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| I love you Mom. |
First, apologies for not taking a single new picture of Ruby for the last two weeks. It's not that she hasn't done anything worthy of capturing, I just...haven't. I took this one just now. Ruby in her usual spot, right at my feet. It's like having an extra pair of 99-pound shoes I'm forever tripping over.
Night one of obedience school - there were three dogs in the class. Small, medium and large. A Puggle named Missy (kind of adorable), a golden retreiver named Jazzy, and my calm and relaxed Great Dane (please don't miss the sarcasm). All are roughly the same age, between one and two years old. Ruby was extremely hyper when we got into the training room, which is a metal strip mall unit with concrete floors, so very loud. All Ruby wanted to do was play with the Puggle. She pulled and tugged and pulled some more. She whined and barked, wrapped herself around several chairs, and knocked over the divider between us and the Puggle. When I stood up with her, she did her infamous Jack Russel leap. Stephanie, the trainer, started with baby steps, getting to know each of our dogs' areas of concern. Not surprisingly, Ruby's main problem was identified as fear. So we worked on building trust, learning the concept of using a clicker and treats as a reward system, and some basic commands. It took me awhile to get Ruby's focus, but she eventually figured it out and responded well to the clicker. We discussed eye contact with strangers and how the fact that the woman on the street made eye contact with Ruby may have been the trigger for her. Dogs have two reactions to fear. Fight or flight. I had her pinned, so flight wasn't an option. So she chose to fight. Conquering the reasons behind the fear are what I most want to work on. But knowing that is a trigger has proven to be helpful since that night.
At the end of the class, Stephanie gave us homework. At least a 45 minute walk every day, then some structured play time, and then we were to work on walking. She demonstrated, with all 12 pounds of Puggle, the best way to respond to pulling on the lead. which was to pull Missy back and make her stay at her side. I let her finish and then asked how you do that with 99 pounds of dog at the end of the leash. I'm pretty strong, but just can't get Ruby to understand what I want. No matter how short or long the lead, Ruby gets to the end of it and pulls as hard as she can. Makes for an exhausting walk, and not something I look forward to...ever. So Stephanie let the others go home (Ruby had to stay after class...shocker) and presented us with a Halti. A gentle leader. I described the scene at Petco the first time I tried to put a similar device on her, and how I had to restock all the leashes and collars that day because Ruby wiped the shelves clean in her twisting, jumping FREAKOUT.
Stephanie showed me how to get her used to the device while giving her some treats. As a test, she simply tried putting it on her and Ruby responded with pure anger. Backed up, barked the big dog mean bark, hackles up, etc. Clearly, this was going to take some work. It was funny how exhausted Ruby was after school that night. A lot of stimulation for an hour I guess. We started working on the Halti the next day. She was NOT a fan, but by Saturday I had managed to get it on her. Not in a way that I could take her outside with it, as she was back in freakout mode, but by Monday, we were ready to walk.
Funny how sometimes all things are against me. The elements converged to produce every obstacles and distraction available for our hour around the 'hood. As we started out, it took some stops and starts to get her to stop thinking about the Halti and just focus on the walk. Just about the time she did, we walked by The Barking Yard. A woman who operates a dog rescue and never has less than 5 dogs in her yard, all of them going crazy at the same time. I got Ruby in the street to bypass The Barking Yard. Around the corner, two little kids in their driveway, on Big Wheels...with a CAT. That took some effort to work around. Lots of talk, command, click, treat. Repeat. Shortly past that house, there were three teenage boys playing basketball and the ball got away from them and rolled into the street about the time we were there. Another stop, command, click, treat. Then a couple on bicycles passed us. We had to stop and watch. They smiled and waved and I told them it was our first day with the Halti. A house or two up from that, a gust of wind kicked up, blowing last season's leaves across our path, causing an instant attempt at a game of 'attack the blowing leaves.' Stop, command, click, treat. Around the corner from THAT came four young boys on bicycles, screaming and yelling at each other as boys do. Stop, watch, praise, click, treat. Oy, enough already! As we turned the corner toward home, the yard on the corner had the ever-present friendly bunny sitting out front. He's almost always there, openly mocking my dog. Today was no exception. We had to stop, click, treat, talk, calm, click, treat. Sigh. Somehow we had made it around the whole block in just under 40 minutes, and only two houses from our driveway, came the harmless squirrel. The little bastard of course couldn't stay in his tree, he had to dive down to the ground, then romp playfully across the street. I came close to having to pin Ruby, but the Halti gave me the control I needed. It didn't stop the Jack Russell leaping.
Uggh. One block, the walk that normally takes us 12-15 minutes, took us 45. I was exhausted, Ruby was exhausted, and we still had to have 'structured playtime.' That turned out to be more fun than I expected. Instead of forcing 'fetch' which Ruby just thinks is a retarded game, I decided to fold and we played Keep-Away. Hey, she's having fun, I'm having fun, I have no reason to make her return things to me (although the ability to fetch me a rum and diet coke would be nice). So Keep-Away it is. She grabs a tennis ball, I pretend I want it, she races around in circles. And then praise, click, treat. Today at the end of our walk, I removed the Halti and she raced to the backyard and grabbed the closest tennis ball. She gets it.
So week one ideas were helpful. Week two, there was another dog there, a Maltie/Yorkie mix named Izzy. Izzy is the XS in our now XS/S/M/L class. Stephanie was happy to see Ruby wearing the Halti. CALMLY wearing the Halti and there was no mistaking the change in control. Ruby did well, we worked on walking, together. Next week we will break out the agility moves.
I brought along my husband this week. The one who has been mentioned in this very blog from time to time as taking pleasure in playing rough and scaring the daylights out of Ruby. To be fair, it's how he plays with the Bulldog. Because the Bulldog LOVES it. It is game on when Dad gets on the floor and stares her down. It makes Ruby terrified. And sneaking up on the Bulldog and scaring her is just sport. It makes Ruby pee. It might have come up in week one, to the trainer, that this is where I feel some of Ruby's fearful nature has come from. So I brought him along, we discussed rough play, worked together building trust, and came away with more good suggestions for having a more peaceful relationship with my dog. Next week, I'll bring one of the teeangers. Sometimes hearing information from a third party is the only way things get through to people. Stephanie has raised there Great Danes so always has some good behavior tips. And she made me feel tons better when she said 'Danes can't catch.' Thank God. I thought it was just my dumb dog.
One of my favorite tips from this week is a peanut butter popsicle. A small plastic container filled with peanut butter and frozen. We take it on walks and hold it right where we want her to walk, so as not to encourage her to get to the end of the leash and pull. We had a very pleasant walk around the neighborhood this morning. 45 minutes, looping every street, stopping every now and again for praise, click, treat, or a lick of peanut butter.
Success, for sure.
On the homefront, Monday we left Ruby out for the day, as always, and she ate a hole in the front of the couch, pooped on the floor twice, and peed on it once. Clearly, still work to do, but...baby steps. Maybe in the remaining six weeks of Obedience 1 we can tackle inappropriate furniture eating.
I'll leave you with a photo. After Ruby ate the couch Monday, I decided to play hard ball and since previous attempts at kenneling had gone poorly, I made sure she was secure this time. I actually nailed the kennel to some shelving, gave her a pile of toys, her food and water, and a blanket. She shredded the blanket, spilled the food, dumped the water on the shredded blanket, and dismembered a purple stuffed monkey. All in a day for Ruby. Actually, in a half day. This is what I found when I came home for lunch that day to check on her:
till next time...
