Very glad to read about Shadow's continued success Fiona. It must be so good for him, to feel more relaxed around the other dogs, he must feel so much better in himself not having to feel constantly on high alert.
Shadow's reactivity log
- Thread starter snowbunny
- Start date
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Fabulous work. xx
This is really lovely to read @snowbunny , and fascinating - one of the stand-out things for me is how much you take in, of dynamics and body language and changes.
I thought it was particularly promising when there was the hiccup which meant Shadow went a bit close to Twiggy on recall; his ‘return play bow’ reaction speaks volumes, and so even in the hiccups you get valuable insights (as Plato probably said). Lovely work, Team Shadow!
I thought it was particularly promising when there was the hiccup which meant Shadow went a bit close to Twiggy on recall; his ‘return play bow’ reaction speaks volumes, and so even in the hiccups you get valuable insights (as Plato probably said). Lovely work, Team Shadow!
Beanwood
Administrator
That is really, really interesting and incredibly positive. We know that hackles rising is an involuntary response... so something was triggering this flux of adrenaline, yet despite this, Shadow was able to take a breath, assess and respond in a way that demonstrated how comfortable he was to engage with Twiggy. (instead of being a knob) What a huge step forward! 
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I think he was still very unsure, which is why the hackles went up, and Twiggy's bow to him probably flummoxed him a little bit. But there was a time when that sudden movement from her would have triggered him to attack, rather than follow her lead. So I think it was really positive (even if I didn't really want it to happen).
We're going to try out another recreational walk with Katie soon - with Shadow still muzzled for obvious reasons - and see how his body language is now with her.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I've not been able to do any training with N recently as she has a new job, and it conflicts with our training times - how inconvenient! 
However, we had a total win on Sunday - a hunting day, so we just stick to our land because we don't want to run into loose hunting dogs and men with guns. Anyway, we were just heading back to the house, when two large dogs appeared on the rise. Shadow looked at them.... and then turned back to me!!! I called him, we threw a party and all went back home.
One of the great things about this is that it is giving him better doggy body language, too. Whereas before, he would have frozen and stared before running up to them, this turning away behaviour is a perfect indication of "I have no interest in you today, thank you very much". I was soooo chuffed with him!
And this morning, he recalled off a fox. Superstar
However, we had a total win on Sunday - a hunting day, so we just stick to our land because we don't want to run into loose hunting dogs and men with guns. Anyway, we were just heading back to the house, when two large dogs appeared on the rise. Shadow looked at them.... and then turned back to me!!! I called him, we threw a party and all went back home.
One of the great things about this is that it is giving him better doggy body language, too. Whereas before, he would have frozen and stared before running up to them, this turning away behaviour is a perfect indication of "I have no interest in you today, thank you very much". I was soooo chuffed with him!
And this morning, he recalled off a fox. Superstar
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Wowza, wowza just brilliant training and hard work paying off BIG time. Well done Shadow and Fiona. xx 
Beanwood
Administrator
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Charlie said "there's nothing wrong with being a twat" xxThis...
Especially when he can be such a twat sometimes!!!
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Some of my favourite people (both human and canine) are total twats 
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Fantastic! A day to put in the memory banks to haul out the next time you need it. 
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
On our morning walk, we saw a man in the distance who we have met several times, as he seems to holiday here for a month or so at this time of year. He's totally lovely; I've mentioned his Golden Retriever a few times here, who was just totally brilliant with Shadow. Shadow growled at him a couple of times, and this dog just rolled his eyes and ignored him. However, he didn't have that dog today, instead he had a one-year old female GR. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I presume the worst
Anyway, my niggle is this... when I saw him in the distance and clocked the different dog, I popped Shadow on lead and put his muzzle on. The dog was running towards us, so I told J to send Squidge to "run interference" while I got out of the way. Shadow had a really hard time with this and was shouting from frustration. I clambered up a snow bank with him, shouting his head off... and then the men just stood there, letting Squidge and the other dog (another lovely Luna) hare about like ... um .... lunatics. They were playing beautifully, and Luna2 was obviously a confident young thing so I'm happy for Shadow to meet her alone at some point, but by this point he was too far gone, and it would have been asking too much for him.
In hindsight, I think that had I had time to get things organised and I'd sent him (muzzled) over to greet the other dog with Squidge out of the way, it would have been totally non-eventful, but that didn't happen, and I didn't know anything about the dog at that point so I couldn't have risked it.
But it really frustrated me how they stood there chatting and letting the dogs play together when my dog was clearly having a really tough time with it. I feel it's done a lot of damage to all our hard work. I feel let down that J didn't realise he had to take control of the situation and help Shadow - and leaving him to scream in frustration wasn't doing that.
There's no point having a go at him about it, but I need to come up with some very clear "if.....then...." scenarios so that he understands what is needed in those situations.
Anyway, my niggle is this... when I saw him in the distance and clocked the different dog, I popped Shadow on lead and put his muzzle on. The dog was running towards us, so I told J to send Squidge to "run interference" while I got out of the way. Shadow had a really hard time with this and was shouting from frustration. I clambered up a snow bank with him, shouting his head off... and then the men just stood there, letting Squidge and the other dog (another lovely Luna) hare about like ... um .... lunatics. They were playing beautifully, and Luna2 was obviously a confident young thing so I'm happy for Shadow to meet her alone at some point, but by this point he was too far gone, and it would have been asking too much for him.
In hindsight, I think that had I had time to get things organised and I'd sent him (muzzled) over to greet the other dog with Squidge out of the way, it would have been totally non-eventful, but that didn't happen, and I didn't know anything about the dog at that point so I couldn't have risked it.
But it really frustrated me how they stood there chatting and letting the dogs play together when my dog was clearly having a really tough time with it. I feel it's done a lot of damage to all our hard work. I feel let down that J didn't realise he had to take control of the situation and help Shadow - and leaving him to scream in frustration wasn't doing that.
There's no point having a go at him about it, but I need to come up with some very clear "if.....then...." scenarios so that he understands what is needed in those situations.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Sorry for both of you.
Hope you manage to resolve this
Hope you manage to resolve this
Don't let this one incident define Shadow. Its human nature to focus on the negatives but you have to think that he has made great progress. Keep at it
Spot the computer programmer!
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
This is exactly what David did when he was out with Charlie this week. They met our neighbour from across the way who has a lovely little labrador but as she doesn't get to see many other dogs and is NEVER on lead and the owners never carry leads, she ran up full pelt to Charlie in his face which he really doesn't like. David didn't ask 'S' to put her on lead as I would and instead of just heading off in the opposite direction they stood chatting whilst David struggled to control Charlie lunging and barking. They have control over this dog who jumps up and is contanstly in our dogs faces and she is 7 years old. It makes me so mad that all the work we have both done can go down the toilet due to one silly incident. I have had the "conversation" too so your not alone Fiona. Sometimes I think they get it.
I am sorry about this Fiona. Hopefully it’ll just be a blip and won’t set Shadow back.
OHs, huh? Even the best of them are dorks at times. Mine is lovely, but I could scream sometimes...
OHs, huh? Even the best of them are dorks at times. Mine is lovely, but I could scream sometimes...
Beanwood
Administrator
I think sometimes when we live day in day out with dogs who have their challenges, we learn to adapt to scenarios with a whip-like speed that our dear beloveds struggle to replicate (talking from experience here. ..). I would take advantage of the fact that the men were chatting in companionable fashion, and use this as an opportunity to start a dialogue around setting up a similar scenario, but where you can totally manage the outcome? Just a thought...I am using and abusing all my friends with strict instructions (and chocolate brownies...) to ignore Otter even though she is yelling her head off and bashing them with her muzzle in frustration...
..). I would take advantage of the fact that the men were chatting in companionable fashion, and use this as an opportunity to start a dialogue around setting up a similar scenario, but where you can totally manage the outcome? Just a thought...I am using and abusing all my friends with strict instructions (and chocolate brownies...) to ignore Otter even though she is yelling her head off and bashing them with her muzzle in frustration...