Week 8: From One Dog Owner to Another
Cody has had a pretty strong and fun week. He got to meet our magic friend B on Saturday and instantly wished he could make a little den in her lustrous hair and move in permanently. He was completely smitten and kept coming in for more and more cuddles from his new auntie. He also loved being introduced to my trainer colleague and our wonderful friend Dorka after we finished coaching my puppy class on Sunday. As a much more knowledgeable trainer of all sorts of living creatures, she has become someone I lean on when it comes to finding a training solution when I get stuck or just want a different point of view. Some people ‘google’ advice, I turn to Dorka.
The big difference is that Dorka has the accuracy of a heat seeking missile. When it comes to Cody and figuring out what ingredient we are missing or what issue we may be overlooking, Dorka has become my designated third-party eyes, ears and brains. Surely only an unevolved dog trainer would shy away from support given by another experienced trainer? Training and raising your own dog is a long journey with plenty of curveballs and the risks of getting tunnel vision is notably increased when working as a canine professional. I believe that seeking a fresh pair of eyes and brains early on when facing a challenge is sometimes more effective than trying too many things by yourself hoping one of them may be the right solution. The other ‘unpolluted’ mind may be able to approach the issue and find the most appropriate solution simply because they are not immersed into the day to day of the training of the specific dog. I like chatting to my core group of dog trainers about anything really. I have been extremely lucky enough to find three trainers who share knowledge and embrace each others’ abilities instead of holding their cards to their chest and worrying that sharing a useful source or advice could take away from them somehow. I am so grateful that my trainer crew is all about raising people up. It all boils down to who we are doing this for. Sharing knowledge with each other is giving a dog somewhere a chance for a safer life with a better supported guardian.
On Sunday Dorka showed us the Vito’s Game which is an incredibly simple game that introduces problem solving to your dog from a very digestible level of difficulty. It has already significantly improved his focus, problem solving skills and his impulse control. He would previously get frustrated all too quickly when something did not go his way and would lose interest in training as soon as there was added difficulty or if it went on too long for his liking. With Vito’s Game he has gained more confidence and motivation to try again. Thank you, Auntie Dorka! We have had a few setbacks with our walks. Cody has started freezing on Tristan in the morning which is most likely related to his fear period.
Depending on who you ask, fear periods are either set time periods in a dog’s life, or a continuous process with lower and higher points, making it harder to pin down as a scheduled event. No matter what definition I subscribe to, the answer still would be: yes, the pre-walk freeze is most likely to some extent caused by the fear period. We have tested two ways of coping with this which have worked thus far. A less favourite one, which I would call the ‘dangling of the carrot’ is when we are using a stick to lure Cody away from our building until he snaps out of his little haze and begins to focus on walking. The other technique, which my back despises, is lifting our twenty kilo prince & carrying him just around the corner to help him flick the switch in his brain off and on. I cannot really blame Cody for not being a fan of the front of our building.There is a big road out front with buses, cars and lots of strange people passing by. He has seen all this time and time again but at some point last week nature has updated its security protocol in his brain and said: watch out! The fear period combined with the adolescence poking its head is no easy beast to tame.
Cody’s recall is great until he sees another dog. If there is another dog walking by, I could be wearing a jacket made of sirloin steaks and he’d still leave me eating his dust. Very little off lead time for young master Cody at the moment. We did have a sweet victory today when Cody returned when called away from a small dog, when he was just about halfway away. The other dog was still very far, and we were in the middle of nowhere to begin with so we could act appropriately when he was off lead. It was still a gamble, and it paid off. For once.
We cannot afford to take risks because we do not live in an extremely dog friendly neighbourhood and we know better than to let an untrained dog roam around and run up to strange dogs and people. If EVERYONE else did the same. This is a classic tale. I do not need to go into the whole speech about owners waiting for things to kick off to only then react when all hell breaks loose. However, I would like to have a little rant about owners on mobile phones. In an ideal world a responsible dog owner would pause or stop a phone call when their dog begins to interact with another dog.
In the meantime, in the real world I had two recent instances where I had to untangle Cody from another dog. One was a loose dog running up to us uninvited and the other was an owner that walked over with their dog on a flexi lead (or as I like to call the: ‘the self-reinforcing burn danger string from hell’). In both instances the owners were completely disconnected from the situation and yammering away on their phone. To those people I would like to say: you are responsible for your dog just as I am responsible for mine. If you are not paying attention, I can only do so much to keep your dog safe when they run up to my young dog who is on a long line and still learning. On both occasions the dogs ended up having the line wrapped up around a body part in a blink of an eye.
If your phone call is so important, please make it at home and focus on your dog when out walking. If you had to take the call on your walk just advise the person on the other line that you must pause the conversation or call back because you have to pay attention to your dog for a moment. It’s not hard. I have friends who do calls on their walks regularly and they just shut it down as soon as their dog shows interest in engaging another dog.It shouldn’t take a dog trainer to know not to let your dog meet other dogs if you cannot be present for the interaction. Ideally, no dogs would run up to us without consent, but this is not the way the world of dog owners and dogs works. In all fairness, I would love for Cody to have more dog-on-dog interaction. Being a young dog in the dark bleak winter months is as antisocial as it can get, and I do not mind dogs coming up - if they are safe for Cody. I have no way of knowing if the other dog is OK when his owner is making no effort to even lock eyes with me to do the nonverbal ‘is he friendly?’ tango. At a time where non-dog people are pressing for more leash restrictions and areas excluding dogs, every dog owner is instrumental in preventing these policies from becoming a reality. It is a tough fight because there are just as many people not picking up after their dogs as many there are cleaning up. Some owners have a great ability to be sanctimonious about someone not picking up their dog poop while shouting at the same time: he’s friendly! as their dog is bounding off lead towards a petrified leashed dog.
Dogs can go loose. It happens. I am ninety percent more understanding when the loose dog is closely followed by an out of breath owner making the best effort to control their dog. I am, by no means a perfect dog guardian, but I always aim to remain present for Cody but also for everyone else in the environment. Being proactive is cheaper than being reactive. Lots of risks can be mitigated just by staying present. The walks are after all, about me and my dog. I should want to be present. They should really be mainly about the dog. If it isn't, it's just a glorified outdoor toilet power walk. Oh, déjà vu here, I think I had a similar rant few entries back.
I really want the walks to be fun for Cody.
Sometimes he gets to be in charge of our walks. The rules are simple: we do this when there is no time pressure so I am not included to rush him, and we have enough daylight. Cody has only two expectations: the lead must be always slack and the paths chosen must be safe for both of us. Effectively, he takes me out for a walk and I am just a safety officer (think traffic crossings and KFC bones disposal). He does not get to chase squirrels or rehearse any other unwanted behaviours but he gets to sniff and walk in any direction he chooses and explore to his heart’s content. He also got to visit his first bar the other night and was patient enough for me to down a half pint of lager.
It’s wonderful having the peaceful thought: ‘it’s getting easier’ washing over my brain every now and then.
Cody is by no means perfect or easy but he is extraordinarily sweet and fun and to no one’s surprise he is stealing the hearts of everyone around him one paw at a time.
Good job if you read this far and thank you.
Speak next week.
P.S. Advocate for your dog!