What a decompression hike looks like 🌲😌🌿
I want to make more videos about my decompression hikes cause there’s so much more to say than what can fit into 90 seconds
I’ve also contemplated making a long form video of a whole hike in real time. I don’t know if anyone would be interested in that, or how I’d film it, cause it would be like 2 hours long. But it could be fun to skip around and just get an idea of what it looks like in real time/unedited. Maybe? Maybe not?
I realize some people might be curious about Illusion’s *sensitivity* because I’ve mostly shared video of him doing really well. So I thought I’d share a few videos of him being nervous/fearful/reactive so you can see I’m not making it up 😅
There is wayyyyyyyyy more to say about this than can fit into an Instagram caption. I don’t like sharing stuff like this typically on social media simply because I can’t get across all the information that I’d want to go along with it. So just know there is a LOT of info that I just can’t fit here about how/why these situations occurred, the way I reacted to them, how they factored into our training and eventual decision etc etc etc.
There is an interesting balance when raising a service dog of setting them up for success but also evaluating their true temperament. I spent a long time carefully curating Illusion’s whole life to set him up for success but at a certain point, you have to see what the dog is made of. And Illusion is (partially) made of a lot of nerves and a desire to bark.
This isn’t a bad thing for him as a dog, it just makes him not suited for service work. Now with a lot of training and management, I could maybe get him to a point where he could look “fine” and be placed as a service dog. But what happens a year down the road, when he’s been living with someone who is NOT a professional dog trainer, and who isn’t going to manage him like a professional dog trainer would, and something scary happens out in public? There’s a good chance he would completely melt down, and then his handler would have to start all over again from square one to find another service dog. It just isn’t a gamble worth taking.
Not to mention the stress it would put on him to have to suppress all those big feelings to “work” in this way. So much of the job of a dog trainer is about changing things, fixing things, trying to put square pegs into round holes. Having the experience of seeing that I
Longer video, and not great filming cause that wasn’t my priority. There was a loud truck (machine? Idk what you’d call this 😂) at the park so we used it as an opportunity for some confidence building. Illusion has always been sensitive to noise so this is something we put a lot of thought into.
It’s important to note that for some dogs getting excited like this around potential triggers (meaning anything that triggers fear, nervousness, aggression, etc.) especially moving towards them, could actually make things worse. I think of smooth collies as sort of “herding dog-lite.” If Illusion were a cattle dog, border collie, german shepherd I might take a different approach.
Even though Illusion is a lower-drive, lower-arousal type of herding dog, I still want to make sure I’m not sensitizing him to the loud machine, or teaching him to get over-excited around it. So what I did here was use a food scatter, which elicits lower arousal, to book-end the higher arousal running around the machine. This helps the presence of the machine not be a cue for high arousal, cause he’s also practicing low arousal food eating near it, and it then helps him come down after the excitement. The ability to move up and down in arousal is hugely valuable.
Eventually/ideally I’d like the machine to be mostly insignificant to him and just part of the environment. But before we can get to that I have to make it not scary or concerning.
Service dog in-training Illusion is finally *vaccinated* so we are ramping up our adventures. Today we went for a visit to our favorite @wallflowercoffeeco
Here’s a maybe boring video of how I handled Illusion spook-barking today. Next door neighbors had construction start today so there have been lots of new noises. I think that’s what started him barking and then he transferred it to the hammock stand/maybe thought it was the hammock stand that made noise.
I would have given him more treats but I only had like 3 left on me. You can see him look to me for treats quite a few times. He has always been sensitive to noise, this is part of the package with a lot of herding breeds so I have been very thoughtful and careful about working on that with him. I liked that he was more curious than scared, gave me a lot of moments of attention, and showed some loose body language when I dropped the chain on the ground.
Here I am encouraging curiosity, using playfulness to keep his emotions positive, letting him learn how to process his feelings and thoughts, rewarding him for engaging with me, and building trust that I know what is and isn’t a threat and he can look to me for guidance when he’s unsure.
Puppy Chewing, Part Five
I don’t always play with him when he brings me toys, sometimes I say “not now” and that is important for him to learn too. If I felt like he was getting obsessive about bringing me toys or soliciting attention I might change up my approach.
A note about playing tug: I always recommend keeping the toy low and pulling straight away from the puppy, not up. You can see in this video I’m pulling up a bit and so he has to jump for the toy (this is because I was trying to film with one hand and play tug with the other.) Pulling up when they are gripping the toy so that they’re neck and spine are in an L-shape can be bad for their bodies, and encouraging them to jump up at you to grab the toy can create undesirable play manners. The exception to this being physically dangerous is if you’re pulling them straight into the air so their neck and spine are still in a mostly straight line, which some breeds enjoy (think terriers, bull breeds, malinois.) This little collie puppy would not enjoy that, and he wouldn’t grip the toy strong enough for me to even try it anyway!
Puppy Chewing, Part Three
Puppy chewing thoughts, Part Two
Some thoughts on puppy chewing, Part One
I don’t really enjoy making tutorial-esque content on social media because there are too many details and specifics that just can’t fit in an Instagram post.
So just keep in mind that this is a little example of *some* of the things I *sometimes* do with *this* puppy. And as always, consult a trusted professional if you need guidance. Also I filmed this spontaneously at 6 am.
This is part two of a recap of my newest board & train’s first day with me. This is a good example of what a board & train dog’s first day might look like, but every dog is different and will have a different plan for their first day. Apologies that this video does not have captions, I saved it as a draft before adding them and then it wouldn’t let me 🙃
Welcome Batman! This is part one of a recap of my newest board & train’s first day with me. This is a good example of what a board & train dog’s first day might look like, but every dog is different and will have a different plan for their first day.
Reactivity often becomes a vicious cycle that can be really hard to get out of. For example, if you have a dog who barked at/lunged towards/bit a person then you’re naturally gonna start to get nervous when people approach.
If you get nervous, then your dog is gonna pick up on that and also get nervous which makes them more likely to react which makes you more likely to be nervous, and on and on.
One of the benefits of a good board & train is that the dog gets to experience their triggers without the handler/owner adding their own fear.
In this scenario, I was able to keep my leash loose, call Henry away calmly, and then have a brief convo with the kid where I was using a calm voice, breathing normally, keeping my leash loose, watching Henry the whole time to monitor his feelings, judging the right amount of distance we needed from the kid, and offering treats at the right times.
This is a skill just like anything else. I’m not able to do this cause I have some natural gift, but because I’ve practiced over and over and over and now it’s like muscle-memory. Cut yourself some slack if you are struggling with this, it doesn’t come naturally.
You can see by his little hackles that Henry is still nervous about this interaction, but he stayed under threshold and had a positive experiment that we can keep building on. Practice makes progress 💪
(Side note: I didn’t hesitate on his name cause I forgot it, but because when training service dogs I’m used to giving fake names and so my brain wanted to give a fake name before realizing it didn’t matter in this case 😂)
Zeplyn and Goose both struggle with over-arousal, which means they often get TOO excited and then are unable to calm down/regulate their emotions.
One way we help them learn better arousal regulation is to practice calm behaviors before, during, and after exciting situations. Making sure they’re able to bring their own arousal down, use their brains, and communicate with me even in situations that are really exciting.
Today we went for a hike that created a ton of excitement - new trail, snow for the first time in the season, other dogs off-leash. Here we are doing some loose leash walking and you can see both boys staying next to me and keeping their leashes loose with very little mental effort on their part. This is a taught behavior and one that takes time to build, for most dogs at least. Knowing that they can calm down, pay attention and listen to me, walk nicely on leash - means that they can also run around and go wild. Aaaaand vice versa! If they didn’t get that outlet of being free, that loose leash walking would be a real struggle for them and instead of teaching emotional regulation, it would teach repression. It’s all about balance.
Nail trims! I wanted to make a video to show what I mean when I talk about a dog tolerating a nail trim. I always want to strive for enjoyment or neutrality, but will accept tolerance. Anything less than my version of tolerance is not acceptable for me and I would likely use sedation for a dog that can’t tolerate nail trims. And then of course we would work on getting tolerance through training!
1. I’m a professional, this is my personal dog, I’m very familiar with him, we have trained this over time - if you are not a professional and your dog is showing you these signs of discomfort, you can definitely get hurt. Even if it seems like your dog is “letting” you do the nails, they could be building their fear internally and end up lashing out and hurting you. Always consult a professional if you want to work on something like this. Especially with a big dog!
2. One of the reasons I am comfortable doing this even with his nervous body language is because we have a relationship that I have worked hard on, with specific rules and boundaries. He knows that he is allowed to pull his foot away and not let me trim his nails and he won’t be punished for that. That’s one of the reasons I’m not afraid of a bite here. He doesn’t need to escalate to a bite because we have an understanding that he can just say no and I will listen. Again, this is something I’ve trained using my knowledge and skill, so please hire a professional if you want to work on this with your dog.
3. Tolerance is something we have trained! I want to train Felix further to get closer to neutrality/enjoyment but we have not prioritized that yet.
4. I did not get Felix as a puppy so wasn’t able to do the training I’d have liked to get him feeling good about nail trims from the start.
5. Felix has some physical trauma around his back feet, from getting his foot sliced by a metal grate once and then by getting a quick cut by me.
6. This is one of the reasons why I feel it is total
Yoshi is here boarding for a few days and she got to try out my obstacle course. She was hesitant at first about the equipment but once she figured out it was safe she had a blast! Her gentle enthusiasm is the cutest.
One of the things I’ll be working on with Xander is getting him to feel better about wearing his equipment! He currently does not like getting his gentle leader, harness or service vest put on. This is a video to show where he’s at now. You can see him back away when I bring the equipment towards him, and bringing out a treat doesn’t help much to make him want to get closer. I’ll share some videos of the process of working through his equipment aversion over the next few weeks!
Had an awesome session today with Ellie & her owners. Ellie did a board & train with me back in October and her owners have continued doing private sessions with me every few weeks since then. They have put in the WORK with Ellie and it shows. It’s been so rewarding to me as a trainer getting to work with them.
Here we’re practicing recall in a highly challenging environment. There are other dogs playing off leash, kids on scooters, bikes, all kinds of things that are very challenging for Ellie either because she loves them (other dogs) or hates them (everything else lol.) They all did such a good job though!
Ellie’s breed dna results came back last week as well and we found out that she is mostly cattle dog, then pit bull, then some other mixes. It was validating for the owners to see the behaviors they’ve struggled with are actually kinda normal for Ellie’s breed mix.
#koruk9portland
