agility

With all of Roxy's progress, I started taking her to the weekly walk-in agility class at Pawsitive experience in Rockaway.  This is the training facility that my local rescue uses.  Honestly, I'd never take a dog there to do any sort of actual training.  Although they have banned prong collars from use inside their facility, they still do a lot of correction based training (read: non-humane training) and I will not do that type of training with my dogs, or any dogs I foster or work with at the kennel.  But this place is 5 minutes away from home and has literally done wonders for Roxy's training.  Now that it's getting colder, there are fewer people to encounter on walks, and fewer dogs to practice ignoring, and fewer stimuli in general.  So this once a week course has been great.  Plus, I think it's important to mention that the instructor realizes Roxy's issues, respects what I choose to do to train her, and doesn't suggest that I give her a leash correction for barking.  She gets it, and we have a mutual respect for one another, despite the fact that I think their ways of training are, well... outdated and can be pretty barbaric.

We started a couple of weeks back and Roxy was pretty reactive the first couple of weeks.  The instructor said it's pretty normal for a new dog to act that way, because there is a lot going on, new smells, new dogs, lots of movement of said new dogs, new people, etc.

Anyway, this has become a great place to practice Roxy's self-control and do a lot of focus work.  Plus, she really seems to like agility.  The instructor was very impressed with Roxy's first class, especially being a fearful dog.  She struggled with the tunnel and the chute the first class, but did everything else without a problem.  At the second class, she was going through both the chute and the tunnel with ease.

The other great thing about this class is it's a "no-touch" class for the dogs.  No dogs are off-leash and no dogs are wandering around or getting in Roxy's face.  But I get the opportunity to mark and pay Roxy for calm behavior while there is a lot of stuff going on.  And there are tons of people there that think Roxy is just beautiful, so we get the opportunity to meet lots of dog-savvy people who ask before they give her treats and ask before they attempt to pet her.  We've been going through our "go say hi" protocol and it's been working great.  There are some people she likes almost immediately, and others it takes a little longer, but overall she's doing really, really well and I am so proud of her.

training: "go say hi"

"Go say hi" is Roxy's new protocol for meeting new people.  It's been working really, really well.

First, we taught her "touch" where she targets the palm of my hand with her muzzle.  Then, I taught her to target other peoples hands with her muzzle (just like she'd do a "touch") and come back to me for treats.  We started with people she already knew putting their palm out for a touch without giving the cue, and when she was reliably running up to their palms, I introduced the cue "Go say hi!" until she got to the point where she learned that "Go say hi" means to go give the other person a touch.

I've essentially made it a game for her and she loves it, and it helps her love people.  The "game" sort of developed over time, and to be honest, the more I think about it, the more I think maybe she invented the game and she's been playing me for a while.

In the beginning I started marking and paying her for any positive interaction, including simply sniffing new people.  She started playing the game and winning, a lot...  It's progressed now to the point where I can have other people ask her for a "touch" and she goes right to them, touches the palm of their hand, and then comes back to me for treats.  And, after she's done this a few times, she's a lot more comfortable around that person.

It's great to see her willingly and excitedly approaching new people. I couldn't be happier!!

busy with training

We've been busy. VERY busy. Which is awesome.

Roxy's making huge progress, as far as I can tell.  We switched from the sensation harness to the halti head collar.  I wasn't having success with the sensation harness, Roxy seemed to just start pulling on an angle instead of like a freight train moving forward.  It's probably user error... but I don't have the patience to deal with that while I'm trying to work on other things.  I'll take a leash puller over a reactive dog any day, so I'll work on the reactivity first, and leash-walking later.

We've been going to public places with her to do some work.  We've been to the pet store a lot, and used the strip mall attached for some desensitization and counterconditioning exercises.  The pet store during adoption events is great for when we want to do dog-dog work, but when I want to do dog-people work, I need to be out of hearing range because the dogs are definitely more interesting to her than the people.

So we sit on a bench outside of Pier 1 and wait for people to pass by. And Roxy eats. And eats. And eats.  Freshpet Vital makes a grain-free fish formula.... it stinks something awful but it's been a great high value treat.  It's dog food, so I don't feel guilty giving Roxy tons of it, and we can just skip a meal if she gets enough during training.

Today we were outside and a nice family stopped by with teenage kids.  Teenage kids are great because they're typically bigger and are more predictable than small kids.  We went through our "go say hi" exercise and she gave all 3 people touches and then even butt-bumped the teenage boy for butt scratches.  This is HUGE for her. HUGE. The guy was a total stranger and she invited him to pet her.

The family loves pit bulls, too... so I think Roxy knew they were good people :)

the long road ahead.

Roxy has been making progress, that's for sure.  I'm making progress, too.  I can recognize situations that will make her anxious before they do it. I'm more in tune to things in the environment that might set her off. I now at least have an idea of how to combat some of the things we're dealing with.  These are all great things.

But she's still Roxy.  My special, fearful little girl. Who loves me and Rob to pieces but still isn't too sure about other people.  We met with Erica again for our follow up appointment a few weeks back.  Roxy seemed to remember her and knew she had treats, which was good because that meant she wanted to work.  We did some dog-dog work on the walk, and what was cool was we were in Erica's neighborhood where she knows where all the dogs are and how they will react to passerby's, so we can anticipate what we happen and plan for it. Good stuff.

But last weekend we were at our friend's house and there was an infant, a newborn there.... Roxy seemed like any other dog in her curiosity, nose in the air, smelling and trying to figure out what the new-baby-smell was... but once the baby cried, holy crap.  She was freaking out trying to get to the baby.  She wasn't being aggressive by any means, but she was obviously stressed by the noise of the cries.  All she wanted to do was get to that baby.  So stressed that, even after the baby stopped crying and she turned around, she noticed there was a cat behind her that she wasn't expecting, and she snapped at it.  And she's good with cats.  But she was so on-edge, it was ridiculous, and it seemed like nothing could console her. I felt so bad for her.  I mean, yea, lesson learned.... crying babies stress Roxy out, but still.  It made me realize how much further we still need to go.

buster's ball

Buster, my mostly 3-legged dog, loves nothing more than to play ball.  He will chase that ball until he collapses.

And once he does, he'll just lay there with the ball in his mouth squeaking it until there is so much slobber stuck in the squeaker that it just sort of makes a mush noise, instead of a squeak...

This dog is truly one in a million.  It hurts me to think that he had a family before and we have really no idea what happened to him.  He's a velco dog, he won't leave our side.  And he was house-trained since we brought him home from being at the kennel for 3+ months.  He didn't have a single accident.  He has manners (mostly).  His only flaw is that he thinks if it's on the counter, it's acceptable for him to get it. But we love him, and he loves us.

buster

We finally did it.  We adopted our foster boy, Buster.  He's some sort of lab mix, we're guessing.  But him and Roxy are such a pair, and Buster is truly an amazing dog.  We just couldn't let him go.

You see, Buster has 4 legs. But his front left leg was injured some time ago.  He was found as a stray and the injury was already there, so we really don't know what happened to him.  He's seen multiple veterinarians, including an orthopedic vet who previously fixed a dog with a similarly broken leg, but they said there was nothing they could do to fix his leg because there was too much nerve damage.  But, they said he's in no pain, and we began fostering him a few months ago to help determine if amputation might be necessary.  After a few days, we could see there was no way they could take Buster's leg.  He uses it so much, for balance, to play, to climb into your lap, to bring his ball closer to him, to hold toys, and, when he runs, he still balances on that elbow. Taking his leg would probably be more detrimental... 

So anyway, we initially had no intention of keeping a second dog.  And we had gotten a few applications on him, and only one was worthy of such a great dog, but things changed on the potential adopter's end so they were going to have to wait on getting a second dog.   We actually had one family say they wanted him because he only walks on 3 legs and they figured it was okay to not exercise him and he could be left alone, outside, in an unfenced yard because he can't run away.

Buster is such a great addition to our family.... him and Roxy are great little buddies, he's so cognizant of her moodiness, and because he loves everyone, he takes a lot of pressure off of her when we have people come over.  Everyone is busy loving on him while Roxy gets to sneak in her sniffs while they're not paying attention.  He gives her confidence, and the chance to explore for herself, which is a pretty big deal.  Plus, Buster is the only dog that Roxy has ever let cuddle with her. It was meant to be.

training: progress!

Roxy seems to be getting better at "look," "touch," and "leave it."  She's also starting to see people and check in with me, which is really awesome.  She doesn't do it all the time without me asking, but she's done it SOME of the time without me asking, which is huge.

We're struggling with leash walking still, but I think I'm seeing a little bit of difference.  The biggest thing I've noticed with the leash walking so far is that when she's walking well on leash, and something makes her nervous or anxious, she immediately starts pulling again. So at least I can start to anticipate those things and work on keeping her focus before that.

Overall her reactivity seems to be slowing down a bit also.  She's getting less nervous with cars passing by, she's less nervous when she sees people approaching, and seems to be doing better with other dogs.  If the other dog is ignoring her, quiet, or around 10 feet away, she seems to do fine.  She still perks up and wants to check them out, but overall seems more relaxed with their presence.  She does seem to do the best, so far, if we stop and do some obedience drills or focus work, as opposed to us trying to keep walking.

There are a few dogs on our street that do seem to cause problems though.... Although, it's more the owners that are problematic.  One is the black lab who is super dog-aggressive.... he's often off-leash in his front yard with the family's children, who aren't quite large enough or mature enough to understand what could happen if he gets close to Roxy barking like that... Or, the psycho little puggle who, Roxy met and played with months ago, but now all of a sudden is chasing and lunging at us on a retractable leash. And the puggle's human? Oh, she doesn't seem to see the importance of stopping the dog from lunging at us... Those are the worst incidents.... they typically happen in the middle of a great training walk, and they totally screw up Roxy's focus and raise her anxiety levels.

I think I need to start looking for other places to train. Our street is becoming repetitive and we don't have enough new people to expose her to. I think we'll start with the strip mall by the Rockaway Mall in the next couple of weeks.

our first training session

Yesterday was our first day of training with Erica. I think I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I guess that's expected. And sort of a good thing. We have LOTS of work to do, but I'm pretty psyched to get to work.  Roxy seemed to pick up on things pretty quickly. And she definitely wants to work, which I think makes the process easier. I mean, who am I kidding, if you've got treats in your pocket, she'll learn just about anything.

And we did a training walk this morning... we definitely need to practice this stuff at home and in the yard before we will get better with it on walks.

I'm really looking forward to the desensitization and counter-conditioning part of this though.  Erica said I probably won't see much of a difference in Roxy for at least several months since I'm trying to change 2+ years of behavior. Which makes sense.... but I'm a little disappointed.  I understand why it will take that long, but damn, I can't wait to see her more relaxed and at ease.

Here we go, Roxy.... I hope you're ready for this!!  

certified and humane

So I contacted a trainer this weekend.

I wound up going with a trainer who I "know" from the Pit Bull rescue forum I've been on for the last year.  I'd been following a lot of her advice already, and she is the "no bull-shit" type of person I was looking for.  She's certified, experienced with fearful dogs, experienced with Pit Bull and Pit Bull mixes, and I already have a certain level of respect and trust for her based on advice I've already gotten.

She's listed on http://www.trulydogfriendly.com/blog/?page_id=4 .... a website of trainers committed to dog-friendly methods of training. i.e. Humane training. Training designed for dog to be an active participant in his learning. Training where you teach the dog to something specific, rather than teach it nothing and hurt it for not doing what you expected.  Training that teaches the dog to choose the behavior you have asked it to do, because it's a more rewarding choice.

that don't impress me much....

I went to that training class last night.... pretty much exactly as I expected it would be.  Ironic because, before the class, someone told me I should bring Roxy there because it would teach me how to control her (as in, she's fearful, so she's out of control? I don't know, really, what that meant).

Let me recap what I observed last night at this "training class":

1. I saw a panicked German Shepherd get hung by his leash while he spun in circles trying to get away from the instructor.  The instructor was explaining to the class that "this is what he's used to doing in order to get out of it. He knows exactly what he's doing, and it's because he knows how to get what he wants."
2. I saw a well-behaved Pit Bull get repeated leash corrections because, "He needs to learn not to pull on the leash."
3. I saw a tall, lean hound mix get repeated leash corrections for barking. I saw dogs forced into the sit position, and then get leash corrections for standing up. They were then forced back into the sit position, thoroughly confused.
4. And, I saw a medium sized mixed breed dog with her tail between her legs. The instructor was holding her in place and petting the top of her head, while explaining that he had to do that in order to get her more comfortable with being handled.  The poor dog had her tail tucked, face turned away, her ears were back and her eyes were wide.  He was forcing a fearful dog to be petted, even though she was trying her darnedest to get away....

I knew that wasn't going to work for me or for Roxy. Or any other dog I ever owned.

Because I don't want to control my dog. I want to teach her to control herself.  Of course I know that, being a fearful dog, Roxy will always need some level of management, and I'm okay with that...

But if only I can just learn how to help her control herself, help her feel more comfortable in her world, so she behaves because she doesn't feel afraid, as opposed to behaving because she is afraid of what I might do to her if she doesn't.