisted:
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
mansbestfriend
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by mansbestfriend »

Damn. Kelly dog is generally more stable than she used to be, so I stupidly (in hindsight) tied Max the GH and Kelly's leashes together, thinking it would keep them safely together.

While cleaning up a dog doodoo I heard scraping and looked up to see 22kg Kelly dog dragging 35kg Max across a concrete driveway on his rear. A strange (lizard-shaped?) plastic bag switched on prey/chase mode in Kelly dog, and poor 'old' Max was tripped up by the leash and taken for a ride.

Lesson: Kelly sees the world through her eyes and not through mine, and tying leads together may not be the best idea.
Max has a patch of skin off :( . It looks clean so hopefully a mild antiseptic will be good enough.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Sit.
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