This week Lilly, the intrepid protagonist of our ongoing canine love story, went to a group pet obedience class with our big-picture trainer and mentor in all things relating to living with a fearful dog (Gigi Moss). Lilly and I stopped taking this drop-in class weekly in summer 2008 on advice of our dog behaviorist, who wanted us to do some hard-core behavior modification work instead. But, we’ve made enough progress that we’re picking up a group class once a month as time and temps allow. Suffice it to say, this was an interesting and challenging week for Lilly, who would prefer (thank you very much) that other dogs not pay attention to her.
This is our third class since the summer embargo.
The first time, Lilly did a fair bit of snarking. The second time, she survived a close encounter with a fun-loving, young Lab.
This week, Lilly faced some challenges:
- Classmates included three young dogs (9-12 months) we don’t know, only one of whom I trusted to leave Lilly alone (since he’s the packmate of another dog we do know well and trust).
- It was pretty windy, which can put Lilly on edge.
As soon as I let Lilly out of her crate, she had a fit of happy squealing and jumping. So, I guess she was thrilled to be there … so far so good. No flat tires. No shut downs.
Incoming Aussie
While the younger dogs moved off to play before class, Lilly and I explored some trees on the far side of the parking lot where we often see squirrels. She was sniffing. I was trying to untangle her extra long training leash, when a young, female Australian Shepherd came barreling up to us. It seems she either got loose from her person, or she blew off the play group to visit Lilly.
Gigi called out a warning. I wish I had better reflexes and a Tivo-like memory, where I could slow down and replay the interaction, but I mostly just turned Lilly away from the dog and walked away. I think it was that along with others calling her back that turned her around, after she approached, sniffed, and wiggled in close proximity to Lilly. It’s like she wanted Lilly’s approval.
Lilly didn’t really react. No noise. No correction. Just a bit of a nervous face (pinched, ears back) while she tried to ignore the youngster.
When class officially started, Gigi gave her usual recap, pointing out that Lilly’s red bandana means she doesn’t want to visit with other dogs, that she needs a bit of extra space. And, for probably the millionth time, together we explained the potential outcome.
This is usually the part, where I assure people that Lilly is NOT a dangerous dog, that her actions are purely defensive, that she’s fine if other dogs leave her alone, etc. Gigi, to her credit, always adds that we don’t want Lilly having the chance to “practice” these behaviors and that we’re working to help her see the world isn’t scary, including gregarious dogs.
Incoming German Shepherd
Later, after the dogs got the chance to explore the playground equipment, Lilly and I went over to a big flat rock. I cued HOP UP, and she did. She was just sniffing around in the snow on the rock, when we heard another INCOMING warning from Gigi.
We watched a young, female German shepherd blasting straight at us. I think it helped that Lilly was up higher than the other dog, who is bigger than she is. Lilly shot off one warning bark, dropped her head, and offered a convincing show of teeth via curled lips. The dog did not relent. So, Lilly jumped down and offered another stiff-bodied warning, where she basically offered her best Border Collie Eye. The dog did not relent.
So, even though I think Lilly was justified in her correction, I stepped between them, and Lilly and I walked away. The dog followed for a while, but we kept moving away. Eventually, someone got the dog again, but I kept Lilly far away from the group for several minutes to give her recovery time.
She didn’t seem too shaken, but she sniffed around and even went flat for a while. As promised I tried to offer a mirrored Calming Signal, but when I moved to do so, Lilly popped up and seemed fine. So, I didn’t really get the chance to sit down with her or anything.
During leash-walking exercises after this, we stayed at the back of the pack, but this particular shepherd hung back some too and kept spinning around and looking right at Lilly, sometimes barking and lunging.
This dog has the opposite reactive problem as Lilly. Instead of being fearfully alert for other dogs, this pup gets overly excited. It’s two sides of the same coin, really. Training and behavior modification is similar in both cases. I wonder if her person knows that.
I watched this pup race up to another dog after class, who just happened to be walking by, and again and again the German shepherd ended up on top of the other dog, who was belly up. It seemed like regular young dog play to me, except this shepherd is clearly pushy.
I chatted recently with an experienced German shepherd person, and she said that GSD’s are very aware of hierarchy and are constantly checking in to see where they fit. Maybe that’s why this dog kept looking at Lilly. She was trying to get information.
Anyway, Lilly handled all this staring quite well. She turned away. She sniffed around. She looked to me. She focused on whatever work I was asking her to do. No doubt she kept an eye on this dog, peripherally, but she didn’t seem obsessed with it.
Diagnosis
Gigi and I talked after class, and she thinks Lilly’s coping skills are much improved, even in the last month. She said that it’s the difference between Lilly feeling nervous, being on constant guard, and feeling like she has to control everything and Lilly just doing her own thing, with less regard for the other dogs.
So, let’s call it a breakthrough. Lilly is learning that ignoring other dogs works pretty well.
I know I joked this week that Lilly has poor canine body language skills, but at class this week, she showed some really good stuff. For example, she decided to pass a standard poodle that we’ve seen in class a few times before. This dog is also pretty fearful, but she’s really well handled, so we don’t worry about her at all.
Anyway, Lilly wanted to pass this dog on the trail, so she sped up and turned her shoulders away as an space encroachment appeasement thing. She also turned her head so far away that she was practically looking back at me. (She had a good 15 feet of slack in the leash out ahead.)
It was very cute. She was clearly trying to say, “Don’t mind me coming through. I’m NOT a threat. Return to your regularly scheduled programming. Nothing to see here.”
Another example, Lilly was sniffing around some bushes while taking a break from a fast DOWN exercise, and that same little Aussie came up. Her nose was mere inches from Lilly’s, and Lilly didn’t seem to care. Gigi and the Aussie’s mom called her back so the interaction didn’t last long, but Lilly handled it well.
In the past, if the same
dog that had scared her earlier had gotten close again, Lilly likely would have fired off a dramatic warning display.
So, despite the cold, and the wind, and the bevy of unfamiliar, potentially unmannered young dogs, Lilly did a good job being the elder-stateswoman at class. I wonder how much had to do with all the female energy since all the dogs were girls, except one, but I’ll take it either way.
Three cheers for Lilly!
P.S. The one young dog I wasn’t worried about (a Lab) never ONCE even thought about approaching Lilly. Good boy!
Aw, that’s fantastic! Congratulations on Lilly’s breakthrough.
I agree – three cheers for Lilly and for Roxanne! It sounds like she had what would have been a class-ending event a while ago – and she found a way to cope with it. That’s huge!
We just experienced our first full-on complete shut-down like you’ve dealt with over the years. Believe it or not, it was R. My husband actually had to carry him out of the corner where he was lying terrified and even refusing treats. Anyway, now I know how scary it is to see your dog ‘shut-down’ as you put it.
You’ve come a long way!