Reilly and the Rickety Bridge- helping a dog with something scary
Yesterday was Sage's day off, so he stayed home and Reilly and I joined my friend Kevin and his two labs for a walk at the reservoir, which is frozen solid. For an hour or so we walked out on the ice, and up in the woods and all around since we weren't bound by having to stay on land. We walked up a frozen brook and observed the difference in the white ice that had been frozen all winter and the more recently frozen black ice, which is not yet been snowed on and is on its first freeze. This ice is especially cool because you can see in suspended animation all the water plants below. Skating on it is like drawing with a soft, greasy pencil- like a 4B- where the older ice is harder and feels like a hard sharp pencil.
As the brook narrowed, the land got steep and we needed to go right and UP about 30 feet to get back on the normal path far above us. There was a rickety bridge across the brook about a foot over the surface of the ice, and under the bridge was open black water. The dogs were nosing around on the left shore and Kev and I went up the right side to climb to the path. The labs hopped on to the bridge- it had wooden railings and wooden planks to walk on. Being a rickety bridge, it was missing several planks, one close to the dogs' end of the bridge, and a few more toward our end. A quick call and the labs galumphed across and didnt appear to think twice about the missing planks.
Rei put her paws on the bridge, and got across the first gap, but turned back and got back off on the same shore. She stood at that end and looked right down the bridge at me. I called her, she whined. I told her she could do it, and I climbed up toward the path some more. I did not want to climb back down the steep slope. She's a big brave old girl and she saw the labs do it. I called her again. She put her paw up on the wood, but took it back and barked. Being still and facing a dog is body language for the dog to not proceed, it creates pressure so that sometimes even if you call them, if you are in a position facing them they wont come (this is why we get better recall results by bending,crouching into an inviting -to dogs- posture, or by saying This way! and facing/going that way they will follow eagerly.) I knew standing there facing her calling her wouldn't work, and turning away from her didn't work, the pressure of falling behind the group didn't motivate her past her fear of the rickety bridge and strange ice.
I understood that she honestly felt she might not get across the bridge safely, and in fact she had fallen through some thin ice into a small stream in another woods a few weeks ago (the stream was maybe 3 inches deep, so it was surprising but not dangerous). There I went back to help lead her a better way across. A few days later we were out with Sage and my friend Kathy and her dogs, and Rei balked at another icy stream. Sage was a big help as for all his social fears, he is very agile and sure footed. We watched Rei and encouraged her to hop across on the mossy stones- she whined- then Sage sat and looked at me with a funny happy look. I unclipped his leash and said, go help Reilly, I took a step down toward her direction and he ran down ahead and hopped back and forth across the stream with joy till she figured it out and they both joined me again. Good boy!
At the reservoir, Rei was only seeing/thinking in a straight line between herself and me, I realized. Right down the bridge, between the rails. She was not going around the bridge onto the firmer ice to cross. She was obviously distressed that I was going on up without her. I solved this by moving the straight line across the hard ice for her. Triangulating. I reached the path and walked along it back toward the hard ice. Her head followed me and when she saw me unframed by the bridge railings, she trotted easily toward me and picked her way around that black ice I described earlier. She trusted the white old ice, and I just needed to redraw the line for her. On my shore, she ran hard straight up the steep hill and then acted all cool and tough again. Thanks Ma! Now then, Busy. Sniffing. You didn't see nothin. I praised her anyway, and gave her a stub of an old cookie I had in the dog walkin jacket.
As the brook narrowed, the land got steep and we needed to go right and UP about 30 feet to get back on the normal path far above us. There was a rickety bridge across the brook about a foot over the surface of the ice, and under the bridge was open black water. The dogs were nosing around on the left shore and Kev and I went up the right side to climb to the path. The labs hopped on to the bridge- it had wooden railings and wooden planks to walk on. Being a rickety bridge, it was missing several planks, one close to the dogs' end of the bridge, and a few more toward our end. A quick call and the labs galumphed across and didnt appear to think twice about the missing planks.
Rei put her paws on the bridge, and got across the first gap, but turned back and got back off on the same shore. She stood at that end and looked right down the bridge at me. I called her, she whined. I told her she could do it, and I climbed up toward the path some more. I did not want to climb back down the steep slope. She's a big brave old girl and she saw the labs do it. I called her again. She put her paw up on the wood, but took it back and barked. Being still and facing a dog is body language for the dog to not proceed, it creates pressure so that sometimes even if you call them, if you are in a position facing them they wont come (this is why we get better recall results by bending,crouching into an inviting -to dogs- posture, or by saying This way! and facing/going that way they will follow eagerly.) I knew standing there facing her calling her wouldn't work, and turning away from her didn't work, the pressure of falling behind the group didn't motivate her past her fear of the rickety bridge and strange ice.
I understood that she honestly felt she might not get across the bridge safely, and in fact she had fallen through some thin ice into a small stream in another woods a few weeks ago (the stream was maybe 3 inches deep, so it was surprising but not dangerous). There I went back to help lead her a better way across. A few days later we were out with Sage and my friend Kathy and her dogs, and Rei balked at another icy stream. Sage was a big help as for all his social fears, he is very agile and sure footed. We watched Rei and encouraged her to hop across on the mossy stones- she whined- then Sage sat and looked at me with a funny happy look. I unclipped his leash and said, go help Reilly, I took a step down toward her direction and he ran down ahead and hopped back and forth across the stream with joy till she figured it out and they both joined me again. Good boy!
At the reservoir, Rei was only seeing/thinking in a straight line between herself and me, I realized. Right down the bridge, between the rails. She was not going around the bridge onto the firmer ice to cross. She was obviously distressed that I was going on up without her. I solved this by moving the straight line across the hard ice for her. Triangulating. I reached the path and walked along it back toward the hard ice. Her head followed me and when she saw me unframed by the bridge railings, she trotted easily toward me and picked her way around that black ice I described earlier. She trusted the white old ice, and I just needed to redraw the line for her. On my shore, she ran hard straight up the steep hill and then acted all cool and tough again. Thanks Ma! Now then, Busy. Sniffing. You didn't see nothin. I praised her anyway, and gave her a stub of an old cookie I had in the dog walkin jacket.
Comments
Would it be a better feat if I had gotten her to cross ON the bridge? Not if there's another way that acknowledges her fear and treats her compassionately, respectfully and like a thinking being. I don't care if she crosses on the bridge- it's obviously a sketchy bridge. If the planks were all there, she would use it. I sort of wish she had figured out to cross on the hard ice on her own, but I am happy to help a friend who has recently had some unpleasant experiences with icey streams. Dogs are "show me, dont tell me," and they generalize poorly so maybe next time we are at that bridge she will think of that now that she's done it.
Learning agility with Sage I began to become more aware of what our body says vs what our mouth says vs where we wave the treats says. We didn't get very far, but I have a load of respect for the people who work with all that.