Sydney aka Sadie, 20 month old Great Dane, I've had her for 2 months. She leaves my chicken alone but wants to eat the tasty kitties. She actually dug up a gopher and killed it (much to the delight of my neighbors) and chased a rat (the vermin kind, not a pet rat) right under another neighbors house (we don't know if she got it or not, but she came back very dirty and looking smug.)
I've been trying to desensitize her to cats and convince her that they aren't prey. Someone will have a cat on the outside of the kennel, and I'll be inside the kennel with her food and some treats, when she ignores the cat calmly I reward her like crazy. Lately we've moved it out of the kennel and into the yard and had the cat on the other side of the fence. I realize though, that she's only ignoring the cats when a) there's a person with her and b) when there's a physical barrier between her and the cat.
BTW we have rehomed the feral cats for their safety and our cats are kept inside in a separate part of our home where
We taught Syd to play fetch, which is fun for her for about five minutes-- then she's done. Her recall is very good. She's nailed every command we've taught her so far; sit, stay, wait, stand, down, off, leave-it, back up, and up. Even her leash training (and she was terrified of leashes when we started) and off leash heeling has gone exceptionally well. Syd's also gone from being extremely shy and skittish with people and dogs to absolutely indifferent. (We haven't introduced her to small dogs yet because we're not sure if she'd realize they are dogs, or if she'd think they were things to chase.)
My issue (besides her wanting to eat every single cat she sees) is that she's a robot dog when she's not trying to be the worlds largest earth dog. The times where I see Syd being herself and really happy and comfortable are the first 4 minutes of fetching, when she's after prey, or when she's being called back from a distance.
The other dog, Georgia. She also a Great Dane, 20 months old, and came from the same home as Sydney. They aren't siblings (but they did come from the same breeder in Florida) and Georgia has no drive whatsoever. Thankfully her interest in the cats is pretty much limited to sniffing their bottoms and trying to clean the litter box.
Georgia is not really interested in chasing anything or doing much of anything. Give her a kong full (not even frozen) of tasty chicken liver, kibbles and cream cheese, she'll lick out the easy parts and then leave it for one of the other dogs to finish. Throw a ball and she might head in the general direction of the ball (if the other dogs are going in that direction) for a few paces and finding a comfy place to lay down or come back look at me.
Both dogs have been vet checked and have no major physical problems, their growth plates are still not closed so running needs to be limited, and they are both unaltered females.
How can I get Syd to start generalizing that cats aren't prey? Even when there's no fence or kennel between her and the cats. I understand that she's probably never going to be able to be unsupervised with cats but it would be nice to have her come into the rest of the house (so far she's limited to the cat free portion) and not have to sequester the cats away from her all the time. And also any suggestions of what I can do so that I see more of her and less of the robot dog?
And any ideas on how I can get Georgia up and going gently? She's going to be BIG when she's an adult (she's 30 inches at the shoulder and 130 lbs, and the vet suggested that she will probably grow another 2 inches and gain about 50 lbs before she's an adult) so she's probably tuckered out just from all the growing that she's doing. I've taught her to bow and stretch on command, but it would be nice to actually play a game with her instead of doing commands and walks alone.
Predation issues and questions
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Predatation is a very difficult issue to deal with. It's instinctual in some breeds and thus hardwired. Separation from kitties, excellent recall training at times of high excitement will be your best bet to keep your kitties safe.
Frequent and regular exercise will also help to limit the stimulation of wanting to chase prey. If well exercise your dog may not want to expend the energy.
For your other Dane, play clicker games like 101 thing to do with X. Its very mentally stimulating, fun for both you and your dog. It will also help to build your skill with a clicker or marker word and learning how to shape behavior.
Add a little interest and excitement into the commands you dog already knows. Up the criteria by playing games like hide and seek. Work on dance routines in a canine freestyle setting (put your cues to music) and dance with your dog.
Frequent and regular exercise will also help to limit the stimulation of wanting to chase prey. If well exercise your dog may not want to expend the energy.
For your other Dane, play clicker games like 101 thing to do with X. Its very mentally stimulating, fun for both you and your dog. It will also help to build your skill with a clicker or marker word and learning how to shape behavior.
Add a little interest and excitement into the commands you dog already knows. Up the criteria by playing games like hide and seek. Work on dance routines in a canine freestyle setting (put your cues to music) and dance with your dog.
Thanks so much. Dealing with Syd's prey drive was really hard at first, but then I realized I was overreacting a bit. I was walking her around in a muzzle and with both a collar lead and body harness lead-- my husband started calling her "Hannibal" Now that the outside cats are gone the muzzle and body harness are gone and I don't feel like a prison warden anymore. We're even down to one leash.
I've seen drivey Danes before, but I think with Syd its part genetics and part being tethered out for extended periods of time (she was raised in a garage with Georgia, but they tied her outside during the day because she got out and chewed things up.)
More exercise makes sense. I can add an extra walk in for her and some run around time at the football field.
I have a question about the 101 things to do with x-- should I click and treat when she does only one thing and repeats it, or should I just click and treat when she does anything cute or interesting worth repeating?
Freestyle is an awesome idea, Georgia is really clumsy (admittedly Great Danes are generally awkward at her age, but she's a little more comical than most.)
I've seen drivey Danes before, but I think with Syd its part genetics and part being tethered out for extended periods of time (she was raised in a garage with Georgia, but they tied her outside during the day because she got out and chewed things up.)
More exercise makes sense. I can add an extra walk in for her and some run around time at the football field.
I have a question about the 101 things to do with x-- should I click and treat when she does only one thing and repeats it, or should I just click and treat when she does anything cute or interesting worth repeating?
Freestyle is an awesome idea, Georgia is really clumsy (admittedly Great Danes are generally awkward at her age, but she's a little more comical than most.)
I'll leave ckranz to answer your other questions, but I am offering to help you with the prey drive because my work is almost solely with that, and with canines that have a far higher prey drive than Danes. As well as 'professional' hunting dogs, I educate pet dogs that have taken prey drive further than their owners have wanted. You are ahead of the game and want to control it before there is an accident - good for you! 
Basically, you cannot (and of course should not) try to train out something that is so much a part of the dog, so instead you guide it. There are creatures that are absolutely not prey ever eg cats, and there are creatures that may be chased eg rats.
With the not-chases, each separate animal needs to be trained in - so, not cats, not sheep, not horses - whatever you meet a lot of. Additionally, as dogs are context-specific, not-cats means not-cats in the garden, not-cats in the street, not-cats in other people's drives - cats are a total no-no everywhere you meet them.
This does involve making the dog aware that these creatures are forbidden by what I would like to call correction, the purists would like to call punishment, and dog-training jargon always calles punishment. I do not mean that you hurt or even touch your dog, but a very mild aversive procedure is necessary.
With the can-chases, you need a command that tells the dog it may chase.
As any form of making the dog aware that it is not to do something is outside the ethos of totally reward-based training, and as I don't want to offend the spirit of the Board, may I suggest you contact the Moderator to ask if I may proceed publicly? If not, you have the option of asking me by PM.
I love my dogs dearly and would never hurt them. I have also trained them so that they will chase permitted quarry straight through forbidden quarry eg a flock of sheep, without glancing at the forbidden quarry. I have trained countless others to do the same, and watched many people perform the same task their way with their animals.
I know you don't want to live with a proper hunting dog - but you have a dog that has displayed a prey drive that it enjoys and needs to engage. There are nice ways of achieving this, but it is impossible using only reward because you cannot give the dog a better reward than it gets from chasing.
[/i]
Basically, you cannot (and of course should not) try to train out something that is so much a part of the dog, so instead you guide it. There are creatures that are absolutely not prey ever eg cats, and there are creatures that may be chased eg rats.
With the not-chases, each separate animal needs to be trained in - so, not cats, not sheep, not horses - whatever you meet a lot of. Additionally, as dogs are context-specific, not-cats means not-cats in the garden, not-cats in the street, not-cats in other people's drives - cats are a total no-no everywhere you meet them.
This does involve making the dog aware that these creatures are forbidden by what I would like to call correction, the purists would like to call punishment, and dog-training jargon always calles punishment. I do not mean that you hurt or even touch your dog, but a very mild aversive procedure is necessary.
With the can-chases, you need a command that tells the dog it may chase.
As any form of making the dog aware that it is not to do something is outside the ethos of totally reward-based training, and as I don't want to offend the spirit of the Board, may I suggest you contact the Moderator to ask if I may proceed publicly? If not, you have the option of asking me by PM.
I love my dogs dearly and would never hurt them. I have also trained them so that they will chase permitted quarry straight through forbidden quarry eg a flock of sheep, without glancing at the forbidden quarry. I have trained countless others to do the same, and watched many people perform the same task their way with their animals.
I know you don't want to live with a proper hunting dog - but you have a dog that has displayed a prey drive that it enjoys and needs to engage. There are nice ways of achieving this, but it is impossible using only reward because you cannot give the dog a better reward than it gets from chasing.
[/i]
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
The moderator requests that the Nettle pm's suggested post to her..... and cant remember the correct tense for the rest of this reply...
Run it by me and ill see - for anyone else reading this I have absolute faith that Nettles methods are not in ANY way harmful or painful or narsty, I have met her and one of her dogs and would recommend her as a trainer/behaviourist to anyone. Wot is at question is the suitability for this forum, not the suitability in general!
The moderator is going to bed now
nini folks!
Run it by me and ill see - for anyone else reading this I have absolute faith that Nettles methods are not in ANY way harmful or painful or narsty, I have met her and one of her dogs and would recommend her as a trainer/behaviourist to anyone. Wot is at question is the suitability for this forum, not the suitability in general!
The moderator is going to bed now
nini folks!With 101 things it depends on the goal of your exercise. When beginning, or if you just want to play around, the clicking is for anything....a look, a sniff, a touch etc...
If you are looking to shape a behavior, you would still start out as above, but then move towards rewarding the specific behaviors you want which would lead to shaping goal....
picking an object up:
AFter your dog knows game is on and you are ready to shape:
start rewarding looks.
after 5-7 looks, hold out for a sniff
reward 5-7 sniffs, hold out for mouth interaction
reward 5-7 "bites"/grabs, hold out for picking the object up in mouth
reward the final behavior 5-7 times.
Now introduce your cue for the behavior as your dog is beginning to understand what it i you desire.
ONe really funway to play this game is using yourself as X or 101 things my dog can do with me.
If you are looking to shape a behavior, you would still start out as above, but then move towards rewarding the specific behaviors you want which would lead to shaping goal....
picking an object up:
AFter your dog knows game is on and you are ready to shape:
start rewarding looks.
after 5-7 looks, hold out for a sniff
reward 5-7 sniffs, hold out for mouth interaction
reward 5-7 "bites"/grabs, hold out for picking the object up in mouth
reward the final behavior 5-7 times.
Now introduce your cue for the behavior as your dog is beginning to understand what it i you desire.
ONe really funway to play this game is using yourself as X or 101 things my dog can do with me.
this is for Nettle
if it's okay with everyone (moderators) here, I too am in need of some advice on how to teach "not cats - anywhere"
we recently brought home a rescue heeler mix, and as we have four cats, we made the decision to do this in part only becos the rescue shelter folks were very confident that 3 yr old Maisie was very comfortable and "not-chasing" around cats - we even spent time with Maisie and some cats at the shelter, and all seemed well
Maisie has had mistreatment and outright abuse and cruelty in her background, so at first we just gave her time to get comfortable, to know that this is home for her now, and lots of affection, so she could recover from a UTI, put on some weight, and generally gain confidence - however, as she gained confidence (a good thing), she also started to really go after the cats
she doesn't seem to have had any real or consistent training before this, but she seems very smart and willing, if easily distracted
so far we have been able to keep her without a disaster on our hands becos we have a free-standing studio behind the house, and when the dog came home with us, we set up a second feeding station for the cats out there, where they also have a nice day bed to lounge on, so they can retreat to the studio for safe separation (our house doesn't offer much in the way of spaces that can be separated off with gates or the like), but we want, of course, to integrate everyone into the main house/household
so far, any attempt at such integration requires constant monitoring and intervention, and is never comfortable, as the cats cannot move freely about our/their home unless one of us (humans) is here and actively managing the situation at all times
while we are admittedly novices here, when it comes to the cats, it really doesn't seem as if we are getting anywhere, in fact things have got worse, with Maisie starting to nip, as well as chase, now
Maisie is very excitable, and can get hyper, so last night and this morning I tried some of the "calming signals" I just read about (from Turid Rugaas), and it did seem to help a lot - I was able to have one of the cats in my lap, another one on the back of the sofa just above us all, with Maisie next to me, for a few minutes, and no lunging or nipping!!!
Maisie is a nervous licker, by the way (big time), and I've started yawning at her when she starts the frantic licking and she does relax
I love Victoria and her methods, and her methods have been working well with other behaviors, just not with the cat issues - it was very interesting to us to read about herding as a corruption of the hunting instinct, that really helped shift our perspective in a helpful way
any additional help with all this would be so much appreciated - we're pretty frazzled at this point,
thanks in advance
kel
we recently brought home a rescue heeler mix, and as we have four cats, we made the decision to do this in part only becos the rescue shelter folks were very confident that 3 yr old Maisie was very comfortable and "not-chasing" around cats - we even spent time with Maisie and some cats at the shelter, and all seemed well
Maisie has had mistreatment and outright abuse and cruelty in her background, so at first we just gave her time to get comfortable, to know that this is home for her now, and lots of affection, so she could recover from a UTI, put on some weight, and generally gain confidence - however, as she gained confidence (a good thing), she also started to really go after the cats
she doesn't seem to have had any real or consistent training before this, but she seems very smart and willing, if easily distracted
so far we have been able to keep her without a disaster on our hands becos we have a free-standing studio behind the house, and when the dog came home with us, we set up a second feeding station for the cats out there, where they also have a nice day bed to lounge on, so they can retreat to the studio for safe separation (our house doesn't offer much in the way of spaces that can be separated off with gates or the like), but we want, of course, to integrate everyone into the main house/household
so far, any attempt at such integration requires constant monitoring and intervention, and is never comfortable, as the cats cannot move freely about our/their home unless one of us (humans) is here and actively managing the situation at all times
while we are admittedly novices here, when it comes to the cats, it really doesn't seem as if we are getting anywhere, in fact things have got worse, with Maisie starting to nip, as well as chase, now
Maisie is very excitable, and can get hyper, so last night and this morning I tried some of the "calming signals" I just read about (from Turid Rugaas), and it did seem to help a lot - I was able to have one of the cats in my lap, another one on the back of the sofa just above us all, with Maisie next to me, for a few minutes, and no lunging or nipping!!!
Maisie is a nervous licker, by the way (big time), and I've started yawning at her when she starts the frantic licking and she does relax
I love Victoria and her methods, and her methods have been working well with other behaviors, just not with the cat issues - it was very interesting to us to read about herding as a corruption of the hunting instinct, that really helped shift our perspective in a helpful way
any additional help with all this would be so much appreciated - we're pretty frazzled at this point,
thanks in advance
kel
this is for Nettle
if it's okay with everyone (moderators) here, I too am in need of some advice on how to teach "not cats - anywhere"
we recently brought home a rescue heeler mix, and as we have four cats, we made the decision to do this in part only becos the rescue shelter folks were very confident that 3 yr old Maisie was very comfortable and "not-chasing" around cats - we even spent time with Maisie and some cats at the shelter, and all seemed well
Maisie has had mistreatment and outright abuse and cruelty in her background, so at first we just gave her time to get comfortable, to know that this is home for her now, and lots of affection, so she could recover from a UTI, put on some weight, and generally gain confidence - however, as she gained confidence (a good thing), she also started to really go after the cats
she doesn't seem to have had any real or consistent training before this, but she seems very smart and willing, if easily distracted
so far we have been able to keep her without a disaster on our hands becos we have a free-standing studio behind the house, and when the dog came home with us, we set up a second feeding station for the cats out there, where they also have a nice day bed to lounge on, so they can retreat to the studio for safe separation (our house doesn't offer much in the way of spaces that can be separated off with gates or the like), but we want, of course, to integrate everyone into the main house/household
so far, any attempt at such integration requires constant monitoring and intervention, and is never comfortable, as the cats cannot move freely about our/their home unless one of us (humans) is here and actively managing the situation at all times
while we are admittedly novices here, when it comes to the cats, it really doesn't seem as if we are getting anywhere, in fact things have got worse, with Maisie starting to nip, as well as chase, now
Maisie is very excitable, and can get hyper, so last night and this morning I tried some of the "calming signals" I just read about (from Turid Rugaas), and it did seem to help a lot - I was able to have one of the cats in my lap, another one on the back of the sofa just above us all, with Maisie next to me, for a few minutes, and no lunging or nipping!!!
Maisie is a nervous licker, by the way (big time), and I've started yawning at her when she starts the frantic licking and she does relax
I love Victoria and her methods, and her methods have been working well with other behaviors, just not with the cat issues - it was very interesting to us to read about herding as a corruption of the hunting instinct, that really helped shift our perspective in a helpful way
any additional help with all this would be so much appreciated - we're pretty frazzled at this point,
thanks in advance
kel
we recently brought home a rescue heeler mix, and as we have four cats, we made the decision to do this in part only becos the rescue shelter folks were very confident that 3 yr old Maisie was very comfortable and "not-chasing" around cats - we even spent time with Maisie and some cats at the shelter, and all seemed well
Maisie has had mistreatment and outright abuse and cruelty in her background, so at first we just gave her time to get comfortable, to know that this is home for her now, and lots of affection, so she could recover from a UTI, put on some weight, and generally gain confidence - however, as she gained confidence (a good thing), she also started to really go after the cats
she doesn't seem to have had any real or consistent training before this, but she seems very smart and willing, if easily distracted
so far we have been able to keep her without a disaster on our hands becos we have a free-standing studio behind the house, and when the dog came home with us, we set up a second feeding station for the cats out there, where they also have a nice day bed to lounge on, so they can retreat to the studio for safe separation (our house doesn't offer much in the way of spaces that can be separated off with gates or the like), but we want, of course, to integrate everyone into the main house/household
so far, any attempt at such integration requires constant monitoring and intervention, and is never comfortable, as the cats cannot move freely about our/their home unless one of us (humans) is here and actively managing the situation at all times
while we are admittedly novices here, when it comes to the cats, it really doesn't seem as if we are getting anywhere, in fact things have got worse, with Maisie starting to nip, as well as chase, now
Maisie is very excitable, and can get hyper, so last night and this morning I tried some of the "calming signals" I just read about (from Turid Rugaas), and it did seem to help a lot - I was able to have one of the cats in my lap, another one on the back of the sofa just above us all, with Maisie next to me, for a few minutes, and no lunging or nipping!!!
Maisie is a nervous licker, by the way (big time), and I've started yawning at her when she starts the frantic licking and she does relax
I love Victoria and her methods, and her methods have been working well with other behaviors, just not with the cat issues - it was very interesting to us to read about herding as a corruption of the hunting instinct, that really helped shift our perspective in a helpful way
any additional help with all this would be so much appreciated - we're pretty frazzled at this point,
thanks in advance
kel
sorry for double post
got a debug error the first time, now I can't see where to edit or delete the second posting, sorry mods
How much exercise does your Heeler get daily. As I mentioned earlier predetation is often very hardwired and difficult at best to train out of a dog.
Lots of exercise and training games I think will go a long way in helping our dog to both relax and abate some of the urge to chase your cats.
Remember also you have 2 animals to train. Train the dog around the cats and train the cats around your dog. Yes cats can be trained using positive methods.
Lots of exercise and training games I think will go a long way in helping our dog to both relax and abate some of the urge to chase your cats.
Remember also you have 2 animals to train. Train the dog around the cats and train the cats around your dog. Yes cats can be trained using positive methods.
thanks for the response, ckranz
thanks so much for your response, and to answer your question:
before the really deep snow and bitter cold hit, about 5 days ago, we were doing two fairly long (50 mins to an hour) walks each day, and one of those always ended with a free run/play session in an enclosed park (off lead); as well, our girl had open access to the yard during the day, for doing her business and some more free run/play
the last few days we've been literally snowed in off and on, and the snow is deep and iced over, making outdoor exercise considerably curtailed, so we've done a lot more with training sessions, toy play, and experimenting with the calming signals
I do think you're spot on with the training games - Maisie is smart and likes to have a purpose set before her - even when we go walking, she's much happier if we're going to a destination in order to accomplish a task or errand - she likes that much better than an aimless wander.
I am really a novice at dog training (understatement, lol), and am trying to learn quickly just how and what to do; I have found the calming signals have worked wonders in just two days of using them, the chasing has abated dramatically, the nipping stopped completely, and successful recall on the chasing starts is already at 100% - and all this even with the reduced walking/exercise.
I take your point on the cats, as well - now that the calming signals have Maisie responding so well, two of the cats have turned obnoxious and are stalking/harassing her, totally unacceptable. The other two cats are older and mellow and have tried to befriend her from the start, so they are very happy with the changes.
one thing about Maisie and exercise: she actually seems to get wound up from it, rather than tired out, so we have to have a "cool down" at the end of play or walks, when she can chew the heck out of a chew toy for a while 'til she calms down. I even have to meet her coming in from doing her business with a chew toy, so she can chew it as she enters the house, so she won't run and jump about like a maniac, lol
another challenge we've had, I should mention, is that Maisie really doesn't care much for food treats - they are not much of reward to her, she mostly can take them or leave them after the first one or two, so we've had to adapt the rewarding to be more about attention/companionship, affection, and praise, which she does want very much
of course she gets lots of that, anyway, but still, she seems to really want acknowledgement more than anything when training
in re the cat training, I only just ran across that in Temple Grandin's work, so will take a longer look at her ideas on that, her information on dogs is just great, I feel - she believes dogs need "human parents" rather than alpha pack leaders and so far the human parent approach seems to be the right one for Maisie, at least
thanks so much again for your response, I am interested in as much information and advice as you might like to give, and very much appreciate your time and willingness to help
kel
before the really deep snow and bitter cold hit, about 5 days ago, we were doing two fairly long (50 mins to an hour) walks each day, and one of those always ended with a free run/play session in an enclosed park (off lead); as well, our girl had open access to the yard during the day, for doing her business and some more free run/play
the last few days we've been literally snowed in off and on, and the snow is deep and iced over, making outdoor exercise considerably curtailed, so we've done a lot more with training sessions, toy play, and experimenting with the calming signals
I do think you're spot on with the training games - Maisie is smart and likes to have a purpose set before her - even when we go walking, she's much happier if we're going to a destination in order to accomplish a task or errand - she likes that much better than an aimless wander.
I am really a novice at dog training (understatement, lol), and am trying to learn quickly just how and what to do; I have found the calming signals have worked wonders in just two days of using them, the chasing has abated dramatically, the nipping stopped completely, and successful recall on the chasing starts is already at 100% - and all this even with the reduced walking/exercise.
I take your point on the cats, as well - now that the calming signals have Maisie responding so well, two of the cats have turned obnoxious and are stalking/harassing her, totally unacceptable. The other two cats are older and mellow and have tried to befriend her from the start, so they are very happy with the changes.
one thing about Maisie and exercise: she actually seems to get wound up from it, rather than tired out, so we have to have a "cool down" at the end of play or walks, when she can chew the heck out of a chew toy for a while 'til she calms down. I even have to meet her coming in from doing her business with a chew toy, so she can chew it as she enters the house, so she won't run and jump about like a maniac, lol
another challenge we've had, I should mention, is that Maisie really doesn't care much for food treats - they are not much of reward to her, she mostly can take them or leave them after the first one or two, so we've had to adapt the rewarding to be more about attention/companionship, affection, and praise, which she does want very much
of course she gets lots of that, anyway, but still, she seems to really want acknowledgement more than anything when training
in re the cat training, I only just ran across that in Temple Grandin's work, so will take a longer look at her ideas on that, her information on dogs is just great, I feel - she believes dogs need "human parents" rather than alpha pack leaders and so far the human parent approach seems to be the right one for Maisie, at least
thanks so much again for your response, I am interested in as much information and advice as you might like to give, and very much appreciate your time and willingness to help
kel
Well done for all your efforts you don't have to be an experienced trainer: if you can read your animals and anticipate the next move, you'll do fine.
The wind-down period is important after mental exercise and physical. Some animals (and people
) get a hormonal 'high' very quickly, and the only way to dissipate those hormones is the guided calming period. Others do not need it. You are a great dog owner for recognising that and dealing with it.
Thank you for the update on your progress.
you don't have to be an experienced trainer: if you can read your animals and anticipate the next move, you'll do fine.The wind-down period is important after mental exercise and physical. Some animals (and people
) get a hormonal 'high' very quickly, and the only way to dissipate those hormones is the guided calming period. Others do not need it. You are a great dog owner for recognising that and dealing with it.Thank you for the update on your progress.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
hi Nettle
hi Nettle, and thanks so much for the encouraging reply
tbh, from the first I really had such doubts that I could do this - the last time I had a dog I was a kid on a farm with 140 acres to roam, and now I'm close to 60, with rheumatoid arthritis and a small back garden, lol
but Maisie really needed someone, she had gone from horribly abusive owners to neglectful and indifferent fosterers, and as the cherokee say, "if you see something that needs to be done, you're the one to do it," so I decided I better find the way to help her as best as I might.
one thing I do have is years of experience as a parent, so the "human parents" approach I find very easy to adopt, and since it seems to be working well for Maisie, what luck! the calming signals continue to get amazing results, and also I now see when she is using them with the less amicable cats, and I can then step in and "translate" for the cats and affirm her efforts - it really can feel a bit like defusing and redirecting conflict between siblings, where Mom or Dad is the "bridge" between the two parties. I know they don't understand the words, but they definitely understand the body language and physical pacing, and emotional tone/content
it's a big adventure, too, and wonderful to learn about so many new things; thanks so much again for the encouragement, there've been some rough moments when I thought I really was at wits' end and out of steam altogether, but slow and steady wins the race, as they say!
sorry for such long posts, and thanks again,
kel
(thanks to Victoria, as well, for all her good work and for hosting this forum for us all to share information and advice)
tbh, from the first I really had such doubts that I could do this - the last time I had a dog I was a kid on a farm with 140 acres to roam, and now I'm close to 60, with rheumatoid arthritis and a small back garden, lol
but Maisie really needed someone, she had gone from horribly abusive owners to neglectful and indifferent fosterers, and as the cherokee say, "if you see something that needs to be done, you're the one to do it," so I decided I better find the way to help her as best as I might.
one thing I do have is years of experience as a parent, so the "human parents" approach I find very easy to adopt, and since it seems to be working well for Maisie, what luck! the calming signals continue to get amazing results, and also I now see when she is using them with the less amicable cats, and I can then step in and "translate" for the cats and affirm her efforts - it really can feel a bit like defusing and redirecting conflict between siblings, where Mom or Dad is the "bridge" between the two parties. I know they don't understand the words, but they definitely understand the body language and physical pacing, and emotional tone/content
it's a big adventure, too, and wonderful to learn about so many new things; thanks so much again for the encouragement, there've been some rough moments when I thought I really was at wits' end and out of steam altogether, but slow and steady wins the race, as they say!
sorry for such long posts, and thanks again,
kel
(thanks to Victoria, as well, for all her good work and for hosting this forum for us all to share information and advice)