Ziggy Stardust and I may have a long road trip in our future. I heard back from the veterinary behaviorist in Texas, and she is open to working with us, to include video, phone, Skype follow-ups.
My goals are: to help Ziggy be less reactive. I want her to not stress out over people and dogs. I want her to greet people more calmly, if cautiously (she is after all my home security system). No jumping, mouthing, scratching, nipping. I want her to learn to interact appropriately with dogs so that our walks are not consisting of me constantly scanning the environment to turn on heel immediately. I would love for her to be able to interact with other dogs positively, so that I could take her to doggy daycare, enroll her in agility or flyball, etc. And to be able to easily find care for her either with a sitter with other dogs, a kennel, or a friend because Ziggy's not freaking now.
Honestly, I would prefer that - the extracurricular activities for her - instead of getting another dog, though I'll do that too if I need to. But I like our relationship with her as an only dog.
I wonder how much of that is possible. Man, if I could find good care for her when I travel, my life would be so much better. the thought of her playing all day with other dogs makes me so happy, but we are not there at all.
ON an unrelated note, my friend yesterday was very impressed that Ziggy is trained to respond to hand signals. To be fair, Ziggy is very bright and learns super quickly because it's fun. But to be honest, I'm not a great trainer, and she's not trained to hand signals - she's trained to a mime in a park reading a children's story. I get her attention, say a command slowly and clearly, while making a very exaggerated gesture. There is nothing subtle about how I put out my hand to tell her to stay and wait. I'm like an aircraft controller on a short runway, violently waving flags and lights. I look ridiculous when I do most of the things I do with Ziggy, and I sound ridiculous. I talk to her a lot, often using a baby talk of sorts, with a lot of affection. I talk to her like she understands reason, which honestly I think she does - as a dog. But I can say to her, "Hey now, stop that. Look at me. Look. In my eyes. Do you really think that is acceptable? I need you to take it down a notch and chill." That does not work when she's overreactive, but it works when she's just a jackass, sometimes. I can also say things like, "Hey, I get it. You're bored. What can we do? Too hot for a walk. How about you get the rope toy and we play tug. What do you think? Get the rope toy?" And if she wants to, she looks around and finds it and brings it to me. I get it - I'm supposedly doing it all wrong. Trainers are all about using short commands, always repeating the same thing for the same action, etc. But through seven months (!) of trial and error, I've learned that having a conversation with Ziggy is better. Of course she doesn't understand everything I say, and she pretends she doesn't understand some of what I say that she perfectly well understands.
Ziggy will never be some overly compliant dog. It's not her nature, her breed, her personality. She is spunky and sassy and I love that about her. But if she could just stop freaking out, my life would be a whole lot easier.
My goals are: to help Ziggy be less reactive. I want her to not stress out over people and dogs. I want her to greet people more calmly, if cautiously (she is after all my home security system). No jumping, mouthing, scratching, nipping. I want her to learn to interact appropriately with dogs so that our walks are not consisting of me constantly scanning the environment to turn on heel immediately. I would love for her to be able to interact with other dogs positively, so that I could take her to doggy daycare, enroll her in agility or flyball, etc. And to be able to easily find care for her either with a sitter with other dogs, a kennel, or a friend because Ziggy's not freaking now.
Honestly, I would prefer that - the extracurricular activities for her - instead of getting another dog, though I'll do that too if I need to. But I like our relationship with her as an only dog.
I wonder how much of that is possible. Man, if I could find good care for her when I travel, my life would be so much better. the thought of her playing all day with other dogs makes me so happy, but we are not there at all.
ON an unrelated note, my friend yesterday was very impressed that Ziggy is trained to respond to hand signals. To be fair, Ziggy is very bright and learns super quickly because it's fun. But to be honest, I'm not a great trainer, and she's not trained to hand signals - she's trained to a mime in a park reading a children's story. I get her attention, say a command slowly and clearly, while making a very exaggerated gesture. There is nothing subtle about how I put out my hand to tell her to stay and wait. I'm like an aircraft controller on a short runway, violently waving flags and lights. I look ridiculous when I do most of the things I do with Ziggy, and I sound ridiculous. I talk to her a lot, often using a baby talk of sorts, with a lot of affection. I talk to her like she understands reason, which honestly I think she does - as a dog. But I can say to her, "Hey now, stop that. Look at me. Look. In my eyes. Do you really think that is acceptable? I need you to take it down a notch and chill." That does not work when she's overreactive, but it works when she's just a jackass, sometimes. I can also say things like, "Hey, I get it. You're bored. What can we do? Too hot for a walk. How about you get the rope toy and we play tug. What do you think? Get the rope toy?" And if she wants to, she looks around and finds it and brings it to me. I get it - I'm supposedly doing it all wrong. Trainers are all about using short commands, always repeating the same thing for the same action, etc. But through seven months (!) of trial and error, I've learned that having a conversation with Ziggy is better. Of course she doesn't understand everything I say, and she pretends she doesn't understand some of what I say that she perfectly well understands.
Ziggy will never be some overly compliant dog. It's not her nature, her breed, her personality. She is spunky and sassy and I love that about her. But if she could just stop freaking out, my life would be a whole lot easier.
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