Different type of training

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Schnauzerluv
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First Name: Kat
Dog #1: Ozzy
is a: B/S Mini Dog
Born: 30 Jul 2020
Dog #2: Lily
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 12 Aug 2022

Re: Different type of training

Post by Schnauzerluv »

Love it, he is such like a puppy.....so cute!
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Dawnspell
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First Name: Alison
Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 06 Feb 2013
Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Different type of training

Post by Dawnspell »

Schnauzerluv wrote: 12 Jun 2021, 17:20 Love it, he is such like a puppy.....so cute!
I think hes an eternal puppy, he still bounces like one =))

So proud of my boy this weekend

We'd been invited to a 40th birthday BBQ. There were to be around 40 people as well as Jaspers nemesis children, and Jasper was coming with us. I have to admit I was anxious about how well this was going to go hes never been in a situation like this before, and wouldnt have been surprised if I'd had to leave with him after 5 mins based on his past reactions to children and all the other new to him distractions. I have been keeping away from children so he couldnt rehearse any bad behaviour.

Hes been making great improvements at making good choices and improving his behaviour. If I needed proof / convincing that concept training of training for the situation and not in the situation works then yesterday was it. We arrived and I kept him walking around in the drive for around 5 mins with a few people milling around, no woofing and was happy to have a stroke from a stranger and was happy to take treats. We then moved closer to the activity with a bolt hole of an open garage close by if needed. The first child came in sight (there were around 10 of them at various ages up to around age 10) he looked but I called him using the Distract,Mark, Treat he came to me, we went in the garage :)) We then hung around the there for another 10 mins or so, one child came within 10 feet and got woofed at but then he was ok.

We then moved into the garden under a tree about 20-30ft from where the nearest people were sitting. I'd brought his mat that weve been practicing settling on in the garden and going out in the car so we put it into action. The distractions around apart from running children were children on a trampoline, helium balloons blowing about, footballs being kicked about, gazebos,childs buggies, bbq smells and smoke, and lots of people he'd never met before. He was a bit ants in the pants to start with but no barking or lunging at anything and was taking treats and focusing on me :D We did have a few incidents where children came racing up in his direction to get a football or just running and he woofed and lunged but he took notice of me almost straight away and was able to disengage and settle back down :-o One incident of that happening a few months ago he would have been over threshold and would have been constant barking and I would have had to take him out of the situation.

He even laid down and chewed on a tripe stick.
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When everyone was eating he had his own little sniffari finding bbq chicken that I scattered about.
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Going back to Oct last year I posted this photo when I was doing the training in the situation for disengagement. I couldnt get his attention on me from a dog half a mile away on a beach or him take any treats
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One of Jaspers happy calm behaviours is to lay on his side and lift his back leg up for a stroke on the inside of his leg. He does this a lot at home if hes having cuddles or even if you just walk towards him he lays down for a leg stroke. He did this twice yesterday while we were there :-o it only last about 15 seconds but amazing he did it from a dog who even struggled to sit in an unfamiliar environment.
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It did take a lot of work on my part to constantly manage his environment and keep him focused on making the right choices, but he did fantastic way better than I was expecting, so proud of him. We've still got a long way to go but his brain is most definitely getting rewired and hes now starting to be able to calm himself and think about what to do rather than just instantly reacting as though something is bad
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
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Schnauzerluv
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Posts: 590
Joined: 21 May 2020, 21:31
First Name: Kat
Dog #1: Ozzy
is a: B/S Mini Dog
Born: 30 Jul 2020
Dog #2: Lily
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 12 Aug 2022

Re: Different type of training

Post by Schnauzerluv »

That's great! Sounds like he feels much safer with you and the structure in his life is settling him. So nice to read about this!
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Dawnspell
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Joined: 05 Mar 2013, 18:27
First Name: Alison
Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 06 Feb 2013
Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Different type of training

Post by Dawnspell »

We've been to another family bbq today since some family who we haven't seen for a while due to covid have come to over from UK. Jasper has had a bit of a mixed week he got startled by a child running out from nowhere straight into his path at the beginning of the week which caused him to go into full woofing mode. Couple of days later we had a very noisy, animated delivery person come to our house as we were coming back from a walk which Jasper really didn't like and caused more lunging and woofing. So I was hoping he would do as well as the last bbq since we have still been training, but I wasn't going to be surprised if he went backwards a bit.

Well he surpassed all expectations. He was fine when we got there and was happy greeting people so we went to sit with everyone at the tables. I sat at the quietest spot with a wall behind so no one could approach unexpectedly. There were lots of little people again this time who were making all the squealing excitement noises that before the games that sound alone would have set him off barking. He ignored it all. He spent time on his mat or on my knee just watching. He was happy accepting treats and had a chew. The kids came to the tables when food was ready. He kept his eye on them but didn't react. I actually almost forgot he was there at one point and wasn't monitoring his environment he was so good.

One of the people from UK commented on how well behaved he had been all afternoon. If somebody had told me 6mths ago that someone would say that about Jasper in that situation I would have laughed at them not believing it was possible :))

Needless to say we will be carrying on with the training :D
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
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Re: Different type of training

Post by zeta1454 »

That’s wonderful - well done to you and Jasper :-bd
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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Dawnspell
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Posts: 4710
Joined: 05 Mar 2013, 18:27
First Name: Alison
Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 06 Feb 2013
Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Different type of training

Post by Dawnspell »

We've still been working on calm and using being on a boundary as a calming activity when out as well as working on thinking in arousal.

He had his annual check up at the vets today. Past experience of the vets, he's never been afraid of going in, in fact it's more he drags me in as there will be dogs in there :)) When in there he would pull to try to get to other dogs not settling in anyway and literally scream if any were within sight because he wanted to say hello. Anything he didn't like the look of he would woof at.

Today there was a dog as we went in they had a sniff then he just came with me to check in. We then went to sit, without me saying anything he jumped on the chair beside me and sat. A dog came out of one of the rooms he stood up but made no sound and didn't jump off the chair. Another dog came in the door he then climbed over on my knee for a better look :)) The second dog then started barking while it's owner was paying this then set the new dog off barking. Jasper the angel remained on my knee still no attempt to jump off and still no screaming, whining, or woofing. I just kept giving him his calming strokes and he sat back down.
We went into the vets room he saw a chair so jumped up and sat down and waited while we chatted :)) the vet thought it was funny but was impressed ( I didn't like to say not as half as impressed I was =)) ) He trotted out to get weighed, 10kg, trotted back in.
We then went to pay. We've been practicing "dog parking" standing on the lead so he's close but it's not tight, then he knows that means we're not moving for a while. He had a sniff of the floor while I paid but no pulling when a couple of people came in.
He wasn't totally calm as he wouldn't accept any treats and his body language was quite stiff but still a contrast to our past visits and not one sound came out of his mouth. I gave him the award of best behaved dog there, 5 in total, he would have been 4th place before :D

Still a lot to work on not really started on recall yet but he's come so far this past few months. OH heard a dog frantically barking outside the other day and automatically assumed it was Jasper and went to get him inside. Only to find Jasper was calmly laid on the settee listening to the woofing dog visiting next door =))

Practising calm in the office
Image
Just being cute
Image
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
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Dawnspell
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Posts: 4710
Joined: 05 Mar 2013, 18:27
First Name: Alison
Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 06 Feb 2013
Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Different type of training

Post by Dawnspell »

As humans we have a tendency to ignore the good progress but notice the bad and choose to focus on that. Sometimes something happens that makes the good progress stand out and make you look at it. This happened to me the other day. Some not very close neighbours have a great dane which I heard barking on and off through the day but in the evening it barked again. My thought was "he barks more than Jasper does" Then the realisation came that actually Jasper very rarely barks outside anymore. Thinking back it was around a couple of weeks ago I last heard him bark outside. I was in the office and heard him, called him and slipped into the habit of getting up and going out to entice him back in before he would stop. Only to find he'd stopped and was back inside on his way to see me =))

He used to bark at everything when he was outside anyone talking, the sight of the neighbour in his garden, barking, chasing pigeons and seagulls off the patio, sound of horses, anything. This also made me realise he's stopped barking in the car. He used to bark at every child, others dogs and horses, if we were stopped at traffic lights anyone on foot got barked at, if we were parked anyone coming near the car got barked at. I can't actually remember the last time I heard him bark in the car.

In the house he's also improved. He's stopped barking every time he hears an employee open the garage or is outside, doesn't react every time the doorbell goes. We still do get frenzied barking if he has access to the clear glass front door and someone walks by or comes down the drive. I also still have to keep a curtain drawn over the internal glass door that looks straight out onto the front door. If the doorbell goes and he can see a person there all hell breaks loose =)) Also if he's on his own in a room and hears something he's more likely to bark but will come if called and stop. Overall I would say his barking has decreased by at least 80% from before the training. He's still got room for improvement in the house but he is a schnauzer and bred to alert bark, which at the level he's at I'd say he's doing his job so if he gets better that's good but I'm happy as he is now.

One thing that's weird is he will still occasionally race out on the patio to chase birds ( it used to be every time he saw one) but doesn't bark anymore :)) Also I didn't actually set out with the goal of reducing his barking :-bd
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
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Schnauzerluv
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Posts: 590
Joined: 21 May 2020, 21:31
First Name: Kat
Dog #1: Ozzy
is a: B/S Mini Dog
Born: 30 Jul 2020
Dog #2: Lily
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 12 Aug 2022

Re: Different type of training

Post by Schnauzerluv »

Dawnspell wrote: 05 Sep 2021, 11:38 As humans we have a tendency to ignore the good progress but notice the bad and choose to focus on that. Sometimes something happens that makes the good progress stand out and make you look at it. This happened to me the other day. Some not very close neighbours have a great dane which I heard barking on and off through the day but in the evening it barked again. My thought was "he barks more than Jasper does" Then the realisation came that actually Jasper very rarely barks outside anymore. Thinking back it was around a couple of weeks ago I last heard him bark outside. I was in the office and heard him, called him and slipped into the habit of getting up and going out to entice him back in before he would stop. Only to find he'd stopped and was back inside on his way to see me =))

One thing that's weird is he will still occasionally race out on the patio to chase birds ( it used to be every time he saw one) but doesn't bark anymore :)) Also I didn't actually set out with the goal of reducing his barking :-bd
Just goes to show the amazing bond you have created with him 💗 He chooses YOU over the trigger!

If he barks, he blows his cover! My girl used to blow it with excitement every time and send the prey flying/running lol. It has to do with impulse control. Ozzy will stop straight and look, be all stealthy and sneak up from the side and attack! Maybe Jasper has improved his methods.
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Dawnspell
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Posts: 4710
Joined: 05 Mar 2013, 18:27
First Name: Alison
Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 06 Feb 2013
Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Different type of training

Post by Dawnspell »

I've not done an update for a while.

We got an invite to a wedding at the end of Aug so given that we work from home, lockdowns etc Jasper never actually gets left on his own so what to do when we would all be out for a day. Everyone he would be happy to stay with would be at the wedding, daycare or someone coming into the house wasnt an option for him. It was something that needed to be sorted anyway so I decided on the option of him in a crate in the car at the venue.

So our starting point in Aug was him being in his crate with door closed in the office me next to him but being anxious if I even stood up. He wouldnt move at all if the door was open. Never been in the crate in the car, normally harness and seat belt and woofing if he was left in the car on his own as soon as I went out of sight. I had to get to him being happy on his own in the car in a crate for around 6 hours with breaks.

I've been using training for the situation not in the situation. So I'd been building his confidence to do things away from me, my presence didnt mean he had access to me, building time in his crate, then moving the crate to different locations around the house to build up the crate was safe no matter where it was, and trying not to keep the same routine for anything so he wasnt predicting what was going to happen so novelty wouldnt be scary. He's also been having natural calming supplements. The wedding was Saturday and I have to say I felt I needed more time. He still hadnt been left on his own in the car, and although he was happy in his crate for up to 3.5 hours in another room away from us we still actually hadnt left him totally alone in the house.

We left him in the car there was no barking or howling, came to listen at the car around hour later after church service, all was quiet. The car was just outside the venue so anyone going out of the door would have heard him, no reports of a dog barking in a car. I went to see him after around 3 hours he was laid quiet in his crate and wasnt frantic to get out. We went for a walk he had some food and a drink and happily hopped back in his crate with his chew. Again no barking as I left him. It was around another 3 hours before we left and he was still fine. On the way home he could have been on someones knee looking out the window but he went back in his crate :))

I still need to carry on with the separation training but I'm still amazed how well he did, hes come so far in such a short space of time.
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
User avatar
Schnauzerluv
Member
Posts: 590
Joined: 21 May 2020, 21:31
First Name: Kat
Dog #1: Ozzy
is a: B/S Mini Dog
Born: 30 Jul 2020
Dog #2: Lily
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 12 Aug 2022

Re: Different type of training

Post by Schnauzerluv »

Wonderful
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