Dolce Bootcamp & The CCH Criteria for Obtaining His CGC

Now that Dolce has recovered (mostly) from his stressful encounter with the 2 off-leash dog-aggressive dachshunds, adjusted to life in the new apartment complex, and is showing signs of boredom -- we're getting back to work on his reactivity/insecurity.

Goals

• Build his confidence so he feels comfortable with me in new situations and environments.
• Be able to pass by a dog in close-quarters without stress or aggressive display.
• Be able to look into a strange dog's eyes without freaking out.
• Be able to ignore a reactive dog.
• Be accepting of even the most suspicious stranger in close quarters (no contact).
• Be comfortable enough to play with toys in public.
• CGC by the end of the year.

How We're Going to Get There

• I want to build his confidence through lots of obedience (Chris Bach's Third Way, Sue Ailsby's Training Levels), tricks, and agility training using positive reinforcement.  By working on attention to me, eye contact, cues, and handling, he'll be heavily rewarded with someone he knows and loves for interactions he'll experience with others.  I also think that because of previous training methods, he doesn't trust me as much as he would/could/should.  I want to build that bond more.
• I have three main criteria for him to feel that we've successfully mastered something.  He needs to be able to do it calmly, comfortably, and happily (CCH).  In order to address passing another dog in close quarters, looking into a dog's eyes, ignoring a reactive dog, and accepting a suspicious stranger, we are going to address all three elements separately.
• To help him be calm in his trigger situations, I'm going to do a lot of Relaxation Protocol (RP) work at a safe enough distance.  I will mark and treat for eye blinks, looking away, sitting, lying down, head down, etc.
• To help him be comfortable, we're going to do a lot of handling work at home, and do our training in new environments.  Jen over at Never Say Never Greyhounds pointed out the treasure trove of training locations with the dozens of parks at our disposal in a 5-mile radius when she gave me a lesson a couple Februaries ago.  Time to take advantage of these parks and really get Dolce socialized, but on his terms.  Distance makes a big difference, and just being out in the world and having a good training session should do wonders.
• To help him be happy, we'll be sure to begin and end training sessions doing things he enjoys most -- exploring the wildlife and new scents, as well as getting extra yummy treats for interacting with me.  The exploration portion is obvious -- we'll do a perimeter session at each new location.  As for the interactions... This means lots of name game, touch, and auto-sit practice.  He adores these games and glows with pride every time we warm up with them.  We've got the meat roll in the fridge, ready to go. :)
• To work on play drive in public, I'm going to really reinforce it at home.  When we go to places, part of our session will be to at least nose or paw touch, and chase a favorite toy.  This will likely be very slow-going, but if we can include just a little in every new environment, I'm hopeful that the connection will be made within the year.

Tools of the Trade

• We're going to walk with his SENSE-ation harness attached to his collar by the leash (or the Halti harness).  I believe this is the best way to be humane and have control.  I need to do a lot more work desensitizing and counter-conditioning having the harness (and his winter coat) put on.  Ever since the lady at the shelter put that noose-type leash over his head, he has been super paranoid about things going over his head.  Poor little man.
• We'll reserve use of the Halti halter for occasions when we will be working on proximity to strange dogs and control of Dolce's head will be essential.  He has that long, fragile Italian greyhound neck, and detests wearing it despite my utmost attempts to condition otherwise.
• I need to remember to play the calming dog music CD when I leave the house.
• I'm going to remember to take Natural Balance meat roll treats on all our walks, which will be solo save for the first walk of the early morning.  I have been using high grade kibble, but I don't think it's enough to really make the counter-conditioning process effective.
• Exercise, exercise, exercise.  We're going to get back into biking and jogging together on a regular basis throughout the week.  Good days to run are Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.  Good days to bike are Wednesdays and Thursdays.  We'll take the weekends off, I think.
• Marker word.  I feel very strongly that when teaching a new behavior, a clicker is invaluable as a marker for its consistency.  However, for behavior work, I think San Diego Pam has a point in that clickers turn a dog's brain into training mode.  I don't necessarily want training mode, because of the emotional aspect to this type of training.  So I'm going to use a marker of "Good boy!" to express my enthusiasm for his behavior.  "Good boy" doesn't always have to be followed by a treat like the clicker does, and his tail wags a little bit when I say it -- it's a reinforcer in and of itself to some degree.
• I'm going to use my realistically fake dogs, Rick, and Irvine Pam with her dogs, Lily and Bella, for setups before trying him out at IDOGS on Sundays.
• He's going to need to feel as though the car and/or his crate is awesome so he can wait there while I work with Zenzi (and vice versa).  We've been laying the groundwork at meal times for this, so hopefully this will not be a difficult transition when he has his crate in the car for our outings.

Plan of Action

• I learned a lot from Chris Bach's DVDs.  I want to build a chain, so I have to keep reminding Dolce how the chain works if he breaks it.  It's my job to set up the environment so he can be successful.  Dolce, I promise to give you more distance from now on, and to stop trying to force positive interactions on you. 
• I want Dolce to come to me and look at me for praise when he sees a strange dog while we're out on a walk -- no matter what the other dog is doing.  Cues:  Name, Watch, Attention, Heel.  After that, it's just a matter of duration and proofing.
• I want Dolce to enjoy being greeted by friendly people, and not to react strongly to unfriendly people.  He is to sit at my side to be greeted, and wait patiently to do so.  Cues:  Name, Heel (finish) + Handling.
• If we are caught off-guard and there is no way to get enough distance in time, I am going to jackpot Look-At-That and/or Watch, whichever he is more comfortable with, until the trigger is gone, with Dolce facing me, sitting (or if he's too worried, standing) away from the trigger.  Cues:  Name, LAT, Sit, Watch.
• I contacted Laurie Zurborg of Wags & Wiggles this morning inquiring about the upcoming Control Unleashed Workshop (4 hours, $120) and/or a Private Lesson (1.5 hours, $180).  I am going to take their CGC class with him when he's ready.  At the end of the class, we get to take the test.
• I emailed Chris Bach yesterday about her DVDs and Books on her method, The Third Way and which would most likely apply to us.  No response yet, but I am getting the DVDs via my subscription to Tawzer. :)

Thanks for following along in our saga.  This year may be the year it all comes together.  I surely hope so.  If not, we've got time... <3 div="div">

Holiday Reunion

Rick and I flew back to Michigan from the 25th-30th to visit family and friends for the holidays.  It was a wonderful visit.

I left the pack in the trusted care of my mother-in-law and Irvine Pam.  Dolce and JoJo had a great time with MamaMarge, and Zenzi had a wonderful experience at Camp Pam.  Zenzi made friends with Penny, a miniature schnauzer!  Zenzi has not had the opportunity to make friends with other dogs, so this is extraordinary.  Pam reports Zenzi even roughhoused with Penny.  I'm so proud. :)

When we returned the dogs to each other for the first time in those 5 days, the greeting was so exuberant and loving I nearly teared up.  I finally have a pack of dogs who are really attached to each other, love each other, and express that affection beautifully.  It was a sight to behold.  I'm so grateful for the wonderful care my babies received in my absence.

Canine New Year Resolutions:

• Finish Zenzi's house training.
• Introduce Zenzi to agility basics.
• Hike at least once a week with Dolce and Zenzi.
• Walk JoJo by herself everyday.
• The elusive CGC title for Dolce.
• The CGC title for Zenzi.
• Put an Expert Trick Dog title on Dolce so we can apply for Trick Dog Champion.
• Put Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert Trick Dog titles on Zenzi so she can be a Trick Dog Champion, too.
• Prepare Zenzi for the Public Access Test.
• Get Zenzi certified as a Therapy Dog.
• Earn any Novice Rally-O title with Zenzi.
• Earn any Novice Obedience title with Zenzi.
• More doing, less studying of dog training.

Personal Resolutions:

• Daily yoga workout Monday-Friday.
• Run or bike with Dolce a few times per week.
• Wake up early (5:30am), go to bed early (10:00pm).
• Read instead of watch TV to help myself fall asleep at night.
• Look more polished (makeup & hair) for teaching.
• Get to goal weight of 120lbs.
• Less soda and eating out, more water and eating in.

Zenzi's 6th Puppy Class

I'm not really in a blogging mood because I'm terribly hungry and we need to paint, but here's a recap...

• Auntie Pam came along, and was again AMAZED by Zenzi's focus, attention span, drive, speed, intelligence, adorableness -- you get the idea.
• Sherry taught again
• Zenzi remembered Sherry and was instantly fine with offering hand touches for treats and wiggled her little tutu butt.
• Zenzi was curious about the new members of class:  husky, mini-schnauzer, gordon setter
• She was also okay with Princess (the papillon) so long as Princess wasn't making contact.
• Zenzi aced every exercise we did today:  exploring a wooden plank (easy, boring), big books stacked in a staircase, balance balls, speed bumps, and contact guides set 6 in a row to make a tunnel of sorts that the dogs had to walk over the lower beams to get through.
• Sherry used Zenzi as an example for Leave it -- this girl has the MOST food drive EVER.  She caught on quickly, even though it was a new person, different food, and slightly different method (Zenzi had to leave the treat hand AND give eye contact).
• Puppy play time was better, though Zenzi was still rather shy and overwhelmed.  She played tug amidst the fray, and even sniffed the shy mini-schnauzer's bum politely.

The new neighborhood walk.

They went from this...

To this...

And finally to this. :)

Zenzi's 5th Puppy Class + Moving

Zenzi was MUCH braver entering the training facility at Wags & Wiggles this time.  Auntie Pam came along to help and watch.  That was fun!  I enjoyed having a training partner who isn't the trainer for once.  My poor husband always has to work during the classes.

We had a new trainer, Sherry, so Zenzi was cautious.  Sherry was very respectful of Zenzi's shyness, and asked the other members of the class to respect it as well.  This I appreciated very much.  Amanda didn't do this, and everybody tried to treat her like a labrador retriever; this only made her more insecure.  This class allowed Zenzi to really come out of her shell with people, and I was really glad to see it!

We did some name game, recalls, loose-leash walking, heeling intro, and the Puppy-Go-Round game.  Zenzi was a super star for all of it, and all Pam kept saying was, "Wow!  I wish my adult dogs were this attentive, responsive, and focused."  I gleamed with pride.

Sherry kept asking things like, "Do you plan to do dog sports with her?" and "Are you interested in agility?" and "I bet Laurie [head trainer] could take her into the puppy sports class early..." Which is how I discovered there was such a thing.  That's definitely on the agenda once the move is over.

The puppy-go-round game was really good.  Zenzi caught onto the game really quickly:  get treat from Mom for sitting and looking at her cutely, move on to the next person to her right, repeat, get treat, and continue around the circle.  Knowing the structure gave her confidence to walk right up to people (the other 2 people in class own Princes, a papillon, and they were TOTALLY gothic people with black hair, dark baggy clothes, piercings everywhere, and the girl had green highlights in her hair.

*     *     *     *     *

This post is late because of the move (sorry guys!), which is in its final stages.  We have to paint, but all the stuff is here, and we're mostly unpacked.  The dogs really like it here, and we had this moment already...

Dolce & Zenzi snuggle for the first time.

Zenzi's 4th Puppy Class

I'm sorry this is late.  It's been really busy!

Zenzi had her 4th puppy class yesterday.  She was still pretty cautious going into the facility.  While we waited in the parking lot, she decided a steel trash bucket for the nearby poop station was scary.  So we did lots of "Go see!" and she got over it.

In class, we did a lot more socializing, this time with strange objects, Halloween decorations in particular.

• motorized hand wrapped in gauze
• mechanical walking/yapping small puppy dog
• Frankenstein head
• black witch's hat with a feathery brim
• bubble wrap strip
• umbrella
• two dome-shaped exercise ball things that are very small, hand-sized

She was a champ about ALL of these objects!  She nose touched, pawed, and knocked over the hand right away.  I was shocked, you could hear the gears, see the fingers twitching.  She thought the puppy dog was a great toy and had no problems knocking it down, putting a paw on it, and trying to wrestle with it.  The Frankenstein head was no threat, either.  She even tried to tug the string it would hang from.  I got her to put her entire snout IN the witch's hat with no hesitation right from the get-go.  She walked on the bubble wrap, and barely flinched when I popped some of the bubbles.  She had so much fun walking on it, she actually AIMED for it!  The umbrella was awesome, too.  She actually ended up POUNCING on it while it was open!  Open, close, back and forth quickly -- no problem.  The true genius of my puppy showed when she learned to put both front paws up, one on each of the dome-shaped nubby ball things.  And Amanda said it might take some time... Yeah, try 3 minutes tops. :)

Then we had puppy play time.  Zenzi just DOES NOT want to have anything to do with hyper, overactive puppies.  She even growled a meaningful, low, brief growl at them when they tried to gang up on her.  I got her out of there and we went off and played on our own.

Dismayed by her dislike of the hyper puppies, I called up Irvine Pam for a play date.  Technically she'd been to Auntie Pam's before; we took her there the day we brought her home to have Pam help introduce her to Dolce.  But it was night time, and we were only there for 10 minutes.  Anyway... We went out to Pam's place that afternoon, and Zenzi met Bella and Lily, a havanese and a maltese, plus Pam's friend, Marileen's dog, Bailey, a peek-a-pom.  The greetings with Bella and Lily went swimmingly (both young adult dogs, 4 and 3 years old), and Zenzi loved on them both instantly.  I was relieved.  The greeting with Bailey was not quite so smooth.  I had tried using a treat to break the ice (as I like to do), but unbenounced to me, Bailey is a food-guarder, and ended up snapping at Zenzi.  Zenzi, to my chagrin, was slightly affronted, but let it roll off as no big deal.  From there on out, Zenzi and Bailey were completely fine with each other.

Pam got her skateboard, and I demonstrated Zenzi's brilliance wheeling it around, and tolerating being hoisted up while I press down on the end with my foot, then crashing it back down (teeter practice, anyone?) and her scampering off only to get back on and look at me as if to say, "That was fun!  Let's do it again, ready Mom?"  We practiced tricks, did a nosework course with some cardboard boxes, and even a little agility jump box work.  Zenzi, of course, did not jump anything at her young age, but enjoyed going over a pole in the grass all the same.  Her nosework was amazing, too.  She found the treat fastest, and had never played the game before.  Pam even put the tray with the treat in a box, then another box over 2/3 of that box.  No problem, Zenzi stuck her snout right in there, bumped the top box off, and ate the treat.

I was amazed by Zenzi's boldness in this interaction at Auntie Pam's.  I had Dolce along, and thought perhaps that gave her some extra confidence.  Though, I really think the environment at Wags & Wiggles, with the daycare right beyond the training room, intimidates her.  Oh, Auntie Pam got out her Ikea tunnel when we were practicing agility, and Zenzi was SUCKED IN right away!  I could believe it!  She waltzed right up to it, then ran through at top speed, turned around to look at me with a big smile on her face before going through it the other way.

Pam keeps saying she's met a lot of smart dogs -- she's raised GSDs all her life, met several of her trainer friends' border collies... Zenzi is the smartest dog she's ever met.

Did I mention Zenzi pooped in class?  She also peed and pooped while playing outside at Auntie Pam's?  She pooped on the pack walk, and peed during IDOGS today, too. What a good girl!  Peeing and pooping in new places, outside, on-leash.  YES.

I got a new camera, and Zenzi LOVES JoJo.

JoJo has actually instigated play a few times with Zenzi. O.o

Amazing Dolce Day

Major success #1

Dolce and JoJo went to the Laguna Beach Dog Park this morning.  It's been a long time since we've gone to the park, and we've pretty much decided to avoid our local one.  I was very excited to see what sort of progress we've made in this kind of environment, given all our successes on walks.  I'm sorry to say I was unable to snap video or pictures. I was too attentive to Dolce.

Luckily, as I was hoping, the small dog portion of the park was vacant.  The park is essentially one large grassy area with a steep hill (it's in a valley between mountains), and the small dog park is just a small, fenced off portion of it.  The fence is chain-link, so Dolce could soak up all the commotion without having to be part of it.  It only took him 15 minutes of CU exercises to be comfortable.  I was floored.  I didn't even know if we'd make it into the big park today.

I let JoJo into the park.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderfully social, rock solid dog.  Meanwhile, I just held Dolce in my arms.  I let him soak up being in the park from the safety of Mama's height.  It worked like a charm.  I walked slowly, and he just observed from my arms nice and calmly.  When we got to a part of the park that was pretty empty, I let him down.  He ran off to sniff and pee and poop.  Eventually, we were approached by a friendly lab.  Dolce was a little snarky at first, but quickly warmed up and greeted with rear end sniffs.  This continued for the next half-hour or so, and his snarks became less and less.

I can honestly say that before we left, Dolce seemed comfortable and happy among all those dogs.  There were probably at least 2 dozen dogs there, of all shapes and sizes.  He made friends with a mini Aussie and a mutt his size -- both males!

Major success #2

After we got home from the park and I ate lunch, we headed out to our friend Pam's for a playdate.  Dolce already knows Pam's dogs, Bella and Lily.  Today, though, we had the pleasure of meeting a guest, Oliver, an 8-month-old bichon frisé puppy.

To my delight and shock, Dolce was fine with Oliver instantly.  He never once barked or growled at Oliver, they had a very friendly rear-sniffing greeting, and that was that.  I've always had a suspicion from our encounters on walks that he's more comfortable with puppies -- I think this confirms it.

Here's a snippet from playing with Oliver:

I love seeing Dolce play like a dog.

And here's a little training Pam got in with her dogs + Dolce.

Order left to right:  Lily, Oliver, Bella, Dolce.

Dolce did three amazing things here.

1) He shared food nicely with other dogs who were also getting food.

2) He sat patiently for his turn and wasn't grabby.

3) He gave Pam his undivided focus among intense distractions!

We next got to play with Pam's jumps and practice our agility exercises.  Alas, my jumps are not here yet.  We also got to show off some of our tricks. Dolce is getting more comfortable performing on grass. :)

So that was our amazing day.  I'm so proud of him.  I can't wait for him to get his CGC!

Pam & Twix, New Gear, Anal Glands

Pam & Twix

Pam of Pam's Dog Academy in San Diego (AKA San Diego Pam) came all the way up to my neck of the woods to visit and have a doggie play day -- as much as Dolce would allow, anyway.  I was very proud of Dolce.  We walked with Twix, we played alongside each other, and he even took a little nap in his travel crate.  I was delighted with the progress we've made.  If Pam and I had gotten together when I first got Dolce and first noticed his reactivity, this would not have even come close to happening.  I was slightly disappointed Dolce didn't get to the point that he could play with Twix, but I got some valuable information about Dolce's reactivity.  He is not only worried about poodles and dogs with long hair, he's worried about males!  Thank goodness for learning opportunities.  Irvine Pam (who owns Lily) joined us later that afternoon, and Dolce was just as comfortable with Lily and Bella as ever.  However, Pam also brought a guest, Bailey, a 4-year old, male peekapom (pekingese x pomeranian).  Dolce reacted pretty badly to introductions with Bailey, even though trusted and beloved Irvine Pam was present.  The greeting streak has ended.

I wanted to thank Pam for a wonderful day together!  I admire her work in the purely positive training world, and hope that our schedules can align long enough for her to be my mentor as I embark on the dog training industry on my own!  I really want to compete with Dolce in dog sports, but taking group classes is unrealistic with his reactivity as it is.  She is an experienced competitor in a variety of venues, and a valuable resource.  I cannot thank her enough.

New Gear

I have lost Dolce's red Halti body harness.  I was relatively pleased with that harness, and am very saddened by its loss.  However, I have heard nothing but good things about the Sens-ation harness, and have ordered Dolce a green one.  We've been using a Halti head collar since watching this video by Dr. Sophia Yin when she worked with Podee, a dog who was dog-aggressive/reactive.  This has helped tremendously, and led to my breakthrough:  Dolce has to get treats until he is no longer worried about the trigger.  This has led to exponential progress in our training/counter-conditioning.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to Dolce's new theme color (which also happens to be my favorite color), green, instead of red, and I'll let you know how he likes it when it gets here!  Red is, as I said when I was little, the most festive color.  I also think it's associated with anger, aggression, etc.  Dogs also can't see red, only blue-green-yellow-black-gray-white.  I'm hoping green will be a new attitude for us both.  I doubt it, but we'll see!  This is along my same thought-processes that when we do finally conquer this reactivity stuff, Dolce might get a new name...

I'm also hoping to really focus on training Dolce to train.  I've been watching Emily Larlham's DVD set called 101 Ways to Think Outside the Box, courtesy of Tawzer Dog's rental program.  I am full of wonderful ideas how to go about motivating Dolce to work for food and toys, find the work itself reinforcing, and fill in our training gaps.  I love that girl!

Anal Glands

I've never had a dog who needed to have their anal glands expressed before.  I noticed a zit-looking growth on Dolce butt the other day, and didn't think much of it.  When it didn't go away, I did some googling, and discovered he probably had swollen (full) anal glands.  We went to the vet today to have that taken care of.  $28 later, he is empty, and it was confirmed his glands were quite full!  That must be SO uncomfortable.  I wonder if this is partially to blame for his less-than-perfect house-training and shy-pooper habits?  Anyway, does anyone know how often I should have this done?  Is there generally a schedule for this sort of thing?