i do use toys inside (not all the time, obviously) in obed. work. she'll just do anything for the toy. maybe i'll build that up more, and yeah - early morning, maybe i'll have her on a long line and her regular leash so there's a back up, though i'm sure that's overkill, but heck. we used to obed. work w/play outside - after a certain amount of work, or if she did something hard, she'd not only get the ball, but we'd throw it around for a bit. maybe it is that i just need to work up from that point.

and to be honest, i'm starting to feel confident enough again to go out and do that with her really early. i have to admit, after she attacked that poor little dog, i really went through a period where i wanted her outside for as short a time as possible - i had to push myself out of that. i'm a lot more comfortable and confident with her now, but i did lose that for awhile.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

i'm a lot more comfortable and confident with her now, but i did lose that for awhile.

I'm glad your confidence is coming back. You are a GREAT dog owner, and you are also very responsible.
Just remember: it's not important when mistakes/accidents happen, it's what we DO about them that counts.
Work on that play! It will be good for both of you

thanks

i think it was also a period of lost confidence, and expecting everyone in the neighbourhood to be horrible to me or something. it was only once i found out my neighbour, who has a barky dog, interceded w/the small dogs owner on my and teagan's behalf, that i realized, not everyone did hate me. and i figured - if they do, too bad. i was sick earlier this week and was taking the dogs out mid-morning and got stopped by a woman who lives in the apartments across the street and who had seen the attack - she was enamoured with neb, and actually not at all intimidated by teagan - to my shock, when she brought up the attack, she had a very 'well, it was a little dog' kind of attitude. but yeah, i have started to feel more confident in myself, and teagan, again.

 Quote: jennifer mullen

isn't that bad though, since she's not a working dog? though i guess 'working dog' is kind of a vague term.

She is a working dog. Not an "assistance dog", or a "therapy dog".

she's working on her downs

i just wanted to update. i have been doing a....poor....job of waking up at 5 am.

but teagan did come to FR training today (my FR trainer is the one helping w/her aggression issues) and after training (it's a mix of FR and SchH) we did some work. she was out around a bouv who's there doing SchH and who can be a bit aggressive, and she totally ignored the bouv!

we then took her through his kennel, and teagan was good - his dogs were all forward and loud, and his females are not exactly shrinking wallflowers, and i think teagan read that loud and clear.

we did some other work with her, including jumps (which i taught her before she got that dog, but on a canoe in the yard which is no longer in the yard - but she totally remembered) and she also got to do the wall, but put down so that it was steep, but more of a ramp. she had a blast

and i told him about my down problem, forgot, and did the food/hand gesture the way i've been doing it forever, not the way cameron explained, and he promptly told me to do it the way cameron suggested, which i chuckled to myself about. but she did great.

OH! and i got to try decoying today for one of the FR dogs, but i'll post about that later when i get the pics.

anyways, positive progress with teagan, i thought i'd update.

If dogs differentiate between inside and outside and need teaching the behaviour in both places, then could it be the same with the muzzle?

If you don't use the muzzle when you do the training inside then maybe you should try putting it on and making sure she does know she's supposed to do it when the muzzle is on too.

Maybe she's started to think muzzle = 'on the job' and she has to watch out or protect or whatever. (or I could just be talking crap, ignore that if I am)

that's interesting, i hadn't thought of that. she wasn't muzzled today.

i will do an experiment tomorrow and see if she behaves differently with the muzzle on inside. i'm thinking no - b/c it's so specific to the down, not obedience commands in general - but it's worth a try to see what she does.