Week 4

Week 4

Jenny Proctor LukEli Dog Training

Here we are at week 4 with Hank the Shar Pei/Catahoula mix. He's 6 months old and continues to gain confidence as he is exposed to new stimuli, new environments, and occasionally pushed to his little doggie limits. It was a week full of firsts and even the last of one behavior I was glad to see end!

Hank says hay!

I had an exciting moment with Hank about a week ago.  It was very random and happened twice in the space of five minutes. He rolled over on his back so I could rub his belly! I think the first time may have just been an accident. I was near him when he rolled over and he decided the belly rub felt good after all. The second time he rolled over was no accident though. He intentionally walked over to me, flopped down and very politely presented his belly for a nice rub and scratch! It hasn't happened since and I'm not sure when it will happen again, but hey, it's a start! The next lucky person allowed to do so should feel very special indeed. A gesture of trust such as Hank showed me takes a LOT for him to display.

It's a shame Hank is so hesitant in some regards, because in other ways, he has great confidence. He is great with other dogs and has a blast playing with them all. He could care less about the vacuum cleaner or the sound of gun shots. Loud noises don't seem to bother him much for the most part. He is also very agile and is quite confident in his ability to jump and climb. Just today I was able to encourage him (it didn't take much) to climb on top of the hay bales in the barn with Gracie and me. He loved it! That same love of jumping and climbing leads him to jump on the couch, bed, and even the kitchen table. I know, I know, a dog trainer that allows dogs on the furniture? What the heck is that all about? It had to do with building Hank's confidence when he first came to stay with us. He was so shut down that any little venture out of his fearful shell was encouraged and that included allowing him to explore as he felt comfortable. Jumping up on the kitchen table was a sign to me that he felt completely at home. I have discouraged the jumping on the table as it is not something people are going to allow (including me) and it lead to counter surfing, which he is now learning is not acceptable either. Hank can easily learn that he is not allowed on any furniture in his new home if that is what his new family wants. For now, I don't mind him sleeping on the couch with his buddies now and then. I think Hank would do well to be involved in some dog sport in his new home, too. Agility comes to mind right away. He'd be great at it!

Hank is going to need to be able to be transported on a routine basis without it being a major, traumatic event. This is a huge milestone for him, as is leash walking, on his road to being adopted. I felt he had progressed far enough in the last week or so that it was a good time to begin counterconditioning The Big, Bad, Scary Car Ride. It took some patience, Gracie, and a bunch of dog food to eventually lure Hank into jumping into the car himself, but he did it! Gracie helped in two ways: Hank could see that she wasn't in distress in any way and when he saw her eating the dog food I had spread out over the seat he couldn't help himself and finally jumped in to grab a bite or two for himself (dog's can't seem to resist the urge to join other dogs in eating because they don't want to miss out on food. This can also help with finicky eaters). This process took about 30 minutes altogether, starting with luring him close to the open car door, moving on to placing one foot on the seat, then two, until eventually he jumped in. The second attempt the next day took approximately one minute. Yep, an investment of time and patience the first time a dog does something pays off hugely in the long run. Had I tried to force the issue and lift him into the car he would've resisted mightily and probably formed a negative association with the car. Now he has moved on to going for car rides and today he even got out of the car at a different location and explored a bit before loading up and heading back home. I have to start out introducing him to a new, but similar rural location. I don't know how he'll do when we go for a ride and explore a more urban setting as we must eventually do. That will be the stuff of a future post.

 I almost forgot! Hank made another kind of breakthrough this week. Crates and barking and extinction bursts, oh my! I was able to sleep a lot better this week. I think I'll save this topic and write about extinction of behaviors more next time. 

Until next time!

Week 3

Week 3

Jenny Proctor LukEli Dog Training

I know you've all been patiently waiting for an update on Hank. Luckily, you don't have to wait any more!

Hank has had quite an eventful week. He had a couple of visitors who spent time feeding him treats, hanging out with, and even walking him. He did great, I am happy to report! 

We pushed the envelope a bit when Cinnamon Ellison of Great Dane Friends of Ruff Love came to visit Hank this pastSunday. I introduced her to Hank without any other dogs present right off the bat and he wasn't even fazed. He was still wary of her but that didn't stop him from coming close enough to take a treat! He is definitely learning that it's ok to approach people because people bring good things like hot dogs. Hank loves hot dogs! He can be convinced to eventually overcome just about any scary situation if a tasty piece of hot dog is involved. Cinnamon did great at not pushing his threshold too far, too fast, and Hank quickly became fairly comfortable with her.

I wanted to show off Hank's growing comfort with leash walking so I clipped the 6 ft leash to his collar and started coaxing Hank to walk with me. He's not as ok with walking on the leash in the exercise yard as he is going for a walk around the property. After demonstrating Hank's ability to walk on a leash in the exercise yard, I decided that things were going so well that we'd try to take Hank for a walk to the barn. We started walking along and I quietly passed the leash and treats to Cinnamon as we walked. Hank never knew what hit him; suddenly he was walking along with a completely different person! The best part is, he actually did it. He kept right on going and needed very little in the way of reinforcement in order to continue walking with Cinnamon. He was a super star that day!

Here's the thing that most people don't understand and then subsequently get frustrated with: dogs don't automatically carry their comfort and familiarity with one activity through to every situation (i.e., Hank is more at ease walking around the property than in the yard because he is more used to walking around the property than in the yard). 

You think to yourself "My dog is perfectly fine going in to Petsmart and behaves himself. Why is it when I tried to walk him around with me at Lowe's he acted like a crazy fool? Sit means sit no matter where we are, right?". Your dog in this scenario has been to Petsmart many times with you and has learned that all the same rules apply there as they do at home (hopefully you've been consistent with the rules no matter the location). Plus, a place a dog is familiar with becomes routine, while a new place is full of new smells, sounds, and sights. It's completely full of distractions and for some dogs, new places can become over-stimulating. For fearful dogs like Hank, being in ANY new environment can quickly become overwhelming and cause them to become reactive to any new stimulus that is presented. New situations can push these types of dogs over their threshold, resulting in a variety of reactions from negatives associations to the stimulus to aggressive reactions as part of the innate fight or flight behavior dogs display.

Introducing dogs to new environments, sights, sounds, people, animals, and anything else you can think of is calledsocialization. The more they're exposed to new stuff, especially when young, the better able they are to handle new experiences. Most of you have probably heard of this. Hank is sorely lacking in this department. It's made much more difficult by his inability to cope well with new environments, though he is gaining more and more confidence all the time.

Teaching dogs that the same rules apply whether you're in the backyard, at the vet, walking down the street, or at a squirrel convention is called generalization. Generalization refers to ones ability to automatically apply knowledge to situations ‘in general’. Both people and dogs can have trouble generalizing. Have you ever been out on the town and run into a person you know very well but found yourself unable to recall their name or how you know them? This is a classical example of how people often fail to generalize. We see a person out of the usual context and our minds are unable to connect the dots. 

Our dogs’ ability to automatically apply knowledge to situations in general is far more limited than our own. They are contextual learners that rely on body language for most of their communication, and their command of the English language is very limited. We can see how the affects of  ‘generalization’ apply in dog training by observing a very simple exercise. During obedience class we begin teaching our dog to Sit while standing directly in front of them; if we then pivot to our dogs left shoulder and say Sit again, our dogs may look at us totally confused or scoot back in front of us, then Sit. Why? Because Sit has always meant Sit with my person directly in front of me. Now take your dog to a new location and ask him to Sit, once again you may get a look of total confusion or no look at all. Why? Because your dog may be unable to recall what Sit means in this new place. 

Dogs need to learn to generalize in a variety of situations with a variety of distractions. Teaching them to focus on you in all these different scenarios is a must. Generalizing walking on a leash with Hank is a large part of his training right now. He needs to learn that the same rules apply and that he's always safe when he's on the leash, no matter where he is or who's walking him. 

Another important thing dogs need to learn is to focus on their handler. I'll talk more about the importance of maintaining your dog's focus and how you can achieve amazing results with this technique in a future blog post.

Now I'll leave you with a bit of a teaser: How do you think Hank is doing with my attempts to get him in the car and go for a ride without freaking out? You'll find out next time! 

Day 14

Day 14

Jenny Proctor LukEli K-9

Wow! Day 14. Has it really been two weeks since Hank came to stay with us here at LukEli? I can hardly believe it! I am also amazed at the progress he's made. He came to us so paralyzed with fear that he couldn't move and didn't want anything to do with me. Now I can't get him to stop following me around! He started out taking baby steps toward trust and now every day he seems to take a leap forward. Next thing you know he'll be taking leaps AND bounds forward. It brings a smile to my face

Hank on his 6 ft leash, look at that smile!

The power of small progressions through desensitization by keeping training sub-aversive can definitely be seen in Hank's case. His aversion threshold around humans when we started was extremely low. We were big, scary creatures that brought on a state of learned helplessness in Hank. I couldn't touch him at all. I worked on improving this area very slowly and incrementally. First I could just barely touch his chin, then the side of his face, his collar, his shoulders, and then his back. Now I can reach down and pat him on the head, pet him down his back, scratch his butt (his favorite), and do all this stuff with both hands at the same time! It took me two weeks to be able just to pet him down his back without him flinching and moving away. Think about that for a second. An action we all thoughtlessly perform on many dogs all the time, reaching down and petting them, took me two weeks of concerted non-stop counterconditioning and desensitizing to accomplish. He has progressed very rapidly, thankfully. Many dogs aren't so easily able to bounce back. Hanks aversion threshold is much higher now, though still well below well-adjusted dogs. 

Now for the update: just yesterday, Hank walked on the 6 ft leash for the first time! It was slow going and he wasn't comfortable with it at all, however he still did it. Each time we go for a walk it becomes easier and easier for Hank to feel safe. We've also started working on teaching Hank the "sit" cue. He's picking it up quickly. I'm pretty sure he'll turn out to be a star pupil. Hank has started to feel so comfortable that we're now working on some behaviors that have started to emerge that aren't so cute. He likes to follow behind me barking and nipping at my clothes, which may be cute while he's a puppy, but certainly won't be when he's an adult. That's ok, though. We'll get it sorted out. He's learning what's expected of him a little at a time. Hank is starting to bloom, and for that, I'm grateful.

Now, without further ado, check out the link below for the video to see Hank strut his stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD4-V0HDbTg&feature=youtu.be

Day 11

Day 11

Jenny Proctor LukEli K-9

You'll hear me talk a lot about using rewards while training dogs. A reward is something that is presented after a behavior that then increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. Rewards can be anything the dog desires, from food(treats) or toys to functional rewards. One way functional rewards can be defined is as a reward that the dog is seeking in that moment. Some examples:

• Dog wants to exit the house. You ask Dog to sit before opening the door. The reward for Dog waiting for you to release them? Being allowed to go outside!
• Dog wants to scare off the delivery person. Dog barks, delivery person leaves. Dog thinks barking caused person to leave. Dog is rewarded for barking.
• Dog jumps on people seeking attention. People react to the jumping. Dog is rewarded with attention for jumping, regardless of whether the attention was positive or negative.
• Dog is fearful of people. People can use their movements and use of release of pressure to reward dog with social space. 

Functional rewards are the most versatile and readily available way to reward your dog in day to day life. They're also extremely useful when it comes to rehabilitating dogs with behavioral issues, which brings me to:

Hank. I have used this technique extensively while interacting with him. Whether it was turning away from him as he approached to let him know that I don't want a confrontation (dog language) so that he felt comfortable coming closer or reduction of social pressure through the use of the long line (allowing him the distance he needs from me) so he would go on a walk, these small every day interactions have all added up to some major advances! Hank now allows me to scratch his butt, pet his head and shoulders, will tolerate my attaching and detaching the long line outside, goes for a walk on the long line with very limited use of treats, and approaches new people in the house fairly readily (though does not tolerate touching by them just yet). He is still VERY uncomfortable being touched or approached from behind. He's certainly not thrilled with new environments. I still can't walk him on a 6 ft leash. He could easily slide way backwards in the wrong situation, even with an experienced and knowledgeable handler. Unfortunately we can't control all the stimulus in a given environment which is why it's crucial that Hank learn the skills necessary to cope with all the newness that will come his way. He's got a ways to go to get there but he has come so far already. I can't wait to see what new breakthrough he'll make tomorrow.

All I can say is 

Go Hank Go!

Day 9

Day 9

By Jenny Proctor LukEli K-9

Hank made some great strides in the last few days. If you saw the video of Hank taking treats from kids, letting me scratch him under the chin, and playing tug with me then you know just what I'm talking about! (If not its attached below) He has also started to initiate play with me and today Hank let me pet the top of his head several times. That's pretty exciting for me since that's all I've wanted to do since I met Hank! Yay Hank!

He is learning with each new experience that he is safe and secure. Every once in awhile he even lets his curiosity beat out his fear and explores just a bit. Hank is well on his way to being able to live a happy doggie life as long as his confidence continues to build so that he can cope with new, scary stuff as it comes along.

One of those scary things for Hank is a leash. He goes the opposite direction the moment he sees a leash in my hand. The leash is definitely a trigger for fearful behavior in Hank. He can't think straight when he sees it. He is ok with the long line but just try to walk him with a 6 ft leash and you'll see a perfect example of opposition reflex. Hank plants his butt on the ground and then stares at it like he can pretend the whole world doesn't exist. Start to pull on that same leash and watch every muscle in Hanks body tense and tighten, all working in concert to oppose the force pulling him in one direction. You'll normally hear the term opposition reflex mentioned by dog trainers in conjunction with dogs pulling on leashes during walks. The tighter you keep the leash, the more the dog wants to pull (which is why harnesses usually create more problems than solutions when it comes to walking your dog. Think: sled dogs). Hank, being fearful, is pulling in a different direction than your average dog. He doesn't pull you along behind him but rather he is pulling away from you, as far away from as he can manage, in whichever direction he happens to be going. This is why, when desensitizing Hank to walking on a leash, I am very careful to never, ever pull him should he decide he doesn't want to move forward anymore. I use patience, luring and functional rewards (I'll talk more about these types of rewards in another blog post) to get him moving again. Luckily his case is not as extreme as some I have seen. It's heart-wrenching to watch a dog flipping around on the end of a leash like a wild creature desperate to escape what they assume must be a dire threat to their safety.

As with most everything I'm teaching Hank, I'm trying to convince him that walking next to me on a leash (or off, for that matter) is a great place to be where awesome treats are handed out and mostly good stuff happens. Dogs do what works. I want to make sure Hank knows that what works for him is being close to and trusting people. He comes closer to this goal every day!

Day 5

Day 5

By Jenny Proctor LukEli K-9

Autonomy is defined as: the capacity of an individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision.

 Some degree of autonomy is exactly what I'm trying for with Hank. He needs to feel as un-coerced as possible. Of course, I have to stretch the limits of his comfort every so often in order for progress to be achieved. Today Hank was introduced to a 30 ft long line so as to push forward a bit more on his journey. My hope was that he was unfamiliar with such a long leash and would feel less anxious walking with me and Gracie. The long line allows a dog to feel like they have more freedom (or in Hanks case, more social distance) while teaching them that staying within that 30ft radius (or whatever length of leash you choose) of you is where they should be. It is also very useful to introduce early if you plan on doing any off leash training in the future.

The first step of my plan required me to get the long line on Hank. Attaching a leash to a collar seems an easy task until you have a dog that wants you and your hand no where near him or his neck. Hank is leery of me when he sees any sort of leash in my hand and was unwilling to approach me while I held the clasp of the line. I know Hank is familiar with having the leash attached to his collar while in the kennel and tolerates it, albeit begrudgingly, so I walked near his kennel and he entered and sat down in the back. Luckily, I am getting good at hooking the clasp using only one hand, since approaching Hank with both hands is still too threatening for him. I successfully got the line hooked.  Doing this while he's in his safe space is certainly not ideal, but time is limited and I felt confident he could handle it and that this wouldn't be detrimental to his progress. After I finished, Hank surprised me and walked right out of the kennel and out the back door while dragging the line. Next step, a stroll around the house with me and Gracie!

I opened the gate and picked up the end of the line (another bonus of the long line; dogs don't generally realize they're connected to you, especially if the line never gets tight). I walked out the gate with Gracie and called Hank to follow. He remained frozen in place for several minutes staring at me and the open gate. I decided to add some incentive to at least move from the spot he was standing in and threw a piece of cheese 5 ft or so in front of him. The cheese got his feet moving and that's about how the rest of the walk went. Hank would wander forward a bit, stop and stay put, I would call Gracie over and then throw him a piece of cheese and he'd become "unstuck". Once we rounded the corner to go back in the gate he ran right in to familiarity and safety. I was surprised and pleased at how well he did. I'll focus on doing this exercise as much as possible without inflicting too much stress on Hank as I can in the coming days. 

Dog training requires small, incremental increases in duration, distance, and distraction, one at a time, for each behavior you train. Gradually, over time, the distance between Hank and whomever is holding the leash can be decreased a little at a time with the goal of being able to use a 6ft leash regularly without issue. 

Stay tuned for more of Hank's progress coming soon!

Day 3

Day 3

By LukEli Trainer Jenny Proctor

Hank has settled in to the routine nicely here. He is learning that he can expect the same things to happen every day. Dogs like routine, especially fearful dogs, and Hank is no exception. Most of his time is spent just hanging out with me and the other dogs, with some desensitization and counter conditioning exercises interspersed throughout the day. 

I have been working with Hank to accept touch through the use of treats. I offer a treat and wait for Hank to decide to come and take it from me. I incorporate touch into this process by extending one hand out (palm facing up and open) while holding the treat in the other hand. In order for Hank to reach the treat he has to extend his head and neck over my outstretched hand. At first he was only willing to take the treat if I offered it at the end of my hand and in the presence of other dogs. We have worked our way up to my being able to touch the underside of his jaw and occasionally (if I use an extremely high motivator like cheese or turkey) I am able to touch his collar with only one other dog nearby. When he is alone with people he becomes almost unwilling to engage at all.

 I have also begun to attach a leash and let him drag it around behind him for awhile so he gets used to it following him around. He is NOT ok with me holding the leash, however, and completely shuts down if I try to hold it. He becomes much more cautious about his movements with the leash on and if I walk anywhere near him while it's attached he chooses to flee to his safe spot (his kennel). He refuses most food motivators while the leash is on as well.

This is going to be a very slow, painstaking process that will need to be continued long after he returns to his foster home and once he finds his forever home too. Hank has formed some very negative associations with human touch, as well as leashes. Undoing something so traumatic for Hank takes three things: Time, Patience, and Consistency.

The good news is that Hank is still very young and he has every chance at turning things around with the right encouragement and help. We are doing our very best to give him just that!