Reframing the picture?

[john landry]

We live on the outskirts of a small village. When going out with the dogs, within minutes, we are walking on dirt roads with, obviously, no sidewalk. When walking down these roads with my dogs on leash, one of them, Alice, will get aroused by any oncoming car (mostly panel trucks) – she will hear them long before I even get to see the car, shift into a “Border Collie stance” and keep advancing in such stance, totally concentrated and pulling somewhat, unless I stop walking (If I do stop walking, she will just lie down and “eye” the oncoming car.) If I keep on walking, Alice will maintain her posture until the car/truck is within a few feet from us and, while not really lunging, will move toward the car/truck. She does this whether its daytime or evening. Alice is 2½ years old and this has been going on nearly from the start. It’s no big deal (at least, we have never really considered it to be so) and we have learned to live with it. Still… it is irksome. Contributing to my confusion is the fact that bicycles and snowmobiles don’t bother her at all. To top is off, Alice does not behave this way when walking on sidewalks.

 

A solution? While re-reading Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed, more specifically her description of “Reframing the picture”, I wondered if we might be able to modify Alice’s roadside behaviour this way, by reframing the picture: “A car is coming toward you. This must mean we are playing the Car in Your Face game! Hooray! Here’s your favourite treat! I love this game!” My spouse and I have been discussing the pros and cons of this approach – we do not want, out of ignorance, to aggravate Alice’s behaviour. I first thought of running toward the car – keeping on the side of the road! - making a loud, happy fuss about it and then treating Alice. Apart from my eventually getting in great shape doing this, would I be making things worse? I would enjoy any input into how I could implement this “Reframing the picture” principle in this context. Comments and suggestions please.

 

 

john landry

[Root Beer]

A solution? While re-reading Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed, more specifically her description of “Reframing the picture”, I wondered if we might be able to modify Alice’s roadside behaviour this way, by reframing the picture: “A car is coming toward you. This must mean we are playing the Car in Your Face game! Hooray! Here’s your favourite treat! I love this game!”

 

I think this is a good approach, but remember that to reframe, the dog MUST understand the framework of "Look (click or other distinctive marker from you), reorient (reward from you)" solidly before you literally take it on the road.

 

In fact, in this case, it's best if the whole game is solidly on cue before you take it to cars.

 

Will Alice look on cue and take that as a cue to reorient if there is a dog running by her full speed? If not, she's not ready for cars! Will she look on cue and take that as a cue to reorient if there is a person running by her full speed? If not, she's not ready for cars!

 

You can only reframe if the framework is solid. She won't reorient when she sees a car because you have her favorite treat, but because she knows the game and understands what is expected of her when she plays.

 

Make sense?

 

My spouse and I have been discussing the pros and cons of this approach – we do not want, out of ignorance, to aggravate Alice’s behaviour. I first thought of running toward the car – keeping on the side of the road! - making a loud, happy fuss about it and then treating Alice.

 

My opinion is that this approach would only get her more stimulated by the car. I'd actually play the game at first with the dog on a mat and keep it all very low key.

 

If the dog is already over threshold - as it sounds in your description - loud expressions of excitement from you are probably going to throw her into a higher level of stimulation. I think that reframing is a much, much better approach.

 

I would enjoy any input into how I could implement this “Reframing the picture” principle in this context. Comments and suggestions please.

john landry

 

Once Alice knows the framework that I described above with a dog running by and/or a human running by, I would find a place quite far back from the road and set her up on her mat. When a car is coming, I would cue LAT (I use "Look"), click, and reward for reorienting. I would do this a boatload of times, maybe over the course of several sessions, and not take her an inch closer. Once she totoally understood the game, I would move her maybe 5 feet closer and repeat.

 

By the time you get to the point where you are within 10 feet of the road, this should be so ingrained that the cars probably won't even be an issue anymore and at that point you can ditch the mat and start working with her while she is walking along.

 

If she knows LAT ("Car in your face is just a variation on LAT) in other contexts, this should go pretty quickly.

[john landry]

WOW! So much information already! There's a lot in there that I was not really aware of. So thanks Kristine, for the info and the way of implementing the reframing.

 

john landry

[mbc1963]

I didn't have this problem with cars, but definitely did with other humans walking on "our" paths, and especially bikers coming toward us. For a while, I'd take Buddy off the trail and have him do a sit, rewarding each time. After a couple days, Buddy learned to take himself off the trail and sit, which seemed to get him over his fear of bikes. Now, he gets happy when he sees strangers coming towards us, because he knows I might take him off the trail and give him an easily-earned treat.

 

That's more or less a variation on what you're describing, I think... giving the dog a different focus and then rewarding for not focusing on the other stimulus.

 

Good luck!

 

Mary