Elwood Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 PSS You may want to have her wear a yellow bandanna (international sign for reactive dogs) sorry if someone has already suggested this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 That yellow bandana thing is such a good idea. I too have found clicker (well, marker) training very good for a 'spooked' dog. Today the dog I walk went through a busy crowd with four kids cycling just past her nose, another dog sniffing at her, and a loud truck passing and beeping- all at once. Not a peep out of the dog who once couldn't handle a solitary car driving at a distance past her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfraser Posted August 10, 2016 Report Share Posted August 10, 2016 Lots of good advice. Get away from that trainer as fast as you can. The last thing you want is for Kira to fear being with you due to the consequences of not understanding. I have a 6 month old female who is doing the same thing. She is fine in the house with anyone but when out on the leash she reacts to kids or other dogs. I have found bringing treats along with her favorite toy to put in front of her can distract her from being fixated on the stress point. Lots of work but worth it. Very cute pup. Looks a lot like my Ellie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira's Mom Posted November 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 Just a quick update as I realize it's been a while. Kira and I have met with a behaviorist that we both like and have a good plan in place to slowly but steadily build up her confidence. It involves working on her impulse control, lots of Counter Conditioning, Targeting, LAT, and desensitization at distances where she is showing she's way under threshold. Also working on 1/4 turns, playing some obedience games/tug games in new places, and emergency u-turns. I've seen some good progress and of course we continue to see some reactivity in various settings (mostly when things surprise us both even though I do my best to catch the triggers before she sees them). Other than that, I think we'll start her back up in an obedience class shortly now that I am better equipped with the right training techniques for her. Most importantly, I'm equipped with my own confidence in knowing what is right and wrong for her from a training perspective. I continue to see and meet trainers (even those recommended by rescue groups) who use aversive methods and I realize it was my lack of confidence that got us into the wrong situation. I've also learned to be MUCH more patient. Kira is almost 1 yr old and I'm learning baby steps and going at HER pace is the best pace. I was eager to have her be a well rounded and emotionally stable/confident dog all on her own. I realize she needs patience and an owner in her corner to not push her into situations where she feels the need to react. This requires me to sometimes tell strangers and neighbors that "no, she can't say hi right now" or ignore their funny looks when we simply ignore them and cross to the other side of the street. Thanks everyone for being so supportive and for providing great guidance. Pouring over stories of other owners reactive dogs and seeing how they've improved with proper positive training and maturity really helps, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Fantastic news for you and Kira! Great to hear that things are going so well. ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Thanks for keeping us updated, it is great news that you have found a way that you can work with her and help her develop at her own pace. Updates are great as so many people come here looking for advice, and for them to be able to read about the journey and the sucess is really helpful, they learn that they are not alone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Thank you for the update. I am so glad that Kira and you are doing much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Happy for both you and Kira that things are going better now. Kudos to you for continuing to work with her and learning being adaptable to help her on her journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo33 Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 She's beautiful! As I read your first post, I remembered how my border collie was at that age. He's almost 1 year old now, and he definitely went through so much of what your Kira is going through. I was really worried! Thankfully I am friends with his breeder and she talked me through it - that it really was a puppy phase and he'd be just fine. So much of what you wrote sounds like I could have written it, even the part with the trainer who encouraged prong collars. The advice from people here is priceless. Good luck with your girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira's Mom Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Just a little Kira update here. She's 13 months now and we survived our first year together (including hosting a 10 person Thanksgiving dinner with all the smells in the house). I'm pretty sure raising a baby would have been easier for the first year... but alas, we love her. We are back in obedience classes now that we've spent a few months on some confidence building work. We're doing Basic Manners to start (because even though she knows all the basics, it's great to work with distractions/people/dogs in class) and we had our first class today. She did great. Only had 1 small reactive barking fit and recovered very quickly. An observing trainer had been sitting in the corner of the room for 30 minutes and Kira freaked out when said human stood up and walked around. Kira apparently didn't notice her sitting there the entire time . She came up and gave Kira some treats, and Kira settled down after that. For the most part, she was very focused on me and only started to lose her focus (aka got really bored) about 40 minutes through. A win! Still working on a variety of environment stressors while out on walks, but seeing some slow improvements. She's super treat/toy/play motivated, so she's been easy to work with in that regard. Biggest issue still remains other people/dogs. I've become the rude lady that says "Sorry, you can't come say hi, we're in training" or even today in obedience class when another guy and his dog walked up to us "We only do fast greets on leash." and then walked away to the other side of the room. Kira is good meeting other dogs on a leash for about 5 seconds for a quick smell and to say hi, but then gets really frustrated that she's on a leash and can't play/run or whatever strikes her fancy at the moment. We keep it short and sweet and then GTFO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira's Mom Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 She's beautiful! As I read your first post, I remembered how my border collie was at that age. He's almost 1 year old now, and he definitely went through so much of what your Kira is going through. I was really worried! Thankfully I am friends with his breeder and she talked me through it - that it really was a puppy phase and he'd be just fine. So much of what you wrote sounds like I could have written it, even the part with the trainer who encouraged prong collars. The advice from people here is priceless. Good luck with your girl! Thanks - glad to hear that we're (hopefully!) just going through a teenage phase and that yours grew out of it with some work. After our basics class, we are enrolling in a reflex control class where they bring in kids, skateboards, small animals, and a variety of stimuli. Looking forward to that insanity...might need a xanax for myself for that session of classes! Hah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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