Behaviour Adjustment Training (Reactive Dogs)

[emmajane]

A while ago on one of the threads relating to reactive dogs, I mentioned that I had just started Behaviour Adjustment Training (BAT) functionalrewards.com/ so I thought it was time I commented on our progress incase it was of use to anyone else.

When Seamus came to us he was very reactive to strange dogs (and people, and bikes and sheep and well.....everything really ) he would lunge, snap, bark and cause all holy hell as soon as he could see a dog (any dog apart from my dogs - the ones he lives with) and generally behave in a very aggressive manner, leaping all over me and my dogs to get to the "danger". Most of the time he was far too anxious even to take food and would freeze after the other dog had gone away and remain totally unresponsive for a long time (I think I sat next to him for about 25mins one day, just waiting for the slightest flick of eye contact). As the months have gone by, he got a bit better, but his comfort zone would vary wildly from day to day depending on his general anxiety level. I managed the situation the best I could and found even if he couldn't take food from my hand he could sometimes take it from the floor and basically tried my best to keep him at a distance from other dogs so he didn't feel under enough threat so he started to react.

A few months ago a friend mentioned BAT and the good results she had from following it so I bought the book, and to be honest we haven't looked back since. The basic premise is that you reward the dog for showing the behaviour you want by giving it what it is ultimately trying to get (unsuccessfully) itself - in Shay's case he just wants the other dog to stay away from him. So his reward is to be walked/jogged away from the "threat" to a point he feels comfortable with. (Obviously it is a bit more involved than that - but not much!)

We started by changing our walking route from one where we couldn't really see what was coming (too many trees/corners etc) and "bogey men" could leap out at Shay from round corners and startle him and leave me unprepared leading to disaster, to one where we could see for a long long way. This meant if we saw someone approaching I had plenty of time to run through the protocol in my head, call the rest of my dogs in to heel, work out my escape route, get my sweets ready etc etc etc and generally get ready for action ;D
In the first few weeks I practiced the mechanics (what I was looking for, how I responded to Shay's reaction, how far I needed to move away, what I did once we'd moved away etc) on anything other than dogs, ie sheep, people, binbags blowing in the wind etc so that I could be confident in what I was doing and also that Shay understood the new procedure.

We have since moved on to using it on strange dogs of all ages/sizes etc as well as enlisting a few friends & their dogs as stooges to practice on. I have to say it has been BRILLIANT and while I suppose I knew he was getting better, today really forced home just how much he has come on. We did the old "scary" walk, passed loads of dogs, some barking at us and one little sh*t that couldn't be called away from him and Seamus didn't put a foot wrong. Then just as we were on the narrowest part of the path we met another reactive dog coming the other way, I couldn't go far enough away for comfort so moved away as far as the path would allow. The other dog came past behind Shay who I had put into a sit - I asked Shay if he understood that he was supposed to hold his sit even with a dog just a few meters away barking at him, and do you know what? He flippin well did know - he said "yes Mammy I know my jobs" and held his sit beautifully concentrating on me all the time. He got massive cuddles and loads of chikkin for a job well done and my heart nearly burst with pride at my hairy boy.

Tomorrow will be another day and another set of challenges, but instead of eyeing other dogs (and owners) with suspicion I am now seeing them as a chance to practice good manners. Of course sometimes it goes wrong - he's a bit hopeless and I am completely hopeless, but we can know get over the bad bits and laugh at them, because the good bits happen more often.

If anyone wants to quiz me, then feel free although I am no expert (far from it) ;D and I will try to remember to do another update in a while.

Here are some pics of the hairy plonker as a reward for getting through all that prattle!!

Time for a snooze in the caravan

P1000856 by emmaduck08, on Flickr

Having a nosey out the window

P1000852 by emmaduck08, on Flickr

Stunning Lad

P1000851 by emmaduck08, on Flickr

[Lisa]

Thanks Emma. You have worked so hard with him and its wonderful that the once dullard now feels brave enough to realise he has got a brain he can engage. I adore this boy he is just so odd that he makes other odd dogs look well not odd.

[julies]

Hi Emma

Another good tool to anybody's toolkit is TTouch as you can use it to calm your dog when things scare it, reduce tension and then the dog becomes less reactive and more confident so can cope. Whatever training you use TTouch is a great add-on so for instance when you are awaiting for a reaction you can be doing earwork - lots of accupressure points in the ears and base of the ears so the dogs respiration is reduced and it becomes calmer quicker. Wraps are also good for woriried dogs and again will speed up your own training

Sounds like you're getting great results

Julie x

[Deleted]

Well done Emma, sounds like you've made an amazing difference!

I always think people with 'easy' dogs will never understand the thrill of a dog finally being brave enough to be naughty, or finally understanding they don't have to be scared or naughty.

[gazer]

Sounds like you've done fantastic with Seamus, it is brilliant when you see how they have come on

Well done to both of you

[jodav]

May 18, 2012 5:45:32 GMT -5 emmajane said:

We started by changing our walking route from one where we couldn't really see what was coming (too many trees/corners etc) and "bogey men" could leap out at Shay from round corners and startle him and leave me unprepared leading to disaster, to one where we could see for a long long way.

Tomorrow will be another day and another set of challenges, but instead of eyeing other dogs (and owners) with suspicion I am now seeing them as a chance to practice good manners.

Blimey Emma, sounds like you've done a really excellent job and I so agree with what you say My experiences have mirrored yours to some extent, walking in wide open heathland spaces, narrowing coping distances etc but most recently I've been putting into practice the advice of Turid Rugaas books "On Talking Terms with Dogs, Calming Signals and "Barking, The Sound of a Language" (thanks you so much Julies for the heads-up ) The calming signals are an amazing insight into the minds of dogs and so addictive to observe and use. TTouch, BAT and calming signals, powerful stuff ;D

Jo x

[sassbu]

That is amazingly encouraging - will be looking onto that for sure

Well done Seamus and Emma

[longdoglady]

That is so encouraging and amazing, well done Seamus

I will try this approach with Anna who became fearful of other dogs after being bitten 18 months ago. It damaged a tendon in her shoulder which is painful when she walks, constantly reinforcing her fear. Distracting with food and "look at that" have not helped but I think this technique will.

Thank you so much for sharing

[julies]

I've been putting into practice the advice of Turid Rugaas books "On Talking Terms with Dogs, Calming Signals and "Barking, The Sound of a Language" (thanks you so much Julies for the heads-up ) The calming signals are an amazing insight into the minds of dogs and so addictive to observe and use. TTouch, BAT and calming signals, powerful stuff ;D

Jo x[/quote]

It's a pleasure Jo another couple you might like to look at too are Linda Tellington-Jones' Getting in TTouch with Your Dog and Barry Eaton's Dominance in DOgs - Fact or Fiction

Julie x

[Deleted]

Actually, BAT sounds a lot similar to what Karen Pryor talks of in Don't Shoot the Dog. In there, she tells of a trainer getting llamas used to humans by approaching, clicking and walking away - in effect, teaching the llamas that the best way to get humans to go away is to let them approach. They found that groups could be approached and even touched within about 15 minutes which seems almost unbelievable.

I've passed the BAT link to a friend with a similar problem, will be interested to see if she tries it.

[Flaperoo]

Brilliant progress
Well done
Maryx

[tinar]

What a brilliant tale of some serious progress which you ave made with Seamus

Made m go all squishy inside, and he's so handsome too.

Also - a little thank you from me to Julies for the Turid Rugaas recommendations- a fascinating insight

[julies]

Also - a little thank you from me to Julies for the Turid Rugaas recommendations- a fascinating insight[/quote]

Hiya

Glad to help ... I think as long as we're using positive, reward based training then the dogs will benefit

J xx

[emmajane]

Hi Guys - thanks for all the kind messages. I've only just picked them up as I've been on my jollidays.
The Turid Ruugas book goes hand in hand with BAT - you need to sort of understand dog communication so you can reward the "right sort" of communication.

I just thought our experiences may help other folks going through similar issues.

Emma

[emmajane]

Hope you've all been practising!!!
Seamus continues to work hard on his manners and is getting better and better. We still have some total meltdowns where he can't cope with the over stimulus from an "incident" and just shuts down, but they are few and far between these days. Normally he recovers straight away and doesn't carry it over to his next encounter which is totally brilliant.
I realised a couple of weeks ago that I was doing far more of the "look at that" game rather than using the retreating so I've redefined the criteria in my head and we are sticking to his coping protocol much more, so we move away as soon as he gives his cut off signal (its getting closer and closer to other dogs) and his signal is getting much stronger and clearer each time we do it. I've gone back to only using "look at that" when we are stationary waiting for someone to pass us, and on a couple of occasions where I have had no choice but to pass another dog too close for Shay's comfort.
He is a much more relaxed dog out on walks at the moment and a lot of the time is more interested in working out how to get me to pay out the sweets than in gobbing off at even his arch enemies. He even coped with a long chat this week with an old lurcherman with us both looking at him having a good old chinwag about what breeds are in is makeup, how his training was coming on and cursing the horrors that have made him into the dog he is (or rather was!). He's given me some good tips on training nosework so I can use that to distract and soothe him if I can't get out of dodge

Onwards and upwards hey?

ps Julies I've also been using TTouch to help him overcome his fears and I'm sure that is helping him enormously