Walkies!

The human here! PLEASE IGNORE THIS POST! It is all very boring, just for me to use as a log to look back and watch for trends and what not. Im working on some pretty major behavior modification with Alki so this is to help keep my thoughts clear and keep track of the good/bad, and to make myself accountable and be sure Im doing what Im supposed to!! I started keeping this on another blog but want to just keep it all in one place. This is just a massive recap, but in the future my posts will hopefully be shorter/more interesting. ;)

- Margaret

+ + + + +

2.26.10: folsom lake trip, all 3 dogs. super rainy/windy, only stayed about 30 mins

2.27.10: private with jen. 5 mins of frisbee, then a short, maybe 5-10 min meeting with jen. crated rest of the day. (side note: short dog park trip with the boys [maybe 30-45 mins])

2.28.10: folsom lake trip, all 3 dogs. AWESOME weather, fair amount of people, thus short trip, maybe 45 mins. Alki watched out the car window the whole trip there/back. good visual stimuli for her.

3.01.10: played fetch out back twice, 1st time not for too long. 2nd time about the same amount of time or less but she was very pooped when we stopped! later on went on super short walk, about 5 or so mins. She was very tense and alert/on edge. No outbursts though at all. (note: also walked brock for over 20 mins. great walk, perfect weather. very relaxing)

3.02.10: played fetch outback *almost* to the point of exhaustion but lost the ball over the fence! immediately after fetch we went for a 10-15 min walk. she was MUCH calmer & relaxed today, habituated and then gained focus much faster. didnt need to constantly prompt her to look at me today like yesterday. walked past a man working on his truck. she was curious, but calm. vocalized at him but it was a normal greeting type noise, and she took food from me right after very calmly, no sign of nervousness or even over arousal.

prob could have walked longer but did not want to push it at all. scattered the remainder of kibble (btw 1/4 & 1/3 c) onto the drive way for her to scavenge.

3.03.10: yesterday I did NO dog things. :P it was rainy in the afternoon and I needed to do cleaning & catch up on cat stuff. dogs did get to hang out in the am for a while, and then in the eve, and snuggle on the couch, etc.

3.04.10: played fetch with Alki until she dropped! also mixed in some tug, 1 "find it", and several "bounce"s. planned to walk her but it was after 5 and lots was going on. lots of kids out, on bikes, people in yards working, etc. AND Snow was out. Alki reacted at him twice, (I wanted to see if she could handle looking at him from a distance while being fed but it was just too much), so we just stood in the doorway where she could hear snow and all the goings on, and see lots of stuff/people but not snow. worked on attention, and did a few other obedience behaviors. after her tip overs she was not really all that worked up, but was taking treats rough, but settled back down pretty quickly, and we ended in a great state of mind. it was nice to know I was "supposed" to take it easy and not attempt this walk. fed her 1 cup of kibble and 2 hot dogs in the door way.

also: walked Brock & Royal down to the park, & let them run off leash for a while. over 90 mins total.

3.05.10: took alki to discovery park, played frisbeeee! also walked a bit. passed a group of people at a picnic table to see how she'd react. one of the people made kissy noises at her, she was wagging her tail and barked once. not sure if she wanted to go say hi or was a little nervous, or both.

3.06.10: took brock to the davis arboretum, was out there most of the day. didnt get home til dusk, but then played fetch with alki in back in the dark until she dropped. (snow was barking the whole time also and another neighbor dog that we dont usually hear & she was totally fine). also slept with alki & brock that night.

3.07.10: TONS going on outside in the afternoon. (3 parties on our street, lots of laughing, yelling, kids running around on bikes and other toys, etc). took alki out front to just scavenge kibble in the driveway but she was doing so well and it was so nice (and there were NO dogs out) so we decided to walk. walked maybe 10 mins, stopping a lot, working on various obedience stuff but mostly just stopping in strategic places for her to watch the action. never got closer than 5-10 ft to any people, (stayed across the street). she did great. was very calm and focused on me, only needed kibble. she was actively casual heeling and watching me without prompts, just willingly working for kibble (hadnt eaten yet). got a little nervous too far from home so didnt go far before we looped back. only heard a couple dogs barking off in the distance, she didnt even notice.

got home, scavenged the rest of the kibble in the driveway, then to solidify a positive association with the neighborhood activity, we played fetch out front until she dropped. GREAT day!

Evening: took the boys for a quick romp at the dog park!

3.08.10: did nothing. the dogs were out all day, but slept the whole time. didnt even wrestle or play!

3.09.10: first bad day. today I was lazy again, dogs were crated all day until 4 when I let them out and took Alki out back to play fetch. played for a while, til she didnt want to bring it right back, but not to the point of utter exhaustion. we came inside and within a couple mins Alki went after Brock. No damage of course, but it was loud and scary for me.

after thinking it through I think it was PROBABLY some or a combo of the following:

+ too little exercise (none yesterday, and zero stimulation today)
+ still aroused after a tiring game of fetch (raised levels of cortisol)
+ Alki & Brock were both on edge about the neighbor dog's barking for the last 1-2 hrs
+ I think Brock alerted to the dog and that triggered Alki's reaction

UPDATE: Since this day I have been aware of this potential and watch Alki for signs of anxiety and/or separate her and Brock by a gate when I cant watch or on particularly reactive days. We also got a fan for the dog room which has helped immensely in blocking outside noises, greatly limiting the reactivity.

busy with school, BAD record keeping, not much activity:
3.10.10: don’t think we did much of anything, just hung out in the house.

busy with school, BAD record keeping, not much activity:
3.11.10: another low-key day, lots of chews, stuffed bones/kongs.

busy with school, BAD record keeping, not much activity:
3.12.10: another nothing day; Royal & Alki played, plus more chews. played tug + fetch with Alki

3.13.10: played with the flirt pole with Alki, then took the boys to the dog park.

3.14.10: BUSY DAY! Played fetch twice, and played “find it” in the yard. Had BBQ and hung out in yard with the dogs and all 3 got raw bones and other chews. Alki slept in bed with us.

3.15.10: Played fetch twice, and “find it” in the yard, plus lots of chews again. Hung out on the couch in the eve, then slept in bed with us again.

3.16.10: Played fetch til she got too hot, then took about a 15 min walk. Did great!

3.17.10: Just hung out in the house; (busy with school)

3.18.10: went to a new park with Alki to play frisbee. Saw another dog very up close, she did really well (was tired by then & it was only a quick pass by). Didn’t stay too long, she got tired fast!

3.19.10: Played fetch twice. Took a long (for us) walk, went farther than we’ve been doing. Did really great except had 3 sorta-scary moments on the way home, that happened one after the other, before she could recover from the last incident, so it wasn’t great but there were no total meltdowns. I think we both handled it well considering.

3.20.10: Played fetch twice til she was too tired/hot to go on. We also played out front while the neighbor kids were playing outside, but they started hanging around and not listening when I asked them to get away from the fence and stop staring at her (she didn’t even notice but I don’t want to take any chances), so we went back inside.

Also took Royal for a long walk downtown in Old Sacramento.

3.21-26.10: LOST TRACK THIS WEEK! Didn’t take any notes so going off memory:

Took Brock to Old Sacramento on the 21st, not sure what else! Also know I took the boys to the dog park 2-3 times this week. Trying to “mix it up” with Alki and not just play with the wubba--played wall ball a couple times, wubba a couple times, and also played with the flirt pole with Alki & Royal 3-4 days.

3.27.10: Went to a disc dog seminar with Brock for 4 hrs, then ate at the Cheesecake Factory outdoors with Brock. In the evening we took Alki to the park up the street to play frisbee til she dropped!


3.28.10: played frisbee with Alki in the morning. took Royal to a local park, played off leash with a dog there but Royal was tired/hot/off and not into the treats or playing so we left and went to the ice cream shop to sit a while (and get him some water!)

3.29.10: ANOTHER BAD RECORD KEEPING WEEK; spring break so home with dogs all week! All the dogs got chews this day, not sure what else.

3.30.10: just hung out at home.

3.31.10: played fetch with Alki, and had 2 frisbee training sessions with Brock, one at the park around the block, and one at home. He did REALLY well! He is interested in the frisbee, and we’ve played with them often in the past, but he doesn’t retrieve, so we are working on short tosses and he gets treat rewards when he carries the frisbee all the way back to me. He prefers fabric frisbees but we are working with some soft plastic ones in short distances and he is improving.

4.01.10: took the boys to jacinto park and there were a whole bunch of morons there, plus Brock was in an intolerant mood, so we left promptly and walked for about an hour along the creek and around the neighborhood. It was beautiful and relaxing! We also stopped at petsmart afterward

4.02.10: took the boys to the dog park, had a brief frisbee session (3 retrieves) in the dog park with Brock, then walked along the creek.

started trying to teach Royal some nose work with boxes and hot dogs. He did well but lost interest fast (he just ate breakfast so wasn’t hungry.. will try it again on an empty stomach!) then did it with Brock who of course rocked it! Didn’t do too many sessions, will have to play again another day sooon.

4.03.10: took the boys to the dog park again, this time it was a great mix of people, and Brock was in a VERY playful, happy mood so we didn’t have to leave and stayed for over an hour! Great weather too! Also had a frisbee session with Brock right outside the park before we left, and he did GREAT.

In the evening we took Alki to the park around the block and played frisbee til she dropped and then worked on our throws. There was a huge party there, lots of kids and people, music, and one of those bounce houses or whatever, and Alki did GREAT. She was totally focused on the frisbee and didn’t even care about the craziness (we were also a good ways away, but had to walk past it all to and from the car)

4.04.10: RAIN. Did some nose work with Alki. Had 3 very long and challenging searches using her rubber chuck-it ball. Then we played a bit of fetch in the house, and she got to play with her ball by herself for a while as well, then worked on a rawhide.

4.05.10: Boring day indoors, dogs hung out, played fetch with Alki in the afternoon but she got tired fast. Later played a bit if ball in the house, and she got to chew. Royal and Alki wrestled briefly in the evening.

Ive been bad the last couple weeks, losing my momentum. Will have to focus again on working with Alki outdoors, even for short basic obedience sessions/scavenging in the drive way. Havent walked her in a while either, I don’t think at all since that bad day on March 19th! Want to work on frisbee some more with Brock as well, and should do some more walks with just Royal, I so rarely do that—its either just Brock, just Alki, or Brock & Royal. Want to practice his rally behaviors. Oh and Ive been working on Brock’s recall more lately, and it shows! He’s doing great. I also found a great training facility I want to do rally and therapy stuff at with Royal, hopefully this or next month.

PHEW, well I think that catches me all up! Going to try and blog these every day now on here to keep me in check.