Shadow's reactivity log

[Stacia]

Is Shadow happier in Spain than he is in Andorra? If he is that nervous and as you say there is no point in going out your way to this sort of thing in the real world, would it not be better to just let him be if he is happy around your place? Or are you trying to habituate him for Andorra?

 

[snowbunny]

Is Shadow happier in Spain than he is in Andorra? If he is that nervous and as you say there is no point in going out your way to this sort of thing in the real world, would it not be better to just let him be if he is happy around your place? Or are you trying to habituate him for Andorra?

The biggest problem we have is with holiday times in Andorra in the winter - so Christmas period, most of February, Easter and all the other Spanish holidays throughout the season. For the most part, we don't come across any other dogs, but we can at those times, and it can be very stressful. Because we're on a mountain, all natural paths are very narrow, although the dogs can run up and down off the sides of the paths, the humans really can't, especially if there's snow. That means that if we need to pass another dog, we have to do it at close quarters. At this point, Shadow can't be trusted not to run up to another dog, barking at it to scare it off. So what I want to do is get him relaxed at a distance with other dogs in all sorts of different environments so he doesn't feel the need to do that. I can recall him away if I get the whistle in my mouth in time, but that's not always guaranteed, especially if I'm fumbling with mittens. I would also like to get to the point where he is relaxed about walking past another dog when he's on lead. All his behaviours are escalated when the girls are around, so, again, I want to work on that with him, which I can do with Terry.

 

[Beanwood]

Shadow is also very good at turning on what I call his "work mode". He will behave in a way that can make you think he's OK when he actually isn't, because he's performing behaviours that he knows. This can be useful, but it also does nothing to address the underlying emotional state and make it better going forwards. It means he is suppressing those emotions and merely tolerating what is happening. If he were to be trigger stacked, that would all fall apart around our ears.

This bit I found interesting, amongst lots I found fascinating!

I made this mistake with Bramble she "fakes" a lot, not because she is reactive, but her emotional state can be unhappy. I was so used to emotional expression in my dogs being really transparent. Benson full of beans, happy in any enviroment...and I mean really happy and optimistic. Casper not so, but it is glaringly obvious, his body language is clear to anyone. Bramble is a bit more tricky. She will do stuff, even if unhappy, or uncomfortable. So I have had to rethink completely how we work together, still working on it, and a bit of challenge tbh.

What I do see in the video, is Shadow in a slightly uncomfortable state, but equally a deep trust that you will make it OK....he leans in for reassurance, and that balances and neutralises the discomfort he is feeling. Going back to your analogy. I remember being nervous about entering the swimming pool as a young child, but my dad was a great swimmer in his day, took my hand, and kinda bobbed along with me, making it fun...I was still anxious and would have hated it being on my own. Gradually his support became less as I become a more proficient swimmer. The relationship is the "thing" here for me The dog though, despite being with someone, has to be a bit inspired themselves by their handler. Benson, for example, doesn't need this, he has all the inspiration he needs in buckets! Casper makes it blindingly obvious when he is needing help, so follow a simple but effective plan. I don't know whether I am anthropomorphising this a bit much, but Bramble does make me think more about emotional states. Not just hers but how my emotional state can influence how she is feeling.

All very interesting and thought-provoking stuff!

 

[snowbunny]

I don't think you're anthropomorphising. Dogs appear to have very similar emotional expression to humans, and there is no doubt that they pick up the subtleties of our body language to determine our emotional state, too. Just as not all humans express themselves the same, nor do dogs. It's when we try to pigeon hole all dogs into some sort of carbon copy of one another that we lose touch with the individual.

 

[Stacia]

@snowbunny, I can see that is difficult on narrow paths, it was bad enough down my lane! My present dog seems to have taught himself LAT, if he sees another dog in the distance he runs back to me for his ball.

 

[Lisa]

It does sound like a lot of work! Brava for you for being willing to do it. Shadow will be so much happier and confident by the end of it all...other dogs will be no big deal. (Assuming all goes well of course, but I have faith in you!)

 

[snowbunny]

Well, I got there in the end with kids and I didn't really know what I was doing then - I have a little bit more of a clue these days! I know I've pushed him too hard too soon before, so I'm determined to go slow and steady this time.

 

[snowbunny]

We had a session in town again this afternoon. I wanted to do some work on figure-8s to lower arousal. So we went back to our empty car park, which was actually empty this time, and spent some time doing figure-8s around two lampposts. I took along my new GoPro and took a little bit of video of the "before" and "after" picture. You can see at the beginning that he's very alert; the wind was quite strong and litter was getting blown around noisily. There was a drink can clattering about, as well as lots of things rustling. You can see how nervous he is of all the strange noises. I had tried him with food at this point to give me a baseline - he wasn't having it at all. His head flicks from side to side as he tries to assess the situation, and he keeps looking back behind him when he hears something. The car park is open on two sides, and traffic passes both sides as we walk. He is almost entirely disconnected from me.
At 0:51, the video shows the "after". This was after 12 minutes of doing slow figure-8s. So you can see with a dog who is very anxious or aroused they can't necessarily be calmed in two minutes of doing this exercise, but it does come. The more you practice, the quicker it will come, obviously. You can see his happy, smiling face, his stride is a lot softer and he dismisses things a lot quicker when he looks at them. He is focussed almost entirely on me. To note - this isn't something I've asked for. I've not cued him looking at me at all, but I've praised him when he has. I've given him a couple of treats but rewarding behaviour isn't what I'm interested in here - I don't want him to be looking at me in order to get food, I want him to be relaxed enough to feel it's OK to look at me. I hope you can see the distinction and why I'm not cramming food down his throat as I would be doing if I were trying to teach the behaviour of LLW or focussing on me.

At 1:13, we're out of the car park a little way. New scenario means we can't expect the same relaxation we had just built to continue. There was a house with two big GSDs outside, behind a substantial fence luckily! You can see how tense Shadow is - lots of nervous lip licking, straining on the lead and nervous sniffing. He does look at me, which is because of the work we had just done, but it's very fleeting and not at all relaxed.
In an ideal world, I'd have stayed there doing my figure-8s in the road outside the house, but I didn't think that would make me too popular with the neighbours, so I continued on up the road and did the exercise again on a piece of waste land. 18 minutes later (1:52 on the video), we passed back by them, playing "magic hand" - he's so rubbish at catching, bless him . You can see again how much more relaxed he is now: he has a soft face, walking nicely on a loose lead, enjoying a couple of sniffs but not being frantic about them.

I was pleased with this little session.

 

[kateincornwall]

You can clearly see the relaxed face , ears hanging right and not back , and a smiley face too , well done young fella x

 

[snowbunny]

I just got back from a trip to one of our local villages with Shadow. We've done this a few times with the over-sociable Squidge, but always thought it would be too much for Shadow to cope with. With recent progress, we thought we'd risk it for a biscuit, and I'm glad we did.

Shadow was on high alert when we first arrived, pulling towards all the scents on walls, lampposts and fences and generally not listening to a thing. This isn't surprising as he lives a very isolated life, so it's all completely mind-blowing to him. However, we worked a little on lowering his arousal and he chilled out.

We ordered drinks and a small plate of patatas bravas at the cafe in the local square and sat down. It was busy, but no other tables had dogs. I scatter-fed him on and off and his arousal stayed manageable, although high. He didn't sit or settle down at all, but I'm not surprised for a first visit.
He did amazingly with other people; there was a time he would have barked at the waitress who delivered our order, especially as she reached out and patted his bum unexpectedly, but he just gave her a goofy grin and wagged his tail.

I got up and moved away three times when an off-leash obese beagle started doing the rounds of the tables, hunting out any morsels on the floor, and we then sat and watched at a distance. He was much happier when he was in "middle" than when he was out of it, and he happily LADed repeatedly. I did feed him during this, which isn't always advisable, but he's a dog who will refuse food if he's stressed so I'm not afraid of magnetising him or coercing him with food; it's not going to happen.

When we left, we had to navigate around lots of dogs who had suddenly appeared at every corner of the square, and he did so admirably. He only whined quietly once, and I just U-turned and got some distance and went another way, but he passed other dogs happily at a distance of about ten feet, still eating, which is exceptional for him.

On the way home, I had J let us out about 2km from home so we could chill out a little bit; I had planned to let him swim in the river, but the water level was too high and there were dangerous eddies, so we abandoned that thought. Because Sundays are hunting days and I worry about the mad Catalan hunters, we had to stay on leash on the walk, but he wasn't concerned and walked nicely. We paid back in to the U-turn bank account by playing the game a few times along the way.

The video shows a little of the boy's big adventure!

I'm very proud of him; this wouldn't have been possible even six months ago.

 

[kateincornwall]

Loving the backwards leaning face , handsome boy , well done lad x

 

[Stacia]

It looks as if Shadow is coming on very well. I found with my reactive (deceased and beloved) Lab, that going into the largish village and walking around and then being taken in to the cafe by my trainer gradually gave him confidence and I can see the same is happening for Shadow. You must be very pleased.

 

[Charlie]

How lovely to see Shadow doing so well. Great progress lovely boy xx

 

[Cath]

Great read well done Shadow

 

[Joy]

That sounds like a huge achievement.

 

[MellowYellow]

That’s a real step forward, well done Fiona!

 

[Beanwood]

Shadow is really doing well. Love his "nudge" when you slow down a little on the treats....then his confidence in you as you walk on leash in the last clip, the lead looks nice and loose and Shadow looks relaxed after the visit to the town and restaurant.

 

[snowbunny]

I took Shadow back to Miravet this afternoon, but this time we went on a little hike. When we go back to Andorra, I’m going to muzzle him when it’s busier in the hope that people will keep their distance. So I’ve been slowly introducing the muzzle over the last few months. This was the first time wearing it away from home, and he was brilliant. I put it on after we'd settled into the walk a little bit. He rubbed at it a couple of times after about twenty minutes, but was easily distracted and then forgot about it again. It is more awkward to feed him when he’s wearing it, no doubt about that, but I guess our mechanics will improve in time.
When I walked back through the town to the car at the end of the hike, it was quite busy and I paid attention to how people reacted to him. It seemed most people looked more interested than worried; no-one hurried out of our way. I think it’s likely that’s something to do with the colour; it is quite a pretty muzzle - although I'm concerned it's probably too big.... even though I gave all his measurements. I might send them a picture of him wearing it to see what they say.

 

[HAH]

What a sensible thing to try, although I'm intrigued that people were still curious rather than avoiding you? People are interesting, I guess if he was a snarling lunging pitbull it might have a more dramatic effect.
Glad he adjusted so well, what a good boy and obviously your slow introduction is doing the trick. Is there a hatch or bigger opening for treats? I can't quite see on the photo, but it must be a bit more awkward. Maybe you'll have to resort to lengths of sausage pushed through the gaps...
It does look big, but maybe that's the design? and I suppose it has the bonus of being more noticeable. Good idea to send a photo to the shop. Given their advice, if it's not right they might replace it for free or a hefty discount...
Gorgeous scenery on your hike, and Shadow only improves the view!

 

[snowbunny]

I've cut a corner out of it for giving him food, but it's easiest with "sticks" of food, yes. So I use blocks of ham and cheese that I cut into batons that I can poke through. It's a custom made muzzle, so there's no returning it, but they had his measurements plus photos, so I'm interested to know if they think it fits properly or not. There's some adjustment I need to make in the straps (once you finalise the position, you glue them so there's no movement), as you can see it's sitting a bit squiffy at the moment. It's just the basket itself looks really big to me, but I know nothing about muzzles. The bonus is that it gives him plenty of air flow when he gets warm. We're yet to see what happens in the snow!!
to be fair, I just looked online and there are pictures of dogs where the basket is far more close-fitting and others where it's even bigger than this around the dog's face. So maybe it's to do with activity levels - I did say he was very active, so needs to be able to pant very wide.

Here's a little video I took. Once we were on the trail part away from the road, I put him on the long line and muzzle. I should say here that it's not recommended to attach a long line to a collar, but this is very much a "know your dog" thing, and I know that we weren't going to be a a situation where he could run to the end of a previously loose line and jerk at the end. I manage the length of the lead so it's not trailing and getting caught on anything, and if another dog did appear, we'd have just U-turned and got out of there. He's not the sort to run full-pelt and jerk back. He also hates his harness and it makes him more stressed which is something I want to avoid in this already new and therefore stressful environment. Once I knew he was calm and not about to dive into the river below, I let him off the line.