KobiD

Yes. Occasionally I'll let her in of an evening and reward her for laying on her mat for a quick pat. Sometimes I'll let her through the house when going out for a walk, but on the whole we see no need for her to be in and out of the house as she pleases. Young children (lots of toys, lots of excitement, lots of food left laying around), a pure bred ragdoll and as such cat food and kitty litter always out, and black dog hair on the floor doesn't please the lady of the house. She's very happy with her setup. Lazes around the veranda by the doors on her towels during the day, and moves out into the carport onto her elevated dog bed overnight. Plenty of undercover area and we live in a tropical climate. I probably spend more time outside with her than I do inside in all honesty as well, and the puppy always has lots of palm fronds, cardboard boxes, rope toys, and towels to play around with. Frequently given frozen kongs, all interaction is approached as training, and usually gets a nice beefy bone to chew on once or twice a week. I don't see this behaviour as being driven by frustration or boredom. I think it may be that when the neighbour cleans the pool she can 1) hear it, and 2) see the top of the net handle above the fence. Couple that with their dog being on the other side of the fence and she can get first aroused by the strange stuff happening and then excited by the dog. Also tends to happen more so at the witching hour of the day.

Thanks Corvus! I'll hook into it and see where we end up. She's a quick learner so if I nip it in the bud should be onto the next thing before we know it.

We're on 800sqm. She lives outside so can see/hear everything around her. I work shift work, and my partner works part time so it's very rare that she is left by herself for a full 8 hours or more, and the time we are out is random in both times and duration. She is left with a kong prior to heading out. Usually at least a walk once a day, but more often than not twice. Route get's varied, and is always structured around good behaviour/choices. Loose leash, leash awareness, focus back towards me. She can be reactive to other dogs in some situations so we are always working at threshold with a high rate of reinforcement. Used to get very excited by people as well but her impulse control has been gaining month by month. She get's human interaction all day at various times. She sleeps by the door near the kitchen so always someone coming past. 8yo and 3yo children so always lots of play time in the yard. Well structured play with the kids included in ball/rope games, the dog included in the kids playing go karts, and both children involved with training, reinforcement and feeding schedules. Have family/friends over frequently and no issues with people various ages, sex, build, etc. She gets excited (wiggly worm) but mostly just wants a tummy rub, and settles quickly after an introduction. She's always been a bit aware of what the neighbours are doing, but lately she has been putting on more of a show towards the rear neighbour (through a high timber fence). She did it again this afternoon while he was out around his pool doing some cleaning (he has a male dog, ours is female). I went down to inspect and she was just being a bit silly. Had a bit of a chat over the fence with him about where she's at and he's noticed she's been uppin him a bit too (has been same neighbour and situation since she was 8 weeks old). I think I'll just have to go walk the fence line every afternoon with some meat and reward her heavily for good choices and desensitise a bit. Lots of focus lately has been on walking in public and becoming impartial to other dogs. One thing to note is that he has been doing quite a bit of work on his side of the fence, pruning, having a few trees taken out, etc. I recall she went off a bit when the tree lopper was up a palm tree taking it down section by section, but I was there and rewarded good choices in that scenario too. I think it's just a developmental stage where she is more aware and alert, and just needs to learn what is a threat and what's not.

We can get a good game of tug going. She loves LOVES LOVES her flirt pole setup. Happy to play with palm coves, but she has to be in an excited state to want to play. I have been transferring the value, but getting her into the drive where she see's that as a reward is what can be a challenge. Either not exciting compared to what else she's interested in, or other times she's just not interested (can take/leave a game). Food is a very very rare situation where she'll decline it. If she knows you have food on you she'll be offering learnt behaviours like there's no tomorrow (mostly going up to person seen as source of food and laying beside them). It could also be a case that the tug toy has lost appeal because I have left it with her all the time. She tends to play with it on her own when she gets bored vs being something special I bring out as a bonding tool. The flirt pole stays locked away and only comes out on my terms.

I think study shows that the weight of the reward also influences the reinforcement. Ie higher value for better performance vs low value for mediocre, but as above it becomes very hard to implement in every day life. I think I agree with the above too, re treats and more.. and that is the direction I have been working vs true variable reinforcement. I guess the difficulty as a handler is that she is very focussed in the particular drive that she is in, therefore responds better to reinforcement in that drive. For example, if she's working for food and you try to pat her she'll often pull away like a teenager walking with mom or dad in public. Same for play, she doesn't really enjoy a good cuddle... or if she's working for food and you try to play instead she just ignores the toy. Some of it is her, some is me too. I'm not very excitable by nature. Very relaxed and happy for the dog to follow the same laid back lifestyle vs being snappy all the time. I have been trying to couple and build with working for games and then rewarding higher value with treats on occasion, or a good scratch if she appears to enjoy it in that instance. I also couple the treat with movement and touch to try and make them all part of the same rewarding process.

Hello all, new thread. Our little mixed breed (whoknowswhat) is approaching 12 months old already. She is an outside dog and only allowed through the house under direction. She has never been encouraged to be protective, however with some maturity taking place she's recently began becoming more alert/suspicious of her surroundings. Noises coming from the neighbours yard etc. When she does this she carries her tail very high, curled over at the tip, stands tall and proud, and the hackles between her shoulders nice and ruffled. I don't have a problem with her indicating that she's noticed someone/something, however she hasn't worked out how to let it go yet. When she does it she isn't over the top really and will recall on cue, however I am wary of recalling and rewarding as she's quite intelligent and I want to avoid her associating the barking with a reward. Anyone have any suggestions how I can acknowledge her, and then have her realise no threat, relax, and don't bark again 5 mins later the next time they make a noise. One part of me wants to ignore it, and reward heavily when she's being calm (which is what we do mostly). But the other bit thinks that the barking could also be self rewarding so I don't want to let her continue. The other challenge is with her being outside all the time I don't really have the ability to control that environment, nor monitor her behaviour when we are out. I wouldn't put it down as problematic behaviour at this stage, but could see it annoying a few people if it occurs too often (all neighbours have dogs so are pretty understanding). This is my first dog of my own, so not sure if it's just a phase and she'll relax off a bit as she matures some more and realised what is a threat and what's not.

I've been following some of the free dog training workshop, and taken some knowledge from it to implement into my own training routines. Still having the same issues on this front regarding variable reinforcement. Still mixing it up with treats of different value, toys and play, and have also been building touch (scratch more than petting) into the reward system, however food is her true motivation. Given that she's a dog though, she's well aware of if I am carrying food and 9 times out of 10 I am. I have also been building 'let's get a treat' where I run back inside and get her something nice while she waits outside... I probably need to work on this more as there are still times she'll decide that I have nothing and she can smell or access something she wants and she takes the easy route.

What I find interesting is that I hadn't really heard of Susan Garrett for the past however many months we've had this puppy. I've done more than my fair share of reading across a variety of training methods, and also had some terrific advise from certain people on this forum (you know who you are). But what I have seen from the videos that have been shared, and the games that Susan has spoke of (I'm sure I've only seen a handful of them).. is that I had very much been training like this already, and realising the rewards. Just turning every day activities into training sessions, which in turn leads to the dog offering the behaviours you seek every day, and the cycle continues. I find the real challenge or skill lies in preempting the dogs behaviour and being realistic in how likely they will be to make the right choice.. and there are many times where things have moved too quickly or are beyond the dogs threshold (environment not set up for success), where asking for a certain behaviour will result in the dog ignoring you.. I had a failed recall due to that myself today. Heading out the front yard to take the bins out and she got upwind of some cat poo, coupled with a knowledge that I didn't have a pocket full of treats. It was an easy choice for her, and a bit of poor judgement on my behalf to even bother calling. But it was immediately followed by a positive, in that I grabbed her and lead her back to the yard, but left the gate open. This time she made the choice to stay in the yard, knowing all too well that both I and the smelly delights were both out there.

Same can be said for many things in life! Still have your rough days where you feel like everything's out to get you (dog included), however it really is about looking at the behaviours you had, the behaviours you have, the behaviours you envision, and then the steps you'll take to fill in the gaps. The real point being rather than focusing on how to 'make' the dog do something, it changes into how can I encourage them.. and in my experience by being flexible you see each behaviour they offer as something to work from as opposed to a 'mistake'. But you know all this.. I haven't considered dropping the coin on the full course as I think I'd get bored with working through structured games, and am seeing the progress I'm after through my own trial and error. I can see the value for many though.

Great work! Really enjoyed it. I think a lot of people could probably relate to the part where you say how you've learnt to step aside and not micromanage as much. I know it's something I've struggled with.

Just got back from another round with the family. Some nice structured walking on leash. A little freedom off leash. Let her greet another dog through their gate. Ignored her boyfriend as he walked past. Said hello to another little dog and had a sniff. Watched another walk past opposite side of the road without reacting. Then ended up off leash with the same BC she had a play with the other day. Ours is very food driven, the other ball driven so play doesn't happen much. They get around together. Ours gets a bit jealous if I try to pat the other one though, has a bark and carries on but nothing OTT.

I watched the 3 videos and while I probably found the second one most useful, I don't think it's all that different to how I have been training already (use of games, life rewards, treats). What I did notice is that you need to be mindful of what you have taught and what you intend to teach, and how the current cues and markers will integrate with the new. Our pup took to the hot spot game alright, although as I'd already been shaping a bit she would tend to offer other behaviours before the penny would drop as to what I was actually asking. I found a quick lure or placing something on cue sooner allowed her to know my expectation of the game.

Usually I wouldn't keep her at said distance, but the other person kind of closed the distance on us, and she wasn't out of control. He's offered to let them have a good run off leash some time when she warms up a bit more too, which I'm not opposed to. As long as it remains structured and not a free for all. It's nice when things start falling into place.

Last night, we closed the distance down with a dog that she usually passes without issue. She was a bit fearful, and then hid behind my legs barking, while still being curious. I didn't make more distance, but just let her ride it out with rewards for the moments she'd settle or focus back on me. Will have to see what the net effect has been next time we pass this particular dog. Today we went a different route for our morning walk. Realised I hadn't shown her horses in her socialisation period. She froze, to the point she wouldn't look away or take food. Made some distance and then rewarded again, but she still wasn't sure. I ended up powering past them on the opposite side of the road. She was still fearful but managed to keep moving. Rewarded heavily once past, and continued to work just at threshold. I think she'll be OK with some more practice. The sight, smells, and sounds were all new to her so understandable that she was taken back. Couple more small dogs came up off leash later on. She offered a nice submissive greeting at their level, made some good choices and even had a little play on leash before moving on. We rewarded with some more smelling where they had been and the surrounding area. Waited out a while and they came back past a second time, this time without any greeting and some nice calm behaviour.

Still making good progress in public with both people and dogs. There is still the occasional interaction that she will be unsure of and get a bit reactive, mostly with unfamiliar dogs. On the whole she's moving forward though and learning to control her excitement much better. This morning after a nice controlled submissive greeting she was allowed to roam off leash with a neighbourhood dog. The other dog wasn't overly keen to play, despite mine verbally encouraging the other, the little collie just wanted her ball or people pats. It was good as mine had time to learn to calm and I'd reward her when she'd stop the barking to play. After both roaming around both owners independently it wasn't until we put them both back on leash that the play bow occurred so we made them settle again and released to play. They had a good scoot around without playing too rough. More often than not though I'm simply working on teaching her to close the distance and remain calm. I think these positive encounters are doing wonders for her confidence though and she's starting to learn some of the rules. Interestly, on the other hand I have noticed her starting to get a bit more protective in nature around the house. Very alert to any noises or neighbours dogs up against the fence line. She's very quick to throw the hackles up and get after it. At nearly 11 months I'd say it's her maturing some more. I just keep on with the same old same old. Call her back, ask for a few cues and then reward when she's settled.

Swung past the same park again the next day, with the family and dog in toe. Same lady was there with her dog, albeit offering no advice or offers of socialisation this time. Things ran like clockwork. Released our dog to say hello to her usual friends through the fence. Let her have a play off leash chasing me around. Back on leash and closed the distance back close to the dog she was reactive towards and she wasn't even interested. Released her again to let her play. Didn't even approach the other dog. Got within about 2m to the other dog and ours was more interested in trying to dig cat turds out of the playground sand (another long standing challenge.. scavenger dog). More morning (and sometimes afternoon) walks. More positive experiences are building her confidence. One neighbours dog approached off leash this morning and she handled it well. Submissive but not overly fearful and no reactive behaviour following the greeting, just a nice big handfull of treats scattered. Next dog which she was unsure of a couple days ago she was happy to approach, and exchange some gentle sniffing.

That's very reassuring! Great point about working with the dog you have in front of you too. Have to remember that although the last months have seen some major growth that mentally she's still got a fair bit of learning to do...

As always it's one step forwards, two backwards. and three sideways. Yesterday was a rather frustrating day in general. She was just being a bit silly and acting out. I was off night shift, tired, and a less tolerant than normal. The whole family was home, visitors came by, etc which all added to everything being a bit more busy than normal too. Morning walk she did OK, but wasn't particularly listening and a little challenging. After dinner I tried to get some fresh air for me and finish the day on a positive, so we went off for a walk. Hit the park near by and there were a heap of young fellas having a bit of a party, kickin a few footies around and being roudy. No issues but it was a noticable distraction. Keeping distance from them then put us inline with a small group of people with 2 x smaller dogs. Ours saw them and in her aroused stated threw her hackles up and started barking. Mind you she wasn't listening well before that, and wasn't likely to listen any further at that stage so I picked her up and moved into some open area. We started again with some behaviours and making some progress until the lady and her 2 dogs felt the need to come and 'socialise' our dog. Managed to cut us off across the field, bail us up, and then proceed to say poor dog, did you get her from a shelter, must have been abused, you should medicate her.. given the day I'd had it took some real will power not to say what I was thinking... After they left she settled again (thanks for nothing lady) and we moved on. Frustrated towards the dog still I just wanted to get home. I wasn't feeling like positively reinforcing anything anymore and tbh would have been happy enough to drag her home. Few not so kind words to the dog and we moved on though. Another local approached on the other side of the road. Put my dog into a sit and rewarded for good behaviour. She happily say as the other young pup passed by and us owners had a quick how do ya do. It's very touch and go. I think she warms to other dogs she recognises and knows 'the game''. New dogs she gets apprehensive and unsure and needs space to acclimate to their presence. It would be great if others respected this. This morning I was still a bit frustrated, but we went out. Passed another on the street with no issues (one we pass most mornings). Passed another she has greeted last week; but kept distance. Not a perfect example of calmness, but she didn't lose it. Passed several people no problems. Another little old friend of hers she stayed very calm with, and was rewarded with a quick play while still on leash. Lots of play bows and no pulling, which then rewarded with off leash work. Left with them both off leash and both doing there own thing. She sat in a sit stay while I went and said hello to another couple local dogs through a fence. She then came over to say hello. High energy but positive, and moved away on cue. Rewarded by walking the rest of the way home off leash with loads of treats for checking in. Thinking back on last night, we got her at 8 weeks from a shelter. She hasn't been abused or mistreated. She was socialised from the moment I got her, out in the neighbourhood seeing things. She started with the reactive barking by 12 weeks,, most noticable when she went in to the vets for her shots. Carried on like a pork chop. It makes me wonder at what age she was separated from her mother.. could explain a few of the issues we've faced with her. Smart, but challenging little dog. She's very much a bonded. She likes to stay near by, loves to cuddle on the lap, but isn't very physically driven for pats. Sights, smells, and most of all edibles are her drives.

Thanks corvus. She's coming into 11 months old this month. She hasn't had a lot of exposure to greetings as she has always become so excited (either pulling, or barking).. and off leash she would simply rush in too fast and upset the other dogs.. as such I have simply worked to calm her and it does appear to be working but has been a long process. We're now at a point where she can begin to work on greeting without the reactivity and she's showing that she isn't as confident as she'd like everyone to believe. She is however building confidence with each interaction that is positive. Short quick, on leash greetings and then move on before excitement levels peak. I've also been heavily reinforcing when we see dogs on our walks. Simply stopping and allowing her to watch. When she looks back at me I treat in succession. Stop and let it happen again. More often than not she's starting to see more value in sticking close vs going to other dogs.

Always a solid response Tassie; worth waiting for. I agree completely regarding the long slow process, however reflecting back on the behaviour as a whole surely does show gradual improvement. I've really tried to step up the training and use higher distractions and drive to proof her behaviours. Keeping at threshold (usually distance) allows her to build confidence and see less value in dogs. When she's overwhelmed she becomes a bit unsure. Wants to move forward but does so in a passive/submissive manner.. or simply put's on a bluff and barks a bit. I just keep trying to reward the behaviour I like and limit what I don't. This morning we were moving past a garden bed. There was a dog poo in a black bag in there. The scent and/or visual spooked her. Hackles up, barking and fixated. To me an opportunity to build her and some behaviours. She would still listen to an extent so went into a sit stay. I dropped the leash and went to have a look myself, and then invited her over for a closer look. She had a sniff and then we continued on. Funny the little things that can set them off.

Thanks perse.. I have read that in the past, and again since too. I don't have any real intention for her to actively play with other dogs. My view probably reflects Steve (k9pros) where I'd like my dog to be impartial.. and to a large degree she is. We can easily walk past houses where dogs will bark and her through their fences and she won't even stumble. We can walk up to said fences and she'll focus on me ignoring the other dog on the other side. We can move past other dogs on the street with their owners without too much hassle. Sometimes she'll be a little too aroused, but that's expected as a puppy still. She's much better than she was several months ago. I guess my goal is not particularly for her to be able to 'play' with other dogs. I would like her to understand social etiquette. To approach, read some body language herself, introduce and then we can explore possibilities of moving on or engaging in some play etc. At this stage (and it may be a developmental thing) she doesn't seem to have any grasp on this. She tends to go to all out.. either right up in their faces wanting to play (which most dogs don't like clearly) or right on the submissive. I think it's just more time, and more practicing, more rewarding. On the whole we have made progress, but every now and then it feels like you take a couple steps backwards before you go forward again.

No-one? Yesterday afternoon we were out walking and another larger log off leash approached quite playfully. Our puppy thought she'd been had scampering around yelping and throwing all sorts of submissive signs. Eventually she calmed down a bit and we continued on. This morning we were approached by 2 smaller dogs on leash. They came together calmly, had a sniff, and then my dog wanted to play, excited barking etc (she does this to my parents dog when she wants to continue play, usually after they've both slowed down after a couple hours together). She was submissive in this greeting in that she had the tail partially tucked and stayed close to me as opposed to pulling forward. I feel like she's torn between being not sure of the other dogs and how they'll react and her own excitement and wanting to play. I continue to reward positive behaviour, ability to listen and when she puts focus on me. We pass many more dogs than we stop to greet as I don't want to form the habit where every time she see's another of her kind that she needs to go and say hello.

I've done a bit of reading regarding reactivity as well, where I've got a lot of ideas for how to work with her in a controlled manner. It isn't really reactivity in the traditional sense that she wants to lunge/charge/put on an offence. She is not fearful of encounters. For instance, she will lay down willingly next to me, with a dog not far away.. however she is very driven to rush up to the other dog to play, say hello. She's very much the same with people. At a certain distance (varies depending on energy level and interest) she will decide she wants to go! Usually I hold my ground. No verbal correction. Just wait.. and then reward the moment she turns back and puts focus on me again. She's worlds better than she was though, where she'd be on the opposite footpath and see a dog and want to pull over, to now she'll happily do it with a dog on the other side. She'll let dogs walk past on the same side. In some instances she's greeted on leash and she's usually a mix between confident and fearful. I guess you could call it cautious. Then with other dogs the excitement is just too much.. I'll keep working at it.

My dear puppy 10 months old now, has always been a social retard in the presence of others (both people and dogs). She is overly enthusiastic. I've been busy working within her thresholds and rewarding for calm behaviour since 8 weeks old. I have her to the point where we can be close to other dogs, and she will remain calm and focussed, but the drive to rush to them remains. In some instances she's ok and she'll be very polite in how she greets, but in others she just doesn't settle. In writing this, I think I have answered my question, that I simply should not let her meet until she is calm. A couple times I've let her off leash to approach in her own manner to ensure that it's not the leash/being restricted that is causing the added excitement. Generally this results in her rushing up on the other dogs who then correct her. The other owners are always aware before this happens, I wouldn't let her do it to just any dog. I have no problem with them giving her a correction either, however she doesn't really seem to learn from it.. Sometimes she'll bounce up and rush in to play again. During these episodes she displays clearly submissive behaviour, however I feel if she gave a few of these signs before she was in the other dogs face I'm sure all would be well. After the initial tiff she does seem to settle more, and show some more caution in her approach.. until next time. The times other dogs have come off leash (unplanned) to her, she is totally different and much more reserved. I'd like to be able to have her greet nicely and remain calm. It may be that I need to continue with on leash and reward (which has improved drastically) and only allow closer greetings when she is calm. She's at 10 months now and is starting to settle down a bit overall.

What's the budget? Lots of high end vacs listed, but not everyone wants to justify a big handful of coin on a dust collector.. Vax power 5 pet - decent specced machine at a good price point.