We had an interesting walk this morning. Lola has ongoing issues with other dogs while on leash. She is at her worst when they appear out of nowhere and get right up in her fact. But in the beginning, she also had issues when any dog even just barked — or in fact was just “there” — behind fences on our walks.
This is an issue we’ve been working on for months, now. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last few months when I finally realized that having my clicker always available on walks would really help. D’oh.
At first, when she started to growl and lunge, I’d have to put myself in front of her and then walk backwards, with her following me, to get her to calm down. From there, I progressed to walking sideways beside her.
I realized today that I no longer have to do that. If she does begin to be reactive (lunging, growling, barking), I simply turn the other way (saying “this way”), and after a few paces do it again. If she becomes reactive as we approach whatever she’s bothered by again, we just do it again. Usually the first time is enough to calm her down so that she can focuse on me. Sometimes we have to do this a couple of times.
Because of the threat of rain this morning, I wanted to stay close to home so we wouldn’t get too wet if it poured. We went around our block with no problems. But that’s not a long enough walk. So then I decided to go up the same block on the other side of the cross street. There is usually at least one dog wandering around loose there (a chihuahua), and there’s a yard with a privacy fence that has sort of a window. I felt she was ready for it.
What I didn’t realize is that she would choose to poop at the exact moment a small dog (off leash) decided to investigate us. Not the chihuahua we’ve seen in the past, but some sort of terrier mix (very cute, and very calm). Worst case scenario, because while I’m picking up the poop it’s hard to hold her attention.
There was just a little bit of growling, but in general, she did really well. Sure, I wish she was like Chester, who just went up to the other dog & touched noses, gently wagging his tail. But she has come such a long way; I know that she has a long way to go, too, until my goal of having her at least look to me before reacting, but I think someday (year?) we’ll get there.
I’m also excited by a book I just recently read about: Click to Calm
I also recently read about using yawning to tell your dog that everything is fine. Yes, I’ve noticed Lola yawning sometimes when she’s nervous. And yes, I knew that it’s a calming signal. But d’oh! I never thought about yawning back at her to let her know she’s okay. Of course, today she wasn’t yawning; she was too hyped up for that.
So here’s the first completed chevron sock. The good news is the multicolored yarn really hides any mistakes. The bad news is the multicolored yarn also hides the pattern!
I was going to take a picture of the completed sock with one of the boys. I really was! But when I walked over to where they were snoozing and turned on the camera, they scattered like I’d turned on the vacuum or something. Odd, because all the animals are real hams. I guess I just startled them. Lola was happy to oblige.
Technorati Tags: on leash, clicker, reactive, focuse, yawning, calming signal, multicolored yarn, pattern, sock
Related posts:
Bookmark on del.icio.us
I am currently reading “