Shadow Training: Day 7
Mel has been shadowing us daily for the last seven days... While we work with our pups, work with our own dogs and on all our current Board and Train guests.
WD-ICARO
Issue: Several unprovoked attacks on humans
Icaro arrived here subdued and mechanical like in his behaviour. At a guess, he was constantly trained and worked where he was before arriving, so first and foremost we worked on relaxing him down to normality, then to bring some joie de vivre back into him, something boxers are reknowned for.
Session Details
1) teach what you want while on leash
2) practice what you taught, off leash.
WD-RODOLFO: common traits
WD-RODOLFO
Issue: terrified of anything and everyone
Three things that are quite common with extremely fearful dogs:
1) Anxiety to anything new.
Once something new happens, even like a simple change of routine, they get restless. Anxiety reaches very high levels, and they become very hard to control and settle down. The worse thing you can do is tell your dog that it's ok to feel so terrified, so anxious, in these situations.... Trying to confort them, like we do with kids, is the way if telling them so... Surprised? Instead raise your correction level to the level your dog responds to.
N.B. unless there is something or someone that is causing your dog to panic, become restless and increase his anxiety levels, that becomes a situation you should be 100% avoiding in these early stages of training/rehab.
2) Attachment.
Fearful dogs tend to attach to the human that cares for them. This sort of attachment in most cases is unhealthy, and can lead to SepAnx if not already present. So it's up to you to give, but notice what and how you're giving, is affecting the dog, affecting positively is great, promoting negative behaviours no, obviously. Catching negative influences in the bud is extremely helpful, ignoring them will lead to creating even more issues.
3) Fearful Interpretations.
You need to read your dog's behaviour, constantly, while working with him, while teaching anything new, as fearful dogs will try to do things with their own, fearful way of doing everything. We call those fearful interpretations. Basically, if a dog does new things you are teaching, but in a fearful way (not necessarily feeling fearful, but in a fearful dogs manner - i know this sounds a bit complicated but it isn't really, as fearful dogs approach things, do things, in a fearful way even though there is nothing/noone to fear, it's their way of doing things) you aren't progressing towards fixing his fear, just teaching new things, which defeats the purpose of rehabing a fearful dog.
Rod
WD-OLIVER: l importante e com'è si sente <3
WD-OLIVER
Quando mi chiedono qual è la cosa più importante in un cane quando è in addestramento o riabilitazione, dico sempre che in primo posto c'è come si sente il cane. Tutto l resto, viene dopo, viene costruito, su come si sente lui.
WD- Oliver: Prima Sessione
WD-Oliver
Oliver ha problemi di paura (paura ingenerale, ma soprattutto di stranieri, specialmente uomini e abbinata con questo, mancanza di fiducia.
Avendo circa 13 mesi, ha superato da poco l età massima da risolvere questi tipi di problemi.
Ma noi ci proveremo lo stesso :)
Oliver e arrivato ieri mattina, lo abbiamo lasciato relax, non facendo niente tranne uscire per passeggiate (con guinzaglio, ma libero al quanto possibile, senza provare a controllare o guidare con il guinzaglio).
Sta mattina abbiamo fatto la prima sessione insieme :)
Con guinzaglio, tenuto abbastanza lungo, legato alla recinzione - così non avrà nessun intervento nostro - e libero di decidere lui cosa fare quando chiamato.
Credo che e andata molto bene <3
