A TREE FALLS AT PPAWS
So – you know what the dairy cow said when the farm flooded? “If it’s not one thing, it’s an udder…” And, you know what happens when the dairy cow jumps over the picket fence to escape the flood? Udder disaster!
Fortunately what happened here was not an udder disaster, but it’s certainly starting to feel like the “if it’s not one thing it's an udder…” Or as Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radnor) used to say on Saturday Night Live… “It’s always something!”
Last night at 7:22PM as I was trying to decompress from a stressful Academy week, our power flickered and then went out. It’s not unusual for us to have brief power outages, so I waited… and no, it did not come back on. I got in my car and headed out the driveway to see if it was our power lines or somewhere in the neighborhood. I didn’t get far. I rounded the turn to the long quarter-mile of our drive that goes out to the road, and there it was a few hundred feet in the distance: a very large tree was lying across the driveway. Dangit! I assumed it had brought down the power lines, but I walked past the tree to confirm, being very careful to keep my distance. Yep, wires down! It was, indeed, something.
Then back to the house to call Potomac Edison. They said repair time was estimated to be 11:30PM. Going to be a long dark evening with no computer and no TV. Gee, I guess I could read a book by flashlight, just like I used to do as a little kid when I was “sneak reading” in bed.
Lights came back on at 9:30 not 11:30, so it was only two hours, not four. Thank you! Meanwhile I was counting my blessings – our Academy students, boarders and staff had all gone home before the tree fell – no one was driving, walking dogs or riding horses in the driveway when the tree came crashing down.
It took my hubby Paul and boarder hubby Jim a good four hours Sunday morning to cut up the tree and move all the pieces off the road down to our burn pile. (Without Jim it would have taken Paul seven hours – THANK YOU JIM!!!) The good news – no one was hurt and no property damage… Phew!
ANATOLIAN SHEEPDOG GETTING IN THE TRUCK
We occasionally get emails from around the country, even around the world, from people looking for a little help with their dogs. We usually take the opportunity to find someone near them we are comfortable referring to, but sometimes I will answer if it’s fairly quick and easy. We got this one recently:
Hi Pat,
My name is Janet, I'm writing from BC, Canada. My partner got two 5-6-year-old female dogs in the last two months. I've taken an active interest in caring for them and training them, as I now see myself as a "doggie stepmom" ;). I came across your Power of Positive Dog Training book at the library and absolutely love your philosophy and style. I refer to it often.
One of our dogs is an Anatolian Shepherd; she is big and sturdy, has very thick fur and is generally quiet/calm and a bit aloof/independent. We have found that she cowers when we try to get her into a truck. She lies down and won't move or tries to hide/run away and refuses to come. Regrettably, when we were first bringing her home, we were on the side of the highway taking a river break and resorted to a combination of pulling and picking her up roughly to get her in the truck, so we could continue homeward. This is also what I heard the previous owner would do.
Sometimes she will willingly get into the cab or the bed of the truck. A small "tug" on the leash will often trigger her to hop in. It's tricky to know what conditions will make her more likely to get in voluntarily. It seems that leaving home to go for an outing is more likely than when it’s time to return home. She doesn't seem to mind getting into a car (say a station wagon back) and once she is in the truck, she seems calm.
I wondered if jumping up and down causes her pain as she can seem a bit ungainly and "heavy footed"(she also doesn't know 'sit', she just lies down, rolls over etc.)
We have tried:
- asking her to get in the truck giving clicks and treats for any movement in the right direction, getting excited, saying lots of encouraging words and then waiting for up to 20 minutes to see if she will do it
-squeaking a toy
-having lots of treats right there to find when she gets in the truck
-luring with yummy treats
-having the other dog jump in first as a model
-having her jump in first so she can have her space
-driving away and allowing her to run after the truck, hoping she'd eventually want to get in
-and of course, pulling on the leash/collar and hefting her in
Any suggestions, or references you could point us to? Ladder? Ramp?
Thank you!
Best,
Janet
I wanted to answer this one in part because they were doing a lot of good things already and I wanted to reinforce their good efforts (and because it feels good when the writer gives me positive reinforcement for my books and makes me want to reciprocate!) <G>
Here’s my response:
Hi Janet,
Glad you like my book!!! I'm sorry you're having challenges with your Anatolian. They're big dogs and can have strong opinions!
A surprising number of dogs are reluctant to get into vehicles. Sometimes it's because they get carsick and thus have a very negative association with being in the car - but you say she's calm once she's in the truck, so that's probably not it. Sometimes it's because getting in the car usually predicts a trip to the vet or boarding kennel. And since she's okay with the car but not the truck it's possible she had a past bad experience specifically in a truck.
And you may be right - there may be a pain element to it, so definitely start by having her checked out by your vet. One option can be a short course of pain meds to see if that makes any difference - although a past pain-association may still trigger a negative response even when pain is controlled.
You have done all the right things so far - apparently to no avail. I think a ramp or steps is a great idea, and I would suggest teaching her to use them elsewhere (with a high rate of reinforcement with very high value treats) so she has a very positive association with it before you try it with the truck. Other than that, you could try just hanging out with her near the truck but where she is fairly comfortable. Give her treats just for being there (without clicks) until she is relaxed and settled, and very gradually moving closer to the truck over several sessions, as she seems willing. This is counter conditioning and desensitization – giving her a positive association with the truck, rather than clicking for specific operant (deliberate) behaviors. You want to avoid putting her over threshold each session, just stay within her comfort zone and be sure to end the session when she is calm and relaxed. You could also do a version of Treat and Retreat - where you toss a treat slightly toward the truck (again, still within her comfort zone) and then toss one away from the truck to give her relief from the stress of moving toward the truck.
This will all work best if you can avoid having to put her in the truck until she is happy to do so on her own... take her places in the car instead! Every time you have to coerce her into the truck it will set your program back some.
Hope this helps - let me know how it goes!!!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
HONEY THE STRESSED BORDER COLLIE
Honey is a 5-year-old spayed female mostly Border Collie who has lived with her current humans, April and Rick, since the age of 10 months. She was a private rehome from a family who had small children and decided they didn’t have time to properly care for her. She is great with her own family, and shy with strangers. Incidents of recent concern included snarling at a dog she’s always gotten along with previously, lunging at a child who ran past her, and growling at a 3-year-old child who grabbed her face. (I might growl too if a child grabbed my face!)
Honey’s presenting complaint was: People/animal reactive; guarding humans; herding; protective on leash. She entered the training center confidently and explored the room. She approached me but did not invite interaction until later in the session. She was panting – possible stress panting, possibly from the heat.
Target Behavior: Reactive barking and defensive behavior with humans and dogs.
Goal Behavior: Honey is calm, relaxed and socially appropriate with other humans and dogs in her world.
While Honey appeared environmentally confident, her reactive behavior (barking) with people and other dogs suggested perhaps a certain lack of adequate socialization and training with her first family. Watching her during our session, it appeared to me that she was doing more “alert barking” than “alarm barking,” which indicated a much lower level of emotion – a good thing!
This was confirmed by how exceptionally well she did with the counter conditioning and desensitization (CC&D). We did CC&D with Honey for about 10 minutes. As I passed by about 20 feet away after just a few passes she relaxed noticeably and offered multiple CERs to April after looking at me. This tells us that the emotional part of her brain was making the association between me and the chicken. The fact that she started doing this so quickly again suggests that her emotional response to people is relatively mild. This will likely make it much easier to modify her behavior than if she was having a strong emotional response. I shared with Alice and Rick that Honey responded to the CC&D protocol significantly faster than most of my clients’ dogs, which gives us cause to be optimistic.
We also discussed what her humans had perceived as guarding behavior. While this is not entirely out of the question, in most cases where humans think their dog is protecting them, in fact the dog is protecting herself. It often happens more in the presence of the owner because the dog feels safer about acting out when her humans are there.
They also mentioned possibly adding children to their family in the future, and their concerns about her response to small humans. I told them that they are very wise to address this well before any children arrive. Two excellent resources for this are: Dogs & Storks (a course offered by Family Paws – they also have other excellent resources: https://www.familypaws.com/courses/dogs-storks/ ) and the book Living with Kids and Dogs Without Losing Your Mind,
by Colleen Pelar: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/living-with-kids-and-dogs-without-losing-your-mind-colleen-pelar/1113024968
Of course, I emphasized the importance of upping their management game – Honey needs to not be in situations where kids can run past her, or worse, grab her face. I did explain that a growl is a good thing – it is your dog making every effort to not bite while telling you that something is making her very uncomfortable. And especially in light of their above-mentioned desire to have children, we don't want to keep giving Honey negative associations with kids!
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/dog-growling-is-a-good-thing/
As I usually do when working with a dog with aggressive behaviors, I shared that aggression is caused by stress, and that the more we can reduce stress in Honey’s life along with our behavior modification program, the less likely she is to feel the need to aggress. We listed her stressors, assigned strategies and agreed on commitments. We normally get between 10 and 20 stressors on my clients’ stressor lists – Honey had just eight, yet another reason for optimism. Hers were: new humans, kids, other dogs, the vet hospital, nail trimming, being out in the rain. outside sounds, and family stress.
Honey’s Modification Program Commitments
1. Feet/Find It: At least 5 days per week, 5 minutes or more per session; start in your house, then outdoors, then generalize to the world.
2. Nose Games: At least 3 days per week, 10 minutes or more; indoors at first, can keep it indoors or take outside when she knows the game.
3. 1-2-3 (and other Pattern Games that you like): At least 3 days per week, 5 minutes or more per session; start in your house, then outdoors, then generalize to the world.
4. Treat & Retreat: As opportunity presents; use people in the real world who show an interest in her.
5. People/Kids/Dogs: CC&D 1-2 times per week, 20 minutes or more per session; find a location where you can manage intensity of stimulus to keep her below threshold. The more you can do of this the better…
My prognosis for Honey is very bright:
Prognosis: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Poor Guarded Fair Good Excellent
And my comment in my report to April and Rick was: It is rare that I give a prognosis this bright with my clients – many of whose dogs offer behaviors far more challenging than Harley’s. You/we can do this!!!
I expect to hear good things from April and Rick, and will let you know when I do!
SUSIE THE BITEY HOUND/SHEPHERD - BRIEF FOLLOW-UP
Meanwhile, a brief follow-up on Susie. I shared Susie’s story in my last blog here – she was the German Shepherd mix who was one of just three dogs to survive being left in an overheated van in Texas. Bob and Anna were concerned about her behavior of nipping at people – especially visitors to their home. I am happy to report that they are pleased with her progress even in a fairly short time. They have implemented the management and counter conditioning protocols that we discussed (and anti-anxiety medication), and Susie is already becoming calmer when there are people visiting. They do recognize that they will need to continue this for quite some time and may always need some level of management when new people come to the house. But yay for progress!!!
KC IS FINE!!
To reassure those of you who expressed concern and support for KC’s mouse bait eating incident – she is fine – YAY!!! And PHEW!!!!!
Until next time... Be Positive!!!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
Thank you for another wonderful blog and I'm SO happy that KC is well! Kimberly