As often as we can when the weather is nice, I like to get our Board &Train clients dogs out to the Lake. Many of them haven't had a chance to run around rurally and if they have proven their off leash reliability they are allowed some doggy run time with our guys. (If they aren't ready for that then we go with a 30-50' long line so they can still swim/run.
While we certainly want everyone to enjoy themselves, dogs included, it is important that they are still listening while there so we always reinforce good behavior - especially for the new dogs. Here Tracy has a rapt audience...to be able to break them off from swimming and playing to recall and sit politely is always good practice.
We always go to the very back of the inlet where it curves back on itself and we can give the dogs a little more freedom to roam. Here we can see them all a little too far out and do a quick recall...
And who was the first one back - CHARLIE!!!
After about 45 minutes of hard play, water retrieves and obedience practice - Charlie and Ayla are done.
Time to round up the crew and head back to the farm!
Board & Train Charlie is one of the sweetest, most affectionate dogs I've had stay in a while but he has some serious resource guarding issues. He has bitten people over a tissue, including his owners.
His preferred MO is to steal an object from a table and then run under a table or bed with it. If you pursue and try to take it - he will get downright vicious about it.
If you tried to strongarm him or get physical about it, he has no hesitation in striking out. This is why I LOVE positive reinforcement.
We have been working very hard on giving up low value items and have managed to create a semblance of a retrieve game but it is by no means full proof yet.
He is truly a Jeckall and Hyde in this moment - one second a wiggly, wagging, open mouth guy with soft eyes and a big grin and then a hunkered down, super tense, low growling ball of unsprung defensiveness - but as soon as the object is removed it is like he blinks out of it, looks at you, wags his tail and doesn't even know what happened? There may be some neuro switching going on as the behavior seems a bit disconcerting to him as well.
I started by just being in the same area as him with this low value item then moved up to being able to be beside him with him remaining calm. I just wanted to show him I wasn't going to try and take it - I am not even looking at him at this point - just coexisting peacefully. So far so good.
When he was ready, we started with me resting my hand near him then on him. He is okay with all of this. I can touch his ears and face while he is chewing a bone and he is good with it. Open mouth, no pause or tension at all, no hunkering down... His trigger is if you apply pressure to take it - then he feels he has to react.
We had great success with getting him to leave, drop and/or give eye contact away from low-medium value items - but never a high value one such as a hearty chew, antler or rawhide. To avoid unwanted situations from arising - these things were simply kept out of reach and only given as crate rewards where he would not feel threatened.
So when I saw him heading towards me with a rawhide chew that he had taken from another dog's crate in his mouth, I was a bit concerned.
But I kicked it into Game Gear and started cheering and applauding for him and he started wagging his tail and brought me the rawhide.
I sat on the floor to encourage him to come closer and what he did next surprised me to no end.
He dropped it in my hand! Not only did he drop it in my hand, but I was able to get eye contact and getting him to look away from his prize has been extremely difficult.
He was charged and ready to play the game... he then retrieved this prize rawhide 10 times in a row always dropping it in my lap or in my hand!
At the end of the 10 repetitions, I gave it to him to take back to his bed, and he grinned and walked away but kept looking back at me as if "what the game is over?"
AMAZING JOB CHARLIE!
Name: Charlie
Breed: Cockapoo
Sex: Male
Age: 4 years
Duration: 2 week Board & Train
Reason for B&T: Barking/Jumping
What we are working on during his stay:
OWNERS REQUESTS:
* Barking - sometimes he wakes at night and begins barking uncontrollably
* Jumping - jumps on/scratches people when greeting
* Loose Leash Walking- could use some fine tuning
* Reactive to Other Dogs - especially when on leash
* Resource Guarding - he has bitten over this
Due to his potential reactive issues - Charlie did an overnight with us to be sure he was not going to be overwhelmed by the dogs here - so far he is doing beautifully. He is settling in and is taking it all in stride!
Charlie has just arrived for his overnight to be sure he will be comfortable here before his family leaves him next week for a few weeks of Board & Train.
