Positive PetzineProblems with Pascua
Pascua came to us as an abandoned dog in march last year,a young Brittany Spaniel,she was only about a year old and seemed very timid and frightened. She followed me like a shadow all the way home whilst I was out walking with our other dog. We decided to let her stay.
Unfortunately about 3 months later she was attacked by a large German Shepard whilst we were out walking. Pascua was on leash and the other dog was off leash,it seemed to come out of nowhere and as soon as it saw Pascua it crept down low to the ground like a hunter and suddenly lunged at her, in just a few paces it had lifted Pascua off the ground and bitten her. There was a moment before the attack when we tried to warn it off using a stick but it didn't work. Eventually Carmen managed to get the dog to release Pascua by hitting it between the shoulders with the stick, at which point the owners of the dog appeared and started shouting at us for hitting their dog, but that's another story. We were all really shocked by the attack.
The thing is that now we have noticed that Pascua seems to have become very fearful of all other dogs that come near her. Even a small puppy seems to feel like a threat to her. It is as if she feels that all other dogs may attack her. She deals with it by becoming very tense once she has seen the dog and then if the dog keeps coming closer she starts barking wildly, more than overtly aggressive it seems that she just wants the other dog to go away because she is afraid. It seems that if she has time to see that the other dog means no harm then she relaxes, we have managed to have a few successful interactions like this. We try to remain calm and once she sees that the other dog is just curious then she is alright. Sometimes however it doesn't go so well. Most of the dogs around here are off leash and they run free around the village. It is not always possible to control the environment. Some dogs she has successfully chased away and this probably has convinced her that her strategy works. There is one dog in particular which she just goes wild at. She barks uncontrollably and seems even aggressive, but it could just be panic. We have started to avoid coming near to that dog but sometimes we unwittingly cross paths. When she sees this dog I find it impossible to control her. She lunges and uses all her force. Once in that state she doesn't respond to anything; Voice, treats, pulling on the lead etc. nothing can get her attention. I just have to try to restrain her, walk on and force her to come by pulling the lead. I don't know what to do in this scenario.
I feel that she is not a really bad case though because we have managed to have some calm interactions with other dogs. One doubt I have is that it seems to me she is worse when on leash. It's almost as if the leash provokes the barking. The other day we met with a friend who has a young dog who is friendly and not at all threatening. When they met, there was a moment when pascua moved forward and I tensed the leash and then she started barking. Once I let it slack and she could approach and investigate the other dog she was fine, even sociable. We have another dog who is very friendly and has no problems interacting with other dogs. She is like a little ambassador in that pascua often learns from her to be less afraid. A couple of days ago I decided to let them both off leash and they met a couple of dogs on the path. There was no drama and I was amazed. Do you think that I am causing the tension as I get wary when we approach dogs because I don't know or trust how pascua is going to react and I don't feel certain that I can keep her under control. I am afraid that I may be making matters worse.
We are now walking her on a gentle leader no-pull harness. We had previously been badly advised to use a prong collar on her and give corrections If she reacted to dogs. Poor pascua. What do you think is the best way to work with her to help her to be less reactive and more sociable with dogs? Apart from this behaviour around other dogs, she is very sweet natured and affectionate.
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re: Problems with Pascua
Hi Caroline, thanks for an insightful report of your situation with Pascua, you have picked up a lot of very useful detail.
When an event like this happens (the attack on Pascua) dogs will immediately begin building a picture what they perceive to be useful detail so that they can avoid this sort of situation happening again. From that moment onwards, they start to file away information in the back of their brain (or body, who really knows?) that they think will keep them safe. You can't really blame them, right?
Details like "what is Caroline doing?" become very important, particularly for social creatures. But this is certainly not the ONLY piece of information that they will pay attention to. I assure you, I have trained dogs to behave calmly in the presence of all sorts of stimuli, including tense, anxious owners!
Nevertheless, a calm owner will help to communicate that everything will be OK, and a calm owner will make better decisions. Cesar Millan calls this "calm, assertive energy", which I think is a pretty good description even if we don't agree on some of the details.
Information can be subtracted as well as added. Unfortunately it is much easier to add information than to take it away, so we don't expect responses to parts of the picture to change immediately but given enough good experiences some of that information will be "re-sorted" as you have already started to see.
Building a new picture associated with good experiences can work very quickly, and "re-sort" some of this information into the "good - do these calm or friendly things" pile almost immediately.
If you are careful and pay attention to detail, you can set up situations where your dog can demonstrate the sorts of behaviors you would like to see more of and learn to repeat that behavior in future instead of the reactive behavior he is currently displaying. This is easier in a class designed specifically to produce this, but with a bit of thought you can usually set something up by enlisting friends and other clicker training enthusiasts (who are usually quite willing to help), or taking advantage of environments with other dogs who can be kept at a distance (on-leash walking areas, dog parks with fences, obedience clubs etc)
I would begin with on-leash work, at a distance. It will help when you get closer and facilitates a safe training environment - even though the leash does appear to be part of his "warning - be reactive" picture at the moment.
Something that I always, always have to address is the rate of reinforcement. Everyone underestimates how low they should set the criteria and how frequently they should be reinforcing. I expect to hear a click and treat delivered every three seconds, except when we are working on duration above that. I like to keep five treats in my hand and replenish at every opportunity so that I don't miss anything. It is a skill you learn.
Keep me updated on your progress, this is of course my pet topic!
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com
More questions on Pascua
Thanks Aidan for such a rapid response!
I'm going to have a think about how to apply your suggestions. It seems that we are on the right track in trying to keep Pascua calm even if I'm still not sure exactly how to do it.
The usual scenario around here is that we meet some off leash dog on the path whilst we are out walking. I try to remain calm and if I see that the other dog is friendly then I allow more slack on the leash so that she can approach the dog. Is this the right thing to do? or should I be walking on and ignoring the dog? from experience ignoring the dog doesn't seem to work all that well. I think you are right though about positive experiences changing the way she responds. It seems to be almost like a snowball effect. The other day soon after the positive encounter with my friends dog and then the encounter on the path with the two off leash dogs, (Pascua off leash too), we met with another dog that Pascua had previously chased away. There was a bit of distance between us and the dog who was a bit off the path ,sitting next to a man quite happily. Previously Pascua would have been barking even at this distance but she didn't react like that this time,she appeared to be more curious. It seemed that she had gained confidence from the other recent encounters.
Anyway apart from these things that tend to occur on the daily walks I need to find a way of setting up the controlled scenarios that you suggest. Around here where we live it is quite remote, no dog parks or on leash walking areas. everyone leaves there dogs to wander in the streets off leash. we could drive into the city and just try to get her used to walking near other dogs on leash, but this seems to be a big step up with lots of other distractions to take into account and negotiate.and I'm not sure that she is ready for that. Around here though I wondered about taking her on a walk past a place where there are a couple of dogs behind fences. we could practice walking past at a distance and treating her if she remains calm. perhaps this could be an alternative to walking past a fenced dog park?
We are planning on attending a 6 month positive dog training course in October which I think will be great for Pascua, as long as we can control the initial meeting with the other dogs on the course, I think that it could be a potential little safe dog community for her to practice being sociable. We need to do some work with her first though as we don't want her to freak out.
So how exactly should I work with her when we walk past a safe area at a distance where there are other dogs? Is it a question of trying to keep her attention focused on me by high rate of reinforcement? is this the idea of click and treat every 3 seconds? What happens if we go too close and she tenses up? increase the distance again and build it up? I know these are a lot of questions but I just want to feel sure that I understand and that I am working with her in the best way.
Thanks a lot for you time
Caroline
RE: More questions on Pascua
Hi Caroline, if you're about to embark on a training program that involves lots of controlled environments then I would take the opportunity to remove Pascua from any activity that involves uncontrolled environments until you have a handle on this. While you will still be able to make some progress in training alternative responses to other dogs, you will not be able to extinguish the unwanted responses if they are being reinforced on any sort of schedule.
When you encounter the other dogs at a safe distance you can work on a number of responses which are compatible with your goals:
1. being able to look at other dogs without barking
2. being able to be around other dogs without pulling on the leash
3. being able to look at you while other dogs are around
... are the top three, pretty much in that order of importance, too. Of course, you will also want to work on recalls (come when called) and departures (turn in a different direction and leave), and later you would work on polite on-leash greetings too. I also like reactive dogs to be able to sit, down and stay around other dogs.
Start with number 1, being able to look at other dogs without barking. If you start with enough distance this should be fairly easy to teach. Leslie McDevitt calls this the "Look At That Game". I've never read it, but I believe her book "Control Unleashed" would be excellent for you and Pascua.
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com