Weekly Training Update (Sept 18)

Last Sunday’s class posed many challenges for Lilly. We worked alongside (at a distance, of course) several big, young dogs Lilly doesn’t know. On this weird, foggy day, Lilly went into a mild-shutdown funk the minute we moved into the shady park. You’ll see in these photos the worry, in contrast to the smiling face you’ve seen lately.

{I’m sorry to say the photos for this post went missing in a major blog photo glitch.}

Compare this from a couple weeks ago …

To this timid body language on Sunday

Notice the ear and tail position

Look at this squinted, worried face

All in all, she coped well with the unpredictable dogs (4 out of 6 in this photo), as long as she had enough distance.

We went through an entire chicken breast, two buffalo hot dogs, and about 10 ounces of cheddar in this one-hour class. Lilly did everything I asked really well, including:

• Good (only slightly slow) off-leash recalls away from the other dogs
• Flawless default WATCH ME when I held food out away from me (The goal is to get the dog to look to you automatically, rather than fixate or try to steal the food.)
• Decent LEAVE IT when I dropped high value food as we walked around

She even handled a few passing skateboard/scooters fine, with enough distance and food. In other words, she was not reactive. Then, again, she is less reactive when she is more scared. It’s frustrating to understand, but reactivity is actually (in a way) a step forward for Lilly (which may or may not be true for other dogs).

A reactive Lilly means she is nervous, but confident enough to say something about it. Now, we just have to build her confidence to where she isn’t nervous AND she doesn’t feel the need to say much about what she sees as an affront to her world — like a kid rolling by or a young dog being a young dog.

I didn’t fully recognize how worried she was until we stepped into the sunlight as we walked out of the heavily treed park. I swear it’s as if stepping into the light released her from fear. It reminded me of that scene from The Blues Brothers, where Jake says “I have seen the light,” then proceeds to do a bunch of dancing and gymnastics (or so it seems).

As soon as we got away from our classmates and into the sun, she began leaping as high as my head — which is what she does after “surviving” something scary. We call it “jumping her jitters out.” Then, she made a b-line … I mean dragged my sorry behind to the car. That, friends, is a b-i-g sign.

So, there is your tip for the day. See how your dog responds after the situation has ended for a good indicator on how big a issue it was (despite what you saw in the moment in the dog’s behavior).

For a good example of this, check out Laurie Luck’s Smart Dog University‘s video and blog post called Talos + the Freight Elevator. Talos is a service puppy in training. He will provide physical stability, kind of like a canine cane. He took a ride in a noisy freight elevator as part of his ongoing socialization work. He is nervous to be sure, but watch his exit at the end of the 3-minute video. He is not hot-footing it, which means he was coping pretty well.

I could post the video here, but I find Laurie’s blog so helpful as she chronicles the socialization work I sorely wish Lilly had had as a youngster. Plus, Talos … a great dane … is a total hoot to watch.

***

Now, you know why I decided Lilly could have her big bison bone on the way home from class. She deserved it. Later, we went for a walk in town before heading back up the mountain, and Lilly walked within mere inches of a college-aged guy on a skateboard without flinching. Honestly, I didn’t see him. He was at the back of a pack of what appeared to be frat guys doing some trash cleanup along the creek. He was rolling very slowly, which helped a lot.

Once we got home, she spent the whole afternoon chewing and hanging out outside with me and Ginko. It was a full-on, top-to-bottom Mommy and Lilly day. We spent from about 7 am to about 10 pm, just being a couple of best, best friends. We were both exhausted.