Vincent’s Big Day

Due to health issues all around, Vincent missed a few sessions. But, we got together this past Sunday, and what an incredible session it turned out to be! For this session, food rewards were used; Vincent was going to be pushed in this session, and food rewards would have a much greater reinforcement impact. Here are the highlights:

Tia and Vincent were about halfway down their block when I arrived. Vincent saw me….. and he didn’t even so much as whimper! Instead, he started pulling Tia towards me. To both my and Tia’s surprise, Vincent came right up to me, pushed his side into my legs, and loved on me like crazy for a good two minutes! It’s the first time he has not negatively reacted in an outdoor setting.

Neighbors down the street volunteered to help us work on Vincent’s dog reactivity by bringing out their dog, a calm, female bulldog. They settled her on a blanket in their driveway so she could see everything, and Vincent could see her. Tia was feeling hesitant and nervous… and to my surprise and great pride in her, she asked for help by asking me to take Vincent first and show her what to do. This was a huge leap of progress for her, and I could not have been more proud of her. Maintaining distance, I took Vincent and we began to move up and down the street. Initially, he did get a bit reactive by trying to lunge at her – but, he recovered quickly… and, he accepted guidance from me. We did this exercise several times until he could pass by the dog without reacting; from there – and watching his body language like a hawk – I stopped him at different intervals so he could just look at the dog and realize that nothing bad was happening. I gave him 5 to 10 seconds to just observe, then calmly moved him away, and rewarded him heavily for making great choices. I repeated this exercise with him several times, and then I had Tia take the leash. She. Was. Awesome!

We worked this exercise for about 15 minutes, then we thanked the neighbors for their help and headed back to the house. Vincent was starting to get overwhelmed and he needed a break. At the house, we talked about the progress that had been made; Todd came out and we told him about how Vincent had greeted me and how well he and Tia had done working around the other dog. While we talked, Vincent did something that took me completely by surprise: He laid down on the sidewalk and just chilled.

While we talked, Tia and Todd’s neighbor came outside with her Shih-tzu pup, Piper. Vincent and Piper are familiar with each other and they usually get along quite well. However, in a completely unplanned and unexpected move, Piper rushed Vincent – which startled him and sent him into an intense reactive moment of barking and lunging. Tia immediately – and calmly – walked him away and down the street as if nothing was going on. She praised him for walking nicely, she rewarded him with treats every time he offered her eye contact – she was awesome. She kept it up as they made their way back to the house, and by the time they were back in the driveway, Vincent was calm again. It was absolutely beautiful.

In a second – and final – unexpected and unplanned moment, a stranger came by, handing out flyers for landscaping. He asked Tia if he could pet Vincent, she said yes…. and he walked right up to Vincent and put his hand over Vincent’s head. Naturally, this sent Vincent over the edge. Knowing we had to correct this as quickly as possible – Vincent had already made such huge progress; I didn’t want it to go down the toilet – I asked the young man if he could spare a few minutes to help correct the situation. He agreed, and so we practiced the actions of stepping in front of Vincent and keeping the young man at a distance. I took the leash first, as Tia was still feeling a bit shaken by the incident. After a few practices, I handed the leash over to Tia, giving her as much encouragement as possible. She did a fantastic job, and so did Vincent. For the first time since we started working together back in December, Vincent finally showed us trust by staying behind us while we advocated for him.

We thanked the young man and let him go on his way, and after heavily rewarding Vincent for making great choices, we ended the session. Tia took Vincent inside to decompress, and when she came back out, both she and Todd were glowing with happiness. I was so, so proud of Tia; she’s worked so hard. Watching her come out of her shell, watching her and Vincent’s relationship growing and strengthening, watching the two of them building trust in each other… My heart just cracks wide open with joy and pride. Way to go, Team Vincent! See you next week!

If you have a reactive dog, if you’ve tried everything else and had little to no success, don’t give up. Call me!

Have a great day, and remember to stay calm and lead on. 🙂