My yellow lab is breaking my heart. We got Jessie from a reputable breeder at eight weeks old. She's now two-and-three quarters, smart and beautiful. The trouble is, she's got a two personalities -- an indoor one and an outdoor one. When indoors, she's anxious, depressed, and occasionally fearful. She refuses to engage with me or the family inside our Manhattan apartment or inside our Connecticut country home. She won't play with the kids, chase balls, or accept treats. This has been going on for six months. Prior to that she was happy and playful inside. It seems that her indoor depression (or disengagement) has gotten worse lately. She spends virtually all of her time on a beanbag chair or under a desk in my son's room. We try to entice her out of the room with toys and treats. No success. What I find especially troubling is that I feed and walk her 90% of the time. Despite my constant (and loving) efforts, she's particularly distant and unaffectionate with me. The truly odd part is that outdoors she's happy as a lark, especially mornings in Central Park when she's off leash for an hour or more. Outside she runs, plays, fetches, does everything a lab is supposed to do. She's also great with guests and visitors, playful, attentive. Unfortunately, with our family she's a total dud. Can you help — or recommend someone in Manhattan who might? We dearly love this dog and it pains us to see her this way.
Only thing of significance is that my son outgrew his single bed, which Jessie slept under. Perhaps it was her safe space or den? We swapped that single for a full, which has no space under it for Jessie. That's the only material change.
Hi and welcome from me . The bed could be the key ! I know, it sounds silly but honestly , my boy was very sensitive and would get very upset if his routine was changed , or we moved furniture around ! Also , mine never seemed to show loads of affection to us whilst showering visitors with kisses and fuss . However , I left him with my daughter one time , just for the day and when I went to fetch him , he went crazy with excitement ! I think they just become complacent with us who are with them all the time , but they love us really !
You might consider looking at petprofessionalguild.com Their members are force-free and it looks as though there are members in New York. It’s really difficult to offer suggestions without seeing your dog, but I think I might try making her a new enclosed den b-a sort of similar space to her previous hidey-hole.
The bed change could be a root cause but a behaviourist will probably ask for a complete health check to rule out any health problems. The Pet Professional guild us one place to look but there is also APDT.com, worth looking at the Academy of Dog Trainers for graduates based in New York and the IMDT has international members. Good luck and let us know how you get on
Thanks for the quick response and suggestions. I think getting her a new crate and bringing in a trainer/behaviorist are the logical next steps. What I can't fathom is the indoor/outdoor dynamic. You'd think I was describing two different labs.
Hey Jon, I have a highly fearful girl. When she's having an episode, she is very subdued and depressed in the house, but outside (if I can get her out), she is full of beans. I believe it's because she doesn't feel safe in her home, and that puts her on edge. She has a "safe place" in the kitchen that she goes to when she's stressed. Maybe the bed was your dog's safe spot and now she doesn't feel she has that haven to go to. I agree that it would be worth having a good, modern behaviourist come in and have a look at your girl. A behaviourist is better than a trainer - you need someone who understands canine body language rather than someone who can simply train a dog to perform tasks. Ensure whoever you employ uses only positive reinforcement and force-free (humane) methods, doesn't talk about being the alpha or anything to do with dominance - these are all red flags that they are out of date and, when dealing with a fearful dog, could easily make things worse rather than better.
I dont have any advice to offer, but just wanted to say hi and I hope you manage to get your girl and yourselves some help.
Thanks for the advice. Curiously, we contacted a behaviorist who advised us to seek an innovative trainer. We've schedule an assessment for Monday. I'll keep you posted.
That is interesting that a behaviourist would recommend a trainer. OK, some trainers will teach tools/games and strategies which will help your dog to increase her confidence in daily life - I am employing some of these methods for my own dogs with good effect - but in general, trainers are more about teaching behaviours (sit, walk at heel, retrieve, ignoring food on the floor etc etc etc) rather than addressing the emotional roots of canine behaviours. I'm very interested to hear about what this trainer has to say, so please do keep us posted
Sorry @snowbunny but many trainers do a lot more than train standard behaviours. In a class situation it may appear that's all a trainer does but certainly not true for a 121 session. A trainers work doesn't just involve the dog but it's family (hunan, canibe, felibe etc) as well and the emotional well being of all.
So what would you describe as the difference between a trainer and a behaviourist? I would suggest that, if a trainer is dealing with behaviours such as anxiety, they are actually stepping into the role of a behaviourist? Many are dual-qualified these days, which is great (or, even if not qualified per se, have researched enough to understand canine behaviour) but my (simplistic) understanding is still that a trainer teaches behaviours whereas a behaviourist addresses emotions. Of course there is plenty of overlap, it would be impossible for there not to be. I know that the Absolute Dogs "Pro Dog Trainer" course is creating "dog trainers" who are addressing more of the complete picture by using concept training. Maybe this is what Jon means by "innovative trainer"? aD would call it "Trainer 3".
@snowbunny I honestly don't think there is a real answer to what the difference is between a trainer and a behaviourist - possibly/in some cases just in qualification and method of obtaining it. Many courses designed for 'dog trainers' have little input on the physical/practical side of training and focus on studying canine behaviour, how to recognise behabiours, read body language and canine communication, how to read interaction between dog/dog, dog/human, questions to ask owners to gather and assess information, how to modify behaviours etc. , healthy and safety aspects, the importance of relationships with vets plus of course how to design and run training classes, produce training materials. I work with anxiety cases, seperation distress, resource guarding, aggression cases plus offering 121 training, but I will also refer a client on to a 'behaviourist' if I feel my experience and skill set doesn't cover their need, but they will get a full report of my appointment with the client. I remember something my mentor (one of the UK's top behaviourists : ) ) said about behaviourist v trainer when we were discussing - that all behaviour modification was rooted in training .
I think you could probably reverse that and it still be just as true - all training is rooted in manipulating emotions Yes, I agree, they are so interlinked it's sometimes difficult to find the distinction. For me with the experience of the dogs I've dealt with, I like to think about focussing on emotions rather than behaviours. The thing then is to find the training practices that are best to modify those emotions in order to get behaviour that you want. It's great that trainers are moving on to more holistic methods, so they can increase their toolboxes and understanding of different reasons dogs might or might not respond to training - or, indeed how they respond. It's definitely moving away from the old days of people just dismissing dogs for being disobedient or stubborn when they didn't perform as required. The next big step will be making it a regulated industry. It would be great to be able to prevent someone who has watched a TV show and thinks "I could do that" setting themselves up as a "dog trainer". By all means, there should be the potential for demonstrating different methods of getting the same result, I don't think homogenising it would be good for anyone, but I do think there should be some demonstrable learning that has taken place in order to take people's money from them.
When ‘training’ children I find that making sure they feel safe to make mistakes, comfortable and trusting is important. After that giving them enough challenge to keep them busy and interested. ‘The devil makes work for idle hands’
Apologies for slow response - a bit of a crazy week all round . I'm a little cautious when it comes to talking about emotions in our dogs. We often have enough problems identifying emotions in other humans without the added complication of a different species. We are still learning so much about dogs - their emotions, behaviours and amazing abilities. I think the industry is actually becoming more fragmented than ever with different training schemes and accreditation. Once upon time you could jyst suggest APDT as a source of positive trainers - not anymore. I know of at least 5 organisations whose trainers I would recommend without hesitation. Totally agree with demonstrable learning, but learning should be ongoing not just a few books to pass an exam. The hard part is putting that learning into practice with a client, and the easy part is most likely to be the dog .
