In early 2007, we began having problems again with Lilly wandering the neighborhood. The snow drifts were taller than our fences, so it was easy for her to get out. This is also around the same time as the snarking began at our rally obedience classes, which we were doing to try and build ring confidence for agility. Can you say backfire? So, I asked the communicator to find out what was up. Here are the results.

Keep in mind that the communicator is British, so when she says garden, she means yard. Oh, and we don’t have a boat, but our neighbors do. (Hey, again, Katy … Lilly loves your boat for some reason.) To my knowledge, Lilly has never been on a boat.

Also, the notes talk about Lilly “attacking” other dogs. But, that’s something she doesn’t do. She’ll bark, growl and show her teeth, but she’s never truly went after or hurt another dog. So, take that word as used below, with a bit of context.

Oh, and we were already using click-to-calm methods mentioned long before the snarking started.

Lilly is keen as ever to connect with me and she opens the session by barking at me excitedly and spinning to the right, wanting me to follow closely. She takes me outside and leads me to where a boat is (normally) parked. The scene does not refer to today, as there is no snow on the ground. She is showing me around. When I ask what it is about the boat, she shows me an outing in the vehicle to a lake that she enjoyed and then moves quickly to what I think is your backyard. I see a play frame of sorts, like part of a house and also a see-saw. (This is her home agility course.) She likes to be outside, and she likes to play out here. She is full of energy and excitement, she feels light and engaging.

I let her know why I am here and explain that things have changed recently. She continues to flit around with her thoughts, and so I ask her how she feels about the snow. It’s pretty much been white and covered a lot of her activities. She shows me that there is less to do and see in the garden, and so she feels she needs to explore and find other exciting things to do.

You haven’t been out together so much on your walks, and she has taken it upon herself to walk. She sees others do that in the neighborhood and believes it’s quite alright.  She shows me the snow-drifts in the garden and specifically points out the top right hand corner of the property. As I start to say that you’re worried about her leaving. She continues with how she’s alright and can take care of herself. She has always been alright, and she always comes home. I point out that we know she can take care of herself and appreciate her intelligence. It's not so much her as the road conditions for the vehicles, the deep snow drifts and the weather changes. It would be preferable if she asked you to go with her and see if you couldn’t go out together for a wee while.

I share your message about the rally ring to her, so that she knows where the conversation is leading. I am not personally familiar with the rally obedience training and ask Lilly to show me some scenes. She shares an activity of herself and other dogs standing one end and the people the other end – in effect they are loose and not on leads or lines. The purposes is for there to be distance training and obedience with them ultimately coming to their person.  

Prior to this & while she is still on a lead I see her shut-down. She is lying down and solid as a rock, with intermittent shaking. As though she looses her mind and is no longer present, in a way as though something has caused intense fear (I see it a bit like if someone has seen a scary sight). “Its alright Lilly” – you say to her as you massage, touch & stroke her.

“What makes you so worried”, I ask? She is instant and clear with the answer. It’s the stimulus, outside stimulus. She is highly sensitive and she hears all the noises, the sounds, the distractions. She looses her focus, and she can no longer decipher your words amongst the rest. There is much going on with the other people, the dogs (although focused on their people), the movement around her and you. She finds it really difficult to understand you.

She is so keen to show me that she is good. She goes right back to your garden and her ability to perform when it’s the 2 of you!  She really is trying, but she cannot seem to make it work.

She shows me a golden retriever who does the class really well. This particular dog must have been physically close to her at some point, because the perfection aggravated her. I wonder if she can’t have her own time, where only she performs, then she watches and maybe there are only 2 dogs going at the same time. She shows me that she got pretty mad and literally ran across the area to attack (so to speak) another. She shows me barking too, it appears to be excitement, but it’s more of a stressful/overload situation. Her mind is exceedingly active and while she begins to process one cue, she already has moved onto the next one, while taking in her environment and processing her natural needs and desires too, which ultimately builds up into tension and confusion. It makes sense why the one-on-one works better for her.

I’ve obviously missed a piece here, because we return to the attacking and although from a scientific standpoint I don’t know how this would be received, but Lilly feels as though the other dogs don’t understand her. She feels like they are mocking her inability to do this. There are many wonderfully behaved and talented dogs there. I believe this adds another perspective and dynamic to the picture. It will have appeared like the other dog did nothing to the people watching on, but Lilly felt slighted.  

I take a moment to explain to her that some dogs really enjoy their work, they find it easy to focus on a person and can literally close out the stimulus, it’s not so much mocking as a pure enjoyment. I cannot, of course, assure her that nobody feels this way, as I am not there.

I continue to explain to her that she cannot go around attacking other dogs in class or in general. That she is so smart, agile and strong that she needs to stay watching you. When she feels less than the others, come to you. Walk away from the situation and come to you.

She tells me that she has done this, that she has shown her concern prior to the class, that she has laid down, you have reassured her through your means. This has only given her enough to walk on through but when she looses it again, now she takes it to the next level. The acu-pressure/massage is not the answer she tells me. It only helps in the moment, it soothes, but it doesn’t look at the root cause.

As I write this, I remember conversations I have had with my girlfriend in CA about clicker training and the expo I have been to. You may really find that clicker training is a wonderful way forward for you both. The trainers can assist with teaching focus, direction while creating a confident being. 

Lilly lacks the focus and the confidence right now to get her through this, but it doesn’t mean that she is incapable of learning any of these classes. She may need to step back and begin by learning to relax on cue, learning to focus on cue and then moving forward to blocking out other stimulus – this will truly build her confidence to face others.

I don’t get the sense that any incident in particular has caused this behavior. I think it’s a build up to this point and that Lilly learns differently, because of her personality and make-up.

The help can come in so many ways and I believe it’s a good start with the clicker training – teaching her to relax etc. I ask her to explain her work and play time……she shows me a ball. The situation she shares is that the work and play has no pressure, it’s a matter of incorporating lessons within play. She decides that she wants a ball and throws her weight around. She challenges another with her energy and growling and takes it up to the next level.

This appears to be another kind of possessiveness but also dominance.  Part of her is proud when she achieves the result, and she thinks she will be seen as a top dog. In other words she is gaining something by this behavior now. Both scenarios are different, but she is learning that she gains something. I begin to share with her that this is not acceptable, it’s not kind behavior and will not serve her. This behavior will isolate her from others, and she will not be able to play, be free or join the class. The friendly way of playing, sharing and having fun will mean that there is more play time, which she loves! 

I consider many aspects and let her know that her mind is so busy, she loves to explore and see new things, here you are prepared to go that extra mile with her, but she needs to co-operate. The only way you can do this together is if she plays fair and has fun with others.

I believe that you made need to go back to basics with her before you can proceed too much and the above suggestions will help to make a resolution program. I ask her if she wants to create some kind of sign for you to see that she is getting worried that you will be willing to notice this sign and try to act on it before she gets too worried. She shows herself lying down and rather than the acu-pressure alone, she shows me a picture of you leading her away. Taking a bit of time out and then returning, this may actually build her up and help her – knowing that she can leave and then return later and not be surrounded by what is upsetting her. Taking her away for a bit, taking her mind of things, walking around thereby dispersing the energy, re-evaluating the situation, calming through voice, reassurance and then returning (This cue relates more to training than the playtime as that is a different cause).