but I like the direction and I think I'm on the right track.

I admit. I am an anxious person and it doesn't help my dog. So I am working on it on all fronts and making headway. Tonight I took Jethro out for a walk close to home, practicing clicking for eye contact. Guess what, a dog that is making eye contact is close and is not looking at other things (that might set him off). We had this great walk, where I would drop the leash as he walked close to me making eye contact and getting clicks and treats, and then I would pick up the leash and say Sniff, which meant he could explore the environment (with his nose). It was fun to reverse the meaning of the leash - leash in hand meant exploring, leash dragging meant close in, head up, eye contact as we were walking. This is helping me build my confidence for handling Jethro. It was an awesome feeling and we had a great, short, incident free walk.

We get in the house, I am getting ready to make dinner and drop my attention on Jethro for maybe 5 minutes and he is going berserko at the window at two dogs on leash passing on the sidewalk. Ugh.

I have set up a 'quarantine area' to put Jethro when he does not Stop giving unwanted attention to life on the street. It is not his crate, it is going to serve as a timeout area that is neutral to him. When he wouldn't stop barking tonight, I removed him to this area and set the timer for 4 minutes. Then I ignored him. When the dinger sounded, I put him on a leash and brought him back into the living room with me. He has chosen to Settle on his daybed.

For the last few days I have been trying to implement a more active correction program, as per Ed's advice, "One good correction is worth a thousand nags." I think he needs to add, "and if you have given your best corrections 4 or 5 times and you are getting more upset and your dog isn't getting it, there is a problem with your corrections, not your dog." Back to the drawing board.

So I am back to clicker and treats with renewed vigor and Jethro is responding beautifully. *sigh*

We figure, spring fever - its his first. We estimate he was born in February, so this is his first experience of new bird songs, lots of grass to eat, and new sights and smells outside.

And some days I am out walking with him and he is such a wonderful companion and I think, "maybe this is a glimpse of the adult dog still to come."

Anyone else care to share their recent wins/losses?

Jenny, if you and the dog are maintaining eye contact, who's watching where you are going?

From your posts it does not look like Jethro is ready to be let off leash, a loose leash might be a better option at this point.

A simple long down would work better than "timeouts": Yap-yap-yap-yap-... Quiet-Good!-treat OR Quiet-No!-Down for 2-3 mins-Settle

You seem to be asking too much of your dog. It seems that he can never relax, whatever he does is "unwanted behavior". Perhaps some management could help: take him out for a walk when there is nobody outside and let him sniff and do whatever he wants on a long line. Toss a ball for him, get him tired so that when everybody is out and about he is soundly asleep and too relaxed to be bothered by the noises.

"For the last few days I have been trying to implement a more active correction program, as per Ed's advice, "One good correction is worth a thousand nags." I think he needs to add, "and if you have given your best corrections 4 or 5 times and you are getting more upset and your dog isn't getting it, there is a problem with your corrections, not your dog." Back to the drawing board."

I have more than once had the sense that corrections were higher in many minds (me too) than necessary. That is, teaching wanted behaviors and desensitizing to reactive triggers are both correction "avoiders," if you will.

" ... if you have given your best corrections 4 or 5 times and you are getting more upset and your dog isn't getting it, there is a problem with your corrections, not your dog" wouldn't be my phraseology. It would be "if you have given your best corrections a few times and you are getting more upset and your dog isn't getting it, there is a problem with your COMMUNICATION and/or your TRAINING, not your dog."

I went to a seminar once where we were challenged to come up with a training or management answer to every correction situation that came up over a week (kept a log before the seminar).

Shocking! I was really taken aback at how many of the correction events I had logged were actually completely avoidable if I had deliberately adopted the mindset of outthinking the dog.

Of course Ed is 100% right about corrections not turning into nagging background that does nothing but teach the dog to ignore you. But if we back up and look at the whole picture, how many corrections do we give that we could have completely avoided with teaching bulletproof alternate behaviors?

Don't let the barking out the window get you down. He's just being a dog, and and for some dogs this kind of barking can take a while to control.

My dog can't even be allowed in the rooms facing front of the house unless I'm there to issue a well timed "quiet" on the first little grumble! If she's already started, its too late.

It cracks me up to see how hard she tries when I time the "quiet" perfectly. She still looks out the window while making silent "huff, huff" barks. What a good girl!

Its nice when your feeling down about where you are with your dog and then they do something amazing. Sometimes it seems almost intentional. Like they just want to remind you that awesome progress has been made.

There was this one point in time that Tasha and I had been in a bad place for a while. Her house manners had taken a major slide, and the leash reactive stuff was at a peak. Life was not fun.

We were at the beach and she took off chasing a duck. I called out "leave it!".

She not only stopped chasing, she did a dramatic u turn, ran back to me and bopped me happily in the leg with her nose.

It was such a sweet gesture, and a major mark of progress. I actualy teared up!

so I know what you mean. Sometimes you have a moment when they really prove it to you and you see how deep your bond really is. When it happens it is beautiful.

 Quote: ana kozlowsky

... It seems that .... whatever he does is "unwanted behavior". Perhaps some management could help: take him out for a walk when there is nobody outside and let him sniff and do whatever he wants on a long line. Toss a ball for him, get him tired so that when everybody is out and about he is soundly asleep and too relaxed to be bothered by the noises.

This is a much more succinct way of saying what I was rambling on about.

Setting him up for success trumps corrections by a long way. Management, bulletproof ob, and desensitizing desensitizing desensitizing.


(The dog on the couch in the window fronting on a busy sidewalk from a previous thread blew me away -- it couldn't be any more opposite to the way I'd handle reactivity to visible passersby. I consider myself to be about 99% of the desensitizing process; that is, the dog left on his own to react, not react, focus on, etc., wouldn't ever be my choice. I know you mentioned that "he would always have these distractions," but for me, I am his guide for how to react. I'm also his better and more interesting and rewarding option, his protective shield between him and the triggers, and his teacher of alternate behaviors.)

You are doing so much so well! I betcha that a slight shift away from corrections and toward looking ahead, picturing the way you want things to go and what you can do now to help ensure it, will make you FAR less anxious and make the dog far less reactive.



eta
"Don't let the barking out the window get you down. He's just being a dog, and and for some dogs this kind of barking can take a while to control." (Lauren)

Yup. You might want to give my lawn guy protocol a shot. It requires actually coming to check for every bark, dismissing the trigger with an upbeat phrase, and rewarding for the one or two barks, then immediately distracting to new stuff. It's a process that is not instant, but it's also not without visible improvement all along.

Let me know if you want some links.



Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/23/2011 11:08 PM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote: aaron myracle

At this point, I don't even have to redirect, we've been doing it so long- once she knows I've seen whatever she was barking at, she's content to ignore it.

And there's the crucial part. "Once she knows that I have seen whatever it is" and dismissed it, then she takes her cue from me.

But it really does require pretty committed getting up and going to look. No cheating!

Because I want the dog to thoroughly understand that it's OK (good, in fact) to tell me about something, and that I will come and tell the dog what the reaction should be.

I have the opposite problem. I'd like Koenig to say MORE about the passerby's! He rarely even grumbles, much less barks. Might get up and lightly woof if someone knocks at the door, but no alert barking.

"So I am back to clicker and treats with renewed vigor and Jethro is responding beautifully. "


He is in good hands.

I have been doing the checking and dismissing, I was forgetting to give a redirect. I was giving a Stop barking, which was not working. I know you are right, because when I remember to say, Thank you, it's Okay, Settle. Jethro will actually look at me, sigh, and settle back down. I just can't remember all the time.

I think it is safe to say I am a better dog handler than I was last fall, and easily better than I was when we first adopted these pups last spring. So, given that trajectory, I will continue to improve and Jethro will continue to age. So we are probably on course for a good life together.

I do need reminding. I have a 30' training lead that I take him out on sometimes, and yes, that gives the feeling of unleashed without being off leash. The only thing I don't like about it is if Jethro does have a reaction, I have precious little to hang onto to when he is lunging. With our exercise today, his leather leash was never more than a step away, if I needed to jump on it. But I was careful to scan our location and ensure we had a clear space to practice our exercise.

Here is the other part of the challenge: Jethro is letting a lot of things go by now, things that he used to react to (this is also true about the window). But it isn't 100%. So I have to watch very carefully to make sure he is actually letting something go, and not coiling up with energy. I keep a running roster of rank for different sights and smells, but it is not fixed. We can walk for two days all clear and then third day, on the way home, 1 block from the house, a little white dog on leash across the street... we are crossing the street to give way and boom - we crossed to close into his reactive zone.

I usually take a tug toy on our walks, so he has something to play with. We have a good time with that. It works as well as eye contact. Jethro loves to play tug, so I get his full attention while we play, and practice self control when I cue him to Give it to me.