MaryK
Honored Member
Those who've been around since late July (2012) will know that Ra Kismet and I were attacked whilst out walking by a dog, who jumped the fence, with evil intent! Fortunately neither Ra Kismet or I were, miraculously, physically injured but it did leave my beautiful boy with psychological issues. The next day when we were out he went totally over threshold, completely zoned out on me all I could do was 'hang on' and get back inside a.s.a.p. (we were very close to home thank goodness having just started our walk), when another dog on his/her leash come up behind us.
Since then we've come a long way!
Whilst we still haven't really done 'the big one', face to face passing on narrow footpaths, we can now do all of the following without much, if any, drama.
1. Dogs inside the house but barking, can be seen via window, no reaction at all.
2. Dogs barking inside garden, heard but not seen, mild reaction maybe a glance or ears up (some are very noisy) quickly looks at me for a treat
3. Dogs seen and heard on other side of the street. Slight alert, ears up, but not much more, except the Rotties who are above and beyond rowdy, then he does sometimes swing to the end of his leash but VERY quickly resets - after all Mom has treats and then sniffs the ground - she must be a smasher as sniffing is more interesting than Rotties yowling and fighting with each other. Always a 'fight' between them, never misses - poor neighbors they do it even if you walk past without a dog!
4.Dogs on sidewalk, other side of the street, tiny reaction if other dog is pulling, but he quickly re-sets himself (again Mom's treats are MUCH better) and if the other dog is well mannered, no more than a glance and a 'ho hum I'm not afraid strut'
5. Dogs coming face to face, we still do a 'ninja' move here, don't want to push the chap. But we did manage, with Ra Kismet sitting, dog passing in an 'arc' on same side, when there was room for me to move over, and really so little reaction here I was stunned - pleasantly so!
Though there was a decent 'gap' and the other dog was Mr. Manners personified!
6.Dog off leash running up behind him. First time I called, without turning back and asked the chap to call his dog, saying my dog had been attacked and was scared. Chap did and the very friendly German Shepherd stopped running behind us. Ra Kismet did look back and I could tell by the way he took his treats he was a little anxious, but hey, no real over reaction at all. So proud of the boy!
7. Dog, second time about to run across road, another GS, I did not see the dog, Ra Kismet did and 'alerted' me to that fact by turning his head around but, once dog was called back, again no reaction - unless you count 'hey Mom how about a JACKPOT' as a 'reaction'
8. Dog off leash getting out of car other side of the road, well behaved dog just glanced across then ignore us. Ra Kismet did much the same, although he glanced two or three times,before strutting past without much of a blink!
9.Dog forgetting it's boundaries and racing down and out of drive way barking like mad BEHIND us (his worse area) some reaction, but no where near over threshold and after a few 'look at me's' decided I was the better option!
10. Dogs barking from cars. Ears alert but not much more now.
11. Dogs unexpectedly barking behind fences, seen or otherwise. Some reaction when dog is right close and can be seen i.e. railing fences, but not all that much, just a little pulling but responding well to 'calm look at me', dogs not seen very slight, depending on the noise factor and/ or how 'startled' we both are, reaction, more just 'up on front feet' ears pricked, but again resets without any word from me and of course JACKPOT and loads of praise, cuddles and 'oh you're such a good boy' and other 'goofy' talk
When you stop and think it's just five months, and a lot of that spent either re-training in the garden or just up and down our street and fixed route after that for a few months, he's come a long, long way from the dog who was so zoned out he didn't hear me, and actually tried to snap at my hand holding the leash!
He always walks on a loose leash, not held tightly to my side, so he has the opportunity to zone out if he wanted to. With his Halti/Gentle Leader I DO NOT use it to drag his head around, I use verbal cues 'look at me' or 'calm' depending on the situation, to get his attention. So he's not been 'woman handled' or made to turn away, he does so willingly just with verbal cues, or sometimes no cues at all! He just prefers the Halti/Gentle Leader to a collar, gives him that sense of 'Mom's got my back". I NEVER use it as a 'tool' though, never!
He'll even do simple tricks now, like sit, sit pretty (loves showing this off in the street) or stand right up (on his hind legs) even when dogs are barking! Some tricks, as you'll all appreciate, just don't work well on a leash.
I'd say my boy is proof positive, if it was ever needed, that Positive Reinforcement Training works! I'm so proud of the boy. And thank you to everyone who's helped me! You guys ROCK!
Since then we've come a long way!
Whilst we still haven't really done 'the big one', face to face passing on narrow footpaths, we can now do all of the following without much, if any, drama.
1. Dogs inside the house but barking, can be seen via window, no reaction at all.
2. Dogs barking inside garden, heard but not seen, mild reaction maybe a glance or ears up (some are very noisy) quickly looks at me for a treat
3. Dogs seen and heard on other side of the street. Slight alert, ears up, but not much more, except the Rotties who are above and beyond rowdy, then he does sometimes swing to the end of his leash but VERY quickly resets - after all Mom has treats and then sniffs the ground - she must be a smasher as sniffing is more interesting than Rotties yowling and fighting with each other. Always a 'fight' between them, never misses - poor neighbors they do it even if you walk past without a dog!
4.Dogs on sidewalk, other side of the street, tiny reaction if other dog is pulling, but he quickly re-sets himself (again Mom's treats are MUCH better) and if the other dog is well mannered, no more than a glance and a 'ho hum I'm not afraid strut
'5. Dogs coming face to face, we still do a 'ninja' move here, don't want to push the chap. But we did manage, with Ra Kismet sitting, dog passing in an 'arc' on same side, when there was room for me to move over, and really so little reaction here I was stunned - pleasantly so!
Though there was a decent 'gap' and the other dog was Mr. Manners personified!6.Dog off leash running up behind him. First time I called, without turning back and asked the chap to call his dog, saying my dog had been attacked and was scared. Chap did and the very friendly German Shepherd stopped running behind us. Ra Kismet did look back and I could tell by the way he took his treats he was a little anxious, but hey, no real over reaction at all. So proud of the boy!
7. Dog, second time about to run across road, another GS, I did not see the dog, Ra Kismet did and 'alerted' me to that fact by turning his head around but, once dog was called back, again no reaction - unless you count 'hey Mom how about a JACKPOT' as a 'reaction'
8. Dog off leash getting out of car other side of the road, well behaved dog just glanced across then ignore us. Ra Kismet did much the same, although he glanced two or three times,before strutting past without much of a blink!
9.Dog forgetting it's boundaries and racing down and out of drive way barking like mad BEHIND us (his worse area) some reaction, but no where near over threshold and after a few 'look at me's' decided I was the better option!
10. Dogs barking from cars. Ears alert but not much more now.
11. Dogs unexpectedly barking behind fences, seen or otherwise. Some reaction when dog is right close and can be seen i.e. railing fences, but not all that much, just a little pulling but responding well to 'calm look at me', dogs not seen very slight, depending on the noise factor and/ or how 'startled' we both are, reaction, more just 'up on front feet' ears pricked, but again resets without any word from me and of course JACKPOT and loads of praise, cuddles and 'oh you're such a good boy' and other 'goofy' talk
When you stop and think it's just five months, and a lot of that spent either re-training in the garden or just up and down our street and fixed route after that for a few months, he's come a long, long way from the dog who was so zoned out he didn't hear me, and actually tried to snap at my hand holding the leash!
He always walks on a loose leash, not held tightly to my side, so he has the opportunity to zone out if he wanted to. With his Halti/Gentle Leader I DO NOT use it to drag his head around, I use verbal cues 'look at me' or 'calm' depending on the situation, to get his attention. So he's not been 'woman handled' or made to turn away, he does so willingly just with verbal cues, or sometimes no cues at all! He just prefers the Halti/Gentle Leader to a collar, gives him that sense of 'Mom's got my back". I NEVER use it as a 'tool' though, never!
He'll even do simple tricks now, like sit, sit pretty (loves showing this off in the street) or stand right up (on his hind legs) even when dogs are barking! Some tricks, as you'll all appreciate, just don't work well on a leash.
I'd say my boy is proof positive, if it was ever needed, that Positive Reinforcement Training works! I'm so proud of the boy. And thank you to everyone who's helped me! You guys ROCK!
But LOL I am a match for Ra Kismet!
I can well understand how that shook your confidence and to lose your darling Sparky too, that's beyond words devastating! I am so happy though you have recovered and now own a beautiful red dog, kudos to you for working on yourself and getting to this point