This morning we just had Rose and Miska, Vilna and Buttons, Helen and Jette for Thursday morning social agility.
Rose has issues about Miska, Helen has issues about Jette, Buttons is pretty cool really except that he has never grown out of playing like a puppy, but he is a neutered boy and they do have a bit of arrested development. I threw my Fae the Fat Fairy into the mix because it is good for her to work with all big dogs.
So the class morphed into a 'watch the lips' exercise.
It is easiest to start with Miska. Miska is seven years old has had multiple handlers including SPCA. She is a purebred German Shepherd, she has slight degeneration of the hips and one leg has possibly been injured or overworked at some point. She does not come easily to people , has relatively good relationships with dogs, but is one very jumpy nervy dog.
When Miska pants heavily:
- when she is on lead
- when she is left alone
- when she needs to get away and is restricted.
The panting and head tossing is quite considerable and she needs to move herself away from where she is, even though as human beings we may not see what it is she needs to get away from. So we gave her freedom in the group, we took her lead off, she instantly moved herself away from the group to her 'safe' distance. Then she paced a bit because her handler(new owner) Rose who she is coming to trust, was still too close to the group. So we moved Rose out. Once Rose was seven meters away from the Group Miska came to her and was reasonably happy to be in that seven to eight meter separation area,. During this time I asked Rose not to speak to the dog. We were watching Miska's lips. First we had manic panting and very tight lips, then as she moved away from the group and got into a comfort zone she gradually closed her mouth to normal, then when she became very happy her mouth was loose as she ambled with a little bit of tongue movement and then finally when she gave us a lovely send away to her food pot her throat and lips were in working mode, her head was in working mode, her ears were up and she was ready to be part of the team. After that her stress was gone. So thinks Rose, over that one. But no, when she comes to class next week we need to repeat the exercise and probably the week after as well, but soon she will want to be in close with the rest of us and not be bothered. Then we will have conquered Miska's fear at the dog training grounds, but not necessarily when she is out walking and meets others, or when she is at home and new people come through the door and she feels cornered. Supplying the opportunity for flight is extremely important for rehomed dogs. Within reason of course, because you may find an open back door allows them to go a very long way. You must be in control of how far they can go to get the space they need., Under no circumstances pursue the dog to its far away corner, it will come back when it has it figured out and feels safe.
Young Jette , a Spaniel, English Pointer cross, belongs to Helen and she is very unhappy about people in her immediate one to two meter space. We are trying to break this down. She hates being eyed by people she doesn't know and is actually quite an Alpha bitch with other dogs, she really does like to be in control and call the shots, and of course we all know that this is a dangerous area
of decision making that we cannot allow the dog to be in as the decision she makes may be the one that means she feels she has to bite to control. When I said this to Helen last week it was not meant that she would bite, but she has the potential if she thinks human beings are too close to her and/or her handler, that she is menacing. Why?
This pup - now eleven months - was rescued by Helen and her family from the local Pound. Dogs become very doggy at the pound, they make friends with the dogs in the adjacent runs, and often they are initially housed with other siblings or dogs they were collected with from a property. The positive people experience for these dogs is limited. Often the experience has been violent and/or emotionally disruptive to the pup.
It is a hunch of mine that every new person in her space is going to take her somewhere she doesn't want to go, she too has a mouth and lip stress issue which we watched today. When She and Helen are working together away from others she will relax and close her mouth and just wait for instructions, but as soon as another dog is introduced to her space she wants to go with the dog, she wants to dominate the dog and she is very mouthy with the other dog and totally ignores her handler. Sounds a bit like puppy play but it is a bit more manic than that.
When we increase the distance between Jette and her handler and the rest of the group, she settles, listens quite well and is calm, although she too is looking for flight to the nearest dog opportunities. When she is off-lead she will work briefly with her handler but then is off looking for fun and distraction. As soon as another human being walks into her space - she opens her mouth, confronts the new person and sets off a howling bark that stops human beings in their tracks, this would be the very wrong moment to try and make friends with this dog, person needs to heed the warning and turn and walk away. Probably about ten meters and wait for Helen to show and put her into a down on the ground and then make slow progress towards them and wait about two meters away. Can this dog get over this behaviour, yes of course, but the handler has to be aware and meet the dog's needs and make the dog feel secure and relaxed. There is no cause for violence or strong leash pulling or any other stupid thing on the part of handler. Until you have built up a culture of trust with this dog you must practice avoidance at all times.
Reading your dog's head, ears, lips, tongue movements is the key to making sure you can keep your dog safe. You may inadvertently lead your dog into some situations that she/he cannot cope with.
Right now look at your dog, he is asleep on his mat, he is calm, his mouth is together his eyes are closed and he is as peace with the world. When he wakes up he will go to the door and you open it and he strolls out to have a look at the world - then he is aware of something, near the gate, his attitude changes, what does this look like, how are his mouth, head, ears now. He is unhappy there is someone at 'his' gate. What do I do, I don't want him to cause trouble and growl and bark, he is a lovely dog, he is my friend. I turn my back and say ' Good boy', because he is, he has just alerted me that all is not well at my boundary. I walk into the house get a small treat from the fridge and he has heard the fridge door from 60meters and man oh man is he there with bells on for his treat. Because this always happens it becomes a bit of a game and after a while we go out the door again and I walk with him by my side to the gate. He loves this bit, we look up and down the road, nobody, I pick up my piece of rope that I have by the gate and tie it to his collar, and we wander out the gate, he has a piddle, I tell him good boy, he sniffs and comes back in the gate virtually of his own free will, without much assistance from the rope. I watch my dogs' body responses all the time so I know what is up, what he is seeing, what he is hearing. I need to negate the unnecessary stuff as much as possible while leaving his ability to warn me in tact.
After a while we get a deal going where I ask him to check the gate and he does and we have a good boy and a treat from the fridge and he is relaxed when he does this and calm.
When the bonding comes together for Jette and Helen and Miska and Rose, and these rehomed dogs trust and understand the messages they are receiving, then these will be great working companion partnerships. At the moment we are in the new and not sure stage, so off lead work in the park, walking off lead and other free range activities are very dangerous. Take it slowly guys, little short stuff and lots of turning away, try not to drive your dogs to poor decision making and watch those lips, they have a lot to say.
