G. Festerling Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Quite refreshing to follow your progress! Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted December 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 New Observation... I was walking Scarelt in town and there were a couple kids playing basketball in the street, and as we passed by, she started barking. Now here's the correlation.. bouncing tennis ball in the store = barking. bouncing basketball in the street = barking. maybe she's just unsure of the sound? Also, update on the car chasing... I'd say she's about 90% done with alerting when a car goes by! I still have to remind her, from time to time with a firm "NO", but for the most part, she just watches it! This is GOOD! AND... with no high value treats involved! Nipping.. She still has a short fuze on the nipping. When we're walking in the park, she'll come up to dogs, and as long as the other dog is not threatening, she's ok.. as soon as she's done with that, and the person starts to pay attention to Scarlet, she'll reach up and nip...or bark.. SOMETIMES..... It'll be easier to help break that habit in the spring when there's more people outside. Again, patience, I guess.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Also, update on the car chasing... I'd say she's about 90% done with alerting when a car goes by! I still have to remind her, from time to time with a firm "NO", but for the most part, she just watches it! This is GOOD! AND... with no high value treats involved! I am glad to hear that Miss Scarlet is improving so well. I have one small comment about the car chasing training - just a tweak really: She obviously knows (most of the time) not to alert/chase cars, and she responds well to a correction. That is great, but don't forget, every so often, to give her really awesome treats when she ignores a car or when she responds to your correction. In other words, just because she knows what to do (or not to do) doesn't mean that you shouldn't give her treats anymore. Intermittent reinforcement with treats will really help get a more consistent behavior. Mix up verbal and treat praise. For example, my dog knows how to stay on a start-line at agility (he is quite good at trials). When we train, I expect him to stay, but occasionally, I will say "Good boy" or even better, I will put him in a stay, lead out a few steps, then go back to him and treat him for staying. Everybody likes to get a payday! Jovi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted December 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 That's a very true comment! I'll keep treating. I just wanted to say that she's behaving without it, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted December 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Chasing Cars... NOT... Check this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 A really nice improvement! One thing I would mention is that your voice gets a bit "drastic" in the "no" and "stay" further on in the video. Practice using a very calm, very relaxed voice - stress in your voice can telegraph anxiety to Scarlet. You are using a Flexi. Now, I sometimes use a Flexi for certain things but in general, I would not advise it and certainly not in this sort of situation, where you know she has had a predisposition to lunge. You and she will be much better off with something safer - a leather or soft nylon flat leash that is six feet long. One problem with a Flexi (other than that narrow cord possibly tightening around a finger or other small object - amputation is a possibility under the wrong scenario) is that if the dog does take off running, she can work up quite a bit of speed before she hits the end of that long lead. And that can be painful for both of you. And a conventional leash does offer more control since it isn't so long and doesn't rely on that trigger mechanism. She's doing really well. What you might do to progress even further is to teach her (when a car comes in sight) to stop, turn back to you, sit, watch your face, and wait for a reward (treat, pat, toy, whatever). She is still staring at the cars and showing remarkable self-control, but it would be even better if she focused her attention on you rather than the car. You are going to want to develop her behavior to the point that, were she off leash, she would be all about *you* and not the car. Congrats, I think you are doing a terrific job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted December 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 A really nice improvement! One thing I would mention is that your voice gets a bit "drastic" in the "no" and "stay" further on in the video. Practice using a very calm, very relaxed voice - stress in your voice can telegraph anxiety to Scarlet. You are using a Flexi. Now, I sometimes use a Flexi for certain things but in general, I would not advise it and certainly not in this sort of situation, where you know she has had a predisposition to lunge. You and she will be much better off with something safer - a leather or soft nylon flat leash that is six feet long. One problem with a Flexi (other than that narrow cord possibly tightening around a finger or other small object - amputation is a possibility under the wrong scenario) is that if the dog does take off running, she can work up quite a bit of speed before she hits the end of that long lead. And that can be painful for both of you. And a conventional leash does offer more control since it isn't so long and doesn't rely on that trigger mechanism. She's doing really well. What you might do to progress even further is to teach her (when a car comes in sight) to stop, turn back to you, sit, watch your face, and wait for a reward (treat, pat, toy, whatever). She is still staring at the cars and showing remarkable self-control, but it would be even better if she focused her attention on you rather than the car. You are going to want to develop her behavior to the point that, were she off leash, she would be all about *you* and not the car. Congrats, I think you are doing a terrific job! I Agree with the flexi leash comment, but when we're going to close to cars and such, I keep it about 6 feet or shorter, and not let her go to the end of it. Good idea for the turn, and look at me, I'll try it! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waffles Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 I also wanted to note that you said 'stay' close to 10 times. Say it once. Your dog is smart and you don't want her to learn that stay means stay for 1 second until you say it again. Stay means stay put until I release you no matter what. I can put my dog in a down stay for 10+ minutes if need be (typically while feeding the chickens). This is what your dog is capable of and what I would be working towards if Scarlet were my dog. I also agree that the tone of your voice is frantic as well. Have confidence in your skills and your dogs and assume she will do well. She is still very keyed in on the cars (though much better than your first posts). How is she if you are just walking? Does she need to be sitting to get to the point she is at in the video (just watching intently?). I would do as someone else suggested and stay very very calm, watch your voice and how you use it. Your voice in this video sounds as if you know she will break her stay if you don't keep rapid fire repeating it. Work on stay in a lower distraction environment and reward heavily for staying for different amounts of time (working your way up to longer times). Again, the point of any command is to say it once and have the dog listen. When the first car goes by and she does well, reward her heavily! Then when the second, and third car come reward heavily! You don't have to wait until many cars go by, keep giving her positive feedback and less commands. You can also try putting her in a down stay as many dogs can become calmer in a down position. Good work so far! I mean everything as positive criticism. Taking videos of you working with your dog will make you a better trainer and your dog a happier dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Chasing Cars... NOT... Check this out! Very good! Excellent work. The only things I'd comment on are those already mentioned. Don't repeat "stay." Say it once. If she appears about to break, then say it again. But by repeating it, your voice starts to go up in tension, and I see her responding (the ear-twitches) to what sounds like an escalation in your anxiety level. Don't do that. Just say it once, very calmly, very assertively. Say it as if you know perfectly well that she's going to mind, and that's it. Calm, cool, collected should be your goal at all times. Otherwise, you're nagging. I'd maybe suggest a gentle leash-pop when she stars keying on the oncoming cars. Just a quiet, firm, "No." Remove any hint of anxiety from your tone. And rather than let her sit and look at 3 oncoming cars, just do one or two, then turn around and take her the other way, break her focus. Remember, the less you say to her, the more focused you'll both be. She has to learn that your commands are only spoken once, and that you mean it. You're doing really well, though! Keep it up! Oh, and I'll also echo the suggestion that you don't use the flexi-lead when training around cars. The latches on those things *can* slip, especially if she sees something you don't and really hits the end of it. It's happened to me, more than once. That's all for my critique, though! Keep up the good work, and congratulations on getting her this far. ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doghaven Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 I'll entertain ANY and ALL positive reinforcement suggestions on how to get her socialized and stop the nipping and car chasing. How about positive RESULTS suggestions? Do you entertain those as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted January 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Welcome back from the holidays! It’s been a busy set for us! I entertain ANY comments, and I know all comments from this forum are going to be positive ones! She’s doing real well on not chasing cars, but still needs to be reminded. Like I said before, a good sniff trumps a car. I’ll take your advice about keeping it to 2 or 3 cars, heavily treating her then change focus. I’ve noticed if the cars are further away, the less interest there is. She’s pretty uninterested in cars at a distance of about 20 feet from them, but if one turns in front of us at an intersection, then she really wants it. I’ve been taking her for walks in town almost every day before work for about 20-30 minutes, and in a small town, we have a few cars that go by, so it’s not like I walk her on the interstate or anything. ;.) So I think I have that behavior pretty much under control, and know how to handle her. The second issue we have is that she still wants to nip and bark at strangers. She’s very comfortable with our 24 year old daughter, and the 5 month old baby. They stayed with us for 3 or 4 days during the holidays, and she showed NO signs of aggression or nipping at the baby. One behavior that was different was that she had more energy than usual..She wanted out.. she wanted in… jumping up on the couch… and as I call it, she was “full of kittens”!!! Our 35 yr old daughter came over and spent the night Christmas eve. Scarlet doesn’t really know her that much. When she came in the house, Scarlet barked and jumped up and it looked like she was going to nip. Jennifer just gave her some chin scratches, and talked real nice to her, then basically ignored her after that, and she calmed down. A few minutes later, she barked at Jennifer again, Jen did the same thing, and after that, Scarlet accepted her as a new pack member. I took her to a dog park and she loved playing with the other dogs. She likes all dogs except if they’re aggressive to her first. A man and woman were in the park with their dogs, and Scarlet came over to them, barked, and as they passed by, nipped at the guy. He was real nice about it and said, “that BC’s are like that”. I don’t buy that as our previous BC that passed away in August NEVER did that, but we also raised her from a pup. It’s hard to socialize her in the winter and since we live out in the country with no sidewalks or neighbors to speak of, and when we walk in town, there aren’t too many people out in the cold. We were in the park where kids were sledding, and she barked her head off at them coming down the hill. I knew if I let her go, she’d nip at the sledders. The next time we have visitors; this is how we’re going to do it. We have a collapsible kennel (The General). Before they arrive, we’ll crate her in the back bedroom. She’s been sleeping there every night (with the door open), and I tell her to “go to bed”, and she’ll go in and lay down. After the visitors sit and get comfortable, we’ll let Scarlet out, with her collar and short leash on. We’ll instruct the visitors to sit and throw a few high value treats to her, then ignore her. If she continues to act up, we’ll put her back in the crate with a chew stick..then try it again after a while… How does that sound? Here’s an off topic question. Her mane is really growing in nice and pretty. She’s about 1.5 or 2 yrs old. Do you think it’s just a winter coat or she’s just growing up to be a young lady? At the shelter, she was brought in as a stray, but only spent 7 days in the shelter. Do you think her stress level was such that her fur just didn’t grow? Thanks in advance for your comments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waffles Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 The second issue we have is that she still wants to nip and bark at strangers. She’s very comfortable with our 24 year old daughter, and the 5 month old baby. They stayed with us for 3 or 4 days during the holidays, and she showed NO signs of aggression or nipping at the baby. One behavior that was different was that she had more energy than usual..She wanted out.. she wanted in… jumping up on the couch… and as I call it, she was “full of kittens”!!! Our 35 yr old daughter came over and spent the night Christmas eve. Scarlet doesn’t really know her that much. When she came in the house, Scarlet barked and jumped up and it looked like she was going to nip. Jennifer just gave her some chin scratches, and talked real nice to her, then basically ignored her after that, and she calmed down. A few minutes later, she barked at Jennifer again, Jen did the same thing, and after that, Scarlet accepted her as a new pack member. The next time we have visitors; this is how we’re going to do it. We have a collapsible kennel (The General). Before they arrive, we’ll crate her in the back bedroom. She’s been sleeping there every night (with the door open), and I tell her to “go to bed”, and she’ll go in and lay down. After the visitors sit and get comfortable, we’ll let Scarlet out, with her collar and short leash on. We’ll instruct the visitors to sit and throw a few high value treats to her, then ignore her. If she continues to act up, we’ll put her back in the crate with a chew stick..then try it again after a while… How does that sound? My advice for this situation is to teach a 'place' command (some call it 'mat' or 'go to mat'). I suggest you do some searching online and watch videos for how to teach it and how to use it for the situation of guests coming over. It is a great way to have her in the moment (not locked away) and observing, learning impulse control and she has a safe place she knows she has to stay on where no one is going to approach her. Place is basically a spot (a rug, dog bed, dog cot, etc) the dog is told to go to and they must stay there until released. While on place, they can sit or lay down, whatever they want to do. No guests are to go approach her there. She stays there until you think she can handle being released (you may want her on leash or not until she gets the hang of it). For some dogs they stay on place for a long time after guests come in, and you slowly work your way down. You want her to be very calm on place before releasing her-think, laying with head down, uninterested or excited by the guests. I am sure others will elaborate but I think it is best for you to watch some videos online. Hope this helps! Edit: Wanted to add, in case it was not obvious, that you want to teach her 'place' before you use it for when guests come over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 ...and the rewards should come from you, not the strangers...the people that scare her giving her rewards would encourage her to get closer, but they can encourage her to get closer than shes really comfortable with which can result in a bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 Ok... Ill look up "place" and see what can be done! We took a 2 hour walk in the park today, and she did real well not braking at other walkers, until they tried to talk to her or gesture to try and pet her... Then the. Arming started. We were walker behind a man and woman for about 5 minutes about 6 feet distance. Scarlet didn't try to run up on them and she was fine until we passed them. The woman looked at Scarlet and just said hello doggie, gestured as to want to pet, and Scarlet armed like somebody was going to kill her!!! also we passed a group of people and the same thing happened! It's really puzzling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 Sorry... Not "arming".... I meant "barking" these smart phones sometimes aren't!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 Recall in earlier posts I mentioned the guy, Keith, I work with and his wife is a vet? I went to his house today for a fact finding mission. He met us in the front yard, and as I suspected, she barked and nipped at him. He was being very slow to interact with Scarlet, not trying to pet her, but calling her name. She nipped at his leg but didn't leave a mark. We eventually went into his fenced back yard, and I let her off the lead so she could sniff around. (Also recall, he's the one with 7 dogs) His dogs were inside, and barking at us. After a while, his wife the vet came out. She knelt down, did a kiss sound, and Scarlet came right over to her, and she was able to pet her!! NO BARKING! After that, she went over to Keith, and barked some more! After that she came out with her chocolate Lab. He didn't really pay much attention to Scarlet, but she barked at him. I guess she's in a different environment, and uneasy. One thing Keith observed, is when the Lab moseyed over to greet me, Scarlet barked a lot.. So perhaps she's being protective of me? And on out trail walks, perhaps that's why she's barking and nipping at passer's by? Maybe I should let my daughter walk her and see what happens? Keith and I walked around in the woods on their property and Scarlet was fine.. like I've said before, a good sniff trumps ANYTHING! After the walk and a total of about an hour or so, Keith was able to pet Scarlet. I'm still perplexed at her actions, but maybe the more I do this kind of thing, the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 OK then, It's now been 6 months that we've had Scarlet. At first she acted like she'd never seen a car.. and maybe that's a thought! But.. I took her out for a little walk this afternoon, and you can see a marked improvement!! Check out this YouTube video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted March 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Evidently.. that was a bad link.,... Try this one,... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted March 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 And we have fun, too.... it's not all just training,,!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Scarlet Posted December 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 We've had Scarlet over a year now, and have been through 3 obedience classes and intro to agility. Next week will be the next level of agility. I think she's come far from when I first started this post, but there are still things that make me wonder about her. Yesterday I met a friend in a park for a walk. She has never met him before, so I expected a rough introduction. I tied her up while Bill and I met and I explained Scarlet's manners. He understood. Scarlet was barking up a storm at him, and when I untied her, she went right for him, nipping all the way! I reeled her in and shouted NO... When we started to walk, and her mind was on the smells of the woods, she forgot about Bill begin there. She'd realize he was there and again tried to nip, but I told her, "no.. let's go!" so she started ahead on the flexi-lead. After about 15 minutes of walking, she decided that Bill was Ok, and we walked for about 6 miles. She would sometimes lag behind to sniff, then run between us to catch up… no problem with Bill…When other people would pass by, (with or without a dog), Scarlet would sometimes bark, then red line, and come back to nip at Bill again! I don’t know how to figure her out, other than the fact she still has some self confidence issues... like I said, she's come a long way in a year, but still has a way to go. We found that if a new person comes to our house, we'll keep her in the crate for about a half hour, then let her out to greet the people. If the people are sitting down, and completely ignore her, in about a half hour, she decides they're okay. (for the most part)...Any comments on this behavior? She still wants the cars... if she's about 5 feet near them... if she's about 10 feet+, then she doesn't care and would rather chase a squirrel up a tree. She's GREAT with our 17 month grandson, too! She comes up to him and licks his hands and face to get any morsel of food! He just blinks his eyes, sits there and takes it!! Other than that, she's a great dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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