So, not only are chicken and bully sticks - her all-time favorite - not enough to distract Ziggy from barking at the AC guy at the door, but she's just decided treats aren't the way to her heart at all. I tried to use a spoon of peanut butter to distract her from a padded envelope I had stupidly given to her as a joke, but she was not having it. She eventually did relent, but she was making the choice.
Every time Ziggy has gotten loose and run away, she has very easily let me catch her. I get a little run around, but she's never given me a fuss when I do catch her. Now I know how much of a choice that is for her, because if she didn't want me to catch her there is no way I could, the little greased pig that she is.
I can only think of four times that she's gotten loose - twice at my old house (before I fixed the fence; neighbors let me know each time) and twice here (once by the painter who was pretty high). She doesn't really want to run away - if she did, she could easily climb over or burrow out of the yard. I don't think she's really discontent, she just likes an adventure. Who doesn't? And she was a street dog before I got her, or so the shelter was told.
She is right now obsessed with a cockroach trapped in the vacuum container that I caught this morning, thinking it was dead. It's not dead and it's moving in the plastic part she can see, and it's definitely got her attention. I appreciate how she lets me know things that are out of the ordinary like that. She no longer kills any crawling/flying bug that she sees, probably because she got stopped from killing lizards, but she does still let me know if she sees one. I've killed two that way; fortunately there aren't a lot of roaches about.
Now she's out yelling at the neighbor for being in his yard to move out his work van. She likes being belligerent to him, and while I can get her to stop and distract her, she is all junkyard dog with him. He seems to be a good sport about it - yesterday when she was barking at him and I told her to stop being a jerk - he offered to let me use his lawnmower because mine seems pathetic. I mean, I guess he should appreciate her interest in his yard - she's a watchdog for them, too. If somebody were to break into his work van, chances are that Ziggy would be going berserk.
This is also the issue that I have about people coming to the door - I need to teach her to stand down when I tell her to, but she gets very worked up. And I need different levels of stand-down - one for people I know and trust and she shouldn't be concerned about and she can greet friendly, and another for when I want her to stop barking but to pay close attention because it's a stranger. I have not figured out how to teach her that, and so she is a firm protector of home with everybody. She's having none of the calming work we've been trying - she goes straight to her amygdala and is in fight mode. And this is biological - Catahoulas are known to be very protective of their people. This is a major reason that I got her, and I do feel safer for having her. I just want to have her be more nuanced.
So, I need a training plan for that and a lot of people to come around and implement it, I guess. I may reach out to the trainer who works with the behavioral vet to see if that's something he can help with because I'm kind of out of my depth on how to parse response behaviors but also because I need another person involved with this.
Every time Ziggy has gotten loose and run away, she has very easily let me catch her. I get a little run around, but she's never given me a fuss when I do catch her. Now I know how much of a choice that is for her, because if she didn't want me to catch her there is no way I could, the little greased pig that she is.
I can only think of four times that she's gotten loose - twice at my old house (before I fixed the fence; neighbors let me know each time) and twice here (once by the painter who was pretty high). She doesn't really want to run away - if she did, she could easily climb over or burrow out of the yard. I don't think she's really discontent, she just likes an adventure. Who doesn't? And she was a street dog before I got her, or so the shelter was told.
She is right now obsessed with a cockroach trapped in the vacuum container that I caught this morning, thinking it was dead. It's not dead and it's moving in the plastic part she can see, and it's definitely got her attention. I appreciate how she lets me know things that are out of the ordinary like that. She no longer kills any crawling/flying bug that she sees, probably because she got stopped from killing lizards, but she does still let me know if she sees one. I've killed two that way; fortunately there aren't a lot of roaches about.
Now she's out yelling at the neighbor for being in his yard to move out his work van. She likes being belligerent to him, and while I can get her to stop and distract her, she is all junkyard dog with him. He seems to be a good sport about it - yesterday when she was barking at him and I told her to stop being a jerk - he offered to let me use his lawnmower because mine seems pathetic. I mean, I guess he should appreciate her interest in his yard - she's a watchdog for them, too. If somebody were to break into his work van, chances are that Ziggy would be going berserk.
This is also the issue that I have about people coming to the door - I need to teach her to stand down when I tell her to, but she gets very worked up. And I need different levels of stand-down - one for people I know and trust and she shouldn't be concerned about and she can greet friendly, and another for when I want her to stop barking but to pay close attention because it's a stranger. I have not figured out how to teach her that, and so she is a firm protector of home with everybody. She's having none of the calming work we've been trying - she goes straight to her amygdala and is in fight mode. And this is biological - Catahoulas are known to be very protective of their people. This is a major reason that I got her, and I do feel safer for having her. I just want to have her be more nuanced.
So, I need a training plan for that and a lot of people to come around and implement it, I guess. I may reach out to the trainer who works with the behavioral vet to see if that's something he can help with because I'm kind of out of my depth on how to parse response behaviors but also because I need another person involved with this.
In my Maggie's 11 1/2 years, the one bad habit we've been unable to break is her jumping on people. I think it's because she wants to see their faces and the only way to do so is by jumping. I have a blue electronic thing that emits a high pitched sound she hates, but I also hate seeing her ears go back (Fear? Pain?). If someone comes in and sits down, she's much better. But who walks in the door and immediately sits down??
ReplyDeleteIf Ziggy were just jumping, I could deal with it. But she scratches and mauls. She can cause some damage.
DeleteWhen I meet dogs who are jumpers, I immediately bend down to their level or get on my knee. I like to see their face, they like to see mine, and we are fine. I don't think jumping is egregious. But Ziggy's jumping is almost more bullying, which is why she never does it to me. IT's like she's trying to take down a wild boar. It's waaaaay too much.