Re: Struggling Maybe it might be worth a check up just to see if the vet thinks there is any pain. Have you had painkillers for her before ? You could try giving her painkillers for a few days and just see if it makes a difference. I know giving pain meds if they aren't necessary isn't the best idea but it would rule it in or out. Trying to work on her reactiveness if one of the triggers is pain will make it even harder. Sounds like walking with Louis would do him good as well. : . I've walked with very reactive dogs including paddy the Tibetan terrier who went for us last week. They just don't seem to react whilst walking. I suppose the body language alters maybe.
Re: Struggling Ah Lauren ,I'm late coming in so you sound like you've picked yourself up from be ing so upset.Sorry you hit such a low,I totally sympathise x I've had lead nightmares ,and I was getting so worried and stressed about it ,I know I was making it worse...Dexter was always ok in obedience classes ( which confirms the point that has been made several times about distraction through working) it was our pavement lead walking that was getting awful.I struggled to organise practice set ups too so I got my confidence going to a local training centre and asking if I could do 121's practising walking past dogs.At the time I couldn't find an appropriate group class. I did about 6 weeks just walking up and down in different rooms with different stooge dogs at different distances all the time practising 'look at me' .....this worked for us and we have got to a point now where Dexter is improved from lunging and reacting to every dog we meet on lead to only dogs that stare at him....but I can still get past these with only him and me knowing it's an management excercise ,he'll start cranking up and puffing ,but he automatically looks at me ......I've also got a really tight about turn 'with me' to get me out of unexpected trouble and if he's not too antsy a 'quick quick' picks up our pace and we get past the dog that's bothering him.These tools all gave me confidence and that alone made a big difference.You can work through this and walks will become more enjoyable x The Trainer I used put together a Reactive Rover course after she'd worked with us and we attended with 3 other dogs....I seriously got asked what I was doing there, Dexter was so well behaved.....but only because I'd been able to work on it prior to the course.The other 3 dogs were miserabley reactive,it was so sad to see ,one couldn't even cope being in the room on her lead with other dogs the first week ,but by the end of the course she could come out from behind the screen we all had and sit quietly on a mat while we all walked past her,it was wonderful to see the improvement. I'll root out my course notes for you,it was all clicker and positive training ,if I can help you at all just drop me a line xxxx
Re: Struggling I agree with kate, anna at widgets farm is brilliant although a bit of a way for you, and i expect would be keen to do some 121 with you before penny could go into the adolescent class environment, but she is absolutely amazing with the behaviour side of things, and i think would be a great help. Hang in there, we all have bad days but you are not alone, everyone is here x
Re: Struggling We've had a better walk today. We did see a man with three terriers that came round the corner in the exact spot the lurcher did yesterday, Penny had a bark so I promptly did an about turn and walked away for about ten feet. Then we turned back and continued on our way. The man with the terriers was heading to the field we use so thought I would use this as a training opportunity instead of a stressful experience. Go me! We followed at what I call a 'safe' distance; maybe 30 feet or so. Penny was interested in the dogs and was looking at them but wasn't to the point that she was stressed by them - she wasn't pulling on the lead to get to them and her hackles were down (she's incredibly expressive with her hackles!). She would look at them and then look away, when she looked away I said 'good girl' and gave her a couple of treats. Seemed to go really well so I am pleased! I had a quick read through the PDFs from the BAT website last night so I think I'm on the right track. Looking forward to getting the book today!
Re: Struggling That sounds great Lauren. I'm glad your feeling more positive and yes it sounds like you are on the right track. Looking away is a calming signal which you want. Well done Penny. ;D
Re: Struggling yey yey a good morning! and be good to hear how you go with BAT, you can share the Joy Of Calming Signals with your fellow BATers...lots of my friends still giggle when we are ambling along and I suddenly do a quick about turn and head off in the opposite direction for what seems like no apparent reason to them, but the BATing journey has got me really in tune with Cuillin's body language, I can mostly tell way way in advance now whether she is getting near threshold, and its often just a slight movement of her ears (she has very expressive ears as opposed to hackles!) and a tiny puffing of her cheeks. My best pal however has really started to get into it, and headed off a possible barky incident in the pub the other night - she said she had seen C's cheeks slightly inflate, and she was right, and she swung straight into looking for a calming signal and treating ;D. I'll get them all at it one day!
Re: Struggling Hi Lauren, so glad you had a better walk this morning. I've read all the advice and don't really have anything to add. Just wanted to be supportive. Mabel is only 15 weeks old and sometimes I have cried when things go wrong as I don't have any support I know how awful you must have felt. I'm attending the puppy foundation course. The trainer is great he suggested I introduce her to as many older sensible dogs as possible due to her bounciness. She got nipped on the nose twice today by older dogs and really cried. I Know it has done her no harm as she has to learn doggie etiquette, but it's tough sometimes she's a little bundle of chocolate loveliness. Im sure your walks will continue to improve.
Re: Struggling [quote author=debsie link=topic=10208.msg150129#msg150129 date=1426583927] yey yey a good morning! and be good to hear how you go with BAT, you can share the Joy Of Calming Signals with your fellow BATers...lots of my friends still giggle when we are ambling along and I suddenly do a quick about turn and head off in the opposite direction for what seems like no apparent reason to them, but the BATing journey has got me really in tune with Cuillin's body language, I can mostly tell way way in advance now whether she is getting near threshold, and its often just a slight movement of her ears (she has very expressive ears as opposed to hackles!) and a tiny puffing of her cheeks. My best pal however has really started to get into it, and headed off a possible barky incident in the pub the other night - she said she had seen C's cheeks slightly inflate, and she was right, and she swung straight into looking for a calming signal and treating ;D. I'll get them all at it one day! [/quote] I am surprised I haven't walked into a tree yet on my walks with Casper, I watch every nuance of body language with him, he is so expressive. I am sure this knowledge has helped enormously with Casper. What I find insightful and a big clue to his background is the amount of calming signals I get from Casper, compared to Benson which is practically nothing. Sorry a bit off track!
Re: Struggling Thought I would write a little update! I am just less than half way through my BAT book and it's all making so much sense! We used some of the techniques on Sunday and got within 10 feet of another dog! Couldn't manage less than that though but that is real progress! I spent most of Sunday at my parents house as hubby and my dad went off to Wembley to see Bristol City. My mum cooked us a Sunday lunch with my sister and then we took all the pooches out for a walk. As we were coming down the field towards the stile into the bigger field there was a man coming through with two dogs. I took Penny off to one side at a 'safe' distance and the man stopped to chat to my mum (everyone wants to as the new pup is only 5 months old and soooo cute!). Decided to use this as a training opportunity as his dogs were being really calm and just standing by him on their leads. We were doing really well but then I got a bit cocky and got a bit too close which result in a bark and lunge from Penny. Chalked it up to experience and moved on. Had a lovely trek around the fields and let the dogs play in the stream. On our way back we stopped in the village pub for a drink and sat in the pub garden (the weather was fantastic). Shortly after we arrived one of my mums friends turned up with her 8 month old springer Ollie. He was so calm and well behaved you would not believe he was a spanner!!! Lol At first I walked Penny to the opposite side of the garden, and using BAT techniques we gradually got closer so that in the end we were able to sit on one of the picnic bench with Ollie sitting with owner on a bench on the other side of ours!! Real progress, really pleased! I know it helped that all the dogs we met were really calm, but it's all training opportunities! I was really happy how it all played out.
Re: Struggling Sounds brilliant. Being able to start like this with calm dogs is fabulous. You've obviously done really well with the BAT techniques
Re: Struggling That's fantastic progress Lauren I'm so pleased for you. Well done penny. ;D Having the opportunity to BAT with calm dogs will help a lot. Do you live far from your mum ? I was thinking if you could go every so often and practise BAT for frustrated greeters with her pup. It would be good for the pup as well. I found doing BAT for frustrated greeters seemed to help with normal BAT as it teaches control around other dogs. Keep on BATting Lauren your doing brill' ;D
Re: Struggling I am really pleased with how we are going and I hope it continues. I've been eyeing up a new head collar since a post on here somewhere about the black dog infin8 head collar..... I really like the look of it and how it works but I don't know if I can justify paying £18 for a head collar :/ any thoughts?
Re: Struggling I got the Dogalters on Friday and double ended Halti training leads. I'd emailed Lizi Angel asking her advice about the Dogalter. It was very cheeky of me so I didn't expect a reply but she gave me lots of advice and was very helpful. http://liziangel.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/head-collars.html Unfortunately the jury is still out on the Dogalter. The idea of fixed Headcollar, double ended lead and martingale collar is great and really works. I've been surprised at how much I've only used the part of the lead attached to the collar. My problem with the Dogalter is fitting it. It's very fiddley !!! Scouts fits but I'm still altering Scotts. I'm hoping I've sorted it now. It's the side stabilisers which attach with a loop of Velcro that cause the problem because they keep sticking. I liked the look of the infin8 as well but if I remember correctly the idea is in the end you can just use the collar then put the figure of 8 over the nose when necessary. I don't think I'd manage two unless I had plenty of warning something was coming.
Re: Struggling Yes that's true but that's what I liked about it - because it's adjustable how tight it is you can eventually wean them off it altogether. I bit the bullet and ordered one, found it a little cheaper on eBay with free postage and packaging so I'll have to let you know how I get on with it when it turns up!
