Gryffin getting used to household noises

We continue to work with little Foxy Gryffin who needs either a foster or a new home. Little Gryffin is sensitive to noises and needs to slowly get used to everyday sounds that he might experience in a home.

When he is stressed or worried, in the past he has become quite bouncy, jumping up on people and furniture - including window sills. This looks like excitement - it isn't! Dogs will often appear "hyperactive" but in reality they are stressed.

His lovely rescue lady sets up the room with lots of interesting things for him to investigate - setting him up to succeed.

Today, we had the washing machine, tumble dryer and the television on. He didn't once attempt to jump on on furniture!

Whenever we work with dogs we ensure we manage our own behaviour. However, Gryffin needs to get used to many things and learn to cope as not everyone is calm around dogs! When I arrived I was quite loud and "excited". He handled it like a star and carried on with his enrichment. A quick sniff of me and back to searching! What a clever boy.

We had the television up really loud - even myself and his lovely rescue lady were struggling as we like calm and quiet! 

Gryffin does really well and ignores the television sounds. We kept the volume at the same level and carried on chatting away.

In the second video, you can see his ears twitch at the television sounds but he is still coping and interacting with all the enrichment.

Gryffin was an absolute star today, coping with so many things (but always kept under threshold as we don't want to cause stress). 

• Excited person arriving
• Washing machine
• Tumble dryer
• Television
• Telephone ringing
• Visitor arriving
• Excited behaviour from me

We now turn up the volume a little. In the next video you will see he has taken himself to his "safe space". Watch for the lip lick and his ears held back and he actually looks at the screen at one point. Warning - swear word on the TV at the end!

Gryffin coped with screaming, music and motorbike noises on the television. Dogs hear so much better than we do. We were struggling with the volume today - but it is so much harder for dogs. Humans have learned to ignore many household sounds and have got used to them. Take a moment to think how difficult it must be for our dogs with all the environmental noise.

In this last video you will see Gryffin take himself to the door - he wants to leave as it has all become too much to cope with. Look at the shape of his tail as he walks over to the door - about 10 seconds into the video - he has quite a lot of tension in his tail. He then comes to me to seeking help. We decided he had done enough for the day - we don't want these sessions to turn into something negative. 

Gryffin was exhausted at the end and ready for a nice long nap.

We turned off all appliances and let him snooze before he headed back to kennels.

On our next session we will use a sound cd to desensitise him to a number of other noises.

Such a quick learner, well done Gryffin. It is lovely to see his progress.

Lynx

I spent some time with this stunner today. Meet Lynx. Approximately 4 years old and looking for a new home.

Lynx has never been taught to walk nicely on lead and he pulls, paying no attention to who is on the other end of the lead.

The wind, rain and loud noises today did not help and you can see in the video that he is checking them out, paying no attention to me at all. We need to make it worth his while to pay attention to me!

We began in the same way we did with Tilly, marking and treating where I wanted him to be. Lynx quickly gets the hang of it and we have some lovely moments of connected loose lead walking.

Repetition, consistency and short sessions are key. If we try to do sessions for too long, dogs will get bored or frustrated. If we don't show them how we would like them to walk, how will they know? 

Yanking the lead or pulling them back does not work and can actually cause anxiety and frustration. Constantly calling their names or saying things like "heel" do not work - dogs don't know what the words mean. We have to teach them how we would like them to walk, using kind, positive methods and reinforcing the wanted behaviours.

As with Tilly, we mark and treat where we would like them to walk and avoid calling their names. Whenever he pulled ahead, I turned and changed direction and all I used was a verbal Yes and dropped down a treat (Lynx was initially in a rush and missed some of the treats so I had to point them out to him)and lots of praise.

I didn't ask Lynx to sit for this photo - he just did it and then got "paid" for it. Clever boy.

Sunday afternoons!

I went to spend some time with a couple of the dogs waiting for a new home.

Neither walk well on lead but both are really quick learners!

First up is Tilly. She is a typical female Labrador around the age of 5/6 and utterly adorable. Just look at that face!

Tilly came into rescue with a horrendous skin condition but is slowly healing. You may notice her shaking herself a number of times. This can sometimes be due to stress but in Tilly's case its because her skin is still very itchy.

Tilly pulls on lead! This isn't because she is a bad dog or trying to be "dominant". She pulls simply because she has never been shown how to walk nicely on lead! With a little bit of training she soon started to get the hang of things.

We started by simply marking (with a verbal Yes) and treating whenever she was close to me, changing direction when she pulled in front. We don't call their names or try to attract their attention - we simply wait and then reinforce it with a treat and praise. 

You can see from the video clips that she enjoys affection too so we also use that as a reward. 

In order to let dogs know what we would like from them, we need to reinforce that behaviour. We pay them! 

When something feels good and leads to a reward, they are more likely to repeat that behaviour. 

We also have to make it really easy for them to succeed - we always set dogs up for success so the rate of reinforcement (treat payment) needs to be high to begin with. These can be faded out over time, once she knows where she should be.

There were a lot of noises today along with wind and rain but Tilly did really well. I don't think it will take long for her to be walking on a loose lead. Beautiful girl.

Anxious dogs

Dogs that are anxious or worried are sadly often labelled as "stupid". But unless a dog is relaxed, she won't be able to learn.

Freya will usually follow me around the house as soon as I move. She finds it really difficult to not follow me and it could very easily escalate into separation distress! 

We have been practising, one step at a time, me moving away while she doesn't move! We use a simple hand signal and literally do one step each time, slowly building up the distance, setting her up to succeed. 

Today, I was able to ask her to Stay while we were outside, using just the hand signal we have been practising inside.

Unless we tackle the underlying anxieties and stress, dogs are not able to learn. We no longer teach obedience, we teach life skills and being relaxed and staying where she is, is very much a life skill for Freya.

Suzanne Clothier tells us to ask the elemental questions. 

If your dog is unable to do what is asked of him, check the following:

How is this for you? 

Can you?

May I?

Can we?

• 
  

and above all,  be patient and set him up to succeed.

Foxy Gryffin update

You may remember that we were doing some desensitisation work with this gorgeous little man a few months ago.

Gryffin needed his world expanded at a very slow pace. Gryffin reacted to so many things, especially new noises including household appliances. When stressed, he would also jump onto sofas, tables - any surface he could!

He has already learned that jumping up on surfaces or worktops is not really worth the effort and will  happily away if he is tempted!

Gryffin is now able to cope with various household appliances running if he has had sufficient mental stimulation/enrichment beforehand. The main focus now is getting him used to the sound and unpredictability of television!

Our session last time began something like this:

When the "scary monster" comes on (TV): a prepared licki mat with pate appears like magic!

After a number of repetitions, the TV coming on predicts the appearance of the licki mat.

We discovered during that session that it was the moving images as well as the sounds that triggered a reaction.

When I arrived today, he came to greet me but happily wandered off back to his enrichment toys without becoming over excited. What a star.

This session we ditched the licki mat and his lovely rescue lady set up the room with lots of enrichment prior to my arrival.

Gryffin wears a light trailing lead - just in case something triggers his arousal levels, giving us an option to use to prevent him practising any unwanted behaviour. We try to set dogs up for success and we didn't need it!

We began with the television on a very low volume. He noticed and looked at the screen – and received a treat and praise from me.

Scary monster = something wonderful

We did this several times and he returned to his “work” of finding the treats in the enrichment toys. Over the session, we gradually increased the volume. Gryffin continued to work his way through the toys, occasionally looking at the screen but quickly returning to his “work”.

At one point, Gryffin chose to self-calm and returned to his blanket to chomp on his ostrich bone. This is something he does to help him calm down. We turned the television off and waited until he was ready to engage with the toys again.

Gryffin made huge progress today. It is so tempting to try to rush things, especially if they are going well but this can lead to flooding and undo all the previous training.

The television was turned back on and we began to slowly, in small increments, turn up the volume, as he engaged with the toys. He looked at the screen several times and then returned to searching.

At one point, I took him outside to the garden and his lovely rescue lady turned the volume up for when we came back in. Gryffin was a star – no reaction – he quickly engaged with the searching again.

He is making so much progress and is lovely to work with.

Gryffin is sadly in kennels and needs a calm, quiet home with someone who will help this young lad adjust to life in a loving home. 

The desensitisation work will continue, and support will be given to his fosters/adopters to continue to help him reach his potential. 

Gryffin is with Terrier SOS. You can read more about Gryffin and the work that this wonderful rescue do with their dogs here Terrier SOS