sounds good solange , but a word of caution . . .

appropriate behaviours in appropriate places .

a dining room , especially with a larger breed , i would not consider to be a place where i would be encouraging the dog to be in drive to engage in tug . how is that going to play out later when she expects that the dining room is the place she gets to play .
additionally , in this stage of the game where you are still establishing the " rules " of the game , you are using one set of rules by asking for and expecting a certain level of play in one environment , which is not the same level as in a different environment . at her level of development , you want to be clearly consistent . after she " gets " the game , then you can modify the rules accordingly .

the creeping on " down " has the potential to become a problem unless you address it now . good on her for taking the position of her own accord , but if you want " down " to mean " down , stay " you need to let her know that is what is expected .


what's up with the food on the floor ? personally i wouldn't be associating the command " search " with looking for her food on the floor if indeed " searching " ( for human scented articles / persons ) is a profile you will actually be pursuing in the future . i'd prefer to use the opportunity to have the dog see me as the source of the food rather than looking around on the floor . use the food as a reward from you for finding an object .

what i do is hand feed the dog in various locations over a varying duration of time . in your garage scenario , say over the course of 15 minutes i would be hand feeding small amounts around the room , interspersed with little engagement behaviour asks : quick short down , a little speaking , touch pad , etc .

or i take the dogs' ration of food for that meal period and hand feed it to him through out the course of a walk .

this all helps to build engagement and further plants in the dogs' mind that this guy ( or girl , in your case ) is someone that i really need to keep an eye on , because i never know exactly when or where good things might be coming .

Thanks Ian for the input, Willie has not come on Leerburg for a while...I will copy your post and forward it to her....It is for sure valuable info.

keep well

bump

update:

I am pleased and touched to report that John Sparks and Will Rambeau are also willing to brain storm with Willie and David to find solutions to Ziva's signs of food aggression and what seams to be a tendency of handler aggression. :"> On the second issue after looking at a video from Tylor Muto with Willie on prong collar, I quickly saw that I was not using the tool correctly. Since that day *Wednesday" I am more careful with it, more gentle and think about what I want from it at that perticular time and things are much better, Ziva is responding well. Also the dominance tendency that Ziva demonstrates need to be definitely addressed.

6 days, just about 7 now with the new program. Ziva shows signs to cap her drive herself. She is given the opportunity to decide either to have a reward or get a negative reenforcement. She is responding VERRY well indeed. Every day I write her behavior and the situation in a journal and I realize how much she is quick to respond to something new but also to a faire behavior. Her interaction with me changed....she is responding with more respect and show to think.....I am soooo please. Here are a few things that happened over the week.

While playing tug the other day, a young man who lives 2 doors down from us walked the alleyway...she would have usualy ran to the fence and bark....this time she dropped the tug, looked at him, picked up the tug again and came to me. Not a bark. \

Other neet behavior. Last night Ziva and I were out in the garden getting sprayed with the water hose. Ziva could not see the alleyway but could verry well hear every rock being moved on the ground. The little boy of about 4 y.o. from 2 doors down drove his bike pretending it was a fire truck.....yup the siren and all.....A normal reaction for Ziva would have been to race to the other end of the garden and bark at the fence....this time she got on 4 barking in a position ready to race, I said my new fav work borrowed from David Winners "FOOWY" SHE STAYED!!....I could not believe it :0....she was still barking....but I took the opportunity of the situation to push it a bit further....I told her to sit.....SHE DID!!!....I praised her with a "good girl" and "be calm now" and a little petting....once no more sound came out of her I got her 1 beef broth ice cube... This is HUGE!!!

Also last night, our 87 y.o. neighbor came to talk to me from her balcony...usually Ziva would try to climb the wall and bark none stop....this time, she sat beside me looking at her....after a while she went sniffing aroung......DOUBLE HUGE. =))))

An other observation. Ziva seem naturally carefull around elderly people and young children....each time she came in contact with an elderly she would drop to a down then belly crawl to them....2 days ago we met a healthy middle age man that each time he sees Ziva comments about her....he often wants to pet her and I have to say" Sorry she is in training, she is not ready just yet"....on Wednesday I decided to authorize a close up meeting.....she swarmed to him...tail wagging, fuzzy look all over her face....but on 4, she did not drop down for him I had to tell her to lay down to get petted. Interesting don't you find?

Prong game progress is also going very well. She catches the towel in the middle 3 out of 5. and she likes a good fight...good pulling and a little growling......she enjoys to win and keep it for a while.....since yesterday as soon as I put my hand over her nose to squeeze a bit to retrieve the towel, she lays down on her own. Willie says that she is learning to cap her drive and do what is expected of her. Because this dog won't be in any bitting sport that is exactly what we want.

Well so far so good.....this week she spent many hours out of the crate laying down at my feet..... up to 3 hours....she is a different dog....I know that we will have downs but such is the wave of progress even with hight level athletes....as long that it keeps on a up...little downs are just there to remind us that there is work to do. I am so optomistic. If she is willing to behave progressively next week.....I am willing to go on for an other strech.

Have a great weekend everyone...

I just want to add my opinion (and so many people's opinion!) of Will Ranbeau's skill and generosity: both are unsurpassed.


This is indeed HUGE:

While playing tug the other day, a young man who lives 2 doors down from us walked the alleyway...she would have usualy ran to the fence and bark....this time she dropped the tug, looked at him, picked up the tug again and came to me. Not a bark. \

Other neet behavior. Last night Ziva and I were out in the garden getting sprayed with the water hose. Ziva could not see the alleyway but could verry well hear every rock being moved on the ground. The little boy of about 4 y.o. from 2 doors down drove his bike pretending it was a fire truck.....yup the siren and all.....A normal reaction for Ziva would have been to race to the other end of the garden and bark at the fence....this time she got on 4 barking in a position ready to race, I said my new fav work borrowed from David Winners "FOOWY" SHE STAYED!!....I could not believe it :0....she was still barking....but I took the opportunity of the situation to push it a bit further....I told her to sit.....SHE DID!!!....I praised her with a "good girl" and "be calm now" and a little petting....once no more sound came out of her I got her 1 beef broth ice cube... This is HUGE!!!

Solange...what wonderful progress you are making with Ziva. Your hard work is truly paying off !!

Excellent Progress and you are certainly in GREAT hands!

Thank you and yes I totally feel confident and well surrounded. I never thought that my little post of early May would have taken me on this journey , meeting so many kind and knowledgable people and so generous.

Ziva and I are so grateful... more than words and wild tail wagging can say.

Someone had wrote on my post once something like: "Can picture that dog when she'll go to the vet"....Here is the reply;


Went to the vet. We were alone in the waiting room....alone with all the odors lol....I had the flat collar on her...she settled but it took a little while.

With the vet, she was very friendly. She obviously loves people if she likes vets lol....she got her shot against piroplasmosis. There are so many tics here it is mandatory. She got examined without mouthing the doc’s hands nor mine. And had no signs of discomfort...she thought that it was all petting lol...she weighs 34.6kg (closed to 77 lb). The vet found her very healthy, fit and guess what?....Well behaved LOL LOL. She got a cookie!!!

Solange~

I mentioned that, when things were not so good with Ziva.

Right now, your dog is better than mine at the vet!!

I love reading your thread!! I can hardly wait for the next chapter!