Quote: Wendy Lefebvre

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Dave Owen

What's been working with Pisa, has been deprivation, I have also done a lot of restructuring back to pretending were on a work schedule. And a ton of obedience work.

I should add the deprivation has helped on focus, which is helping her to focus on me as opposed to what she's reactive towards.

Depriving what? I'm not understanding. Also, what is a work schedule?

Sorry. Maybe it's just Friday. LOL

I m confused too. You don't mean to isolate the dog in his crate if he's acting up, right?
I don't think the dog will get the connection that he's being punished for acting up outside.
Wouldn't it be more productive to work through the problem and work on it instead of depriving him of something?

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

On reflection, I think maybe Dave was talking about focusing the dog more on himself (on Dave) by being the source of all things good.... that is, establishing himself as being of more crucial interest than his dog's triggers.

Language and terminology can really be a bear in dog-training!



.

exactly Connie, I'm working on making it so I am her focus

what I mean by a work schedule was this summer when I was landscaping Pisa came with me every day.
Our days were very regimented, compared to this winter when all our problems started. I guess you could say I'm just introducing predictability back into her day.


I'm not isolating her in her crate for acting up, but for ignoring me. I don't even think isolating is quite the right word, I'm just choosing where she gets to hang out.

Another example of what I am doing, when she tries to engage me to play by nipping at my ankles instead of automatically pulling out a tug toy which I always carry to redirect, she has to do some OB before I will tug with her.

Of course she is still getting some time in the living room when my big girls are out, but much more limited. Like a privilege not a right and I really have to be on top of things to occupy her from wanting to get at the big dog's. (Only when they're walking past to go towards the kitchen)

What I mean by wanting to get at them is to just sniff, like the meetings we very carefully coordinate outside. I know it's not aggression just a very strong desire to be with them ????

The meetings outside are very short and only when my wife can be with me to do it , we have had absolutely no forms of aggression outside, only the few instances inside.

Edited by Dave Owen (02/24/2012 05:26 PM)
Edit reason: Add walking past as a trigger