Leave it, Stay, and a Visit from the Neighbor

Misha is doing so well with "leave it." If I am in tune with what she's eyeing and say "leave it" beforehand, she leaves it almost immediately.

Stay - she is also doing well with this. Last night, she finally stayed in front of me for over a minute. I will try again today and hopefully that result wasn't just due to a tired Misha.

Stay while there's a knock on the door - this is easier said than done with three dogs. My boyfriend is still at work and I wasn't able to leave the dogs elsewhere, so everyone got trained today. Buddy, the alpha, took orders from no one. (Maybe I should fix him first?). Because of the circumstances, I did grab a treat and had Misha and Rusty sit. They both did SO well. I opened the door (carrying Buddy) and my neighbor, Erica, handed me a piece of mail. Misha and Rusty stayed (Rusty focused on the treat). Misha wanted to bark, but her tail was wagging. I am not sure if this was due to excitement or if she was following Buddy's protective lead. She has learned a lot from Buddy...all bad things, like barking at people. I am now regretting not focusing my energy on training Buddy first. Maybe three dogs is too much... =(

Let's see how she does tomorrow without Buddy and Rusty being at home.

A Bear Growl at the Dog Park

Misha and Missy see each other from across the park; they run towards one another. It was a nice moment. More and more dogs arrive at the park. Misha greets all of them - the humans, not so much. A couple walks in and pets her - I'm surprised but proud.
But…..a few minutes later, Missy is behind Misha, that same couple walks towards her and there it is: that deep bear growl followed by a protective, deep, bark. Misha approaches them and smells. Everything is ok. But why did she do it? The only thing I can think of is that she was protecting Missy. She's never done that before, and the oddest thing is that she had already allowed that couple to pet her. I stood up immediately and corrected her. She sat on command and waited.

Another couple entered the park and then this happened:

This random person comes over and pets her, massages her, she lays down on the ground for him and asks for belly rubs. I praise her immediately after the interaction is over. 

The previous event followed by something like this is what's confusing to me (both events happened within 10 minutes of each other. The person in the picture is someone random, not related to the couple she growled at). If she didn't like people all the time, I would understand. But her feelings towards people change constantly. Is it different energies she's feeling? I am not sure.

This person went up to her multiple times and it's as if she had known him for years. 

Well, Misha, you never seize to surprise me and confuse me. Let's continue today's training. 

Update soon. 

A More Tamed Growling Bear

At the vet, with brother Buddy.

Buddy barks. Misha growls at strangers.
She still listened to commands 'sit' and 'down', but she still vocalized her deep, low, bear growl.
I cherish the moment when she didn't know she had that power.
I'm really hoping this was due to Buddy's rowdiness and the location (the vet's office).
Crossing fingers and training continues.

A Proud Moment

Apologies. Didn't blog about last week with Misha.

Training - Terrible! She growled at the trainer a second time....
I can feel myself sinking with disappointment. I'm sure Misha felt it too, as she quickly looked at me with her glistening eyes, waiting for approval. I did not approve and she knew it.
Exercises were ok and she listened well to commands from me.

Our homework was to practice the walk and to practice the "wait" command. "Wait" is not the same as "Stay." It's a rather shorter pause and requires a different hand signal. Also, we were instructed to practice the "Leave it" command. This is one of particular importance as C.A.T training requires for a dog to be able to "leave it" on command, whatever "it" is. Misha is also very good at this.

I think I skipped blogging last week because I felt my failure to help Misha see people as something good and trustworthy. However, yesterday, I saw a glimpse of hope.

We got in the car and headed to training.

Misha, of course, enjoying the breeze out the window (Something she always hated but grew to like and enjoy). I glance at her, turn around (while at a red light), and tell her "please do not growl at anyone today, please... be the good dog I know you are."

We enter training, and I almost cried. She went up to the trainer, wagging her tail, sitting, and giving "paw" (<--something I've taught her will get her treats!). The trainer just signaled for treats and fed her straight from her hand. I was overjoyed and pride filled my insides!
Throughout the session, Misha did everything beautifully! She was even chosen to demonstrate some of the commands.

This week's homework:
1.Practice Stay for as long as the dog can stay and time it!
2. Take random objects that aren't important (crumbled paper, ripped newspaper, toilet paper roll, plastic container, maybe a wrapper, etc) and put them on the floor randomly throughout the house. As we go into each room (Misha on leash) practice "Leave it" with those random objects. To do this, Misha can go the entire length of the leash with enough distance to just barely touch it, and once she's up to it, LEAVE IT! =)
3. Practice having people come over the house and a) handing me something at the door (like a mailman would) while Misha waits and then b) Knocking on the door and coming inside. Misha is to wait until I have welcomed her to say hi to the person. Once that interaction is done, Misha needs a 'place to be' while the person comes in and has coffee, for example.
4. Keep heeling and walking at different paces (slow = tug on the collar several times saying 'easy easy easy' or speeding up and saying "let's go")

I was very proud at this training session. But one thing I did do differently (besides have a good talk with Misha, hehe) was that I did not feed her before the session. For the past two weeks, I have been feeding her and then attending. Perhaps that is what changed: she was hungry and only focused on her hunger, accepting treats from the trainer. (I am not too sure about this as she is ALWAYS up for treats, hungry or not...). However, it is a good thing to consider. To test my hypothesis, I will feed her next class and see her reaction. Maybe she is just getting more used to everything and the routine of it all. It would be a great thing if she's actually getting used to ....people!

Here's a great video we took at the park: Misha and Missy (best of friends). Rain, mud, and freedom.

Growling Bear

June 11th:

Hi! My name is Misha. Today, I growled at the trainer.

Yup. She did. She was great throughout the ENTIRE session, and then she growled at the trainer.

At the end of the session, Misha was even taking treats from the trainer but getting her to trust people from the very beginning is the goal.

We were given some homework.

1. Change the leash and collar - replace it with a choke chain and a 6 foot leash

2. Do Not use the word "No." Instead, find the positive of the action you Don't want (example: if she gets up on the couch, instead of saying "NO", just say "Misha, down" and when she follows command, give praise.

3. Practice the walk. Dog should always be on your left side

4. A lot of other things I should have written down.

I still have high hopes. 

Update coming soon on the growling bear. 

Project Name Change Continues

As advised, I have been keeping up with Misha's exposure to the world as best possible. I have walked her to a local park several days out of the week and have asked strangers to give her treats. Quickly, I learned my approach wasn't the best. Telling people "Hi, Can you please give her a treat? She's not very good with people and I need to train her to be accepting of people" doesn't give off quite the energy I need it to. Needless to say, DiamondMisha growled and barked at the first guinea pigs....

However, "Hi! Do you mind giving her a treat? I am training her to be a therapy dog and she needs to be able to take treats and listen to commands (sit, paw, etc) from everyone, not just me" sounds WAY better than the previous statement. Hence, everyone that got THAT explanation gave off a more positive vibe than the previous people. She did very well and even let everyone pet her after the treat was given. (this tells me that she's very keen on people's energy)

Another tactic I have attempted these past few days is having her receive guests at my job. I brought her entire food portion in a container to use as treats and everyone that came in gave her pebbles out of their hand. She seemed to be more comfortable as she was more focused on the food rather than the stranger. Some clients even had her do tricks. I was very proud. She was more welcoming of people, but still hesitant to some. 

As for the name change, she was responding to DiamondMisha by the second day. Sometimes, she even responds to just Misha when given a command after the name (Misha, come). 

Her walks still need work - I have been thinking of purchasing one of those leads that go around the muzzle. Perhaps that will help. 

Lastly, I have enrolled her in a six week dog obedience training course! 

I'm really excited about this as it'll expose her more to being around people and is a closer setting to the training done for C.A.T (canine assisted therapy). Not only will she be exposed to people, but people with dogs on leash. This will certainly be a true test. 

Class starts June 11 - 7:30pm