Playing with cars

Another session with the car today for Sienna.

Love this – the kennel manager gave up his lunch (ham) to help Sienna enjoy being in the car. How lovely is that!

No cushions today – straight in.  Lots of repetitions jumping in and out of the car, then closing the boot, opening it – repeat!

We decided she was ready for a really short drive round the block. These are not the best photographs, but the car was moving.

The lead is looped over the car guard purely to make it easier to safely get her out of the car.  At one point during the brief journey she lay down and her body language was very relaxed.

This was a really short drive as we need it to remain positive.  I managed to take a rather wobbly video clip as we headed back.  You can see her perform several lip licks and near the end she starts to pant heavily.

We discovered the reason for the panting when we got her out of the car – she was sick. The length of journey will need to be built up very slowly to avoid sickness or this will set her back.

Sienna then had a nice relaxed sniffy walk before jumping into the back seats of my car and going back to her kennel to relax.

Sir Galahad

What a lovely boy he is.  Sir G can be very uncertain about new things so we work very slowly, at his pace.

A while back he visited this area for the first time.  He was a little uncertain, to begin with, so we did lots of Sprinkles sessions.  He soon relaxed and enjoyed his time there.

Sir Galahad is with Terrier SOS rescue. It is always lovely working with rescues that understand some dogs need time and space and not to make their world too big, to begin with.  Terrier SOS work very hard with all their dogs to ensure they are ready for foster/rehoming and allow them to go at their own pace. It is a privilege working with rescues like Terrier SOS.

Sir G gives lots of little stress signals that could easily be missed. It is so important to recognise these so we set him up to succeed.

Thanks to the dedication of the local rescue worker, Sir G now happily jumps into a car.  We decided to try him inside a home, to see how he would adjust.

I think that face above says it all!

Sir G happily jumped into the car and we took him into the garden area when we first arrived.  Lots of sniffing and his famous rolling and plenty of pee messaging.

By taking him somewhere familiar first, Sir G was set up to succeed.

Also, the room had been set up prior to his arrival with a snuffle mat (which he loves), an interactive food toy, dog bed and lots of hidden treats around the room.

Sir G can be sensitive to new things including noises and the interactive food toy can be quite noisy.  After some careful sniffing around it, Sir G decided it was safe to investigate and thoroughly enjoyed clearing it several times.

Sir Galahad was wary of going into the kitchen area as the floor surface was different.  He tentatively put his front paws in and leaned forward. It is so important to allow dogs to explore at their own pace and not try to speed up the process. You can see Sir G having a look into the kitchen here when he first arrived.

He did investigate several times and had a drink from the water bowl just inside.  After a great deal of exploration and sniffing, this is him below.

One tired boy!  He slept all the way back to the kennels. Amazing how tiring sniffing can be (and relaxing too) which is why we promote it so much.

Sir Galahad is looking for a calm foster home somewhere in the area.

More work with Sienna 21/11/18

We did some more work with Sienna today, trying to ensure she has all the necessary skills to make a new home work.  It is important to set dogs up to succeed so we try to cover every possibility.

Harness and lead were quickly put on and Sienna was keen to get outside for a walk again. Each walk we go a little further, slowly building up her confidence.

Often, when dogs panic or are overwhelmed, their fight or flight kicks in and they will often try to bolt so it is important to go at their pace.

You can see from the following video just how far we went today. The key to working with nervous dogs is small steps, at their pace.

Sienna did really well with two passing cars. I encouraged her onto the grass verge and fed a stream of treats until the first car had passed.  When the second car approached, she moved onto the verge and looked expectantly for treats.  Such a quick learner.

You will see in this video clip she is now keen to get back to the safe zone of the kennels.  Rather than lure her with treats, I reward her with a treat for coming back to me or with praise.  We also do a couple of treat searches on the way back.

At some point, Sienna will need to go into a car - whether that is to the Vets or a new home. She has limited experience of car travel other than being brought to the kennels so we did a little training to desensitise and counter condition her to cars, ensuring it is a positive experience.

Sienna loves using a snuffle mat so we use this to pair good things with the car. This is her second time jumping into my car but this time I close the door while she is in there and move to the front of the car.

Sienna then went back to her kennel for some rest time.  It is important to avoid doing too much at once.  Dogs need to rest and digest their learning.

The kennels have created an enrichment room and it is designed to be similar to a lounge. This gives dogs a fabulous opportunity to explore and build confidence, have fun and relaxation and gives us an opportunity to see how they would be inside a home.

Sienna's coat is quite matted in places as we have avoided in-depth grooming until now.  She will allow people to groom her gently but is not keen when there are some tangled areas. For this next step, we use a snuffle mat again.

We begin by using the softer side of the brush and then once she is comfortable about what is happening we switch to the wire side.

You can see her lift her head when I reach one of the tangles but she quickly goes back to the snuffle mat. At the end of the video, she moves away, signalling she has had enough brushing for this session. It is so important to listen to what a dog is telling us.

A number of treats have been hidden around the enrichment room and Sienna begins to explore.  When she first arrived in rescue she was too nervous to investigate or be curious.  

She finds the treats in the toy box and works really hard to get to them.  A number of the toys make noises and this would have made her jump - look at how confident she is now.

Next a little game of consent. Today, one of the lovely kennel ladies is standing nearby and we are chatting - mimicking what might happen at a Vets. Sienna is a little distracted at times (she does like to know what is going on)!  She soon gets into the game and I can check her ears, eyes and teeth!

We then did an impromptu vet check!  Chloe took over the chin game while I mimicked the actions of a Vet.  Sienne did so well.

At the end of the session, which was kept brief to avoid overtiring her, Sienna chose to lie down.

The importance of the four C's

Sienna's training is coming along quickly now.  Her confidence is growing by the day and we are starting to really see her beautiful personality. She is incredibly gentle and once she trusts you, she loves receiving affection (and food)!

Another big day for her today.  Putting her harness and lead on is no longer an issue.  We still pair it with a little food, dropping a couple of treats down on the floor while we clip the harness together.  Sienna can still be a little jumpy about the noise. Once on, she is keen to go outside and explore.

With time and patience, we have worked on Calm.  Calm when receiving affection, calm when being groomed, calm when playing the chin targeting game, calm when having her harness and lead put on and so on.  Whilst Sienna has never been an excitable dog, she did startle at many things and was anything but calm when she was scared.

Next came Connection. Working on the connection between handler and dog is so important.  We do not use cues to get this, such as Look at me or Watch me. We do not want a dog that is forced to look at us all the time.       

We simply reinforce any connection towards us. When a dog chooses to look at us (and gets paid 😊) it feels so much better than when asked or commanded to do so. Choices build Confidence.

Just look at this girl today! We went out to the area just outside the front of the kennels where we had been previously and did a short sprinkles session.

Then time for a real walk!

She did incredibly well and happily ate food treats.  We encountered a passing car at one point, so we moved onto the grass verge and she took a constant stream of treats as it went passed.

We do this to desensitise and counter conditioning.  When the scary stimulus appears – treats follow. When repeated over time, she starts to look for the food as soon as she sees the scary stimulus.

It is important to remember that the scary stimulus is seen before the treats come.

Scary monster = wonderful food

Towards the end of the video, she stops after hearing a strimmer. She turns back and can see a person and another dog in the distance.  She stands for a while to assess the danger.  It is vital that we do not call her or her prompt her at this point. She needs to assess things out calmly and is not over threshold.  Once she has done so she happily turns her back and walks on with me.

We don’t go too far today – this is the first proper walk she has ever experienced so we do not want to overdo things.  As we return to the kennels, the strimmer starts up again.  She happily walks towards the source of the noise and as we pass the strimmer she pauses to look.  She quickly realises it is the kennel manager who she knows and trusts.  She immediately goes over to see him once he has put the strimmer down.  We stand and chat for a while and Sienna chooses to do the following

You can see the strimmer behind her. We would never ask a dog to sit in the presence of a scary stimulus but Sienna chooses this behaviour.

Before long a very noisy tractor starts heading down the road towards us.  Sienna remains by my side when she hears it but does not panic. I try to move us back a little so that we are not too close but the tractor comes up quicker than anticipated.  Again, we use food to pair the presence of the “scary monster” with food.  Although Sienna does move back, she does not panic and continues to take food.  The food stops as soon as the tractor has gone from view.

Soon after, another tractor is headed our way.  This time she remains sitting (her choice) by my side and receives a constant stream of treats as it passes.

You can just about see the tractor headlights in the distance to the left of my head. As soon as she hears it, Sienna immediately looks to me to see if food is on its way!

We then did some work getting her in and out of my car. After a couple of minutes, she happily jumped in with no prompting.

Next came grooming.  Sadly my camera stopped working so no videos of this.  We used the quiet enrichment room set up at the kennels, with a sofa, platform and lots of toys, including a snuffle mat.  Sienna happily worked the snuffle mat while I groomer her all over.

I was also able to wipe her paws with a towel and some more chin targeting. Today I was able to touch first her ears to inspect, then her eyes and then her mouth – all in one go.

By working through the four C’s, at her pace, Sienna is growing more and more confident so 

that new things are not as scary as they were.

  

Update on Sienna’s lead and harness training

Following on from the wonderful breakthrough with Sienna and several sessions of her walking beautifully on a harness and lead in the paddock we decided she was ready to move forward again.

We still use treats when putting the harness on, allowing her to choose to put her head through rather than luring her or just quickly putting it on.

Choices = confidence

Putting her harness on is a much quicker process than it used to be, through careful management and ensuring it is always a positive process.

Instead of going in the paddocks this time, we took her out of the reception door into the front lawn area.  Initially, I walk with her as this is what she is used to.  Lot’s of sniffing and curiosity, which is how a dog’s walk should be.

It is really important to keep the lead loose so that she does not feel pressure and we reinforce every time she comes alongside.

She did so well we swapped handlers! Look at this lovely video clip as she walks beautifully with Tony, the kennel owner. Tony is calm, confident and relaxed which builds confidence in Sienna as she trusts him. Careful handling is needed with the lead – watch how well Tony handles her.

Some lovely sniffing and investigatory behaviour in the car park with so many new smells. She is a little uncertain at first about going forward but simply follows Tony and sniffs some more!

As we begin to move away from the kennel car park she becomes a little more uncertain and checks on me walking behind her.  We decide to do a Sprinkles session on the grass verge. You can see a little tension in her hind quarters as she sniffs through the grass, but this soon disappears as she becomes engaged in the sprinkles.

We are keeping Sienna’s world small at the moment as we do not want to overload or flood her with too many potentially scary stimuli.  We finish the session with an extended Sprinkles session on the grass area.

You can still see some tension in her hindquarters and she looks up several times on hearing a sound from further up the road.  Her movement is quite clumsy at times and she is rapidly searching for the treats. While Sienna does love her food, this is mainly due to some underlying stress about being in a new area.

This is a lovely video as you can see her begin to relax and after glancing up several times to check noises out, she immediately returns to her sprinkles.

We will do several more sessions like this, before introducing other people while out walking. With progress like this, it is always tempting to push forward but if we do not go at her speed we could cause her to panic.

Such a privilege working with this gorgeous girl.

Millie

This stunning young girl is around 2 years old and is waiting to find her new home. She is utterly adorable and will make someone the perfect companion.

It is such a privilege working with her.  

When she arrived in rescue she’d had no training, no manners and absolutely no idea of how big she is!  Even saying “Good girl” to her could send her from zero to 10 in seconds, running towards you and jumping up.

Consistency and calm are key for young dogs. One of the first things we teach puppies is how to be calm. We don’t use cues or “tell” them to be calm, we just reinforce calm behaviour while managing our own body language.

When I first met Millie, I observed she was stressed and over stimulated.  This is often mistaken for hyperactive and over-excitement. We see this a lot in young dogs that have not had any life skills training and have instead, been bombarded with cues to “behave”. Very often we tell dogs to “get down” when they jump up – this can be rewarding for the behaviour and add to the excitement as we become more frantic (or frustrated) about it.  

Millie was quite a stressed girl and you could clearly see the sweaty paw prints in the hall we used for training when we first met her.  This weekend, with new people, there were none. Clever girl Millie.

Traditional obedience training used to say the first thing you should teach your puppy is Sit! Thankfully things have moved on since then and we now teach life skills such as how good it feels to be calm. You can see from the image at the top how Millie clearly learned “Sit”. She offers this without being asked.  Sadly, it did nothing to “calm her down” or help her stress and overstimulation. So often, “obedience” cues are used to correct unwanted behaviour but all they do is use up the tiny bit of self-control the dog has, resulting in a delayed unwanted but more intense behaviour

Millie also pulled like a steam train on a lead when we first met her!  She had never been taught how or where to walk in relation to a person and with her size, was very difficult to manage.

Initial training concentrated on helping Millie be calm. When a dog chooses to do something it always feels so much nicer than being asked to do something. We taught Millie how nice being calm feels and how rewarding it is. We used desensitisation and counter conditioning to stimuli including sounds that could overstimulate her and she has met many students.

Mental stimulation is also key in helping dogs be calm. Dogs need around 14 hours of sleep per day (puppies need more) and quality sleep is essential. Physical exercise will not mentally tire a dog and too much exercise can often lead to dogs feeling physically stressed and overstimulated.

We can provide mental stimulation very easily at mealtimes, using interactive feeding toys instead of a bowl.  Millie also enjoys the challenge of learning something new through shaping. She also enjoys scentwork, using her amazing olfactory system.

This is Millie walking beautifully in a completely new area.

A recall is an essential skill dogs should learn too. Millie can recall even with distractions or being in a new area. Have a look at the following video clips:

Millie loves using a snuffle mat, playing impulse control games or having affection and is very food motivated! Dogs will often become very excited when in kennels when humans come into their enclosure and sit in their bed! Millie remained calm and snuggled in.

Once dogs are calm, look what can be achieved.  This is Millie, walking beautifully with someone she doesn’t really know and who has never handled her before on a walk. Her new handler manages her own body language, does not give any verbal cues and Millie just walks alongside. Fabulous work by her handler and fabulous work by Millie. We can use hand signals and our own body language to let dogs know what we would like them to do. 

Connection is ALWAYS better than control.

She is with RSPCA East Lincs. If you would like a Millie in your life please contact them on this number: 07967565367.

Breakthrough with Sienna

Those of you who have been following Sienna’s progress will remember that she had never been on a harness or lead.

We introduced a harness early on, in a very positive way and she was happy to wear it. She still reacted a little to the sound of the clips but does stand still while it is put on.

Last week we did some chin targeting for fear free handling while she wore the harness with a lead attached and some work on the weighing scales with the lead attached. She did so well we decided to move things forward.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to get videos of this but she did some chin targeting with the kennel manager while I played Vet nurse, touching her ears and gently lifting the skin on the back of her neck to mimic a vaccination. We used a different location and had another person present as well. She was amazing.

However, that is not the best news.  We put a lead on her harness and took her out into the paddock!  She adores going in the paddock and enjoys interacting with the other dogs in the next paddock. She was used to wearing her harness in the paddock but not with a lead attached and certainly not with a human holding the other end of the lead.

Amazing moment!

We gently and quietly led her down the corridor into the paddock area dropping treats down as we went. It is so important to ensure every part of the process is positive.  She still greeted all the dogs we passed as we walked.

Sienna can be a bit unsure around gate areas and the kennel manager has been working on this with her.

This first video clip shows just how important it is to be patient and to ensure the whole process is positive. You can see her licking her lips with a worried expression while she waits for me to open the gate.

We allow her time and avoid pulling her. You can see some tension on the lead which I quickly release. As soon as she begins moving we reinforce with treats.

In the following video, you can see just how relaxed and attentive she is.  She initially rejects her favourite liver treats.  Thankfully I came prepared with some other grain free ones. As soon as these are offered she walks beautifully.  Watch what happens when she pulls forward, approximately halfway through the video. She turns to see why she cannot move forward, and I immediately reward her for coming back towards me, thus loosening the lead.

This is such a HUGE moment for Sienna. We were so overjoyed with how she managed herself. When a dog has never had a lead on, finding themselves restricted can be so scary for them.  Sienna is worried about so many new things, so every step must be broken down to make them achievable for her, pairing wonderful things with each new thing.  You can see how overjoyed I am in the next video clip!!

We avoid putting any tension on the lead and allow her all the time she wants for sniffing. We should let dogs sniff anyway, but it is really important for Sienna to be able to still interact with the environment in the way she would if off lead.

Here is the last video clip. This time we allow a little tension on the lead while pairing it with good things. What a clever girl and so lovely watching her walk relaxed on lead.

More chin targeting fun with Sienna

This is our next session with Sienna.  Now she is comfortable with the chin target game we begin introducing additional aspects.

I thought it might be nice to see my wonderful view during this training.

The most amazing part of the training this week is the fact she is wearing a lead! The sight of a lead can make her flighty and panic. We leave the lead attached to the harness, trailing on the ground to get used to the weight and feel of it.

Unfortunately I “chopped off” her ears in this short video clip but she allows me to touch her ear while keeping her chin on the mat.

In the next video clip you can see she feels at ease with me touching her left ear but when I attempt to touch her right ear, her head lifts up.  Clear communication from Sienna – I am not comfortable with that.  It is essential we stop right away to build her confidence and let her know she is being listened to. She places her chin down again and I am able to touch her right ear this time. You can actually see her relax into the target area in this clip.

She can be sensitive about her collar or the harness being touched or moved around so I am introducing touch to the collar next. Again, she lifts her head so I stop immediately. As soon as she places her chin down, giving me permission to continue, I introduce the touch again and she keeps her chin down.

In the next video clip I attempt to touch her right ear again but this time she moves her head. I stop. As soon as her chin is down I repeat the action and she keeps her chin on the blanket for a sustained ear inspection. On my next attempt, she lifts her head again so I stop. It is essential we listen to what the dog is saying rather than continuing. A dog may “put up with” something but this is not fear free!

Our chin targeting game continues but this time there are two people looking around the kennels. We agreed beforehand that this would be an excellent introduction to having other people present in the room during handling – when dogs visit a veterinary clinic there are usually at least two people in the room, sometimes three if a nurse is also needed.

Sienna can be a little flighty with new people but watch the video clip below and see just how well she did. This is because she really enjoys the chin game. She looks at them, assesses the situation and then returns to the game. She even allows me to touch her collar and her ears in their presence!

In the next video clip, we introduce unseen hands and touching her mouth. Eventually, we want to be able to inspect her gums and teeth but need to take our time with this.

Up until now, I have made sure she can see my hands and what they are doing. This time, my right hand that I use to touch her, comes from out of view. You will see me pause the movement of my hand when she briefly lifts her chin to look. She then places her chin down again so I continue moving my hand towards her. I take the training back a step and avoid immediately touching her with an unseen hand – this would be too difficult as we need to work up to this.  Look how well she did!

More chin targeting with Sienna

Sitting on the weighing scales

This is our next session of fear free handling for this stunning young girl.

We begin by building duration again. She often gets distracted by the noise of the other dogs – it is a kennel environment so lots of activity at times. We do not call her or try to get her attention – it is essential that she chooses to engage.

When she gets distracted, we just simply wait for her to engage again. As time goes on, she is distracted less and less as she enjoys the session.

We begin by rewarding every time she chooses to place her chin down on the towel. 

Dogs will often tolerate things, even though they feel uncomfortable. This is not fear free training! Eventually, they will stop tolerating things.

We teach that things feel really good by marking and rewarding choices. You can see Sienna firmly place her chin down at around the 40-second-mark in the video below. Sienna is really distracted in this one as a dog is approaching the room!

I have my right hand held out so she can see it. She keeps an eye on my hand, to begin with, but soon gets used to its presence.

At around 1.07 she is aware of the touch but does not move her chin away. This means she is happy for me to continue. The moment her chin lifts up though, I must stop. Around 1.44 she is unsure and looks directly at me when I move my hand. I wait for her to give permission to continue. 

We finish the session with a visit to the weighing scales. I had covered the scales with the towel we used for chin targeting. Sienna already has built up a "feels really good" association with the towel. When asking dogs to stand on weighing scales, we can minimise the anxiety and stress by placing a towel down. This reduces noise and also makes the scales more comfortable. A towel can easily be calibrated with the weighing scales. You can see how quickly she stood on the scales today in the video clip below.

Desensitisation and counter conditioning

I often hear about operant conditioning being used to try to change unwanted behaviour, especially in fearful dogs. 

Asking a dog to Sit or Look at Me while unpleasant things happen is not a good way to help him! Would you sit down in a roomful of spiders?

Remember, Pavlov is always nearby. Asking a dog to do something in the presence of a scary thing could lead to that behaviour actually being associated with the scary thing!

Using food during something the dog finds aversive, scary or unpleasant does not mean you are counter conditioning him! You may even cause an aversion to that particular food/toy or treat – remember Pavlov! Feeding food while something unpleasant happens is NOT counter conditioning.

In order for counter-conditioning to occur (changing an emotional response), the order in which it is carried out is essential.

The scary thing needs to be presented FIRST and at a level that does not provoke a fearful response in the dog, then the high-value food/toy or whatever you’re using FOLLOWS.

The SCARY THING leads to a WONDERFUL thing, not the other way around.

Chin targeting – next steps

Our second session of handling with this lovely girl.  She had never worn a harness or collar before and had never been walked on a lead. 

She really loves her fun training sessions and happily comes to them, so we decided to put on her harness for this session. 

She has already had been desensitised to the harness in other sessions. Due to the ongoing work by Greenpeace Kennels, the harness now has a strong association with going out for off lead time in the paddock which is exactly what we want.

She took a little longer to settle down and engage wearing the harness but soon forgot about it.

In our first session, we used quite jerky hand movements when rewarding – she is very tuned in to everything around her and would often startle to sudden movement or noises.  We wanted to do a little desensitisation to jerky hand movements to reduce her startle response.

This session we used less jerky hand movements but start to introduce touch while keeping her chin down.

The idea of chin targeting is to give the animal a say in what is happening.

• Chin down – you can carry on
• Chin lifted up – please stop, I am unsure or uncomfortable

By giving animals a choice, confidence is built. Remember the four C’s:

Calm, Connection, Choices, Confidence

We began training by using a platform for the chin targeting so that she did not have to come so close, in order to build confidence. 

In the first video below, you will see she is listening (sound removed) to the other dogs barking. It takes her a while to zone those out and concentrate.

In this second clip, you will see my hand flat, out to the side. She needs to see where things are coming from so we begin with the hand in sight.  She tries just holding her chin above the blanket so we wait for full engagement.

When I wiggle my hands you can see her watching from the corner of her eyes but her chin remains down.

In the next video clip, you can see her actually checking out my other hand.  Her ears move back in response to movement but most of the time she chooses to keep her chin down. 

In the video clip below you will see the introduction of touch. We deliberately come from the front, making sure she can see the hand as she can startle to unexpected noises or touch. We want her to enjoy the session while we desensitise her to various touches, especially those that would be used in a veterinary setting.

You will see her lift her chin to look at my hand, so we immediately stop as she is communicating she is unsure. She then firmly presses her chin down to re-engage, saying yes you can continue.

The key to this work is patience and small increments. If we rush at this stage we will make her more unsure.

We always end the session on a positive and she gets her well-earned squirt of liver paste 😊

Once we removed the blanket from my knees she came over to me again but did not attempt to put her chin down.  She has already associated the blanket with the chin targeting game which is exactly what we had hoped. The blanket will be able to be used in various settings now.