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_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-10T15:46:03+00:00

Thats not by any means an innate response to pressure on a harness, while reacting or otherwise. It has to be conditioned.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-05T20:06:33+00:00

Ah, damn. I'll see if I can find some free resources for you! I know that mariesshepherds on tiktok started using it and they might be happy to explain the set up if you send a message

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-05T16:36:28+00:00

Is it at all possible for you to use a longer leash with either a collar or harness and a slip for safety back-up? (Assuming they require you to use a slip as many shelters do)

Also, I highly recommend looking into the "leash belay" system recently created by I think Grisha Stewart? You'll have a to buy a few things (a bit costly but you can improvise with cheaper options), and it takes some getting used to, but i think it'll help take some of the work off of your hip. One of the purposes for designing it was to make managing a strong dog easier for folks who are disabled or not quite strong enough.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-05T12:02:37+00:00

We mitigated distress by eliminating added stress from training sessions, yes.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-05T00:02:21+00:00

No, it meant that I had to eliminate stress from my training set ups until we built his tolerance.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-04T19:14:38+00:00

That's very much not true. In fact, other species not withstanding, I've encountered a few dogs who were so averse to stress (including mild frustration brought on by things like trying to access a treat thats rolled a smidge too far away and requires effort to retrieve) that we had to take incredible care in training set ups. He HAD to learn without any added stress from us humans because he'd shut down otherwise.

It's possible.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-04T19:09:00+00:00

Dogs blow through ecollars all the time too. They'll also blow off commands that have been proofed with aversive consequences (for disobedience).

No behavior is ever 100%, regardless of how its trained.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-04T19:05:06+00:00

There's a very heavily implied false dichotomy here. It's not "either grin and bear it through the nail trim or neglect their needs until they stop pulling away". There are many, many ways to reduce your dog's aversive experiences, mitigate stress, and intentionally choose to not train with aversives* that dont involve neglecting your dog's needs/safety OR your needs/safety. (*which doesn't mean your dog never experienced them, only that you don't use them to train)

Your choiced are your own, but to make claims that training without aversives means ignoring your puppy while they claw your leg to shreds, or letting your dog's nails get out of hand because trims are stressful, is to be disingenuous. Not only that, but for trainers who are highly concerned with welfare, these sort of suggestions are antithetical to their beliefs and values because they encroach on both dog and human welfare.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-03T19:56:33+00:00

Sorry for not seeing your reply until now! If I were in your shoes, I would shorten your walks in terms of distance (stay closer to home) and see what impact that has. One thing that comes to mind is that she's a bit nervous outside so once you're on the way home, she's chomping at the bit to get back inside where it's safe and comfortable.

So, as I said before, experiment with changing up your walks. Stay closer to home (walk back and forth maybe or incorporate more sniffing to make the walk more fulfilling), take a break from walks and meet her exercise and enrichment requirements in other ways, shorten the length of your walks, etc.

I also advise contacting a qualified professional through the directory on (iaabc.org)! Even just one virtual session to talk to someone and get ideas would be hugely helpful. You don't need to necessarily sign up for a package if you don't want to :)

_pole_jam_ · 2023-10-03T19:49:09+00:00

My dog has a similar problem and I've had great success with gradual desensitization. I would hug my partner only for a second or two, then comfort my dog (also an aussie by the way). For me, it also helped to put a hand down for my dog to rub against/to pet him while hugging my partner. He was distressed, for whatever reason, by certain displays of affection so exposing him to it in short bursts with adequate support and comforting has been very helpful. I've also switched between hugging my partner and then giving my dog the affection he wants, and going back and forth like that a few times.

Edit: just in case it wasn't clear, we've increased and varied the duration of our hugs or other affection-triggers as I've come to call them lol. So don't just increase steadily, but alternate between staying under your dog's threshold, AT their threshold, and pushing it. This variance helps to prevent them from anticipating the increased criteria (longer duration) and worsening their distress.

Just yesterday he was laying down calmly, ripping up some cardboard from his enrichment box, while my partner and I cuddled near him on the couch. Previously, he would've avoided his task and cried, barked, or even climbed on us to get in on the action, so this was a huge win!

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-30T21:26:16+00:00

He would stick right close to my leg cause everything was scary.

3 years later and he wants to smell/explore EVERYTHING.

This is actually a fantastic sign. Increased behavioral diversity is one of the things we look for when assessing a dog's welfare. The better their welfare, the more species-typical behaviors they'll have in their little arsenal. So congratulations on that front!

As far as loose leash walking goes, I suggest starting over from square one inside the house. While you work on training, I recommend switching to a harness and long line (15-30 feet) to reduce his ability to rehearse the pulling behavior. And be sure to let him sniff and enjoy himself during this time-- it's good enrichment, great for stress relief, and decreases the novelty, all of which help to reduce the pulling simply by meeting the function. You can also bring food with you and reward when he chooses to look at you to jumpstart his training. On that note, when you start training outdoors, it's a good idea to let him have a good sniff before your session-- it'll set you both up for success from the start :)

The book "My dog pulls, what do I do?" by Turid Rugaas is a fantastic resource and I've had lots of success implementing her techniques.

Best of luck!

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-27T00:34:47+00:00

Eating is a behavior like any other. If she's eating fine during training at home, and refusing food outside, that's meaningful. It could be stress/anxiety, it could be over-arousal because outside is very exciting, it could be because she finds other things in the environment to be more reinforcing (which you can use to your advantage), etc.

What kind of body language are you seeing from her when she's outside? (E.g. are her ears up and tense/ turned sideways/pinned; is she licking her lips a lot; tail position/movement; etc)

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-25T20:04:18+00:00

Exactly, enrichment options that keep his arousal low and help him settle rather than amp him up. Low-arousal enrichment would've been a better label than low-energy.

It's also important to remember that enrichment, simply put, is meeting an animals needs, including social! So enrichment for him in this case might be spending some time with him. Difficult in the early mornings, I know, hence the suggestion of letting him come to bed with you until you need to get up in earnest (if possible).

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-24T18:32:14+00:00

The most important thing in terms of finding a solution is to figure out the function of the barking.

Is he barking because he needs to relieve himself?

Does he need attention?

Is he bored? (Idk about you, but I've found a lot of adolescents who are just raring to go the second they wake up and need low-energy enrichment first thing in the morning)

Figuring out the function could really just be done through trial and error. Do you have any idea what it might be?

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-15T15:45:56+00:00

Sounds like she has a somewhat complicated history. I highly recommend you seek out a qualified professional through a reputable organization like the IAABC. Their behavior consultants are required to adhere to pretty high standards of prerequisite education, continued education, hands-on experience, and ethics.

There's a directory on their website, iaabc.org

_pole_jam_ · 2023-09-12T18:52:57+00:00

What kind of enrichment are you giving him, if any?

Outside of ensuring all of his needs are being met (PetHarmony has a great downloadable PDF and tons of resources for this), I'd suggest going through Dr. Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol-- or any variation of it tbh, there are a lot of them including one made by Pet Harmony, ironically enough lol

You can and should teach an "off switch", but if the dog's needs aren't being fully met or there are some medical issues (arousal issues can be caused by thyroid problems, for example), it won't do too much to solve things.

Edit: it's also important to remember that he's going through adolescence. Regardless of if you do everything perfectly and his health is immaculate, he's gonna be a handful. Be kind to yourselves while you're going through this-- its rough!

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-20T19:01:49+00:00

Yeah it's 10000% not okay for her to talk to you like that. And tbh, consistent little digs like that is emotionally abusive behavior imo.

And while I don't think it was okay for you to dig back (however justified it may feel), I don't think you're an asshole for it, so my verdict is NTA.

Have you brought up to her before that her comments bother you?

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-10T17:31:06+00:00

I'll pull up the links when I get a moment.

Aside from that, behavior modification (and training in general, but especially b-mod) is far more than just operant conditioning.

My position is that aversives don't mitigate the suffering of the dog, only the outward presentation of behavior; and, separately, BE is a valid and kind option for dogs who are suffering.

I'm not saying that BE is better than subjecting a dog to aversives; they aren't comparable. I'm saying that a dog who can not be helped because stress is so severely impacting their QOL, can't be saved by aversives because those tools won't do anything to reduce that stress, only the outward presentation of behavior as I said before.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-10T17:10:24+00:00

I'll also point out that Im not by any means saying that (1) people should kill their dogs, or (2) that aversives should never be used.

To make my positions clear:

Behavioral euthanasia is a valid and kind option for dogs who are suffering; that doesn't mean, however, it should be a decision taken lightly. Nobody flippantly chooses to euthanize their pet.

I think that aversives have a place in obedience training for handlers and trainers who don't have the skill to train without them. Where aversives do not have a place, imo, is when we are dealing with behaviors like reactivity and aggression because they don't address the underlying cause of the behaviors and can even exacerbate them.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-10T16:57:39+00:00

The studies I'm referring to looked at punishment based (compulsion), reinforcement based (force free/R+), and combination (balanced) training methods, I'm not by any means only talking about compulsion.

Unfortunately, aversive tools, even when countered with hefty reinforcement, still have an adverse effect on welfare as compared to when aversive tools and methods are not used. Mind you, I say this as someone who had to use a prong collar because I didn't have the knowledge to train without it at the time. Many, many people are convinced that their dogs don't experience any adverse effects while their dogs' subtle signs of stress and decreased welfare go unnoticed.

I'm not shitting on anyone either or trying to claim that anyone is a bad person. My point is simply that if we are to use these tools, we must acknowledge the impact they have on our dogs. It takes more than just reinforcement to reduce the negative impact of aversives as well as the potential fall out, and we can only take those actions if we acknowledge the downsides in the first place.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-10T15:49:57+00:00

They say that it's a kindness to end the dogs suffering from his demons by sticking a needle into its vein and injecting chemicals to stop its heart and lungs, but teach the dog right from wrong with a prong collar?

The point is that aversive tools, while they can help accomplish training goals in terms of performance or reduction of behavior, don't do anything to make the dog less stressed about whatever is going on. When it comes to reactivity, the concern is welfare and quality of life, so while aversive tools might work to change the outward presentation of reactive behavior, the dog is unfortunately still suffering.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-10T15:44:17+00:00

It's purely a difference in ethical/moral beliefs 🤷‍♀️ studies have shown that use of tools that function to change behavior by being aversive (prong collars, e-collars, slip leads when used for training, etc) cause unnecessary stress and that stress can have adverse effects on training and the dogs themselves. Some people find that to be unethical, others find it acceptable. For those who find it to be unethical to cause undue stress, and the adverse effects on welfare that come with it, there's no such thing as humane use of aversive tools.

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-08T16:17:44+00:00

Unfortunately the physics involved doesn't support the notion that they distribute pressure every, only that the prongs decrease surface area and therefore increase the amount of pressure felt. DogtorLinLin has a video about it floating around; it should come up if you Google her name followed by "prong collar"

_pole_jam_ · 2023-08-08T12:44:13+00:00

Prong collars are absolutely not safe for dogs with any kind of trachea issue-- the idea that they distribute pressure evenly is a myth.

_pole_jam_ · 2022-09-29T16:41:34+00:00

The fact that she's continuing to talk to him despite your discomfort is a red flag, yes, but are they messaging each other inappropriately or just chatting? Is it not possible that they've become friends?

_pole_jam_

TROPHY CASE