Improving... Leaps and Bounds

I still remember the day I met him.  He was under the table I was sitting at when the words "he doesn't like feet" were said.  I was trying to get him to take treats and he refused. He was so far over threshold all he could do was bark at me.  When his owner stood up to move towards his room he backed up into her and continued barked at me.  He clearly wasn't comfortable with me being in his home. 

Honestly,  at that point I wasn't comfortable with him either.  He made me nervous but I felt such a strong conviction to help him. Watching him was like watching a child who was conflicted beyond help. 

We set out on helping him learn to make better decisions in life.  When he wanted left alone,  we taught him to retreat to his room.  When he was upset,  we taught him his room was comfort and safety.  Most of all,  we made his world extremely small.  His family,  Kayla and I interacting with him. 

He lived with two other dogs and one of the other dogs were bullying him.  He was found as a stray and the animal control officer wasn't able to catch him so a rescue came out and picked him up.  Loud noises set him off on barking fits and fast movement of hands and feet cause his fear to rage out of control.

We started teaching the family the most important part. We showed them exactly what they were seeing when he reacted badly to things. We had a couple touch and go moments but this summer we saw something amazing happen.

The family adopted a fourth dog and we normally tell families to not adopt another when they have a dog who has such emotional baggage. In this case,  it worked the opposite.  The new addition is a beautiful pit bull.  She's a sweet and very amazing girl. 

While the family was on a trip to Arizona for 11 days we cared for the dogs in their home.  We knew boarding was out as our problem dog resource guarded,  the bullying dog became an emotional wreck without his family and the other two kept having scraps with each other.  We were their best option. So,  we packed our bags and hung out with their dogs for 11 days.

The dog who had been bullying had a hard time with it.  He whined a lot and we tried to engage him every chance we got.  The fearful dog suddenly started politely asking for attention. I would sit on the couch and he would hop up near me and lay down. He would rub his head against my hand and would run around the yard with their pit bull.

Fast forward to two weeks ago.  I was stopping to let the dogs out and sat down on the couch.  He came running and jumped on the couch and just sprawled across my legs.  My first reaction was to not move but he was wiggling against my hand so I softly petted his side.  Today,  I let them out and again he asked for attention. This time,  I was in his room. I fed him treats while he gently rubbed his side against my hand.  I offered treats while I sat in his room and softly touched his legs and rubbed his rear. 

With his fear this was huge.  We've come so far and I am so proud of his family who have worked tirelessly with him.  He has become my favorite part of my day when I get to see him.  He has such a great loose body wiggle for me. Compared to that scared dog who backed up into his owner and just barked for me to leave is huge. 

We have built this relationship on trust and reinforce of the good things and even more reinforce of the bad things in life.  Touching my hand resulted in jackpots of treats. Removing himself to his room got him treats.  His safe room in the house has become his place to relax and unwind.  He is the only dog in that room although today I didn't close the gate and his best friend,  that same pit bull, was giving him licks on the mouth to soothe him as I was touching him and giving treats.

Two years and a lot of love and positive interactions with a very small world has brought us to this day.  And now it's time to start making that tiny world slightly larger.  We go at his pace though and we never force his interaction.

And if need be we have "his pit bull" there to help him through it.  He's a good boy and his family has been one of the most amazing families I have ever met.

    

Now, let's be fair...

A lot of times some other trainer will say "Well, my methods fix dogs and are easier to do!" Normally these trainers use pain or force when it comes to dog training. And, I will admit it just this one time...punishment does work BUT punishment must be done at the exact precise second, be the appropriate amount of punishment and let's be honest...most owners will fail on both counts. The punishment will come well AFTER the crime and the punishment will not fit the crime. 

That being said, you're probably wondering why I'm talking about punishment when I abhor it so much. Well, Kayla, my assistant went to the State Fair yesterday. She went and was looking at the dogs and most of the dogs there from Illinois Humane of Springfield and Springfield Animal Protective League had on prong collars and shock collars. Now, if these organizations are SO up on the times why are they still using methods from the 70s?? Kayla brought it up and next thing she knew she was being yelled at by some cocky trainer named Joe Blankenship who is toting himself as a behavior expert. (The website originally stated he was a canine behaviorist but it suddenly has been changed!) According to his facebook page he went into business in July of 2013. I'm sure that month of classes he's been holding has made him an expert! I should also mention that as soon as Kayla brought up the fact she is in school for dog training he went nuts and demanded the cops be called to remove her. I'm amazed at how professional this guy is! A little girl of 120 pounds scared him enough to make him start screaming for the police  WOW! Hate to see what he would do with a human aggressive dog. Oh wait, he would just hang it until it gives up or hold it down until it stops snapping at him. He is a graduate of Tom Rose Dog Training School. Good for him. Here is some of the reviews I found for that school:

  "All I know is, I've seen some pretty piss poor "certified" helpers come out of there."
  
  "The Tom Rose School is not far from where I live/work, so there are a number of the school's graduates working in my area. Please, please think about attending a different school. I've seen what happens to dogs those people have trained. Once perfectly confident, stable dogs suddenly develop all sorts of fear problems, complete with peeing all over themselves. I don't know what exactly is taught at the school, so it's possible the graduates aren't following the directions they were given, but I have to wonder why more than one of them thinks it's a great idea to start puppy training by sticking a shock collar on it and zapping it for every mistake. I know groomers and kennel workers who have worked alongside trainers who went through the Tom Rose School, and I've heard all kinds of behind the scenes horror stories that I could potentially get into legal trouble for if I repeated them here. "

Ouch! So, my question is simple...why is the Illinois State Fair still having people come in to help with dogs who have this kind of attitude? Even the gun dog trainer was speaking about positive reinforcement today! David Dodd who was one of the "experts" they had do demonstrations with Joe Blankenship was once dismissed from a court as a witness because the judge found he had no education or training in order to be a credible witness. Doesn't that speak volumes by itself? 

So, here's my challenge to the Illinois State Fair (Department of Agriculture), Illinois Humane of Springfield, AND Springfield Animal Protective League and EVERY OTHER ORGANIZATION who is using these types of methods. Man up and learn to train a dog. Learn to train a dog so you don't have to cause them pain. Learn to train a dog so you can bond with them and have a mutual level of respect. Stop taking the "easy" way out and damaging dogs. Furthermore  the AVSAB position statements can be found HERE!  So, no need to believe me! Go look for yourselves. You can clearly see that the American Vet Society of Animal Behavior has denounced dominance AND punishment. 

Now should you want to contact any of those people above who's voice makes a difference, here is their email addresses and how to contact them:

Department of Agriculture: agr.pio@illinois.gov
Illinois Humane of Springfield: jmcbridenator@gmail.com
Springfield Animal Protective League: http://www.apl-shelter.org/dotnetnuke/ContactUs/tabid/128/Default.aspx You can use the drop down box to change it to send the message to the president of the APL. 

Demand that these people use better training practices rather than shocking dogs and using torture equipment! 

One small victory!

I lived in Wayne County, Ohio. When I moved to Illinois 12 years ago I never realized that there would be a reason that I couldn't go home again. Wooster, Ohio made that decision for me.

When I moved here I didn't plan on falling in love with a breed that would make travel a little more difficult because they were banned. Alas, love is blind and that's exactly what happened. My parents live in a breed neutral town, but if you want to shop (most of my art supplies came from Wooster) or go out to dinner, you went to Wooster as it was only 15 minutes away.

Last night that changed though. The breed I love can now enter Wooster as they became breed neutral! A huge weight has been lifted! No more do the words "he's mostly lab" have to be said. Any dog can be mistaken for a pit bull, but I see the American Staffordshire in Greyson more than when we got him at 8 weeks. Boxy jawline, large forehead, strong muscular chest. To me, he's just Greyson, but to someone who isn't familiar to mix breeds, at the right angle, we're screwed. But no longer!

Barb Knapic was sent a lot of emails and letters. People spoke out and truthfully she said it best when she agreed last night the ban doesn't work by voting to remove it. It is costly to test dogs and she admitted it herself. Law enforcement and animal control officers have to be trained to know breeds and how many in cities with bans are even trained? Greyson has the fur of a lab/akita mix, but he has the body of a pit bull. So what breed does that make him? It's a fine line and most animal control officers wouldn't be able to identity what Greyson is correctly.

Thank you Wayne County residents for reaching out to Barb and all the rest of the Wooster officials! And most of all, I can go home with any dog I have in my care! And now when I come home I won't feel I can't go anywhere for fear of having to fight a battle I would lose!

Greyson likes to show off his boxy head!

In the beginning...

A lot of times people ask how this crazy life has become mine. So here it is...meet my crew.

In 2006 I got married to my best friend. We moved shortly after to his hometown of Jacksonville. It's a great little town in central Illinois. After much talk we decided to adopt. We went to a rescue facility in Springfield and roamed room to room. Deciding we didn't know what we want I sat in the floor of the kitten room. This thin black cat came out of her basket, licked my arm, curled into the littlest ball and went to sleep. Sold!!

Her name was Blackberry and she was very shy and scared. The entire way home we tried out different names. We stuck on Yusa. We're both huge into Japanese culture and it fit her.

Yusa adapted quickly to our lives. Her only flaw was when left alone she would sit and claw at herself. People terrify her but since our home was quiet she was happy as long as we were home. (I should mention that Yusa was attacked by something larger than her as a baby. She was 6 months old when we got her but she has scars under her fur around her ribcage of claw marks and she was front declawed.)

In 2007, when I had taken Yusa to her vet checkup he noticed her patchy fur, cut marks from digging and her outright fear of anyone who isn't familiar to her. So we discussed when she wounds herself and narrowed it down to Yusa has anxiety. Fabulous, my cat is crazy. Well, least that's what went through my head!

The vet had a plan though. If we got her a playmate who was younger then she could bond with it and it would help alleviate some of her anxiety. And, of course, he had just the one for us. Enter, Princess Isabella.

Now, I should have known within the first five seconds of meeting this little girl, I was cruising for disaster. The receptionist brings out a tiny 4 week old screaming and swiping calico kitten. She instantly attached herself to my sweater and swiped at my husband's face and connected. After her set of shots we brought her home. She was still screaming her little head off.

We let her meet Yusa and needless to say, Yusa was not impressed. Bella, as we have always called her, quickly became my husband's cat. She would perch like a parrot on his shoulder and hug up against his neck.

Sadly we learned Bella was found by our vet when she was approximately 4 days old. The receptionist bottle fed her and amazingly she lived. Bella though is not the healthiest of cats. From being bottle fed she never got important nutrition from her mother. She also lacks the understanding of how to be a cat. Then there's the small issue of she is pretty feral. Yep, of all the cats I could have picked, I pick the feral cat.

While Yusa and Bella didn't outwardly get along, oftentimes I would come home and find them.curled up together. Bella had gotten much larger than Yusa and become the bully. We often had to seperate then to keep Yusa from being injured since they would often fight.

We were pretty content with what we lovingly called "The girls", but there was still something missing. In January of 2011 I got a phone call from a friend. On her porch that morning was two puppies. Fearing they had been abandoned she called me. I went over and checked them out. They were sweet puppies and we checked around and they were reported missing.

The next day I went to the pound to see if the puppies had been reclaimed and they had. While I was in the back a lady came in and was checking out the dogs. We started talking and after explaining I was looking for a young puppy so The Girls could adapt she explained she had a litter at her rescue.

We met Abner, Baylean, and Bodean that weekend. Abner was small and outgoing, Baylean was pretty but she wasn't quite what we were looking for (we honestly had no idea what we were looking for) and then there was Bodean who was trying to hide in the back of the crate. His siblings were beautiful but there was something about him that just screamed "I'm your new dog!" We picked the dog terrified of us and named him after Dick Grayson, Robin from Batman. I just happened to misspell it on his adoption form.

When we got Greyson home, he was terrified of our cats. He was convinced he couldn't be away from me and he whined a lot!! Somedays I look at this peaceful being in my lap and am amazed since he was a hot mess when we got him.

Grey over the last two years has been a great learning process. Actually all three of them have been for us. I have spent countless hours cleaning up Yusa cuts from where she still to this day harms herself. Bella gets extremely ill once a year with upper respiratory infection. And then there is Grey. Somedays he thinks he's a cat. Somedays he thinks he's a dog. One day he will figure it out.

I'm thankful to have seen all three grow and blossom. We love them dearly. And they make our days fuller and brighter. Now that I've said that I'm sure I'll have to break up a cat fight shortly.

The picture is Yusa stretching out on her back in my arms.

Do or Do Not, There is no Try

Goals...do you make them with your dog in mind? I remember one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was "Go home, make a list of what you want to be able to do with your dog. Make an entire list. They can be anything short term, long term, what you want to do tomorrow with him or a year from now. Write them all down." I did just that. The list was rather short. 

• Pass Obedience 101.
• Be able to go in the car without being puked on.
• Be able to walk in the park.

I went back to class and showed them to the trainer. She giggled and told me to please take the lesson seriously. I thought I had. I made goals. I did what she asked. Well, okay so I didn't put a lot of thought into it. I looked at Greyson as being defective and that was how I was writing the goal list. Shame on me. Shame on me for not believing he was capable of more than just walking in a park. 

“[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”

Have faith in yourself, in your dog and really reach for the stars. If I wrote that list today, over a year later, I'm pretty sure it would be a totally different list. In fact I know it would be. It would probably be a page and a half long. And now I know that Grey is capable of some very amazing things. 

See, it's all about putting what your dog is capable into perspective. By looking at short term goals and long term goals you have solid points you can cross off. They can be as simple as my "Be able to walk in the park" or as wild as "Gain a title as a champion trick dog". What I'm saying most though is, don't cut your dog short. Your dog is only limited by what you are capable of teaching him or her. Nowhere does it say you have to leave your house to gain a trick dog title. Nope, you can do that right from your living room! And if you think I'm kidding, I can explain further on how. 

The biggest lesson I learned though was to not cut Greyson short just by thinking he wasn't capable of things. I still remember how on a Pit Bull Zen Pack Walk I almost cried. Here we were, surrounded by dogs and other owners and Grey was just cruising along. Right next to other dogs and not a problem! People passing him on bikes, roller blades, people with their dogs and no problem! He did get tangled in his leash once and face planted but that was MY fault and not his. Here was my crazy, reactive dog and he was just being a dog, enjoying a great walk and was so exhausted afterwards he slept the entire way back to my parent's house. I was one proud mom! Granted he did introduce himself to another dog by slamming his paws into their face (AND that dog was blind) but the other dog just took it in stride and even spent a good amount of time walking with Greyson. He made me one proud Mommy ..and probably people thought I was crazy cause normally he just is a hot ball of mess with new people.

So, in short, make goals. Make them anything you want to. They don't have to be done in the next week, month or even a year from now. Now, take that list, and pin it to the fridge. You will be amazed at how quickly you start checking off those goals. Just keep at it. Keep working with your dog and see how many you can check off the list. 

And, while we're at it, here is some of the stuff on our list. :) 

Pass Obedience 101.
Be able to go in the car without being puked on.
Be able to walk in the park.
Go on a play date 
Learn focus protocol
Go an entire week without climbing into bed before morning.
Be able to complete day 15 of relaxation protocol in public.
Use focus protocol in public when necessary.
Learn 5 new tricks.
Learn 10 new tricks.
Pass CGC test.
Be left alone for 4 hours without dragging out my pajama pants.
Attend a party.
Attend a BBQ outside.
Attend a training clinic.

You get the idea...it's about making lists and then every chance you get to cross one off do it! Now, go make a list of goals and be as wild as you want to be! You never know what you'll be able to accomplish! 

Accidently reinforcing bad behaviors

A lot of times I see people trying to calm a dog who is clearly stressing by petting and loving on a dog. This has even happened in my own house. Dog barks, you acknowledge the dog and let him in; dog jumps when you walk in the door, you pet him and say, "Oh! You've missed me"; or, a dog growls when scared and you reach down placing your hand on his head muttering that the dog is okay. So, let's break it down and look at what you're doing when you do those things.

By petting or trying to reassure Fido when he's doing something bad, you are feeding him the attention he wants. You're showing him, "Okay, nip at me so I pet you." Or, "Okay, jump all over the place when someone walks in the door".

So what do we do instead?  I always ask for a sit. Some dogs are not comfortable sitting, so go with your dogs most comfortable position. When I walk in the door, I ask "Sit" and until I receive a solid sit, I turn away and ignore. I even avoid eye contact as some dogs can be intimidated if you stare at them and even watching them is contact at the basest form. So, I turn away and face my door. I watch carefully up in the reflection of the glass. Once Fido sits and has calmed, then I acknowledge him. If he starts to get up and move again to jump around, I turn away again.

Now, say I'm having company over? I start off by filling a Kong with a mix of what I call half and half of love. It's Greyson's favorite Kong treat. It's half peanut butter and half ground pure pumpkin. Grey loves it. So, I give him a fully filled Kong right before the first guest walks in. Now here's the hard part. Everyone who walks in my house has already been given instructions. It's the no contact rule. If you can't ignore the dog until he calms, well I probably won't have you over again.
Reinforcing proper behavior isn't as easy as it sounds. A lot of times it may feel like a battle of wills, but between management and ignoring and moving away until you can reinforce the good behavior, you'll be setting your dog up for success and not trying to correct failing behavior.

The picture is Greyson waiting calmly while we have company over.

To fail or not to fail...that is the question

I'm a firm believer of always setting your dog up for success. Sometimes, when we don't even realize it, we are setting up our furry pals to fail. It's the small things we are overlooking, and once you realize it, it's amazing the difference YOU can make in your companion's life.

This whole thought started for me with a conversation about using a mousetrap to deter counter surfing. I'm studying behavior right now and how a dog views the world. With having a noise reactive dog it's given me a new insight to his world.

There's several ways we can look at the aversion of the mousetrap. When the dog would jump up on the counter, the mousetrap (enclosed in a container) when moved would scare the dog and make him not want to jump up there again. What happens if the mousetrap doesn't go off? In my experience, the dogs I know may set off the trap, but do it anyway and just learn to avoid the aversion of the mousetrap. Or, in the case of my house, said dog would run from the sound, hide until he felt safe again and then refuse to step into the kitchen again.

Let's view why this would happen. Dogs view things with not just what they see and hear. Think about it this way, dogs associate us just not by sight but smell also. So, what happens if there is hamburger cooking or something with a distinctive smell when said mousetrap went off? The dog may associate the aversion wrongly. This can happen very easily and can be very bad as next thing you know; you have a domino effect of behavior scares.

I've found it simpler to set your dog up for success instead. I originally set Greyson up to fail by sitting dinner on the counter and clicking and rewarding when he ignored. When we moved into our new house Grey had a fear of our kitchen because that was the location where glass hit glass as we did dishes. Once we overcame that (with lots of patience and rewards) we reinforced 4 on the floor (as in 4 of his feet). He now sits and waits patiently for his turn to eat and treat. Now, had we done with the kitchen like we did with the rest of our house, it probably would have been simpler. In our house we remove temptation. Simple as that! We manage Greyson's interaction with items and normal household activities.

When Greyson was little it was summer time and of course that means flip flop season. In the matter of weeks, I went from 15 pairs of flip flops to none. Every chance he got, he shredded and devoured them. He wasn't picky either, we could be sitting in the room with him and he would grab one and start chewing. No amount of taking shoes from him worked. We traded out shoes for rawhides, toys, and chewies; and no luck. Inspiration hit and we had a shelf that was waist high. Greyson could "see" the shoes, but they were no longer in his domain ("the floor"). Voila! No more shoe eating. My floors no longer look like a crime scene of shredded mess.

From that day forward, the shelf was a key component in our life. We realized that by removing the temptation we received the resulting behavior we wanted (no shoes shredding). In all actuality, we didn't train Greyson this instance he trained us to remove items from his domain.

I call this management, rather than training. WE manage what he has a possibility to come into contact with. WE determine if we want a remote shredded by putting it up when not in use. WE determine if we want dirty laundry drug out, by putting IN the hamper and not in a pile on the floor. Since getting Greyson, our house is much more orderly due to us not wanting things destroyed.

Often times, I hear the words, "Well, I gave Fido and old shoes to chew on and he started eating my new Nikes!" Old socks are another I hear a lot about. Now, my question is simple...How is Fido supposed to tell the difference between new and old? When did humans expect dogs to learn such a thing? After I stop mentally giggling I turn to confused faces, to which I can only answer people by explaining that to a dog, there is no new or old, only theirs and theirs. Yes, that's not a typo. Once you give Fido his first shoe or sock, you have told him they are all his. You have begun his behavior.

Now imagine what happens if you remove those yummy feet-smelling treats. The unwanted behavior stops. Imagine that! How simple is that? I like to tell the human child in our house, "If you pick up YOUR stuff, the dog won't eat it." We provide lots of Greyson appropriate toys and chewies, but if YOU leave the temptation in his domain, then you are responsible for its loss.

Let's transpose the management theory over to the counter surfing problem. Remove the temptation. Don't leave food on the counters, tables or anywhere else. If you leave it there and you don't kennel or gate the dog, then YOU are responsible. I know people who don't allow the dog in the kitchen until they are done cooking, and after they put dinner on the table, they feed the dog and go have dinner. My father in law does this and it works great and he doesn't have a 100 pound boxer counter surfing. They are managing. A lot of people use gates and to me that is okay as well.

Now, let's move the management theory to walking on a leash. Dog pulls? Stop moving! Dog relaxes and leash goes slack? Start moving! Rinse and repeat! Sounds crazy, huh? Your dog will get it though and after a while, BOOM!, your dog is walking loose leash and all is well with the world. Well, sorta, ya know. Dogs are amazingly smart and once they pick up on how to get what they want, it's amazing what happens. By managing their ability to move forward during a walk, they will relax and they will work with you.

So, give it a try! Look through your house and see what you can do to manage Fido. You'll be amazed at what you come up with!

Letting go is never easy

I've been quiet for a little bit. I needed to sort out a few things. I'm not normally a very emotional person, but this has been a trying time on my emotions. I have become attached to Spudz and I had to make a very hard decision.

Spudz has wormed his way into my heart and has become a treasured piece of me. He has become so dear to me that I found myself calling myself Momma to him. And then after our training sessions I would put him back into his room at the shelter and I would drive home a mess. I started to want nothing more than to bring my baby boy home to live with his brother and sisters, but I knew that wasn't possible and it was slowly tearing me to pieces.

No matter what I did I can't get Spudz to like cats much less coexist with two female cats. And, I am the lucky guardian of two cats. I knew Greyson would be tough enough, but I can't fool myself into thinking I can ever make it work. Some dogs just can't get past their dislike of cats. My house would be as much stress as the kennel stress is getting to be.

So, when Becky, the president of Scott County Dog Rescue, started telling me about the family who was interested in Spudz I tried to put it off as "he's not ready". In my heart I was trying to still convince myself that I could make it work somehow, but I can no longer lie to myself.

Spudz has come as far as he is ever going to come in my hands while living in a shelter. Today sealed the deal for me in my decision. I took some friends to see the dogs and we let the dogs out to play and potty. Spudz was calm. To hear someone else who has no experience with dogs claim he was calm and a good dog, I knew I was holding him back.

The family is ideal, have teenage sons and have experience with reactive dogs. I was the one who was standing in their way. I had to agree that he is ready. He has the training, meds, and balance he needs to continue in a home. I know it will be a rough transition for not just Spudz but for me also. And, it won't be a quick process. There will lots of visits and meetings and Spudz will need to continue with a training schedule. Slowly we will transition him to their home and I know this isn't going to be easy for me.

I came home today and curled up with Greyson and just held him tight. Who knew training a dog can cause you to become so attached to a dog. I started this journey with Spudz because a vet said he wasn't a good candidate to be rehabbed and I refused to give up. I know our journey isn't over but I'm truly hoping that this family works out and can give him the home I know I'm unable to give him. Even if I was delusional enough to think I could for a while.

So, in closing, if Spudz gets a home, this will be my first huge training break through. And it was all done force - free and with love, and understanding of a dog who isn't acting out just to act out. Dogs are telling us things with their behavior and if we open our minds and hearts to understanding them, just about anything is possible.