hankdog Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Raineth Jake always used to keep having a go at the dog over his shoulder. Our goals for Jake are modest, so we don't really work with the aim of making him dog friendly more just encouraging an avoid response. Basically he got rewarded for looking away and then only on the second look away. So bark, look at me get some verbal encouragement then look quietly at the dog then reward with peanut butter on the second look. Over time this seems to eliminated that continued having a go over his shoulder. This morning with Zoei handling him he was able to get about 2m from a girl Rottweiler that I was patting. He was really nice and calm and was able to look directly at her and not freak out and then he walked himself away. A bit later he freaked at a dog that came round the corner but one verbal correction from Zoei and he sort went "oh fine, I'll just go somewhere else....grumble, grumble." It's actually really those incidents that are good for me to see and try imitate. Just need to practice my Zoei voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 It sounds like he is going really well Hankdog :) Yeah Del doesn't turn back around and have a go, but she is much calmer if the dog is in front than behind where I'm guessing she feels like she's not leaving her defenceless back end to be munched upon :) Some smaller dogs especially seem to understand that they can bully her quite safely from behind and will go behind her to bite her back legs. But thankfully its been a while since we've met any of those :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I hate the little turds that do that. I think some little dogs know when a dog is on leash that's the way to attack. Poor Hank actually ended up with stitches on his back leg from a fox terrier once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Better Late Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Well after last nights horrid session (chucked too much in the stew pot) we were back on the horse this morning. Loose leash walking training. My goal was to get her to her favourite sniffing spot (pee-mail community dropbox) which is about a 150m walk. She is getting there with the LLW, its just a matter of consistency. On our way we came across these things, here are the reactions: Car: turned away (would usually lunge/snap) Dog: whined, turned away (would usually bark/snap/lunge) Postie: turned away (would usually bark/lunge/snap) Kids: whined, turned away (would usually be fixated) I rewarded her with distance as her FR for all those things. Very pleasing! She was a bit spooked by all the trigger stacking so I decided to head for home. Of course she was pulling a bit to get back to the house but I have had it with this and will not allow it to be perpetuated any longer, yes the house is a safe place and yes you can go there but no you cannot drag me there and rush the door as I try to open it. It is not fun for me and isnt helping you get over your fears, either. So I continued my LLW training. She was wigged, but once she realised I meant business she responded quicker as I was using getting to the house as her functional reward for acting appropriately. She tried to rush the door and pry it open with her muzzle, but each rush meant I closed the screen door and would only open it again once she was looking back out at the world on a slack line. It didnt take long, she is smart and eager once she knows what the deal is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I hate the little turds that do that. I think some little dogs know when a dog is on leash that's the way to attack. Poor Hank actually ended up with stitches on his back leg from a fox terrier once. Ouch! Yes I do think that dogs who are regularly offlead on the streets often work out that they have the advantage over a leashed dog. Well after last nights horrid session (chucked too much in the stew pot) we were back on the horse this morning. Loose leash walking training. My goal was to get her to her favourite sniffing spot (pee-mail community dropbox) which is about a 150m walk. She is getting there with the LLW, its just a matter of consistency. On our way we came across these things, here are the reactions: Car: turned away (would usually lunge/snap) Dog: whined, turned away (would usually bark/snap/lunge) Postie: turned away (would usually bark/lunge/snap) Kids: whined, turned away (would usually be fixated) I rewarded her with distance as her FR for all those things. Very pleasing! She was a bit spooked by all the trigger stacking so I decided to head for home. Of course she was pulling a bit to get back to the house but I have had it with this and will not allow it to be perpetuated any longer, yes the house is a safe place and yes you can go there but no you cannot drag me there and rush the door as I try to open it. It is not fun for me and isnt helping you get over your fears, either. So I continued my LLW training. She was wigged, but once she realised I meant business she responded quicker as I was using getting to the house as her functional reward for acting appropriately. She tried to rush the door and pry it open with her muzzle, but each rush meant I closed the screen door and would only open it again once she was looking back out at the world on a slack line. It didnt take long, she is smart and eager once she knows what the deal is. Good on you Better Late :) You are doing a good job :) I love how you are also making the most of functional rewards too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Better Late Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) Tried to post photos from my phone but turns out I cant, unless somebody knows how? Edited February 20, 2015 by Better Late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Hankdog, we got bombarded by a couple of those same little turds you speak of. I was walking my guys back from the boat ramp to our caravan & these 2 little dogs came racing out from behind next doors van. They were so bloody aggressive. One went at the front & the other one at the back of Sonny & Stella, snapping & snarling . My 2 were so good & didn't even retaliate. All the while the owner did bugger all to stop them... gosh I was so angry. Why is it just cause they are small it just doesn't seem to matter. Errrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 BCC totally agree with you. Why do I get put in the position where I either kick the dog away or Dee kills it. Neither option is desirable. I have worked out a critical distance and can keep her focused on me most of the time, unless the dog comes up to us closer than a rural street width. And a similar vent. Why are people at vets so bloody clueless and inattentive, especially small dog owners. We were at the vets yesterday. Dee was in a drop well away from the door, just chilling out. In comes a medium sized female dog, possible GSP x SBT, straight into Dee's personal space, sniffing her face. She was brilliant and I remembered to NOT tighten the lead so not a problem. A greeting was exchanged, Dee stayed down, and the other dog moved away. Then an oddle comes out of the consult room, handled by a 6 year old boy, at the end of a long lead. Straight for Dee. I gently turned Dee's head away and held it while the vet nurse very quickly intervened. That encounter was never going to end well, because she was instantly aroused. I always look out of the consult room door before we go out, and always have Dee and Zeph focused on me and on a short lead. Not all dogs like big black dogs and not all big black dogs like other dogs. Or they like the kitten with it's head out of the cat box way too much. Yep, we nearly had a kitten loose in a confined space with a very high prey drive dog. Vet visits can be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 BL you are doing a brilliant job with Bonnie. I love your determination. And yes, emergency U turns are brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Grumpette I was so angry as both of these little dogs were only inches off my guys & kept charging up to their faces snapping & barking. Full on. I was like you & ready to give either one a swift kick but they were so cunning & kept ducking away. Sonny is the most placid boy but there is only some much I expect him to take before he spits it. He is not pretty when his buttons are pushed. I would of been the worst in the world had one of mine put either of these 2 in their place. Just because they are small seems to mean to some that the rules don't apply to them. As ALL dogs are meant to be leashed at all times in the caravan park. Not happy !!! Edited February 21, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dididog Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 We also had a sort of bad vet visit this week Grumpette (though hers was because she hates the vet) hat does sound super frustrating though, I stopped going to our first vet because the waiting room was just way too small and felt like an accident waiting to happen. She's made a lot of progress compared to our last visit, she was comfortable and at ease in the exam room and let the vet approach and pet her and lift up her lips to look at her teeth and in her mouth. I think he could've touched her anywhere and she wouldn't have minded but as soon as he got out the stethoscope she stopped cooperating and tried to distance herself from him so the vet (who was really good with her) held out the stethoscope for her to sniff and I praised her for giving it a neutral reaction and he gave her a bit longer to get used to the idea but as soon as he went to use it she gave him a warning air snap (apart from another vet visit this is the only time she's resorted to going past a growl or bark). So we put the muzzle on which didn't make her freak out more like it did last time but she was still really hard to restrain as she wanted to get away from him. After he'd done his examination we spent about 15 minutes just talking about her and her symptoms and I took the muzzle off. Didi was really calm and fine with being in the exam room again since all the instruments had been put away, unlike our last visit where she continued to be extremely on edge for the rest of the consult. She just laid down at my feet more or less ignoring the vet and then got up to give the room a sniff, said hello to the vet and then laid down at my feet again. So what I'm getting from all of this is that its really the vet having an implement that freaks her out rather than the concept of the vet itself or being touched which make sense as the thing that really triggered her issues with strangers was a vet nurse trying to scan her microchip and our last visit she was fine with the vet touching and patting her until the vet tried to look in her ear with the magnifying tool thingy. So it's good to know what is triggering it but it's going to take a lot of counter conditioning and building trust with our vet to be able to make some progress but it helps that our vet is attached to the pet store where Didi did puppy school (so she has good associations and is comfortable there) and that the vet isn't very busy and was really encouraging of me coming in with her to just work on her problems. Other than that Didi's hooman issues have been pretty uneventful, it's easy to manage and I'm making a lot less mistakes with judging a situation than I used to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I love my present vet, he works on time so there's never a queue of dogs and he believes me when I say Jake is aggressive. They arrange us between other kinds of animals, cats and birds mostly and have a great side door for quick exits. We had a tough visit earlier this week and weren't able to complete the exam. I went back this morning and we got through it but unfortunately we are going to have to start tapering off the Prozac. Yikes this is going to be fun. This weeks funny moments have been watching Jake climbing over the pile of rubble that is being excavated to make a sunken feature garden. Now he could just step to the right by about seventy centimeters and walk around the other side of the tree but he isn't able to do that. He has little quirks and I know he has certain routes he follows around the garden, he doesn't like crossing open lawn and will stick to the edge of the flower beds. I just let him do his thing on his own time but it really is weird how he can climb over rubble, which is technically a new scary thing but will not walk on the wrong side of the tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Hankdog may I ask why you have to take Jakey off Prozac? out of interest. I think I may have finally got Stellas meds right & they include a 20mg Prozac tablet daily. A Vet you can relate to & who also knows how to handle our reactive dogs is sometimes very hard to find. I have a wonderful Vet at home & have also been fortunate enough to find a another wonderful Vet at one of our favourite camping destinations. Had to take my boy the other day as he had a very bad infection in his Salivary gland so I took Stella along as well. All went fabulously well. Stella thought we were visiting long lost friends I think. She seemed fairly relaxed the whole visit. The lovely Vet engaged her & made her feel special. So pleased. Edited February 21, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Better Late Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Well we have a local trainer coming out in a few weeks just to help us continue giving Bonnie a better perspective on life. She nipped a friend of mine who was visiting out of fear aggression, it was completely my fault as I just overloaded her and didnt read her signs properly, I should have listened far far better and only have myself to blame. I'm only learning as well but having a trainer local to us will be a godsend. LLW going well, and we got to walk around the neighbours house today without her trying to eat the neighbours dog! At all! Just a bit of whining, curiosity and info gathering. I also bought some beautiful stained glass window film for the bottom window panels, so she can stop being homeland security by the windows and I can open the curtains again and enjoy natural sunlight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Jake has a blood test every 6 months, this time his results are all borderline and some slightly out of range. He's been a little off the last few weeks and because he's hard to examine we can't exactly pinpoint what's wrong. However it could fit with the side effects of Prozac use. It's tough because we would need to sedate him for x Rays and further tests and that comes with its own risk. So for now we are going to see if we can wind back the Prozac and he's been given pain relief which made a difference within 36 hours. Poor sausage I feel like a drug peddler doling out his drugs everyday. I've added raw honey to his diet, apparently he likes that as much as peanut butter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) Oh poor Jakey HD Is there a reason to add honey to his diet? It is very difficult to get the right balance of meds & just when you think you have it right, something else crops up. I feel like a drug dealer as well with Stella & I really dislike having to have her on any meds at all. She has to have her bloods done next in a couple of weeks actually. I'm also going to get some blood work done & sent to America to have her Thyroid levels checked as apparently if their Thyroid isn't working correctly it can cause seizures similar to Epilepsy. So out of interest I would like to make sure we are in fact treating the correct condition. Edited February 23, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I read in the health forum that raw honey is good for skin issues, as it happens people up the road are bee keepers and sell it to the neighbourhood. Pretty lucky for me. Are you sending blood to Jean Dodds? I've done it twice and it's very thorough. Neither time showed any fixable problem, sometimes I wish there was a "thing" I could fix and everything would be alright. The good news is Jake played his morning game of bitey face for the first time in two weeks so he must be feeling better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Yes HD, Jean Dodds. When I figure out all the paper work you apparently need to have/do. Might get my Vet to advice me on that side of things actually. Yes I'm hearing you Hankdog. I would love some results to come back with a fixable problem too actually. An answer as to why Stella is the way she is. Glad to hear Jake is playing bitey face again today. He must be feeling brighter ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) It's not as mind boggling as it seems. I think I used fedex as my courier and there were forms from them and forms that you download once you've paid for the test. If I remember rightly I think I did the test on Monday, you take all the forms to the vet so he signs off on everything and there's some processing done at the vet that took about an hour. You pack it with bubble wrap and ice bricks and I put it in a little Tupperware. If you do it early in the morning then fedex collect by midday and off it goes. They bring a cardboard box with them when they pick it up, there's customs forms because it's a blood product but it's not too complex. I just let everyone tell me where to sign and voila. It was great peace of mind having it done. Edited February 24, 2015 by hankdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) Thanks hankdog. It all sounds so involved to me but I will work my way through all the red tape for that "peace of mind ". I'm not very computer savvy unfortunately. I did see another thread about this very topic so I will follow that with interest as well ☺ Edited February 24, 2015 by BC Crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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