Ben: Week 24
Today marks Ben’s 24th week with us. He’s still learning to trust, and he’s still showing insecurity and uncertainty in certain areas, but generally speaking, he is no longer the dangerous, red-zone dog that came to us nearly 6 months ago.
Ben has gotten much better with meeting new people. When guests come over, we ask them to ignore him completely. Once they’re in the door, we ask them to continue ignoring him, but let him smell them. This is important for him, because until he came to us, Ben never used his nose. He was all eyes, all the time. Giving him the time to smell things out and determine that way what is and isn’t safe is a critical aspect of his rehabilitation.
Eye contact is a continuing challenge for Ben – although he has improved quite a bit when it comes from a human. He used to react immediately and very intensely when a human gave him eye contact; now he only gets a bit reactive after about 10 seconds. However, when other dogs give him eye contact, he’s still highly reactive.
Although it still isn’t total, Ben’s ability to trust has improved quite a bit. He still tries to take control when situations come up during walks, but he’s getting better. He’s standing back more often and letting us deal with things instead of automatically charging in like he did when he first came to us. This is a really big deal for him, because he doesn’t trust easily. Earning his trust has been the most difficult challenge I’ve had with him; everything he does with us depends entirely on his level of trust; if he doesn’t have confidence in our ability to control a situation, he will try to deal with it himself – and he won’t let up until the situation changes, or, if we have no other choice, we remove him from it.
This dog is one of the most challenging, most difficult, most frustrating… and most rewarding cases I’ve ever had, and every time I earn a little more trust from him, I feel like I’ve won the lottery. Earn his trust, and you have a dog who will give his life for you without any hesitation whatsoever….
Ben still has a long way to go in his rehabilitation. But he’s worth every second of effort. He teaches us so many things about ourselves that we weren’t aware of, he makes us laugh on a daily basis with his comical expressions and antics, he gives us love when we’re having a rough day… He really is a special dog…
Have a great day, everyone, and remember to stay calm and lead on.
Working the Basics
Last night’s session with Lacey was pretty fantastic. She’s still getting distracted by smells, sights, and sounds, but she did a great job of trying to pay more attention to the handler.
We went to Pisces Pet Emporium for the session. The store is full of all kinds of distractions – including live animals for sale and for adoption – the isles are narrow, and the staff are wonderful about respecting space and not petting Lacey when she’s working. Tanya is pregnant and is currently in a position where she can’t stand for long periods of time. Lacey has become quite protective of Tanya and doesn’t like to leave her side. When Tanya needed to sit down and I had to take over the session, Lacey was very hesitant about coming with me. She kept looking back at Tanya instead of focusing on me. To put her mind at ease, I made a point of working Lacey in one isle so that she would always be able to see Tanya. It was the right decision, because once she realized Tanya was okay, Lacey fell into step without any further resistance.
We practiced sit-stay, down-stay, recall, and heel. The heel position revealed that Lacey is still going in front, so I put her on the hands-free leash to help her learn the correct walking position. She figured it out very quickly and did an awesome job of staying beside me.
Overall, Lacey did a great job. She does need work on her heel and sit-stay positions, and she needs more distraction work. But considering that she’s only 18 months old and her training has been intermittent due to circumstances out of anyone’s control, she’s doing awesome. Tanya has worked very hard with her, and it definitely shows.
The next CGN (Canine Good Neighbor) trial is being held in June. I’m going to be working with Tanya and Lacey as often as possible to ensure they are ready for the test.
Have a great day, and remember to stay calm and lead on…
Happy Dawgs Obedience Training 