What Progress looks like, and Seeing The Dog- Resource Guarding
@Crispy and I were telling stories about training with our reactive dogs, and she spoke about how slow it seems and how it is hard for us who are so close to the dogs to see progress, but that - in her story- she met again with the behaviorist she was working with after a few weeks and even though she hadnt noticed improvement, the trainer pointed out that, yes, the dog was still reacting but not as fast, and recovered quicker, etc. So I have been thinking about this with 10 1/2 month old Matsu, who has shown a little resource guarding (mostly ME and only in specific situations) and how Crisp's story fits us at this time. Because he isn't 100% NOT-guarding anymore, and he isn't NOT-Considering guarding anymore, but he is THINKING and processing and accepting alternatives, and choosing more frequently correctly, and less frequently choosing the most extreme display, and less frequently choosing to raise an eyebrow. This is not perfection, this is not a different dog, this is a dog who will ALWAYS care very much about his mama - but what this IS, is a dog who is thinking and choosing and understanding what I attempting to teach an communicate. That no one is going to take anything away from him, and that he can relax completely and still be near me. Matsu shares toys, and has a reasonable comfort level with long term chews around the other dogs or getting treats. Resource guarding is not a global issue with him, but it *could* become that way if he is allowed to practice it AND if conditions/management do not adjust to prevent/relieve him from concerns in the first place. His concerns are his, and their validity is in his mind, not mine.
When I was doing nothing- and first observing the problem- Motts would curl up and park at my foot while I work, which I thought was adorable, but I'd be working away and he'll suddenly burst out barking when Reilly walks into the room, and sometimes charge her. Then I'd startle and yell HEY! no! and move dogs around.
So I became a better observer and saw that this begins waaaaay back before the charging and barking, and if I allowed him to park there and give the stink eye, I was already way behind the 8 ball by the time I tried to cookie him as Rei came in the room ("why isnt conditioning working?" well...) I reclaimed the Guarding Spot- and shooed him out of it- he is not allowed to park there by my chair anymore (backing up the bus to this point was suggested by Brad- because another important thing in working with teenage dogs is to have a super relationship with their breeder, who has had a lot more dogs than I have and knows both his parents very well). I encouraged Motts to park it on the dog bed, the couch. If he can't not-guard in those spots, I can crate him, but I am moving from least-different to most if needed. Sure its cute that he wants to be touching me, but not if he's going to be an ass about it to everyone else. I have had a possessive-aggressive boyfriend before, and I dont want another one.
This doenst mean the Motts doesnt want to go curl at my foot anymore- he does want that. But I can remind him that he isnt allowed there, and i tell him to go to his bed and he thinks about it, then he does just that. "Good Boy!! Yes, I DO love you, I love you in a house, with a mouse, in a train and in the rain, and on that dog bed, Sam I Am." Right now he is upside down, patas arribas on the dog bed by the slider. He is relaxed, body open, not curled tightly in a ball opening one eye to see if anyone is getting close to me. When I let him rest by my foot- he NEVER turned upside down. But I saw it as cute- he's cuddling up to me, right? Survey says? yes, but ...XXX!!
Will he still startle and bark if someone opens the door- yeah, probably, 50% the time- it's down from 90% of the time though. What's that about? He adores Reilly, he loves Jeff and Raye- did something terrible happen at some point? No. But when Matsu stress-stacks, he gets grouchy. So do I. I'm hungry, Im tired and if I get interrupted from the stupid email I am writing one more time with a problem someone is perfectly capable of solving themselves, then I might bark. One way we worked on this was instead of the startled person opening the door saying "UGH!! Jesus Christ! It's just me! Chill OUT!!" I asked them to be the grown ups and say - no matter whether he barks or not- "Hi, Matsuuuuu! How's our boy?" and greet him breifly but warmly. After he saw this happen several times, his outbursts are shortening, and lessening in frequency. Perfection? No. Progress, yes. Appreciate it, be proud, and keep up the consistency. The dog will get it- he needs to think it in HIS own mind.
Why is he on pins and needles, anyway? I work from home- and if Matsu is worried about guarding me all the time I am home, then he isn't sleeping soundly. Dogs need something like 18 hours of sleep. If he is getting up every time I move to follow me around, or alerts to guard me when a dog walks in, then he is being interrupted. He needs relief from this self-assigned responsibility. So even though I am home, I crate him upstairs for several hours, or I go upstairs and work next to Sage in the bedroom. Deus ex machina- not your problem, buddy- he is just removed from the conditions where guarding seems needed to him.
Matsu is also a teenage boy. Teenage boys grow a lot, sleep a lot and eat a LOT. This Teen Titan has gotten 20" tall, blown his entire undercoat and burns through calories like a furnace. He is very well exercised and has become rather thin. It took me time to see this though- because I was so close to him. He is having an outburst because he's overtired, hungry, and growing. I reinstituted lunch for Matsu and I let him sleep in a place free of responsibility. This is not training, this is not behaviorism, this is Seeing the Dog. I do 'catch him being good', and I do mark and reward his smart choices- but without looking carefully you miss the foundation issues, and without stepping back it is easy to say Well, I still see him deciding where to lay down for his nap and looking wary at the other dog- he's still thinking about resource guarding, hes not all better. No, but he is who he is and he's learning. This isn't memorizing and spitting back state capitals, this is life lessons. Show me dont tell me, is this always true? It is always true now, and you will see it every time, Motts, my dear boy. Okay.
The dog moved from deciding quickly for himself: "Slag off!! Im trying to rest next to mama!" to thinking and choosing, and accepting guidance and suggestions. His changing basic needs are being accommodated and adjusted for. and it's working and he's buying in. And I'm backing up and SEEING it. He's a really GOOD dog, and easy to train and live with. This morning we came back from our hike, I gave Motts a chicken back to work on while I moved Sage out of the studio, then I sat down to work in the studio with the kais. Motts curled a few feet behind me on the floor, and he was quiet and trying to relax, but I saw Juno standing by the door and looking away from him, so I looked closer and he was showing her the eye. I asked them both for movement- hop up on the couch, now the table, I praised and petted both. Then I insturcted Matsu in a down on a dog bed, gave him a kiss. I let Juno choose a spot on the couch. Both are sleeping contently, loosely and deeply. Matsu has gotten up a couple times to walk around the room, and consider other sleeping spots, but he did not try to curl against me, and always returned to the bed and slept some more. When he settled in there, I said goodnight to him, and good boy.
When I was doing nothing- and first observing the problem- Motts would curl up and park at my foot while I work, which I thought was adorable, but I'd be working away and he'll suddenly burst out barking when Reilly walks into the room, and sometimes charge her. Then I'd startle and yell HEY! no! and move dogs around.
So I became a better observer and saw that this begins waaaaay back before the charging and barking, and if I allowed him to park there and give the stink eye, I was already way behind the 8 ball by the time I tried to cookie him as Rei came in the room ("why isnt conditioning working?" well...) I reclaimed the Guarding Spot- and shooed him out of it- he is not allowed to park there by my chair anymore (backing up the bus to this point was suggested by Brad- because another important thing in working with teenage dogs is to have a super relationship with their breeder, who has had a lot more dogs than I have and knows both his parents very well). I encouraged Motts to park it on the dog bed, the couch. If he can't not-guard in those spots, I can crate him, but I am moving from least-different to most if needed. Sure its cute that he wants to be touching me, but not if he's going to be an ass about it to everyone else. I have had a possessive-aggressive boyfriend before, and I dont want another one.
This doenst mean the Motts doesnt want to go curl at my foot anymore- he does want that. But I can remind him that he isnt allowed there, and i tell him to go to his bed and he thinks about it, then he does just that. "Good Boy!! Yes, I DO love you, I love you in a house, with a mouse, in a train and in the rain, and on that dog bed, Sam I Am." Right now he is upside down, patas arribas on the dog bed by the slider. He is relaxed, body open, not curled tightly in a ball opening one eye to see if anyone is getting close to me. When I let him rest by my foot- he NEVER turned upside down. But I saw it as cute- he's cuddling up to me, right? Survey says? yes, but ...XXX!!
Will he still startle and bark if someone opens the door- yeah, probably, 50% the time- it's down from 90% of the time though. What's that about? He adores Reilly, he loves Jeff and Raye- did something terrible happen at some point? No. But when Matsu stress-stacks, he gets grouchy. So do I. I'm hungry, Im tired and if I get interrupted from the stupid email I am writing one more time with a problem someone is perfectly capable of solving themselves, then I might bark. One way we worked on this was instead of the startled person opening the door saying "UGH!! Jesus Christ! It's just me! Chill OUT!!" I asked them to be the grown ups and say - no matter whether he barks or not- "Hi, Matsuuuuu! How's our boy?" and greet him breifly but warmly. After he saw this happen several times, his outbursts are shortening, and lessening in frequency. Perfection? No. Progress, yes. Appreciate it, be proud, and keep up the consistency. The dog will get it- he needs to think it in HIS own mind.
Why is he on pins and needles, anyway? I work from home- and if Matsu is worried about guarding me all the time I am home, then he isn't sleeping soundly. Dogs need something like 18 hours of sleep. If he is getting up every time I move to follow me around, or alerts to guard me when a dog walks in, then he is being interrupted. He needs relief from this self-assigned responsibility. So even though I am home, I crate him upstairs for several hours, or I go upstairs and work next to Sage in the bedroom. Deus ex machina- not your problem, buddy- he is just removed from the conditions where guarding seems needed to him.
Matsu is also a teenage boy. Teenage boys grow a lot, sleep a lot and eat a LOT. This Teen Titan has gotten 20" tall, blown his entire undercoat and burns through calories like a furnace. He is very well exercised and has become rather thin. It took me time to see this though- because I was so close to him. He is having an outburst because he's overtired, hungry, and growing. I reinstituted lunch for Matsu and I let him sleep in a place free of responsibility. This is not training, this is not behaviorism, this is Seeing the Dog. I do 'catch him being good', and I do mark and reward his smart choices- but without looking carefully you miss the foundation issues, and without stepping back it is easy to say Well, I still see him deciding where to lay down for his nap and looking wary at the other dog- he's still thinking about resource guarding, hes not all better. No, but he is who he is and he's learning. This isn't memorizing and spitting back state capitals, this is life lessons. Show me dont tell me, is this always true? It is always true now, and you will see it every time, Motts, my dear boy. Okay.
The dog moved from deciding quickly for himself: "Slag off!! Im trying to rest next to mama!" to thinking and choosing, and accepting guidance and suggestions. His changing basic needs are being accommodated and adjusted for. and it's working and he's buying in. And I'm backing up and SEEING it. He's a really GOOD dog, and easy to train and live with. This morning we came back from our hike, I gave Motts a chicken back to work on while I moved Sage out of the studio, then I sat down to work in the studio with the kais. Motts curled a few feet behind me on the floor, and he was quiet and trying to relax, but I saw Juno standing by the door and looking away from him, so I looked closer and he was showing her the eye. I asked them both for movement- hop up on the couch, now the table, I praised and petted both. Then I insturcted Matsu in a down on a dog bed, gave him a kiss. I let Juno choose a spot on the couch. Both are sleeping contently, loosely and deeply. Matsu has gotten up a couple times to walk around the room, and consider other sleeping spots, but he did not try to curl against me, and always returned to the bed and slept some more. When he settled in there, I said goodnight to him, and good boy.
Comments
It also gave me something to think about for our dogs. Right now, everything is calm, but it is, partially, because Leo is the most mellow of dogs, and very nonconfrontational. However, I do see times when he doesn't go past Oskar, and it's because Oskar is "playing big daddy dog" as we call it when he tries to take over and be the enforcer (no Leo, you can't go in the kitchen, and I'll snarl to make that clear. Sometimes we laugh at this act, because if Leo is being bad, like countersurfing, and we correct him with the "ah ah ah" sound, Oskar will always rush in to push Leo out, as if he sees himself as enforcer of the rules. However, we're aware it's also a kind of resource guarding on Oskar's part, as funny as it may seem when it happens). I also stop Oskar if I see this, but I don't always, and the reason our house is still calm is because Leo backs down. But with another Akita, that is much less likely to be the case, so your post reminded me that I need to work with Oskar on stopping that, so that when whatever puppy we get is here and older and willing to challenge the "big daddy" then hopefully we already won't have some of that going on, because we'll have worked with Oskar on it.
I'm already planning on taking Oskar to my agility trainer (who also works on other canine issues) for lessons on loose leash walking (for some reason this is the one thing I'm just terrible at training), and she asked if he was at all reactive, and of course he is, though mildly, so we'll work on that as well.
So yes, observation can help us SEE a lot of things that might become problems, and work on them!
Trying to think of other times I have had both of them out with a lot of other dogs....let's see...
I did take Matsu and Juno out with Kori and Spencer to a trail with many local dogs on it, and I didnt see him guarding her (or me) then- he was curious and calm. Two huge berners came up to us off leash and it was Juno telling them to back it up, while Matsu wagged and sniffed, so he wasn't guarding her then. I really didnt think about it as an issue for him. He doesnt guard Juno from my other dogs, or when we run into those coonhounds in the woods sometimes.
Love you, Matsu!