broccolini
Well-Known Member
The behaviorist was awesome.
She started out with a lot of questions about Athena's behavior and history. We talked about what I had already tried and what her response was. I think I've posted about most of that so I'll try not to repeat myself.
She recommended either a head harness or a D&T no pull harness if we felt like we needed more control. The D&T harness doesn't go over the shoulders so it doesn't mess with their gait like the Easy Walk type. She said if we used a head harness, we should always have another leash attached to her collar so she couldn't hurt herself if she lunged at something.
We took Athena out with a front clip harness because we have one. She also gave us a wide, padded collar to use instead of our martingale. Instead of trying to have more structure on walks, we walked her on a 10ft lead and just followed her around keeping the leash loose. We walked with two leashes for a while so she could show me how to use the harness to turn her and how to make sure I released pressure on the collar as soon as she started to turn. This would give us more control, but Athena walks well enough that we switched to just the collar.
Athena is okay with dogs on the opposite side of the street, so we were using that as her threshold distance. If we saw a trigger(dog), we did a slow stop and left the leash loose. As long as she was calm, she was allowed to watch the other dog because that is rewarding to her. Once she disengaged and started doing other things, like sit, turn her head or start sniffing, we called her over and praised her or just moved on. She said we could try to add treats at that step if she was ever willing to take them. It was also a good time to work on 'come.'
If she kept trying to move closer or pulling, I moved her back by pulling her to the side. That way, she could still see the dog. We moved back until she paid attention to me and then I let her leash loose again. As long as she was calm, she got to stay. Otherwise, we backed up until we found the right distance.
All of this worked great and was just building on what I had started doing with her, because everything else stressed her out and made it worse. We saw several dogs in our neighborhood and were able to have calm reactions to all of them. She was so much more relaxed and happy. We are supposed to keep doing this and her bubble should grow smaller. If it doesn't work, she will have us try something completely different. I think we are on the right track though.
We took Athena to a more crowded area where the dogs were closer. She only barked and lunged at one dog but only after that dog did it first. Overall, Athena did really well. We were proactive about getting her to a safe distance before other dogs got close and she was able to just sit and watch them without incident.
She said we weren't doing anything wrong, and Athena's behavior wasn't based in fear at all. She was also expecting Athena to be a lot worse and said that she wasn't that bad.
She gave us some advice on loose leash walking too. We had been durning the other direction but she said that was annoying and jerked on the dog too much. I was skeptical of the wide collar but the behaviorist showed me how to do a nice, slow stop instead of a sharp stop. This makes a lot of sense and I feel dumb for not thinking of it myself. It gives Athena the chance to realize that the pressure leads to stopping instead of making her figure out exactly how long the leash is. We are back to the stop and wait for her to release tension on the collar before moving on. I had been waiting for her to look at me. It's been working well.
I don't think she'll need a harness, but we ordered one with "Do Not Pet" tags anyway. Because she does need the "Do Not Pet" sign. We are both tired of people trying to touch her head.
Overall, I think the behaviorist was well worth the money. She had some great tips and insight and it was nice to have her confirm what I'd been seeing in my dog. Just about everything we are supposed to do is not what most training advice says to do. Nothing relies on treats or force. It's all pretty self-rewarding and effective.
If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask.
She started out with a lot of questions about Athena's behavior and history. We talked about what I had already tried and what her response was. I think I've posted about most of that so I'll try not to repeat myself.
She recommended either a head harness or a D&T no pull harness if we felt like we needed more control. The D&T harness doesn't go over the shoulders so it doesn't mess with their gait like the Easy Walk type. She said if we used a head harness, we should always have another leash attached to her collar so she couldn't hurt herself if she lunged at something.
We took Athena out with a front clip harness because we have one. She also gave us a wide, padded collar to use instead of our martingale. Instead of trying to have more structure on walks, we walked her on a 10ft lead and just followed her around keeping the leash loose. We walked with two leashes for a while so she could show me how to use the harness to turn her and how to make sure I released pressure on the collar as soon as she started to turn. This would give us more control, but Athena walks well enough that we switched to just the collar.
Athena is okay with dogs on the opposite side of the street, so we were using that as her threshold distance. If we saw a trigger(dog), we did a slow stop and left the leash loose. As long as she was calm, she was allowed to watch the other dog because that is rewarding to her. Once she disengaged and started doing other things, like sit, turn her head or start sniffing, we called her over and praised her or just moved on. She said we could try to add treats at that step if she was ever willing to take them. It was also a good time to work on 'come.'
If she kept trying to move closer or pulling, I moved her back by pulling her to the side. That way, she could still see the dog. We moved back until she paid attention to me and then I let her leash loose again. As long as she was calm, she got to stay. Otherwise, we backed up until we found the right distance.
All of this worked great and was just building on what I had started doing with her, because everything else stressed her out and made it worse. We saw several dogs in our neighborhood and were able to have calm reactions to all of them. She was so much more relaxed and happy. We are supposed to keep doing this and her bubble should grow smaller. If it doesn't work, she will have us try something completely different. I think we are on the right track though.
We took Athena to a more crowded area where the dogs were closer. She only barked and lunged at one dog but only after that dog did it first. Overall, Athena did really well. We were proactive about getting her to a safe distance before other dogs got close and she was able to just sit and watch them without incident.
She said we weren't doing anything wrong, and Athena's behavior wasn't based in fear at all. She was also expecting Athena to be a lot worse and said that she wasn't that bad.
She gave us some advice on loose leash walking too. We had been durning the other direction but she said that was annoying and jerked on the dog too much. I was skeptical of the wide collar but the behaviorist showed me how to do a nice, slow stop instead of a sharp stop. This makes a lot of sense and I feel dumb for not thinking of it myself. It gives Athena the chance to realize that the pressure leads to stopping instead of making her figure out exactly how long the leash is. We are back to the stop and wait for her to release tension on the collar before moving on. I had been waiting for her to look at me. It's been working well.
I don't think she'll need a harness, but we ordered one with "Do Not Pet" tags anyway. Because she does need the "Do Not Pet" sign. We are both tired of people trying to touch her head.
Overall, I think the behaviorist was well worth the money. She had some great tips and insight and it was nice to have her confirm what I'd been seeing in my dog. Just about everything we are supposed to do is not what most training advice says to do. Nothing relies on treats or force. It's all pretty self-rewarding and effective.
If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask.
