- Location
- Andorra and Spain
So, pre "your dinner's in the dog", I took Squidge out into civilisation earlier.
This is a bit of an effort for us, but I think it's something I have to do more, because it will help her so much with learning to control herself a bit. Day to day, we don't see other people or other dogs, and we don't have an environment where she has to deal with "other stuff". It's just us and the dogs and a lot of space. It's heaven, but it's not conducive to learning how to behave when we do need to be around other sentient beings.
So this afternoon I took Squidge for a walk around Miravet, where there's a castle of the Knights Templar. It's a few minutes farther away than our most local town, but a lot more scenic. Straight out of the car, she was nearly losing her mind, so we did some figure-eight walking (Figure of Eight) to get some calmness and focus before we continued into town. We walked through the old streets and had to revisit some calmness exercises here and there, but she did really well. I'm glad I had her on her harness because we really needed it in this exciting environment. She met one roaming dog - a small, scruffy boy, who wanted to sniff but nothing more, and then another dog of a similar size who was with a youngish couple who weirdly didn't want to talk to me at all! I'd showered and everything. Strange people. Posh clothes, I was in grubby sandals and dog-walking shorts. Maybe that was it. I need to get myself a floaty dress to be worthy.
Anyhow, we walked up towards the castle until she caught sight of the river, at which point she knew what she wanted - a swim. Fair enough; it wasn't meltingly hot, but it was very warm, and she'd been doing really well considering how different this is to daily life for her. So we walked back down the hill, past a busy cafe I prayed she would be good in front of. I was actually proud of myself because normally I would be reticent about feeding the dog in this situation, for fear of people thinking I'm just bribing, but she was so good, with a couple of dogs-under-tables barking at us as we passed, that I had to feed her and I felt good about it! Maybe they would see her ignoring the barky dogs and being rewarded for that and make a little connection. Not that I would say that it was anything to do with my training - I've not done enough of that to take any credit, she was just a little star.
We went down to the river and she pulled a bit, so it was slow progress for a little way. Then we got to some rocks I had to clamber over before the water. There was no way I could handle her and do that with any dignity, so my choices were to let her off or turn around. There was a couple swimming in the river, with their clothes neatly folded on the bank, their shoes placed on top. What could go wrong, adding a young boisterous Labrador to the mix?? So I got some focus, and let her off... to watch her run headlong into the water and just swim in circles, ignoring the people completely. Phew!
She is such a sweetheart, she kept coming back to me to check in, the back to have a swim. The couple heard me talking to her and clarified her name, then called her over. Uh-oh. She has a pretty strong history of trying to drown people. But, no, she would swim up, have a stroke, then swim back again. Aw, bless her!
I let her have about ten minutes in the water, but then the snobby couple turned up - Luna immediately ran out of the water and up to them. Gagh! She isn't one for shaking when she gets out of the water, but I could see it coming, so I ran up, grabbed her and took her away. Then she shook on me. Heheh. The waterfront where we were is only about 20ft across, so I popped her harness back on and we left them to it.
I was going to go straight back to the car but decided that I should do some work on settles with her; it's not something we practice in this environment. I have grand ideas about taking her and Shadow into the village to have a tapas lunch, and have them settle under the table. An easy prospect if it's an environment your dogs are used to, but this is the first time she's been there this year
So I went into the quiet square next to a couple of the tapas bars, but far enough away that she could cope, and I set a timer to see how we would get on. As we don't have the opportunity to do this often, I decided that it was pointless to ask for a "real" settle, as we could only expect that to be a few seconds at this point, and we'll never have the time to train an extended one in this environment. So a fake one was fine, and I fed her every now and again for maintaining it. She was amazing - not moving out of her sloppy sit even when another dog walked past - and Luna is a sociable dog that doesn't get to see others very often, so this was a big deal for her. Kids walked past - also highly arousing for her - and nothing more than watching them go. I fed her before we had any frustration noises, which is something I have to be aware of with her, and after seven minutes, she laid down into a sloppy relaxed down. Not a true settle, by any means, but good enough for what I would like to achieve.
"Honest, Mum, this is a settle"
This is a bit of an effort for us, but I think it's something I have to do more, because it will help her so much with learning to control herself a bit. Day to day, we don't see other people or other dogs, and we don't have an environment where she has to deal with "other stuff". It's just us and the dogs and a lot of space. It's heaven, but it's not conducive to learning how to behave when we do need to be around other sentient beings.
So this afternoon I took Squidge for a walk around Miravet, where there's a castle of the Knights Templar. It's a few minutes farther away than our most local town, but a lot more scenic. Straight out of the car, she was nearly losing her mind, so we did some figure-eight walking (Figure of Eight) to get some calmness and focus before we continued into town. We walked through the old streets and had to revisit some calmness exercises here and there, but she did really well. I'm glad I had her on her harness because we really needed it in this exciting environment. She met one roaming dog - a small, scruffy boy, who wanted to sniff but nothing more, and then another dog of a similar size who was with a youngish couple who weirdly didn't want to talk to me at all! I'd showered and everything. Strange people. Posh clothes, I was in grubby sandals and dog-walking shorts. Maybe that was it. I need to get myself a floaty dress to be worthy.
Anyhow, we walked up towards the castle until she caught sight of the river, at which point she knew what she wanted - a swim. Fair enough; it wasn't meltingly hot, but it was very warm, and she'd been doing really well considering how different this is to daily life for her. So we walked back down the hill, past a busy cafe I prayed she would be good in front of. I was actually proud of myself because normally I would be reticent about feeding the dog in this situation, for fear of people thinking I'm just bribing, but she was so good, with a couple of dogs-under-tables barking at us as we passed, that I had to feed her and I felt good about it! Maybe they would see her ignoring the barky dogs and being rewarded for that and make a little connection. Not that I would say that it was anything to do with my training - I've not done enough of that to take any credit, she was just a little star.
We went down to the river and she pulled a bit, so it was slow progress for a little way. Then we got to some rocks I had to clamber over before the water. There was no way I could handle her and do that with any dignity, so my choices were to let her off or turn around. There was a couple swimming in the river, with their clothes neatly folded on the bank, their shoes placed on top. What could go wrong, adding a young boisterous Labrador to the mix?? So I got some focus, and let her off... to watch her run headlong into the water and just swim in circles, ignoring the people completely. Phew!
She is such a sweetheart, she kept coming back to me to check in, the back to have a swim. The couple heard me talking to her and clarified her name, then called her over. Uh-oh. She has a pretty strong history of trying to drown people. But, no, she would swim up, have a stroke, then swim back again. Aw, bless her!
I let her have about ten minutes in the water, but then the snobby couple turned up - Luna immediately ran out of the water and up to them. Gagh! She isn't one for shaking when she gets out of the water, but I could see it coming, so I ran up, grabbed her and took her away. Then she shook on me. Heheh. The waterfront where we were is only about 20ft across, so I popped her harness back on and we left them to it.
I was going to go straight back to the car but decided that I should do some work on settles with her; it's not something we practice in this environment. I have grand ideas about taking her and Shadow into the village to have a tapas lunch, and have them settle under the table. An easy prospect if it's an environment your dogs are used to, but this is the first time she's been there this year
So I went into the quiet square next to a couple of the tapas bars, but far enough away that she could cope, and I set a timer to see how we would get on. As we don't have the opportunity to do this often, I decided that it was pointless to ask for a "real" settle, as we could only expect that to be a few seconds at this point, and we'll never have the time to train an extended one in this environment. So a fake one was fine, and I fed her every now and again for maintaining it. She was amazing - not moving out of her sloppy sit even when another dog walked past - and Luna is a sociable dog that doesn't get to see others very often, so this was a big deal for her. Kids walked past - also highly arousing for her - and nothing more than watching them go. I fed her before we had any frustration noises, which is something I have to be aware of with her, and after seven minutes, she laid down into a sloppy relaxed down. Not a true settle, by any means, but good enough for what I would like to achieve.
"Honest, Mum, this is a settle"
