ANYHOO. So I decided I want to start working with Alki in the mornings, just for 5 mins at least. So that is what I did today!
We did our usual thing, but Im trying to pay closer attention to every single detail. We started by opening the front door with her in a sit-stay and worked on eye contact. I do not prompt it, I expect it to be automatic, and she is great with this. What I paid attn to today was how long it took her (how many pieces of kibble) before she could look at me and not feel the need to look away and scan the environment. The average was about 10-12 pieces before I could get in doubles (she would look away, look at me, C/T, she would keep eye contact, or at least not look away to the environment, and I could C/T a 2nd time before she then looked away again). The more comfortable she is, the less she will feel the need to scan.
anyway, so we made it out to the drive way and just did some eye contact, and then I tossed some kibble out on the drive way for her to sniff around for, just building basic positive association with being outside, and the noises, etc. she seemed fine so I just started walking a bit. she seemed to enjoy sniffing the grass and taking in the smells. after about 15-20 ft she seemed maybe a little tense/jumpy so I stopped to do some more eye contact. its hard because in this stretch there is no side walk and the traffic is 40 mph, so its loud and not pleasant, and not really very safe. we made it to the sidewalk and stopped. dropped treats on the ground. we were about to turn and head back when all of a sudden, kids started coming out from everywhere. apparently the school bus comes at about 8:15... We saw a couple kids ahead at the bus stop and one girl coming from behind. I tried to get Alki to look behind us to see the girl coming but she was too focused on the food and didnt see her until she was really close. I just did the best I could (not able to cross the street) and moved as far from the sidewalk as possible and fed Alki continuously as the girl passed (she was very sweet too btw, said "Hello!" in a very kind way. love it.) Then Alki was on edge. She heard the kids up ahead at the stop and alerted on them- stopped eating for a second. I then did some LAT with my hand signal and she responded well (we need to work on it more!!! I cant have her snuffling for food when I need her to look at something so as to not get startled) Then we turned and headed back home. Alki started getting flinchy (like she thinks Im going to hit her; I cannot feed her from my hand when she gets to that point because she will take the food them immediately cower into the ground. It doesnt matter what Im doing with my body or arm or hand, it doesnt matter if I do not even move a muscle, she will flinch like she thinks Im going to beat her. IT IS HEARTBREAKING and has taken me a long time to get over the hurtful emotions of it and focus on preventing it from getting to that point--now that I know it starts after she encounters a fear trigger) So as we walked I practiced lifting my arm up then dropping a treat. Lifting my arm, drop a treat. (I had lifted my arm when she flinched the first time this walk). We got maybe 1 house closer to home when a man & 2 boys appeared, coming toward us. Then their school bus came--they were late. They started running at us. Alki, again, wasn't following my pointing cues, too busy sniffing around on the ground looking for food, and they startled her a bit. Again I just fed continuously from my hand as they passed. All of this was going on so fast. The school bus had stopped and so a long line of traffic formed. Alki was quickly losing it. She became extremely jumpy. The rain drops falling on her made it worse (she is EXTREMELY sensitive to touch in these moments, and extremely tense). Then a giant bus stopped right next to us and let out the air break. That was it, her mind shattered. She repeated flinched and cowered into the ground (with each rain drop). I wasnt even moving, had my arms hanging loosely at my side. She was FREAKED OUT. I couldnt do anything but try and get home as fast as possible, but was afraid to move because she was so scared even when I was stationary! I also started becoming self conscious about what the people in the cars were thinking when looking at this dog acting like I was about to beat her. Im proud to say it did not really affect me too much, as much as usual (Im extremely sensitive to what people think about me, which has been a huge challenge with Alki since she is an EVIL PIT BULL and she is aggressive.) So the best thing I could think of in that moment was to bend my knees and be next to her while I fed her. This helped. I could feed her in this position without her freaking out. I tried touching her a bit and she was SUPER TENSE. I massaged her lower back muscles as I fed her. The traffic cleared and we did our best to get home a.s.a.p. (I was out of food by now; we were only in the next door neighbor's driveway so it wasnt too bad). As soon as we got inside she was fine. I gave her some smoked salmon and then the rest of her breakfast in her crate, which she was excited about.
Another note, she is always very excited to get the leash & harness on & go outside. After our first walk the other day, she has been going to the front door a lot like she wants to go out. I need to start playing with her everyday again. (Still afraid after her injury)
Happy girl in the safety of the house! We snuggled most of last night while I read <3
Posts
2 comments:
When you talk to me and give me advice (which I am very thankful for) I feel like such an idiot not thinking of things on my own. Stuff/blogs like this makes me feel better about my own dog behavior/training learning process. :) I know how you feel too, it took a really long time for Shiloh to not cower whenever a voice was raised or anything, and she still looks to nervous for my comfort when we ask her to do anything (fear of getting it wrong and being beaten). She was abused when she was little, I only wish she figured out we weren't like those people. I so self conscious about other people watching me and my dogs too, and interacting with their dogs. Some people are just so judgmental. Hope she starts showing some better progress, is she scared of all strangers or just when they surprise her?
Feel better Alki!
her issues are pretty complicated. she was under socialized when I got her, so slightly fearful to some things, and very minimally nervous with strangers at first, but overall pretty normal and happy. then she was attacked by a dog 2 yrs ago and everything fell apart. she has developed new fears and has lost any ability to "bounce back" and cope with stressors. all her old fears that had pretty much gone away 3 yrs prior, came back. a lot of her issues are situational as well. she can be coping with mild stressors well until a big trigger occurs (dog barking is the main one) and then she cannot cope with anything & things that weren't bothering her before the trigger, suddenly bother her. so in general, strangers are not a big issue for her, but when combined with other things they turn into one. a stranger she sees coming and that stays a "safe" distance away may not worry her much, but add in a startle, a barking dog in the distance, some rain, and lack of exercise (stress relief) and she loser her mind.
Post a Comment