Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Cuillin has always been a super sensitive wee soul. Scared of quite a lot of things. I started clicker training this morning, or rather tried to.... While brodick thought the clicker was marvelous as a treat mircaculously appeared whenever it clicked cuillin fled into her crate and wouldnt come out...crept into the lounge after ten mins again but after one click she ran off and hid. After an hour ive finally managed to get her to stage where she will gingerly sniff it if its on the floor but she has her ears back and her i am being very brave softest face on...she will stay in the room now if its clicked but has to charge up to me and leap up frantically trying to lick me! Hoping she will get used to. Shes such a sensitive wee lamb if i get a harness out she runs and hides under the bed...doesnt want to go outside for a wee when its dark...does anyone else have super sensitive labs? Her wee brother is the exact opposite, very laid back wee lad so im hoping its not me whos made her worse!!

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Oh poor love, but you do right to allow her to see the enemy , sniff it and make sure that it isnt anything nasty

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Yup been there and got the T-shirt. Lady used to be scared of the clicker until she'd made the connection with click often meant treat. At night she sometimes gets quite spooked in the garden by strange distant noises, strange smells, wind in the trees etc and just won't perform either. It can be very frustrating and I haven't really found a solution to that problem. Out and about her strategy with other dogs is to go flat which can be equally inconvenient. She also gets spooked by strange shapes or movements and stands at the ready but won't move.

Having said all that she's not gun shy at all and isn't phased by any of that type of activity and mucks in with the other dogs just as you'd expect and has shown she will even pick up a flapping pheasant.

I guess they are all just individuals.

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

I tried clicker training with Hebe, but because I use clapped hands as an "ah-ah" / "bad dog" type of noise bought clickers really worried her. Pippa suggested alternatives including the squeaker from a toy, which was what I chose as I already had a good response from her with that type of noise and it was easy to hide in my hand. It worked well for us, but I only used the clicker training method for a little while to help with a specific problem.
Hebe is five so I already had conditioned responses in her, I think with a youngster I'd presevere, but if she still struggled I would look for another noise as my "click".
For most Labradors I think food overcomes the majority of fears, the stomach rules the tummy! ;D

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

freudian but probably accurate! barney is defintely ruled by food and tummy rubs! Inside and out his tummy is very important in his life ;D ;D ;D

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Hi Debsie, one alternative to the clicker is a 'clicky' biro. Another is a verbal reward marker like 'good' or 'yes'. As long as you are consistent with the tone and delivery of the word, it can work very well.

Pippa

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Thanks everyone. I kept some low key clicker work going on all weekwnd with cuillin seeing brodick get treats on clicks. By this afternoon she was bravely gently carrying the clicker round in her mouth wagging at herself so i think she proudly has got over this one! Now have to convince her that the reflection of lights in the lounge windows arent fireworks...the new cuillin spook of the month! Lady and cuillin sound very similar!

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

You are not alone - Poppy is a very sensitive soul, and I posted on here about some of her weird and inexplicable (to me!) fears, the worst of which was Old People (which was very embarrassing at best, and quite worrying at worst, as she would growl and bark at elderly passers-by). After much careful treatment and walks in the park on a Sunday afternoon with LOTS of treats, she seems to be fine with old people now.

It snowed a couple of weeks ago (we live in Germany), and she was PETRIFIED of a snowman...

The upside to sensitive dogs seems to be that they are indeed just that - sensitive. And that means they are often also very sensitive to us humans, and are often intelligent and easy to train. They just need to be treated carefully, that's all...

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Karen, the snowman made me laugh. When Lady first saw one she ran away from it! It took quite a bit of coaxing to get her anywhere near it. Other really scary stuff has included a twinkly deflated helium balloon, a cow lick tub in the middle of a field, a plastic bag, and a twig with leaves on it and sometimes absolutely nothing at all as far as I could see.

Glad to hear about the sensitive dog bit, but I wonder sometimes about Lady's intelligence which she seems to be able to keep well hidden! ;D

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

these posts are making me feel a lot better about my wee scaredy dog! The snowman and the twig made me laugh.... Cuillin's more dramatically expressed fears to date have been tin foil, old people with long hair, anyone with non white-skin (thankfully that is subsiding), wooden posts in the middle of fields, also hates plastic bags blowing about, and squeakers but only once they are taken out of toys and blown, loves them in toys. She has been known to stay in her crate for nearly an hour with a wounded expression on because someone found a squeaker on the floor from a savaged toy and blew on it...the worst but perhaps most understandable was getting her dressing off post spay. It was removed very gently and kindly in the comfort of the house on the sofa by my vet brother in law who she knows very well and likes a lot, and she was sitting looking at him before he had even gone near her with her teeth chattering loudly like a Scobby Doo cartoon, poor wee soul. Buy yes you are right sensitive is nice too, she is an incredibly loyal wee dog and we are super close, and her odd issues are actually rather endearing, if sometimes a little hard to work round, especially when she is on the lead at 6.30am trying to is race for home because It Is Dark and She Has Seen A Man in The Dark while her laid back wee brother also on lead is desparately trying to get his wee finished (this mornings drama)....

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Haha! Poor you, dragged both ways by Miss Sensitive Soul and Mr. I-Need-To-Finish-My-Pee! ;D

Sometimes though you just have to believe your dog. We were out for quite a long walk with Pops last weekend, and she did the hairs-up-on-the-back-of-the-neck, growling deep in the throat, backing-up sort of thing, while staring at a dense pile of thicket... We were just about to encourage her not to be such a weedy little chicken, when there was a rustle of something LARGE in the bushes, and a loud grunt!!!

It was a WILD BOAR!!!

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

Oh Crikey a Wild Boar?! Glad I live in the city!!! Mind you, who knows what could be lurking in bushes here... actually I was out runnning early doors with Her Sensitiveness recently in a very lonely bit of the hill near me (probably shouldn't do!) and she did the same as your Pops, appeared like a bullet from nowhere and stood by my side with her hackles up very deep growling, there was a bloke on a hillock above us just looking down at us in a slightly focused way. I'm sure he was a nice bloke but she was having none of it and he laughed and said I'll just keep out of your way shall I...if there had been anything to worry about at least she looked a bit scary (even tho I know she isnt!)

 

Re: Scared of the clicker?! my sensitive wee lab..

The most amazing experience I ever had of dog intuition was by my old lab, Bones (who really is by no stretch of the imagination a genius). We were staying at my sister's place in France, and Bones totally took against the neighbouring farmer. Despite all our attempts, he refused to let this man near him, growled and actually snarled at him. We were horrified, as he was a family friend...

It turned out he was actually a complete nutter, and started doing terrible things months later, letting my sister's horse out onto the road at night, breaking down fences and opening gates, stalking my sister and finally throwing battery acid into her car...

How did Bones know??? I have no idea. But now I trust my dogs' instincts...