# Craaaazzy Dogs



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

One of our members from Ireland does regular training blogs from her site at Pet Central. I thought this one was good.

Calming Exercises for Cerrrraaaazzzzzy Canines: Getting Out Of Dodge! 
Anne | April 14, 2010 at 8:47 pm | Tags: collar grabs, direction changes, Get Outta Dodge, leash pressure | Categories: Calming Your Crazy Canine | URL: http://wp.me/pAiry-bS

One of the problem areas for the owners of cerrrrraaaazzzy dogs is walkies. Its one thing your dog being out of control in your house but it becomes much more serious if that same level of cerrrrraaaazzzy is seen when out and about.

These dogs often become easily frustrated on a leash wanting to greet people, play with other dogs, chase bicycles and sniff trees. This may even develop into leash reactivity; where the cerrrrraaaazzzy-dog turns into the barking-snarling-lunging-growling-dog. Some of the links in this article didn't come up . To see the original with links check here http://petcentralpawsitivepetcare.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/gettingoutofdodge/

Its important that during training (and life) dogs are kept below threshold - they rely on us to keep them safe and out of situations that they find too much.

We need to have an emergency Get Outta Dodge cue so that we can change direction quickly and calmly if we need to avoid a trigger.

Collar Grabs & Leash Pressure
Collar Grabs

Grabbing an aroused dog's collar is a common cause of dog bites. So teaching dogs that pressure on his collar is a good thing is important for all dogs and ideally should start during puppyhood.

But teaching your dog that pressure on his collar means to look at you is also a great idea when dealing with crazy dogs.

Start in relaxed situations when your dog is lying on the sofa beside you or with you sitting beside him on the floor.

Lightly hook your finger in your dog's collar and immediatley toss a treat in front of his nose. Practice several times per session.

We want to see a yippee response from your dog to the pressure on his collar. After a few repetitions the gentle pressure on his collar should signal that a treat is about to come his way. If your dog looks at you or looks for the treat after collar pressure that's excellent!

As your dog progresses, still working in a relaxed situation, apply a little more pressure to the collar.

The next phase is to begin to practice this exercise in situations where your dog is a little less relaxed, such as standing up. Start with very little pressure again and build up.

You are working up to eventually being able to put a little bit of pressure on even when your dog is moderatley aroused, perhaps standing tall and a little stiff (but not barking, growling or attempting to lunge).

At this stage you should be able to approach from behind your dog, put a little pressure on his collar and immediatley have him whip round to see where his treat is.

Leash Pressure

Along the same lines we want the dog to respond to pressure on leash by looking to you.

The leash can be a very aversive tool to your dog as it prevents your dog's access to things he likes or prevents your dog escaping things he doesn't like. We need to change leash pressure into a nice positive thing and make sure that our dogs want to stay with us rather than having more interest in the world around him.

Attach your dogs leash to a flat collar, a correctly fitted martingale collar or a front leading harness and begin working in a low distraction area such as the kitchen or living room.

Walk a few steps with your dog and allow the leash to go taut. As soon as he puts pressure on the leash, stop and call your dog.

Do whatever it takes to attract him back to you - call him, move backwards, jump up and down, waggle a treat or his toy.
As soon as he looks at you, say YES! and feed two very high value treats (one after the other). Repeat this exercise over and over for a few minutes. It might be a good idea to practice this for a few minutes before walkies.

At this stage you can signal to him and you are just rewarding him looking at you; but this is only the beginning and we will have to make it tougher!

The next level is to allow him to put pressure on the leash and wait for that head turn - if you're ready he should turn pretty quickly.

Once able for this your dog will probably begin to turn and move toward you as soon as he feels pressure - now we are really progressing!

You can even practice this exercise while relaxing in your favourite chair - have your dog on leash and put light pressure on the leash. As soon as looks at you say YES! and reward.

Now you can begin to take this exercise on the road - practice in the back garden first and perfect it there; then try the street near the house; then a quiet park and a quiet street.

Get Outta Dodge!
Sometimes its necessary to just get out of a situation that is likely to get out of control or perhaps already has.

You can even incorporate this exercise into LAT work or other work with triggers - remember only to work at your dog's safe distance.

I love this exercise because we can use it early in training in emergencies when a scary dog or person suddenly approaches you and your dog.

By now your dog should be looking to you and moving toward you when he feels pressure on the leash so if you have that, that's a great foundation.

Walk your dog on leash as before but this time don't allow him get right to the end of the leash. Before he does say your emergency cue (I use 'this way') and move away quickly, excitedly and encourage him to follow.

By working in a low distraction area you will be more likley to keep his focus on you and follow without putting any strain on the leash or his own neck!

When he follows you a few steps, deliver two or three treats, one after the other, and have a little celebration with him (PARTAY!). You can mix this with Jazz up & Settle down if you like - get him jazzed up as a reward and then settle him before repeating the 'this way' exercise.

Repeat often, again practice for a few minutes before each walk to really improve his focus on you.

Once your dog is progressing well with this one its time to take it on the road. You will really need this exercise in some highly stressful and distracting situations so practicing in all sorts of places and around all sorts of people, dogs, noises, goings-on etc. is super important.

Here's a great video showing how to use leash pressure and a get outta here cue with leash reactivity.

Why PARTAY!?

Well, first of all this is going to be a very very useful exercise - lets show how much we appreciate it and build an excellent reinforcement history so that your dogs thinks that there are always nice things available when he moves with you.

But there is another benefit to having some fun when the dog comes away with you - playing and letting off some steam is a great stress buster. So if your dog has just been distressed in an emergency situation this little game will help him to calm down quicker.

Plus, don't forget playing is fun and a great bond-booster!

Premack-ing it!
Remember that when there are distractions your dog may want to move away or move closer. We can use 'this way' and use a functional reward to reinforce your dog.

If your dog is faced with a trigger that he want to move away from, become a dog-detective by carefully learning his most subtle discomfort, distance increasing signals.
As soon as you see these, reward this subtle signalling with a 'this way', reward and PARTAY!

Remember often times reactive/fearful dogs lunge and bark and appear to move toward a scary thing but what they really want to do is to get away - make sure to be clear about what your dog wants.

This is the basis behind the BAT system of modifying reactivity and fearful behaviour.

This exercise can also be used teach that all important elusive impulse control and help with loose leash walking.

Does your dog drag you toward people and dogs to greet them or to trees and lamposts to sniff?

Move toward something tempting and before your dog gets to the end of the leash say 'this way' and as soon as he comes with you reward. Immediatley run back toward the thing he was so eager to get to.

You teach your dog to come with you first to get access to something he wants. If your dog is enthusiastic about greeting only allow him to do so if he's polite.

If you want to learn more about loose leash walking check out our tips in this post on LLW. Or why not check out our step-by-step, day-by-day training plan that includes lots of exercises on nice leash manners and much more!


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