# Eye contact makes all the difference!



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

This is certainly not a rant post, but Timmy has been a little more ornery lately and it seems to take a little more to get him to do the stuff he was so attentive to before, yes I think it's adolescence. I looked at him this morning with his cute moppy hair and of course I couldn't see his eyes, there was a kind of disconnect. I decided to go against my initial thoughts of "no top knots" and see what happens. No harm right? Well, I love it. It seems like we are way more connected especially when I'm correcting him since I can now see if he's looking at me or just ignoring me, his face might have been in my direction before but I couldn't really tell if I had his attention. So I think I'm going to try and mix things up, he was pretty good letting me pull his hair back, he messed with it for a while and then stopped. Picture to follow, he's taking his mid morning nap now.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

I have been putting Busters hair into a top knot lately, otherwise I cannot see his eyes due to his black face and all that hair.

Most of the time now he leaves it in, but sometimes he just keeps on rubbing his face and head on the carpet until he gets the elastic out. I have to look for it so I can be sure he has not swallowed it.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Waiting for his picture!op2:
I really have a hard time understanding training but I was told by a trainer not to look them in the eye for very long. She said I stare at Zoey. Hey all I think I'm doing is looking she has such pretty eyes.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> Waiting for his picture!op2:
> I really have a hard time understanding training but I was told by a trainer not to look them in the eye for very long. She said I stare at Zoey. Hey all I think I'm doing is looking she has such pretty eyes.


Staring down a dog that doesn't know you, or one who is acting aggressively, can cause them to lash out. But I see NOTHING wrong with looking into the eyes of our beloved pets. They seem to seek out that contact as much as we do!

You don't get performance like you see in Kodi below without good eye contact.


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Suzi said:


> Waiting for his picture!op2:


Here you go....see below. Tiny top knot but it does the trick.



krandall said:


> Staring down a dog that doesn't know you, or one who is acting aggressively, can cause them to lash out. But I see NOTHING wrong with looking into the eyes of our beloved pets. They seem to seek out that contact as much as we do!


Yay, I'm glad you agree if "all is good" that it's okay to stare at one another. I love it when he looks at me now that I can see his eyes. I felt a real connection.



krandall said:


> You don't get performance like you see in Kodi below without good eye contact.


Your pictures are priceless, you can see that Kodi is totally in love with you!


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

*Holding eye contact*



krandall said:


> Staring down a dog that doesn't know you, or one who is acting aggressively, can cause them to lash out. But I see NOTHING wrong with looking into the eyes of our beloved pets. They seem to seek out that contact as much as we do!
> 
> You don't get performance like you see in Kodi below without good eye contact.


Holding eye contact with a strange dog can be intimidating to the dog, because doing so is rude in dog-language (see the work of Turid Rugaas on calming signals, for instance). Staring down a dog might cause the dog to lash out - or to turn tail!

But ah, OUR OWN DOGS - that's something else again! Even hypervigilant, shy, Camellia (well, she was that way when she became my dog, 16 August 2010) will hold my (soft and gentle) gaze for a long time. I've been sensitive to how she's feeling about it. Blinking is also a calming signal, and I'll blink after a bit, and watch for Camellia to blink, too. But we can hold a nice long eye contact, no problems - and no surprise; we adore each other!

LOVE the pictures of you and Kodi! Talk about attention! Hope Kodi is feeling well now?

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:49:29 (PDT)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

jabojenny said:


> Here you go....see below. Tiny top knot but it does the trick.
> 
> Yay, I'm glad you agree if "all is good" that it's okay to stare at one another. I love it when he looks at me now that I can see his eyes. I felt a real connection.


Timmy is adorable!!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

CarolWCamelo said:


> LOVE the pictures of you and Kodi! Talk about attention! Hope Kodi is feeling well now?
> 
> Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:49:29 (PDT)


Thanks, Carol. He's definitely MUCH better. But I'm still not convinced he's completely OK. he seems to get tired much more easily than usual. (and I've still been keeping his exercise minimal). I took him to Rally run-throughs yesterday, and he he seemed to have a great time. We did just two runs (about 2 minute each) and we skipped the jump and fast.

But today, i was working in the garden, and he was outsidewith me. Normally, he's running around, finding sticks to show me, finding things to roll in, etc. Instead, he just lay down beside me. He didn't seem unhappy, but it's just not normal behavior for him.

Tomorrow we see the chiropractor, so we'll see what she has to say!


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

krandall said:


> Thanks, Carol. He's definitely MUCH better. But I'm still not convinced he's completely OK. he seems to get tired much more easily than usual. (and I've still been keeping his exercise minimal). I took him to Rally run-throughs yesterday, and he he seemed to have a great time. We did just two runs (about 2 minute each) and we skipped the jump and fast.
> 
> But today, i was working in the garden, and he was outsidewith me. Normally, he's running around, finding sticks to show me, finding things to roll in, etc. Instead, he just lay down beside me. He didn't seem unhappy, but it's just not normal behavior for him.
> 
> Tomorrow we see the chiropractor, so we'll see what she has to say!


Gosh; it's hard, when our dogs aren't up to par - or are suffering from enforced rest - a bit depressing for the dog, I think. And that can make us a bit depressed!

Hope the chiropractic session goes well and gives Kodi some relief.

I'm just beginning some clicker work with Camellia, shaping tricks, little by little; no pressure. So far, we have going up on the hind legs, front paws pleading; you probably all know what I mean - that slight flapping of the front paws - looks like a begging maneuver.

I've tried just a bit of backing-up, too, backing away from me - too easy for Camellia, who does that quite normally, as a way of avoiding being touched - or caught for a bath or something!

Haven't taught her to Sit yet, but I'll be working on that. We have done a bit of work on recall. That's the most crucial, of course!

I'll watch for you report on how Kodi is dong. He surely is a beauty in the ring - devotedly looking up at you - obviously having a good time.

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:46:38 (PDT)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

CarolWCamelo said:


> I'm just beginning some clicker work with Camellia, shaping tricks, little by little; no pressure. So far, we have going up on the hind legs, front paws pleading; you probably all know what I mean - that slight flapping of the front paws - looks like a begging maneuver.


We have a VERY talented obedience trainer at our school, and her breed is Schipperkes. Of course, they look like little bears anyway, and she has taught them, on the cue, "be a bear!" to do what you are getting Camellia to do and make that grumbly, growly noise so many little dogs do at the same time. It's the cutest thing!

Kodi can walk on his hind legs, and "dance" (spin in circles on his hind legs) but he doesn't seem to get much action with his front legs. We want to see a video of Camellia doing her new trick once it's perfected!



CarolWCamelo said:


> I've tried just a bit of backing-up, too, backing away from me - too easy for Camellia, who does that quite normally, as a way of avoiding being touched - or caught for a bath or something!


Yes, Kodi caught onto backing AWAY from me very quickly. We started in the very narrow hallway of our travel trailer. I think little dogs learn backing away quickly out of self defense... Keeps them from getting stepped on!:biggrin1: In Rally, there is one sign (at the highest level, which is where we are competing now) where you have to back up three steps, and the dog has to back up in a straight line beside you. That's MUCH harder!!! Kodi can do it really well against a wall, or even if I just put a yard stick on the floor for him to feel with his feet. But without any sort of guide, he tends to get pretty crooked. Of course, I have to be careful with it too, because I'm tall and have long legs. If I back 3 of my "normal" steps, it would be like asking a Lab to back 10 steps! Of course, I haven't been practicing ANY backing at all (and it wasn't on the course at Rally practice this week, so it wasn't an issue) until we figure out exactly what's wrong, or else until it looks like he's COMPLETELY fine. I would think that if he has a pull in his back, that asking him to back up would not be good for it!



CarolWCamelo said:


> Haven't taught her to Sit yet, but I'll be working on that.


I bet she'll get that and down in no time. I taught Kodi both of these using the capture method when he was tiny. Once he knew what the clicker meant, I just kept it (plus yummy cookies) with me, and any time I saw him sit, I click/treated. I think the sit took one day, and the down took two. The down has actually become his default behavior. If he can't figure out what I want, he'll down, looking at me as if to say, "OK, I KNOW she likes this one, let's try this!"ound:


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Timmie looks so sweet! I'm happy its okay for us to lovingly look into our baby's eyes.


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