Quote:

tons and tons and tons of obedience training.

There ya go.

 Quote: steve strom

 Quote:

tons and tons and tons of obedience training.

There ya go.

Which BAT helped to make possible

Before BAT, he was very difficult to work with because of his fear response. I do credit BAT with helping to change that response and making obedience training more possible in the context of being able to successfully walk down the block after being attacked by another dog.

I also have another dog who is dog reactive in a traditional sense (irritated by the mere presence of other dogs, likes to bark and strut around like an ass if she sees other dogs). She'd laugh at BAT.

 Quote: steve strom

 Quote:

tons and tons and tons of obedience training.

There ya go.

Yes. Tons and tons of ob .... exactly.

The dog learns that focus on me is both safe and rewarding.

Desensitizing work is straightforward for me. For me, it doesn't involve the dog looking at/noticing the trigger, and waiting for the dog to choose to look away.

My focus: the trigger becomes mere background, unworthy of attention, as we work at the edge of the dog's individual reactive zone.

I agree with Steve and Anne.

This is not to say that I minimize in any way the successes others have had. But I've seen and read about folks many months down the road, experiencing little real-world success, and still focusing on the dog's reaction to the trigger: "why the dog is barking, lunging, fleeing, etc."

For me, desensitizing is a process for which the exact "why the dog is barking, lunging, fleeing, etc." might be interesting to know, but unnecessary to move forward.

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Edited by Connie Sutherland (10/17/2013 11:32 AM)
Edit reason: too off topic

 Quote: Duane Hull

One thing that I'm getting from this discussion is that the relationship with the dog dictates what will work and what won't, and the actual dog itself determines how much you will accomplish, whichever route you choose.

(Emphasis mine.)

I'm enjoying this discussion too, and this statement, for me, is probably something I should write out on sticky notes and place them all over my house.

Steve, you've given me a lot of food for thought. I think for myself, I feel that as a responsible dog owner that I should be trying to find ways to combat her reactivity. But in all honesty I think as you said some dogs are hard wired to be reactive, Amber is one of those dogs, who is always going to aware of her surroundings and what's going on.
BAT has helped, but in doing a lot of thinking about the points you brought up, BAT hasn't helped Amber all that much its helped me, given me a response. In thinking about it, I'm probably not doing it correctly because I don't wait for her to look and turn away, we skedaddle.
You've caused me to ask myself 2 questions:what do I get out of the class? What does my dog get out of the class? For me it would mainly be set-ups, I think Amber will always be reactive, my goal is that when we walk down the street only I know she's reactive. As far as what Amber gets out of the class- nothing, she doesn't know she's reactive.
I spent a lot of time thinking about all this today and as a challenge I decided to tackle the dreaded bike path, we encountered two dogs, I did my usual warning to the other dogs owners, and Ambi what did she do? She sat when asked, oh she did scream, but she also sat which is far removed from where she was at eight months old. So, taking into account all these thoughts, and points and so-on, I'm going to take a month and work on really developing some strong obedience work with her. We'll see where we are in a month and reassess.

You'll get there Jodi. Try one other thing with her. Don't feel you have to warn anyone when you're working with her. Just relax, calmly walk her off to the side a little bit and have her sit. Don't worry about what other people think. Its you and Amber.

That tension you feel when others pass just makes it harder on you and her. Do what you can to enjoy it. It passes on to her too.

And to add to what Steve is saying, your own indifference to her triggers will influence her. If you treat the trigger as not worthy of attention, this is conveyed to the dog. And vice versa!

The tension is well earned though from people screaming at us ( old people, little dogs). Interestingly, Amber was never the instigator, sure she was at my side barking her head off, and jumping around but she was at my side.
I'm not sure I can't not warn people, but I'll try to change it to more conversational, although it does keep people away,lol.
I'll work on both of us, but I think it will be harder to change my ways than Ambers. Someone said awhile back "nerves travel down the leash"

Will be trying really hard to work on this!