Yes, my family was visiting last week and I actually took a rare week off. Okay, I did try to keep up with e-mails, but nothing else work-related.
We had a GRAND time!!! I did an escape room for the first time ever at Escape This! in Frederick, Maryland https://escapethisfrederick.com/ . GREAT FUN!! My sister Meg and niece Cori were experienced escapers – good thing or we would never have gotten out of the Carousel Room in the allotted 60 minutes. As it was we found the Golden Ticket with 8 minutes to spare. Phew!
We attended a very interesting lecture one night at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia on animals coming back from the edge of extinction by Christopher Preston, author of "Tenacious Beasts; Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We think About Animals." ( https://christopherjpreston.com/hope-in-a-wildlife-apocalypse-book/ ) A great resource by the way - past lectures are available for viewing at the NCTC Broadcast Library: https://www.fws.gov/nctc-archived-broadcast
And we went on multiple hikes with the dogs, of course; KC on a long line, Sunny and Kai running free. Kai, our 10-year-old Kelpie, has a very reliable recall. 7-year-old Pomeranian Sunny (short for Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows) not so much, but he has a little bit of separation distress, so he runs off into the woods but before too long starts to worry about where I am and comes flying back. (One of the many reasons I love that our house sits in the middle of our 80-acre farm, almost a half-mile from the road.)
Our 4-year-old Kelpie, KC (for Kelpie Chaos), will stay close unless she hears gun shots or thunder, in which case she will take off for parts unknown at top speed (which for Kelpies is ***very*** fast!) – hence the long line.
Family is all gone home now, so it’s back to work time.
Tomorrow I have a follow-up session with Remy, a very handsome Bullmastiff mix. I first saw Remy in January of 2023 for occasional random aggression/reactivity toward other dogs and sometimes people, usually men.
We introduced the following protocols at Remy's first visit. I like to call them "commitments" and have the human client tell me what they are willing to commit to rather than me telling them what they have to do.
Behavior Modification Protocols/Minimum Commitments (more is fine/better):
1. Coming in the House (car door, knocking, entering): Do CC&D at least 3 times (or more) per week, 15-20 minutes or more per session. You can do this yourselves at first, and also ask family and friends to help. Remember that it is simply “Look-feed, look-feed, look-feed” without asking for his attention or for a particular behavior. You are creating an association, not rewarding behavior.
2. Dogs and People on Walks: Do CC&D set-ups at least 2 times (or more) per week, 15-20 minutes per session, and when opportunity presents on regular walks. Do management feeding as needed on walks. This will work best if you can walk dogs separately.
3. Walk Away: At least one time (or more) per day, 5 days per week, 5 minutes or more per session. Practice at home until fluent, then can also practice on walks.
4. Find It/Search: At least one time (or more) per day, 5 days per week, 5 minutes or more per session. Practice at home until fluent, then can also practice on walks.
Remy had been doing very well for over a year until early this month, when he got into a scuffle with his brother Roger, a Dalmation Terrier mix. These two were previously described as "Best friends, with a brotherly relationship and extremely close bond." And then to make matters worse, Remy nipped my client’s just-arrived visiting mom. I am seeing them tomorrow to help address these new challenges.
Thursday is a first-time client dealing with a long list of behavior challenges with her Havanese: anxiety, resource guarding, separation related behavior (SRB), confinement distress (common in dogs with SRBs) and sound reactivity. Phew!! I’ll let you now how it goes.
Friday is a Wirehaired Fox Terrier who is reactive/aggressive to dogs at his daycare (yes, I’m biting my tongue) and growling at children.
And after that - oh my, it's September already!!!!!
As a side note – we use the term “reactive” a lot in the dog behavior world. We see a lot of dogs with behaviors that are labelled “reactive” – and it can mean a lot of different things – it’s not necessarily about aggression. I want to share my favorite definition for that non-scientific term… from Dr. Karen Overall: “Reactivity is an abnormal level of arousal in response to a normal stimulus.” Feel free to use that… <G>
Until next time – love your dog(s)!!!
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA. CPDT-KA