Help with dog overstimulated by running in agility

[Jersey Girl]

I have a 2 year old bc that I have wanted to get into agility. Our problem is that he is extremely motion sensitive. The sight of the other dogs running in agility gets him very overstimulated and he looses all impulse control. Barks and reves himself up into a frenzy wanting to run with the other dogs. Has anyone ever dealt with this and how did you overcome it? I have the CU book but there are no classes in my area. Has anyone used Crate Games like in the entry way of the building while class is going on to teach focus and attention and that the reward is in being quiet and calm while other dogs run.

 

Jersey Girl

[Root Beer]

I did deal with this. My dog, Dean, was exactly the same.

 

I used CU, primarily the Look at That Game. The key was to keep him under threshold, so I moved him back into an Intro class and did Mat Work and LAT as the dogs were learning to jump, etc. By the time they were starting small sequences, he understood Mat Work and LAT well enough that the motion did not overstimulate him anymore. He can now watch dogs run whole courses and he is totally calm.

 

I haven't done crate games, but my concern with using crate games with a motion sensitive dog is that he or she would not learn to truly understand what he or she is supposed to do when dogs are in motion around him.

[Jumpin Boots]

I agree w/ Root Beer that you need to start in a situation which is less stimulating than an all out agility class. You may even need to talk to your instructors about you attending classes and just working on focus exercises and such while the other dogs are training in agility. Or if you have a dog park in the area you might want to start working your dog on focus there. I would begin outside and away from the park and as your dogs focus on you increased I would move closer to the park until a time when I could be inside w/ full attention.

 

My fear w/ putting the dog in a crate is that the dog is not learning to control itself, it is just being restricted. I realize you plan on doing crate games w/ it, but if that's the case then why not work it outside of the crate. If you get to the point that you are trialing you are not going to be able to carry your crate w/ you everywhere you go, so better to deal w/ appropriate, independent behavior now than later.

[Jersey Girl]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking of Crate Games as it too is meant to build self control in a dog. Kristine the problem I have with CU is I was doing a lot of the LAT game last week, but I felt like I was just being a feeding machine. I would like to get some interaction with me going on, as well, whether that be tugging or obedience work while the activity is going on around us. I realize it may be a bit before that can happen up close, but we have had luck with that in the past at a distance at least while certain dogs are running. Then when some dogs run it is all over and the overdrive kicks in. Have you ever gotten to the point with Dean that you could do lat with a toy instead of food/treats?

[haleigh]

What I'm doing right now which would probably benefit you is to start out with some private lessons and gradually add in other dogs. The minute your dog becomes overstimulated, remove a dog and start from base one (or which ever one you were at before).

 

How about a kong when practicing LAT? I started this because when I was practicing LAT with my girl Joy she would bite the heck out of my fingers and it would HURT...badly. I used a kong and she was able to take out her frustration on it instead of me. If it's the interaction you are looking for, you can let your puppers lick it for a couple seconds then start playing with it. I don't like using games during our CU exercises because they can be stimulating and boost Joy's adrenaline, but I can't say that for all dogs. If your boy pays more attention to you when you have toys than food, then use it by all means!

[Root Beer]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking of Crate Games as it too is meant to build self control in a dog. Kristine the problem I have with CU is I was doing a lot of the LAT game last week, but I felt like I was just being a feeding machine. I would like to get some interaction with me going on, as well, whether that be tugging or obedience work while the activity is going on around us. I realize it may be a bit before that can happen up close, but we have had luck with that in the past at a distance at least while certain dogs are running. Then when some dogs run it is all over and the overdrive kicks in. Have you ever gotten to the point with Dean that you could do lat with a toy instead of food/treats?

 

When you start LAT, you have to feed a lot, but once you play for a good while the actual need to play the game decreases.

 

We eventually got to the point where we don't need to play LAT at all when dogs are running. Through the LAT game, he learned a new emotional response, and thus a new behavioral response, to seeing dogs (and anything, for that matter) in motion.

 

The problem with having to rely on interaction with you is that the dog will not learn to take dogs in motion in stride when you aren't distracting him with some activity. You can't tug, or do obedience work, or be doing a whole lot of anything to interact with you when you are on the line and the dog ahead of you is still running, or you are on deck right at the gate.

 

LAT taught Dean that dogs in motion are no big deal. When we are on deck at the ring gate, or at the line while the dog ahead of us is finishing, he simply doesn't care that a dog is running. He sees it. He knows that's not something he has to pay any mind to. He is focused on the fact that it is going to be our turn.

 

Before we started CU (and LAT), he could not be within sight or earshot of dogs running Agility without going absolutely ballistic. Now it's simply no big deal to him.

 

As far as using a toy for LAT, it would cause him to focus on the toy, not to orient to me as a default, and with a dog who is overstimulated that would probably raise, not lower, stimulation level. That's the last thing I would want to do with a dog who is overstimulated. I might use a toy as part of the off switch games, but I wouldn't only rely on off switch games, although those might be helpful, too.