We just got back from another walk and I would like to eat some of those words :p
Is Frodo ever going to be exactly what I want in a dog? No. And we are going to have more bad days, but as my mom always tells me, I'm good at making mountains out of molehills. There is no reason that both of us can't have a great time together without having 100% of what we want.
Anyway, more about our walk and what changed my mind.
For our walk I took some kibble, but I was prepared to not use it at all and to just go on a walk. Not go on a training session, go on a walk.
It was the first time I came back home empty handed! I didn't Premack at all. Instead I took the advice of a member on another forum and instead of competing against a very exciting environment (trees and good things to sniff), we spent most of our walk in back alleys, walking in the middle of the road. And he stayed in a LLW about 85% of the time. O.o <-- surprised face.
I was ecstatic! That's better than he's ever done. In addition, he did not refuse even one treat, I think Crystal was right, he was too stressed to take the treats this morning. He was so focused and relaxed that he didn't even notice the van that stopped next to us and the dog that got out. I attribute this to him being relaxed and not feeling like he has to be aware of everything in the environment. He was focusing! I am also trying to generalize the leave it command and so when he would wander towards something with small interest (a tire on a car, something non-smelly on the road) I would tell him to leave it and jackpot him. And when he got to a tree or something else smelly? I let him sniff it all he wanted, and kept myself relaxed. I was, like I ALWAYS do, trying to take too large of steps and getting frustrated at him instead of looking at the other end of the leash!
Three other factors that I think may have influenced this morning's bad walk. One is that Frodo, who usually sleeps until I get up or even longer, decided we should start the day at 7am. This put me in a bad mood and I had a headache brewing before we even left the house. New Rule #1: If in a bad mood, don't work with Frodo! Second is that although we got up early, I didn't walk him until around 10, I think. It was warmer than it was on our walk tonight, so I am rethinking my idea that heat wasn't a factor. I also hate hate hate the heat, so it leads to me being in a fouler mood as well. New Rule #2: Get walking during the coolest times of the day, early morning and evening. Lastly, I have been using a lead that, while very pretty and well made, gave me some pretty painful rope burns when Frodo would pull. This, again, put me in a foul mood, and therefore a way less effective trainer. This afternoon after our first walk I was cleaning out my closet and found an old Lupine 4 ft. lead. We used that instead for our evening walk and it was 150 times easier on my hands, and I also didn't have to worry about gathering the excess of the 6 ft. lead.
This is turning out to be a longer post than I was planning, but on a final note, a word about Frodo's reactivity. Being so bummed after our morning walk I didn't even get a chance to tell you about the run ins with dogs earlier. Unfortunately I have nobody with a stable dog that I can train with, so we tend to end up working with the situations we can find. Unfortunately we often have surprise meetings with dogs that we didn't see until we are on top of them. Today this occured with a yellow lab and an English mastiff. What I am noticing about Frodo's reactivity is that while he still reacts, he is recovering much quicker. It is almost as if the dogs are out of sight and out of mind. He can focus at times that he would have previously been trying to spin around and go back towards the dog. I am not sure why of the change, and I'm not going to say that it is going to remain this way. It could be him still settling in and adjusting, but for now I will take it!
Mini tangent:
Who in their right mind lets a 150lb English Mastiff off leash in the middle of town? Who???
The people down the street, that's who. This was one of our run-in's today. He was laying on the porch (no leash, no collar, nothing) and neither Frodo nor I noticed him until we were about 5ft. away. Frodo reacted. The dog never moved a muscle, thank goodness! But what if he had? If he wanted to I am sure he could make quick work of Frodo. I talked to my mom about it, as he was not there 5 months ago, and she said that she's seen the woman out walking him and has zero control over him. He pulls her over to visit children and whatever else he wants. Needless to say, we won't be walking that way anymore.
Well that is great! It sounds like the evening walk was much better.
Glad it went better! Also, that pic is ADORABLE.
It did go much better! As did both walks today, I am very pleased :)
Thanks Crystal, it is part of a bunch I took at the fairgrounds on Sunday. I need to eventually post them all...