Anyway, the night that Ryan got here Frodo and I also had our first night of tricks class. I had to do dog swims first, and then race home and get the little brat right before class started, which worried me a bit as it meant we would get there and all of the other dogs would already be there! Something I try and avoid as I like to be there first and treat as the other dogs show up.
Not this night. We walked in the building and all the other dogs for class are already there. Plus I was a little frazzled with Ryan being there (I'm like my dog, little changes in the environment throw us off!), but I was very very pleasantly surprised.
We had NO REACTIONS the whole class! NONE! Even when another dog in class had a reaction and had to be moved into a different area! Even when my trainer's dog was staring at Frodo from her crate! He was a perfect little gentleman!
I was so proud of him! He was also a champ at the stuff we worked on, though he knew most of the tricks before we went to class, so we did have an advantage over some of the others in class. One we had never worked on and that I thought would give him trouble was the little tunnel we set up. I was worried about him being scared by the way it moved and how it was enclosed. Boy did he make a liar out of me!
I think it was probably his favorite of the night. On one go-through Ryan accidentally threw the treat too far so it went through the tunnel and way across the room, way close to a Wheaten Terrier in class that Frodo has never met before. Of course my heart was in my throat and my eyes were probably as big as saucers, but my little man ran, got the treat from less than 2 feet away from the dog, turned and ran right back to me! Didn't even give the dog a second glance.
I was beaming at the end of the night. I hope that he continues to do so well, both in class and on the dog walks. I just wish we could get amazing results like this out on regular walks.
Anyway, we have our second class tonight and here's to hoping it goes as well!
P.S. (remember writing that on notes in elementary school? :p) Should I be using the treat that I *only* use for desensitization out on walks while on the dog walk and at class? I feel like they are two totally different things altogether. He doesn't/rarely has reactions in class/on the walks, but he still most of the time has reactions on regular walks. Should I treat him the the desensitizing treat while we walk into the training building, and then switch to regular treats? I don't want to tarnish the desensitization treat by using it as a reward for tricks that we are working on in class...
Any comments/help on that front would be greatly appreciated. :)
hello, just a thought, I understand having a hierarchy of treats but I have never thought to have a special treat only for desensitization. Surely by mixing the times he gets that treat he will associate the good feeling of having that treat when doing a trick with the not as nice feeling of having the treat when seeing a dog. Not sure if I'm explaining that very well but in my mind I don't think it's that important. I would only hold back good treats for times when the thing is more difficult - learning a new trick in a strange place surrounded by dogs is pretty hard I reckon.
From all of the books and DVDs I have watched that are specifically geared toward reactive dogs, it has been highly stressed that you should use only the absolute best treats for the desensitization of that specific stimulus. And that if you are working with more than one stimulus, that different very high value rewards should be used for different stimulus.
For right now I think that I am not going to use the PB reward at all in class because he obviously does not view these other dogs as threats right now. Even when other dogs are reacting he is remaining calm, which is amazing to me!
Thanks for the reply!!