Yes Dog

"The Gauntlet" is an advanced training exercise that I do with many of my clients to prepare them to navigate walking their dog in public settings. I have set up three fake dogs in relatively close proximity, and the goal is to walk past all three dogs with a loose leash. This doesn't have to happen all at once. Dog owners can play "look at that" while creeping closer as the dog's comfort allows. They can practice emergency u-turns. They can have their dog observe for a bit from the safety and comfort of their mat. When they are walking, they can play the LAT game simultaneously or rapid-fire those clicks and treats and catch the milliseconds of correct behavior to help the dog be successful. This exercise is both management and training of the dog while training the human to adjust on the fly based upon their own dog's frequently changing needs. Here is Dan and Chance walking the gauntlet. I think they did well!

Sometimes clients just make me proud. Luna's moms are these clients. Here's a quick little clip of practicing leash walking today. I couldn't ask for better from this team. Look how proud Luna is of her auto-sit!

Chance is a really interesting dog. He's super people friendly, which means that people can do stuff to him that he really doesn't care for because he probably won't bite. In fact, it's easy to miss the signs of discomfort if you don't know what you are looking for. Chance undergoes regular grooming as is necessary with his maltese coat. But I noticed his nails were much longer than I would have expected from a dog who gets groomed regularly. The why became apparent when he first saw my grinder and shot across the yard. Today was the first day that he voluntarily allowed me to actually place the Dremel against his nail. We aren't placing the grinder against his nails quite yet. You'll noticed that I don't have Chance on his side like other dogs. I had to modify this technique because Chance's body is shaped such that lying completely on his side just isn't comfortable. We got the position, but he really disliked it, and I didn't think he'd ever be able to relax in that position. Being comfortable really matters for this exercise. I tried to teach him to do a chin rest on a platform. We tried multiple different platforms of varying heights and types of padding. I always succeeded in getting him to do the chin rest a few times, and then, he'd always walk away and refuse to participate. During his refusal, he'd eat things off the ground. I suspect this behavior (and several others that are very subtle) is related to pain. Stretching his neck out for a chin rest may hurt him. Dogs with his genetics (dwarfism) often have spinal issues. Chance, being half pit bull, is a pretty stoic dude. He's not going to show pain in obvious ways. He's going to play and eat like he's feeling great. But that arousal is more inclined to spike. He's more inclined toward displacement behaviors, like licking, sniffing, eating things off the ground he shouldn't, drinking water excessively, switching quickly from playful behavior to guardy behavior, and ultimately, for this kiddo, refusin

I love this video of Indy. We had just done a pretty long training session for cooperative care and taken a break, and Indy decided that she didn't want to be done yet. Who am I to argue? We ground a little more on a few more nails because she asked to play the game. We are now at the point where we are actively taking little bits of nail off each time. With more practice, we'll be able to grind down even more at a time so that that the whole process goes faster.

People often ask me how we go from teaching a dog to tolerate putting a muzzle on to teaching them to tolerate actually wearing it, and it's a very good question. Just because your dog will put his nose in the muzzle and let you fasten it doesn't mean they are ready to wear the muzzle at the vet. In fact, if that's the next step you jump to, they probably won't voluntarily put their nose in anymore. So here's what I do: 1. Teach dog to let me fasten muzzle on them. 2. Constantly feed while dog is wearing the muzzle, then remove muzzle. 3. Add gradually increasing spaces between feeding treats, but feed often. 4. Practice relaxation on a mat while wearing muzzle and maintaining a higher-than-usual rate of reinforcement. 5. Practice simple training exercises (sit, down, nose targeting, etc.). 6. More relaxation on a mat with slower rate of reinforcement. 7. Go for walks in easy, fun places. Treat often. 8. Practice using a muzzle while doing cooperative care exercises. 9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 often while only occasionally using a muzzle because it's needed (vet, proximity to scary things, etc.). Chance and I are at step 5.

Chance and I are working on increasing his travel distance to the mat.

When I started working with Indy, she didn't permit foot handling. She wasn't aggressive about it, but she was avoidant. This doesn't sound so bad, but when a dog doesn't like foot handling and they are forced to undergo nail care from a groomer or a vet, they often change their behavior to make the unpleasantness stop. They can become aggressive. Even if they don't, it's just plain scary for them, and I don't like my dogs to endure scary things that can be avoided. So we started with desensitization and counter conditioning to foot handling. She's pretty tolerant of that with me now, so today, I introduced her to the Dremel. So far so good for our Indy girl!

At some point, Luna learned that Dremels are bad. It doesn't take much for Luna to develop a negative association toward something, but it's a bit like walking uphill on ice to change her mind once she decides she doesn't like something. Luna redefines reinforcing *smaller* successive approximations. From a trainer standpoint, this makes her an excellent teacher dog. From a pet parent standpoint, it can be rather disheartening when you've done so much work and one little thing seems to undo it all. An ear infection, a medically necessary forced nail trim, maybe even someone trying to do DS/CC work when they weren't in a great mood. Luna is *that* sensitive. So I bought a smaller, quieter, less powerful nail grinder that creates less friction. It also doesn't work very well, but that's okay! Today is the first time I succeeded in making nail contact with the sander multiple times without Luna quitting the game. We are moving forward again! We can build up to the big, powerful Dremel if we need to, but using a tool that Luna hasn't already decided is bad and that does everything in a less intense way will help us move toward real nail grinding.

Chance is the first dog to come to Lupine Lodge who *prefers* playing indoors. Welp... that's fine by me! Whatever makes Chance's stay fun for him is what Chance gets.

One of these days, I'll figure out how best to angle the camera and stay out of the way so you can actually see what I'm doing, but today is not that day! I'm still posting this video because it was hard earned, by both me and Chance. There is nothing normal about this position for Chance. It's not how he sleeps. It's not a position he chooses to relax. And frankly, because of his unique proportions, it's not super easy for him to get onto his side with his head down. But it's a super convenient position for people to do cooperative nail trims; to listen to heart, lung, and bowel sounds; to give some vaccinations and perform blood draws; and to give a very thorough exam of his feet and legs. It's also a position that is very intentional. A dog has to choose to get into this position in order to participate in their cooperative care. I like having that level of communication. Because this is so unnatural for Chance, I had to break down getting into the position into teeny tiny bits to keep him motivated and making progress. Each weight shift further to the side gets a click and treat. Once his head is down, I'm clicking for keeping his head down, even though it's only for half a second, and I'm feeding in position. Eventually, as he gets more comfortable with this very weird thing I'm asking him to do, his little body will begin to relax, and it will become both easier and a favorite position of his when he's on his mat. Today was our first day of successfully getting Chance all the way onto his side.

Indy is learning recalls. She *hates* the camera, so I'm delighted she came with that thing in her face. She was reinforced amply.

A little resource guarding work with Chance. With me, Chance has guarded a few toys, and he's guarded this bowl when it contained a treat he wasn't able to extract. To help a dog learn not to guard resources, I don't ever try to take resources away. That will only teach them that I'm a thief that they need to guard from. Instead, I teach the dog that I come bearing BETTER resources! I'm packing steak in my treat pouch right now.

I was just telling Luna's moms that I was concerned I wouldn't be able to pull this off in the given timetable, and then Luna did this. This was one of four times that I got the harness over her head today. I left the lengthy affection session in the video because that is greater reinforcement to Luna than any treat could possibly be, and I thought it was important to show how the dog chooses the reinforcers. I'll still likely start with a treat as it's a setup that Luna is familiar with, but her real reinforcer for putting her head through will be an ear massage and lovies. Good girl, Lu!!!

Chance is working on his polite leash walking, too. And his video has sound! The mic isn't picking up clicks, so I'll fiddle with mic placement for future videos to see if we can get that in there as well. Chance came in on a flat collar, and he has a history of pulling like a freight train. He may look little and fluffy, but his pit bull half is strong! I don't love having dogs on collars due to the potential for tracheal damage, and I especially don't want my long-backed kiddos on anything that puts added strain on their spines, so I switched out the collar to a harness. Chance has mastered this behavior (with frequent reinforcement) off leash in the fenced hard, but this is the first time he's done it outside the fence and while wearing his gear. I can't give him quite as much leash as I do Miss Indy because his short little legs are more inclined to step on the leash, but as you can see, I still keep as much slack in it as possible. Not bad for the first time outside the fence and on leash!