Thanksgiving weekend Lilly came unglued while playing outside. We had our usual game of fetch going in the middle pasture. As she ran toward the fence to get her ball, she stopped dead
in her tracks. The hair on her neck and her butt stood on end. She growled and crouched and slunk. It wasn’t that our neighbors were working on the fence. She didn’t care about 2 men being so close.
Something else caught her eye, and she would NOT relent. …
As she often does, Lilly went shopping with me on Saturday. Many of the little stores on our “main street” allow dogs, so while I cruised for a few final gifts, Lilly came along. She
befriended a woman in one particular store, delivering a gentle POKE with her nose to the woman’s hand when offered and accepting being petted and praised. Hey, who wouldn’t want that? Then, as the
woman left the store, she said something that brought tears to my eyes. …
The biggest lesson I learned from Lilly this week is that you can’t assume any behavior is rock-solid on every single day. It’s all too easy to get complacent or to take our brilliant
dogs for granted. We cut back on treats. We verbally fuss on them less. We assume that they are the same minute to minute, day to day. And, that’s simply not the case. …
I like to think I’m pretty self-aware. I know why I am the way I am. And, I think I know my motivation. Yet … if I had a nickel for every time someone questions my motivation for continuing to work and hope with Lilly, I’d be a rich girl, who could quit her job and just be a full-time puppy mom. Now, I really do think about the why and how of everything I do with Lilly, but for some reason, it always catches me off guard a bit when someone suggests I give up, back off, step back, stop trying so hard.
My grandmother’s house, which for all the usual purposes was my “childhood home,” had a round traffic pattern. As a kid, I could run from kitchen to front room to hall to den to
kitchen. When you’re little, that’s some serious fun. Well, my current house also has a couple of round-running spots. I’ve started using the carpeted one upstairs to practice high-speed heeling (and
frankly to burn off some energy). …
There is one truth that rings clear when training Lilly. If what I’m asking makes sense, she catches on very quickly. Sometimes, it’s just 3-5 clicks. Sometimes, it’s just 10 minutes. And, she’s totally on board. Other times, I’m clearly doing something wrong, and she simply doesn’t get it.
Since it’s been 3 months since Lilly started taking an anti-depressant, I can probably stop naming Friday’s entry with a number. So suffice it to say that Fridays will continue to be a
big picture update on our progress and the week’s work. …
As a kid, I was a pretty good student. My work as a writer also means I spend a lot of time learning new things. I thought maybe my study tactics might help others sort through the many
ideas in Leslie McDevitt’s book. So, here it goes. …
I’m feeling fairly overwhelmed by all the things I should be training Lilly to do as part of our new behavior modification plan. Each little shaping event only takes a few minutes, but
it feels like a lot some days. This week, I tried a new coping strategy, where I only try to do 1-2 things other than the Relaxation Protocol. Here’s how things went. …
You found the right place to learn more about the Relaxation Protocol for Dogs! When I first read about Dr. Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation in Leslie McDevitt’s book “Control Unleashed,” I had NO idea what it was about. None. Never heard of it. It’s considered baseline work for serious behavior modification training, like what I’m doing with Lilly. That much I got from the book, but it wasn’t until I saw the whole thing in print that a sinking feeling sunk me. I’m feeling better about it now, but here’s a bit about my journey so far …
