Havin' a Rough Time of It

The last couple of days have shown the grim side of dog ownership, when behaviors pop up that you wish you could just send away instantly.

Rally class was.. stressful.  I wish I didn't even take it.  It's packed with 9 dogs in a training room that would be better suited for 6.  Marge carried on a lot in the beginning and it was impossible to keep her focus.  She snapped at another dog.  When she finally did calm down, she wasn't having fun like she does at agility.  She did welcome pets from two kids and had a GOOD social interaction with their Border Collie at the end.  But, overall, I don't think either of us liked it.

Hopefully it's better next week.  If not, maybe I'll just take the monetary loss and drop the class.  Maybe I'll go back to Beginner 2 at some point.  I can't have her stressed out like that.  Down $160 or not, it's not worth having my dog exhibit fear and reactivity.

It was funny, when we got home I went into the backyard and did some agility practice.  The life was restored to her.  She was exuberant, playful, and happy to be working.

Today I thought, okay, we'll start over.  Clean slate new day.  Nope - I'm sitting on the couch and she lets out a nice long growl at my dad, who she had just seen minutes before, as he enters the house.  I've been working so hard to keep door confrontations from happening, but I guess I overestimated her recent successes.

I hate to sound so down, but I really am.  She'd been making so much progress the past few months, peaking at a successful completion of the Canine Good Citizen.  Now, in just a couple of days, I'm seeing behaviors that I thought were gone or were never there in the first place.

Maybe I sprang too much on her too fast.  Maybe I'm forgetting the life she had before she came here and expecting too much too soon.  I thought she'd be ready for Rally - maybe she is - but I'm upset that she had to be in an environment last night that made her uncomfortable.

And, the whole dad issue - I thought it was on the upswing.   This one kills me.  To have two individuals living under the same roof who are not 100% compatible with each other is a daily struggle. 

 I can't imagine what it's like having a dog who is comfortable with everyone.

Chiiiilled out.

So I had another post on here a short while ago, but after calming down and analyzing the situation, I thought it was better to scrap the whole entry and start over.

If you scroll back a couple of days, you'll see that Marge had an encounter with a Cane Corso near a neighbor's fence.  Well, the same thing happened again today with a couple people - not dogs, this time.  I wasn't with her this time - my sister was.

Anyway, I'm trying to piece together why all of this is going on.

What has basically happened since Tre moved in is the disturbance of the delicate balance of dogs on our block.  It was always Marge and Buddy, and Tre would be around sometimes, but not often.

Now, Marge is sandwiched in between these two dogs, who have known each other a long time.  Basically, my backyard is an island in an ocean otherwise comprised of Tre and Buddy's 'territory.'

Marge can't be around Tre when Buddy's around.  The three dogs can only see each other in pairs of twos.  It's a possession issue, without a doubt.  Marge is often at the receiving end of this aggression.  So, I think by barking at other dogs and people when she is near Tre's fence, she's turning the tables and barking at them before they, basically, can bark at her.

I can't say I really blame her for this response.  She's worried that a friend - who she cannot see very often due to the aforementioned "A+B, C your way out" kind of thing that's going on - is going to be taken away from her any time someone approaches.  She's guarding him by becoming reactive and letting everyone know that she isn't going anywhere.

Now, how to fix this?  I think it's going to be the careful combination of diligence and the clicker.  She can't be around the fence when the dogs are aggressing.  I'll avoid it completely.  Because I think it's THEIR behaviors that are, basically influencing her.

The second - desensitization.  I am not using the clicker enough.  (On a walk today, she was SO responsive to the clicker, and did not react towards any person or barking dog or object she saw.  Her attention is impeccable.)  I need to go out there, at a time when there's people going by but no dogs are out, and click, click, click, for silence and good behavior.  Which should be easy.

 Gosh.. I discounted myself so much earlier.. But I can do this.

Missing in Action

Sorry I haven't made my blog rounds this week. We should be back to normal now!

The week in review:

- I've been sick as a dog from Tuesday until today. I was able to get to agility before the worst of it set in on Wednesday, but unfortunately, my cameragirl sister was not so lucky. Alas, we have another week of no agility pictures. We've been one germ-filled household. Walks for Marge have been short and sparse. We're just getting back into the swing of things today, with a decent walk and backyard agility session. (The picture above was taken just after the session of an annoyed Marge, who didn't want the camera in her face after doing all that jumping and targeting.)

- Agility on Tuesday was a lot of fun. We practiced the tunnel alot and Marge is going through it even when it's slightly curved. Tried the chute a couple of times, too, but only with the collapsed part held open. She was a little bit afraid of it. Did the A-Frame a whole bunch of times and Marge absolutely loves it. Started weaving as well - very very tricky!

- Rally's starting Sunday. She, supposedly, should be ready for APDT Level 1 at the end of the 8 week session. I'm not holding my breath, but I think there's a trial coming up in July, on the last week of class. Who knows! I guess we'll see if she likes it and how she progresses. APDT is nice because you can treat your dog during non-moving exercises. I'm not looking for the whole Formal-O thing right now, so Rally should be nice for building attention and getting used to the ring.

And, that's really all I've got for now. With two classes next week, hopefully we'll have a lot to blog about!

A Strange Occurrence.

So I was outside just now, getting ready to take Marge for a walk. I stopped to talk to my neighbors. One of them just moved onto the block and has a Yorkshire/Rottweiler (yes, I know) mix that Marge really likes.

A Cane Corso walks by - a dog that Marge has known since he was a pup. She's timid around him because of his size, but doesn't really have any problems with him.

The Corso goes up to the fence where the Tre is. Marge went ballistic. Barking and hackles up like I've never seen her do before to another dog.

After a few seconds the poor Corso walked away, totally freaked out by Marge and the other dog barking at him, and I continued on my walk.

We crossed paths again on another block and Marge was alright. No reaction, really.

I kept walking a bit and took her into the field, where a man was walking his small, adorable Dobe/GSD mix. She went right up to him and liked him. Very loose body language, looked like she wanted to play.

So I think that Marge has some kind of thing either relating to big dogs or Tre's fence.. or maybe both. The only other time she showed any reactivity on a leash (and it was more like just one bellowing bark from my front stoop) was to Lord, the huge GSD.

Hmm. I hope this doesn't happen again. (Any of my blogging behavior experts care to weigh in?)

__________

Yesterday with the company went alright - she gave a growl to one of my aunts who left the house and re-entered, but thankfully it was my most-dog-friendly aunt of the three that were here. I gave Marge TONS of breaks outside... walking, frozen yogurt stuffies, and all that kind of stuff. But, honestly, she seemed like she wanted to be with the people. Yet, I didn't want to grant her wish completely - you never know if someone will push her too far. So, she had her time inside (where she laid down in a room full of 11 people) and her time outside too.

Tomorrow, at long as there isn't some freakish weather, I will be back with Agility pictures. (And as long as my designated camera girl, my sister, can come with me.)

Social Testing

Today, being Mother's Day, is bringing a rather large crowd to my house. I originally thought it was going to only be a couple of people - both grandmothers and two aunts. No problem.

That list, over the past couple of days, has extended to two grandmothers, three aunts, two cousins and possibly some significant others.

This is going to be the most people Marge has ever seen in this house. Last time I had a crowd of friends over - summer '08 - it was when we had first gotten Marge. She was overwhelmed as soon as the FIRST person entered the house, and we kept her downstairs with my sister for the remainder of the day. So, she never saw the half-dozen other people that came.

Fortunately, we've had some good visitor experiences lately. My friend stopped in to my house with me the other day. I walked through the door with her, and Marge was excited to see me, so it didn't matter. It doesn't hurt that Marge has already met this person, too.

Yesterday we discovered there are termite problems in our area (oh, the fun of living in the city), so my parents have decided to pay for preventative treatment to the perimeter of our house. A woman from the exterminating company came in. Not wanting to chance a door confrontation with a person Marge has never seen before, I took her outside and threw treats to her as the woman approached the house (Marge NEVER reacts in this situation, but I figured it would be super awesome to have her distracted completely). Went fine, and I let her offleash into the house. Wasn't really bothered by the woman's presence.

I'm banking on a couple of things to help today go right:

• Yogurt. My sister and I had a yogurt party yesterday, stuffing a kong, twist-n-treat, and hollow cow shin bone all with yogurt. That's all currently in my freezer now, much to my mom's disliking. We have a bully stick for backup, if we need it.
• Outside. Marge is going to stay outside for a lot of the day, if that's what she wants. Additionally, we're going to try to have some of the guests eat their meal outside (I will be one of them) such that the house isn't super cramped.

This should go alright, as long as I'm diligent and no one acts stupidly. Wish me luck.

Happy Mother's Day to all out there. Enjoy your special day!

Thundering Thursday

So, agility WAS cancelled Tuesday, much to our dismay(s?), which is why we never came back and updated earlier in the week.

doG must not want us to practice, because I set up some of my makeshift backyard agility course, only to be disturbed by bees, which scared me (I'm a sissy around bees) and intrigued Marge. She had no idea what the heck those things were doing buzzing in the air next to each other.

^^^ That was my best attempt at creating something wobbly, such that Marge will be less scared of the teeter when we finally do it. It took very few clicks to get her walking across these slats, which I think are back-ups for our fence. If only my father knew what good use they're being put to.

I would have went back out after the bees so rudely interrupted us, but then this started showing up:

So backyard agility was cut short. At least Marge got through the storm okay, thanks to my dad coming home and eating a nice big piece of steak. I was all set to start doling out treats to her when the thunder struck..I didn't really have to.

The Doorway to Success

CLOUDY AND SHOWERS -- that seems to be the story of our lives right now. I feel like we haven't had a day of sun in weeks. Oh well. As long as agility class tomorrow isn't cancelled, I'll deal with it.

So, we had a good experience at the front door today. My sister is having a tutor come for Math Regents prep. This woman is soft spoken, very neutral in appearance, just really a regular person who will pet Marge a bit without being overwhelming. In other words, she fits the bill as a person Marge would like. (How creepy it sounds to say this kind of stuff. Oh well.. fearful dog owners everywhere can relate, I'm sure.) Rather than go through my usual routine - sit outside, wait for the person to come, let them go in, give many treats, et cetera. Instead, I took a gamble. She's already met the tutor once and likes her. I saw her car pull up, waited by the door with a fistful of treats, Marge on leash, and let the woman in as Marge chowed down.

Not an ounce of fear. Not really an ounce of care.

This seems like a great opportunity to slowly desensitize Marge to having this woman in the house - a brand new person to add to Marge's "List of People Who Can Get Through the Front Door." Maybe next week we'll try it leashless, just throwing treats to the ground, and then take it from there.

Don't want to jinx anything, but Marge has been okay with my dad and the door lately, too. Of course, we're taking lots of precautions and issuing lots of jackpots, but improvement is improvement. *knock on wood*

Tomorrow night I hope to be back here with pictures from Agility, which promises to be a soggy experience - I imagine the field is rather swamplike right now.