When its your dog, part 3

​Our first step was management, which was to stop the walks off property.  While walks are wonderful, putting him in a situation he couldn’t emotionally handle was unfair.  It also would allow him to continue to practice a behavior that was unsafe, possibly causing it to escalate and intensify.
 
Since Jeepers already had a history with clicker training and pattern games in other environments I wanted to build from these.  Rewarding voluntary
check-ins. This is when you simply reward the dog for looking at you. You don’t ask for it but you reward when it happens.  (Which means you have to
be paying attention, no looking at your phone!) We hung treats and the clicker by the door. Every time he went out we would practice and reward.
 
After a couple of days he was pretty into these check ins.  We’d go outside and he would be looking back at us, a lot.  He’d sniff or wander around but would be checking in frequently.  Every check in netted a click and reward.  When a vehicle approached he was still orienting to the sound, following with his head as it went by and then would quickly check in afterwards.  With him now doing a fast check in afterwards (rather than continue to watch where in the direction the vehicle had left in) we added a click when he would orient to the vehicle.  At the click he’d turn for the reward, then look back.  Then we added “Look at That” (developed by Leslie McDevitt, CPDT-KA, CDBC)  as he would orient, click and reward.  With him learning to engage/disengage he was able to start maintaining the disengagement and continue with his activity, although looking to verify after the vehicle it would leave. The tension in his body, that “freeze”, was no longer happening. In these videos, taken early on, you'll see him checking in.  In the second part you will see a car go by and he is pretty focused on that car, but still checking in.  It was very early in the process, but was already progress.

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For additional exercises, I looked to more of the Pattern Games©, developed by Leslie McDevitt CPDT-Ka, CDBC. For more information on her program check out Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog. 
 
Why Pattern Games?  Because repetition means predictable.  Predictable means safe.  This is a great way to build confidence, focus, and calm behavior.  You create a predictable pattern, with rewards, which then helps the dog process his environment instead of reacting.  This gives him the skills he needs to manage his responses to the “trigger”.  

We added more practice of Up/Down in different locations.  In the house, on the sidewalk to the door and in the yard, on walks on the property.  Scatter rugs were added to allow for movement.  (An advantage to the scatter rug is that it is a portable environment, providing something familiar in new environments.)  Jeepers does Up Down in different environments 

Ping Pong, which sends your dog in alternating directions of increasing distance, with a return to you in between.  Slowly, adding increasingly distracting environments.   In this video you'll see a car go by.  It's ok to acknowledge and process, that's what we want. ​

​1-2-3 is a great exercises for walking.  You backchain from treat on 3, adding 2 and then 1.  So 1 gets the dog’s attention, 2 has him paying attention and on 3 his nose is there for the treat.  We added more of this when walking, but changing 1-2-3 to Ichi-Ni-San (1-2-3 in Japanese).  The change was because I realized that my tone when I said 1-2-3 sounded like Mom telling the kid to pick up his toys or they were going to the dump by the time she counted to 3. When working on your dog’s behavior challenges you have to analyze yourself to make sure you are as effective as possible and this change made a huge difference in his responses.  

I started these exercises in the house, outside near the door.  Then I took them out onto the property where I could maintain a good distance from the ‘trigger’ of the vehicles.  I gauged this distance by how relaxed his body was. 
 
When we were able to work these exercises we would move to a location with more distractions.  Closer to the road with a more “open” barrier. We took them on the road.  We worked it on a busy street downtown (busy for our small town, that is) and in the parking lot at the hardware store.  Everything was done at his pace, tho. He got to say whether or not we moved forward or stayed where we were.  

To wrap it up, we have added our walks back in, but we are still practicing all the exercises as we want these new habits to be permanent.  There are three things to take away from this.

1. Already having a solid foundation of reinforcement based training allowed for us to move forward more quickly than he might have otherwise.  Seek out a science backed, fear free trainer to get your dog a good foundation. 
2. We addressed the situation right away to prevent further challenges and avoid the behavior becoming habituated. 
3. Have patience with yourself.  Sometimes you do everything right but something goes wrong.  It doesn't mean you are a bad pet parent.  A good pet parent will acknowledge there is a challenge happening and find the best possible help to make it better.

I look forward to hearing comments or questions on our Journey with Jeepers

In case you missed them
Part 1
Part 2