10/16/2024
Today was not a good day for this trainer. People misunderstand and think that as trainers we have perfect dogs. We have perfect skills and in every situation we react perfectly. I am here to tell you that isn’t the case. I am not going to sugar coat it and tell you having dogs is easy that it’s a cake walk. Because it isn’t. We as humans communicate everyday we just happen to use verbal language and dogs use their bodies.
Today I had a dog react and go after another dog. Many would say it was a dog fight but it wasn’t. Other dogs tried joining in and it was a cluster for a quick moment. I would be lying if I said I was calm cool and collected. Because I absolutely was not. I was scared and freaked out because one dog had another and the one was yelping. The three dogs that jumped into the fray responded quickly to my call. I got them removed The dog that had reacted still had not let loose and the other dog kept trying to get to me. Of course I was yelling (I was not calm, I was not someone in that moment my dog would or could respond to). I reacted too. Luckily my reaction was enough that the dog let loose and I carried her to the kennel. All the while the other dog kept following me. I then checked her out. No puncture wounds and I really expected to see her hide torn and was expecting to take her in for what I figured would be sutures and a drain plus antibiotics. I was wrong. Not a puncture not a tear. A little blood from her eye but from what I could tell it seemed to be from blood vessels not teeth.
To calm us both down we went for a walk. Then she went into her crate. I took 30 minutes to decompress myself. Beating myself up for the reaction.
Then I began to dissect the situation. See without doing this I would have been mad at the dog that reacted and punished her. It’s what most would do. She should know better. Yet that would be so wrong. Over the course of several weeks my dogs have been communicating with me I just wasn’t paying attention
First the dog that was the trigger has become a focal playmate for another dog. Yet she doesn’t want to play with the dog. Yet this dog doesn’t listen to her body language. It takes another dog putting herself in between them to get the dog to realize she’s playing too rough. And when we walk the dog that was the trigger today stays by my side. Not because we are practicing a heel but because she is placing me in the position of the barrier from the dog that is playing too rough. So mistake number one
Mistake number two. The dog that reacted needs a lot of “me” time and I was giving her time with the dog that plays rough because they play well together. Yet that isn’t the same as me time. Me time is important to this dog because she is task oriented and always checks in with me. She doesn’t like chaos and lack of order When we have chaos and disorder she will organize it whether I ask for it or not. Forgetting to check in well because we haven’t been practicing checking in. She just wants me time.
Mistake number three not recognizing mistakes 1 and 2 so when I decided to take a walk with the group I had a dog that wanted to be close by my side and another that doesn’t like chaos and change. So this was the trigger which was the dog next to me and then the other dog reacted. When I called the dog off she would not come. I lost my composure and yelled. Reacting myself to what I feared was going to be a horrible injury and a costly repair. Again my reaction was escalated which didn’t help either dog. This was my fourth mistake my reaction. My fifth mistake was not recognizing all of the signs and the perfect storm I created my not listening to my dogs
My dog wasn’t disobedient. She is also young and I know she struggles with distractions. She’s impulsive and independent and can forget to check in with me especially when we havent been working
on me time. Dogs out of place are a distraction not checking in adds to it and she reacted accordingly.
So how do I work with this? The two dogs that I regarded their play I will work with. One needs to learn to respect and read language given by the other dogs. She doesn’t take their cues but she responds to mine. So their time will be supervised time with me.
The dog that has attached herself to me we’ll see need to work on her confidence and this will come when we work with the dog that isn’t respecting her. As the other learns to respect I am sure her confidence will gain her courage to disengage from me. That takes us to the dog that reacted. First we spend time working on her focus on me. One on one and then with another dog she plays well with. I know her focus is lacking so we need more time. How long will this take I don’t know and honestly it is my responsibility to help them learn so timing isn’t as important as them learning. Maybe we go out several weeks and then test putting my reactive dog on a leash but only when the trigger dog has shown some confidence and will disengage from me. It’s not a magic pill and it’s not a quick fix but I have multiple dogs multiple personalities and must address those individually for all of us.
I’m also lucky that when I was decompressing I could text Connie Swaim and she can remind me I am a good dog mom even in the moments when I’m not feeling like I am.
