cleptogrey Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 i just viewed your video of her on youtube. she's a pretty feisty spitfire, but i will say she's normal for a dog her age. either one can love it and the true challenge that comes along w/ the territory or freak out(that's what seems to have happened in the past, thus the bounce).exercise, consistency exercise, training and a firm but loving person will bring a true gem out. it's lots of hard work and dedication, but she's a pistol and i hope someone who can embrace that ends up having tons of fun w/ mouse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Giselle Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Eye contact after a trigger? You should be proud of yourself!!! Good job! Many people can barely get unreactive dogs to give eye contact in distracting situations. You're doing the impossible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jetska Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 (edited) Mouse is absolutely special and whoever adopts her has to recognise that. I would LOVE to keep her but it's a real hassle to get permission to keep more than two dogs and it would mean I couldn't foster anymore because she requires a lot of time and energy. I really want to keep fostering because it's giving me a lot of experience with different dogs. I would love to become a professional one day but I really need to increase my exposure to different doggies first. She is just so wired and I think that is where the reactivity comes from. She's 2 yrs and 8 months, and seems to be going through a 'fear' stage as well. She baulked at a plastic bag tied to a post a couple of nights ago. Both sound and movement draw her attention. I don't think her previous home did any work on the reactivity at all, because she really is responding well. I have found her magic currency (big chunks of polony). Someone is coming to meet her on Saturday and they have a greyhound who was the opposite 'type' - ie a statue/withdrawing kind of dog (like my Barbie was).... but sounds like they did great with her. They also regularly walk 2hrs + a day. The big challenge is whether they are prepared for her zoomies... also whether their houndie will like her. I don't think they will have seen anything like it and it might be quite a shock. I will have the video ready because I expect she will be all polite and calm meeting new people (and she will have had her 90 minute run at our local fenced park). She isn't my first reactive dog. Probably my third. The first one was a Rottie x and he was really easy. All we had to do was throw away the horrible choke chain his previous owner had been using and work up to walking in busier places. The second one is my Bender-boy who is a Mastiff X. He is on Endep because of his noise phobias, and he will still react to hard staring dogs sometimes, but now he's medicated it has been a lot easier to get that 'recovery' and 'response' after he has been triggered. When he hears thunder or fireworks he still reacts but before the endep he could react to a car backfiring kms away. His coping mechanism was to try and get home as quickly as possible, being a very strong boy it was very hard to keep him under control. I think Mouse is somewhere in the middle. Excess energy doesn't help her cope and I *think* changing from a martigale to a harness has helped a bit because she doesn't get herself quite as worked up jumping around everywhere. Edited November 7, 2013 by jetska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Giselle Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Welcome to the fun, fascinating, and slightly frustrating world of training reactive dogs! She is just so wired and I think that is where the reactivity comes from. She's 2 yrs and 8 months, and seems to be going through a 'fear' stage as well. She baulked at a plastic bag tied to a post a couple of nights ago. Both sound and movement draw her attention. This is a great, astute observation. You're very right. Reactive dogs tend to be hypersensitive to their surroundings, and simple everyday objects like floating plastic bags can make them extremely fearful/reactive. My Dobermutt, for example, still reacts to "odd" objects, like an unusual stick on the ground (I'm serious!). Some dogs have abnormal neurological wiring that make them overreact at small stimuli, and it's probably something very innate and genetic. But our job isn't to despair and give up. Rather, our job is to teach them that these triggers are not a big deal, and I firmly believe that the best way to do it is via handler focus and alternate behaviors. You're doing the right thing. The fact that she's responding so quickly and naturally to handler focus/eye contact indicates that -whatever you're doing - keep doing it. It's making her a better dog, and I bet you're becoming a fantastic trainer. It's a wonderful give-and-take, isn't it? Reactive dogs are the best! Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jetska Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Our training class was meant to be a 'field trip' yesterday but it was too hot, so we had to share our training venue with another booking. We went from having the dogs in one 'pen' each to having everyone in the 'TV room' and courtyard out the front. One of the other doggies has a family of two little girls and a little, excitable toddler. Mouse didn't even see the toddler in the first class but the kids were all fawning over her. Mouse coped well with everyone in such a small space, even the little blue staffy who was wriggling, butt shuffling and squealing. The toddler seemed fixated on Mouse and was patting her fairly calmly until he decided to get her in a headlock. Mouse was an angel and didn't react inappropriately at all, just stood there. I grabbed the toddler's arm and unwrapped it from the dog's neck and told him to pat her nicely. He complied. Mouse was amazing! Des bought Mouse a blankie and she lied down on it for a little time out when another big doggie came in. He was young, just turned one, and was a bit whingey because he wanted to play with Mouse but he wasn't being allowed to. Mouse lied calmly on her blankie. We finally got to move into one of the 'pens' - 4 doggies in one pen, and it was much cooler in that area (it's where the main aircon fans are on full). We did a bit of movement stuff, and the toddler got excited and started running around shreiking, and then he started to chase Mouse! She tail tucked and we stopped straight away and just waited for the next exercise. Next week, weather permitting, we are going to do our 'field trip'. I expect it will be quite challenging for Mouse, but I think she will cope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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