Something off topic

Again something a little bit off topic.....

Even if we are training an interrupting cue, our training is based mainly on positive feedback. I love to see my dog doing something I like and I am used to tell her so.
But most of the people are focused on the things they do not like.
Like some days ago. I met a dog. He was kind of perfect. He had no problems with all this strangers, with the cats and was calm and polite - but nobody told him. But the two times he barked on the cat he immidiatly was told to be quiet. How frustrating a life like this must be.....
I don't know whose words this are but somebody says you can measure a good dog trainer on the positive feedback he gives to the dog. One time of correction should be related to 15 times of positive feedback. I like this idea!
Try to tell your dog when you like what he is doing and I'm sure you will feel the positive reaction of your canine friend!

Conditioned Relaxation

I've already started to work on this months ago but not on a regular basis because it was hard for me to remind me doing it when Lisbeth was relaxing.

But today I know that this is an important tool for our anti-stress training. I think it will not work in environments were Lisbeth feels stressed at all but I need it for particular situations to bring her back to a state of mind where it is possible for her to think. I think of meeting strangers on a calm walk, or a walk with a dog friend, finding deers tracks on our way. This and a lot of other things stimulate Lisbeth that much that it is no longer possible for her to think. This results in beeing reactive or a very hard player and things like that. Having a chew or making a break together can help to calm her down again but it would be nice to have something which works a little bit faster.
I think most of you have heard about conditioned relaxation.... This does not mean that your dog falls asleep when you say a special world but that he relaxes in one way or the other.
We train it by putting on a special collar with a special smell (lavendula) and by repeating a special word when Lisbeth relaxes.

This can be when she is close to sleep, or when you pet her, or when you brush her. You have to do it very often and like all other behaviours you have to use it in different situations and at different places. Its easier and more effective when you combine the word with other senses, like the visual, the tactile and the olfactory sense (like we do). I hope we will be sucessfull with this because one of our biggest issues is not the stress per se but her inability to relax after stimulating situations.

To be continued

I promised to continue the story about our new working program.

Beside more excersise we have to learn some "rules".
Lisbeth is introduced to two new cues, one means its time to cuddle and the other one is some kind of an interrupting signal.
The first one is trained by buying a new toy wich is totally different to all the others (and buy some more that you'll always find one). When Lisbeth bites the toy and holds it in her mouth I have whatever I'm doing give her attention and pet her. I'm not allowed to play or make party but to calmy praise and pet her. This cue should give her security that she is able to get in contact with me. Until now she do not know how to get my attention, she tries biting some things, jumping, whining all those things. And now I'm channeling her need for attention to this special toy. And I have to praise her 100%. And like everything you reinforce 100% it slowly fades away. At the beginning she was not interested in the toy so I had to put a meaning on it by making it interesting and now I think she has a feeling what it means. I still have to show her when I have the feeling she needs attention but then she holds it for minutes. She is not fucused in retrieving so this is something special for her.
The other cue is the interupting signal, it's like a no but you should choose a word that sounds nice. You teach it by having your dog on leash and throwing some treats on the ground and your dog is allowed to eat them all then you say the word and you throw it out of reach. My dog got it very quickly that this word means stop what you are thinking about.
First of all I was a little bit sceptical because this means a lot of frustration but after a while I was thinking OK ignoring means frustration as well, and Lisbeth do not get the message. She needs to get clear information. What is important when you are using this signal is, to have in mind the reason for the behaviour you are interrupting. I'm going to use it for attention seeking misbehaviours and because I teach Lisbeth this "It's time to cuddle" cue as well she has an option to choose the right behaviour instead to get what she wants! Never ever just stop the behaviour without giving another option!!!
That's it for today... but it will be continued!

Understimulation

As quick as her food agression arised as quick it was gone again. The simple reason for this problem was hunger.... or better call it food unsecurity. Now we work everyday that she knows there will be enough food everyday - there is no need to protect it.

But what is a lot more important is our new training program.

Lisbeth has a stress problem I have realised this from the early beginning. She can only hardly cope with changing or new situations. Her stress level rises when she is in a new environment, when she is meeting strangers or other dogs. She loves to play with other dogs on the one hand but feels unsecure about unknown dogs. And sometimes she feels she has to show the other dog that she's the boss...
You can not take her with you when you are meeting friends or other dogs because her stresslevel rises and she is unable to relax. My strategy was to keep her away from every stress situation which means she has to stay home alone a lot. At the beginning this was the perfect solution and a lot of things get better. But after a while things was getting worse again. I've thought, that this was due to more stressful situations I exposed her on a regular basis. Therefore we reduced stressy situations again. I avoided any games that increased her arousal and I've tried to keep her calm most of the time. But there was something I had forgotten. Lisbeth is a young dog. Only two years old with a lot of energy. And even if you have to have look on her stress level she needs some "action" as well in her life. We have found a new area where Lisbeth can be off leash and she is almost perfect there. She is allowed to move freely and can do almost everything she wanna do and she rely loves it. She stays in contact with me most of the time and comes back when called. I try to make action in combination with some relaxation and it works quite fine. We do searching for treats, and Lisbeth can have a chew if she chooses to do so. She can run around, can chase birds or just sniff the track of the beaver. What is still impotant is that nothing else is happening in our walk. No strangers, no other dogs no other scary things.
The most important thing is that we are spending some time togehter and we are both enjoying it. There is no need to protect her form stress and Lisbeth is able to comunicate most of the time. There first thing what happens when stress level rises is tha Lisbeth is no longer able to take her treats. But this happens only rarely on this walks.
I also want to give her back doggy contact more regularly. But this is the most difficult part for me. We have a dog friend called Raviko, a 2 yeard old portuguesian water dog, but this is not the perfect friend for Lisbeth. She plays very rough with Raviko and she does not look very happy. But this might be also a reason of her higher stress level. We have to go to another place for walks with Raviko where are some other dogs and strangers around. A lot of unknown smells and so on. Lisbeth is not able to stay in contact with me, she is cannot eat her treats and she reacts on other dogs and strangers. Walks with Raviko are hard work for me as well. I do not enjoy this walks but I want to give it a try. We will meet on a regular basis, going always the same way take a lot of breaks and chews and I hope that she is going to enjoy this walks soon.
She is getting some food additives as well which should help her to relax.All the other things we are working I will tell about in the next post.

Food agression

I had to quit the lavendel collar, I don't know if she hates the smell or the collar but she totally avoids it by moving away when I take the collar.
I'm going to a behaviour specialist tomorrow, to discuss medication as well. We have tried a lot in the last months but Lisbeth still have a problem to relax at home.
I have tried more and less activity, I gave her a lot to chew, mental stimulation and all this things. But Lisbeth can only relax when nothing is hapenning around her.

And since two weeks we have a new problem. Ressource guarding! I have started to feed Lisbeth only out of the Kong and for search for treats and by something to chew. Maybe it was a little bit less as well, because I wanted Lisbeth to loose some weight. But this was an awful idea for her! Now she is growling when she is chewing and someone comes too close. Till now the foodbowl is full all the time again. Lisbeth needs to know again that there is always food and that she do not have to protect it! Food agression is something natural! It is by instinct. So never ever take away some food from your dog. If your dog trusts you you can take away the food but always give something better instead or give the food back!