There are 2 parts to this assessment. One in the back yard, the other in a dog park. Josie was trained to walk on a prong collar. I asked the owners to remove it and replace it with a flat collar.
Josie’s owners have an issue with their dog pulling on leash, she can be reactive. They had one episode that they didn’t understand, Josie apparently went after another dog and things happened so fast, they aren’t really sure what happened. There was a small dog and 2 excited children involved, who knows. Nobody got hurt, but it scared the owners.
They hired a trainer, and all the trainer focused on was getting the dog to walk “structured” on a prong collar. Why aren’t we investigating why this behaviour exists in the first place? We need to rethink reaching for tools for problems that we do not understand.
Yep. I broke into Josie’s back yard with the owners permission, they watched through the window. This is a worst case scenario. Josie ran away, Josie is insecure, she’s scared. However, Josie is clearly showing that she wants to trust. Given enough time in the back yard alone with me, I know she would have approached – and choose to invade my space. Another dog is always a game changer – so, enter my dog Monty.
Josie had no intention of hurting Monty, but he made her want to move forward even more. She investigated him hard, but didn’t hurt him. When she realized that my dog was ok, she quickly realized that I’m ok. He’s not making a fuss around me, he’s calm with me. I’m squat down, being calm and inviting. She needs to choose to come to me, she needs to choose to trust me. That can’t be forced, it has to be earned. At the 5:30 mark, she comes in very insecurely to sniff Monty while he’s in my arms – watch how she is around me. She wants to trust so badly. Notice how she watches him walk off, she’s thinking now.
At the 5:52 mark, I know she’s coming in, her resolve broke, that’s why I held out my hands, she’s going to barge in. Nothing like a face wash from a scared dog. Is she fixed? No, this is the first step in earning the dogs trust. A dog that doesn’t trust me isn’t going to follow me – and trying to walk a dog that doesn’t trust is going to require a tool like a prong.
At the 6:30 mark, I bend over at the waist with my hands straight down. She comes in to investigate – but she’s not engaging. Understand, when I’m squat down with a dog, I’m putting myself in a vulnerable position. I don’t have to worry about Josie, but other dogs can attack and I need to show them that I trust them not to. She will come to people when they are squat down, she doesn’t like a “domineering” presence.
When I take Josie for a walk, I don’t care if she’s pulling me down the street. This is an assessment, I need to understand why she’s pulling me down the street. She’s pulling because she’s scared, she’s watching and sniffing the environment for any harm – it’s fear that’s creating an excited brain. The pulling is the outcome of an excited brain – why is the dog excited? She doesn’t trust.
Why focus on the pulling – when the pulling itself driven by fear? Fear is lack of trust. Focus on gaining the dogs trust. Josie doesn’t seem to trust alot of things. I record everything for the owner – this is what you’re watching. This is not a how to video – this is how I do things and actually show a positive outcome. The owners watched the entire video and read the assessment email that explains everything. They are walking her alone without a prong – and she’s doing much better already.
A couple of days ago, we met at a local dog park – she’s never been. Yes, Josie is amped up, Josie’s brain is on overdrive, Josie barks and took a couple of growls and got told off by one snappy terrier. Fully expected her to be amped. I’m not concerned about all that at the moment, she has no real social skills yet. Josie is also a teenage Doberman, she does a 10 km run every day, play in the back yard and that’s just an appetizer for her.
Tonite was the second part of the assessment, we are going for a swim in the deep end. I know now that I can trust her to be around people and dogs, even in an amped up state – that was the big one learned tonite. The owners need to see it and understand it. Between the assessment and the time spent in a dog park – she has had every opportunity to show aggression due to fear, and she hasn’t. She gets a bit reactive at times, but that’s understandable. She always chooses to move forward and that’s important, she’s not shutting down. She’s trying hard to figure it all out. This is the first few steps.
Josies’ owners are dedicated to their dogs. They also have a very easy going Cane Corso and an old bulldog. The owners are focusing on tiring her out with different exercise, and calming exercises. They still run her 5 km a day off leash now, they work her on a flirt pole to burn off that excess mental energy. Most importantly – they understand now that even under stress – she doesn’t want to show aggression.
And admittedly, they can probably do this on their own – they may not need me, and I’m ok with that.