Tantrum Big Time Over Reaction

[MaryK]

Ra Kismet's walk today was PURE HEAVEN He didn't bat a beautiful eyelid even at a 'new' dog in a garden a couple of doors down, couldn't see the dog but we did hear it and he just sailed past. The only wee slip up was the Mr. Rowdy, he was back in full voice and top performance level, Rakins did slightly react, very very slight though and I quickly went into click/treat. Actually Rakins turned towards me the second he heard my voice, gave me full on eye contact and tail wagging Didn't pass any dogs on the actual street, that's still to come, but I'm not worried as I want the boy to be fully relaxed with dogs behind fences first

We actually got some admiring smiles from people in cars when he sat without a prompt at the curb. We've been working on 'curb/wait' and now voila the boy sits down like an angle Made me feel good to see the smiles and thumbs up for my boy

We made a video today, well two actually LOL not the best quality but will give you all a chance to see my boy in training. He was a bit over excited because it's the first time 'daddy' has watched him work and also filmed him. He did ran towards my partner a couple of times, but hey still think the kid did very well Will upload tomorrow when I can figure out how too, or put it up on my site and mark it private then put the url on the forum

Gotta run, the kids need their dinner and Rakins is in for BIG feed tonight, even though he did got lots of treats, just for being Rakins there's still quite a lot left over for dinner time

 

[Dogster]

YAY! for you and Ra Kismet!!!!!!! Can't wait to see the vid!!!

Yes, I think dogs wouldn't let us put shock or prong collars on Cesar Millan or Brad Pattinson. They'd probably train their dog agression with positive reinforcement.

My house is the same!!! When we still had the cat, and I would be watching T.V, Patches would curl up on the armrest, which freaked me out, cuz she had mood swings all the time, who knows when she would attack. Shivon sleeps curled up beside me or on the other end of the couch, then she g r a d u a l l y s..t..r..e..t..c..h..e..s out, until she's sleeping on the entire couch, somehow I manage to squeeze in, LOL If she gets into my bed at night, I'm the one who has to sleep curled up in a ball

 

[MaryK]

The vid's not good quality but it will show one very happy boy working Will get it up tomorrow, or rather later today now With apologies for a few things, like my partner dropping the camera at the end of the first vid Must get a decent editing program, or see if we have one on this computer, so I can make good vids And you'll probably pick up a few mistakes on my part training wise too

Yes the dogs would undoubtedly insist on Positive Reinforcement Training for the Millans and their ilk

Now I have a cat trying to sit on my lap, with her bot on the keyboard Oh I have a cat with mood swings, HRH Sylvannia Faery Kitten can bite better than any dog can. It's not so funny when she decides she wants under the duvet, you DARE NOT move because you'll get a decent nip often in very sensitive places too Ra Kismet nor Zeus do the stretch, but know what you mean, had a dog once who would do that if my then boyfriend tried to sit next to me on the couch, she'd squeeze in between us and then s-t-r-e-t-c-h out until he fell of the end, it was a chaise lounge, so funny Fortunately that chap had a grand sense of humor and didn't get upset

Yep, I know what you mean, curled up in a ball, while the dogs lay comfortable stretched out In my next reincarnation I think I'll come back as a dog with a good home and live a life of ease and luxury

 

[MaryK]

Ra Kismet got a new soccer ball today, his old one, as seen in the video (still uploading to YouTube), came under Zeus' close scientific attention So training kinda went out the window, my boy was too excited to focus much and how could I spoil his fun? But we did do our walk and apart from one incident, a close encounter with two dogs, madly barking and performing and highly visible behind their fence AND on the same side of the road, all went very well

With the close encounter, fraid Rakins did react a bit more than I would have liked BUT he responded very, very quickly to my 'Ra look at me" click/treat routine. I did have to use the lead/halti to bring him in as he was right near a major road, so I couldn't risk him getting too antsy and leaping about too much for safety as well of course training reasons. I would prefer not to have to use the Halti/lead to 'reel him in' so to speak but, safety first!

I was very pleased though that he did respond, as he could have touched the other two dogs' noses quite easily BIG TEST for the chap and whilst he didn't pass with flying colors, the improvement was AMAZING Before he would have zoned out on me, now he's responding quickly I kept the click/treat up for a while after we got moving, just to settle him and he went right back to walking like an angel. The Littlest Angel but still MY
Angel

So proud of him he's doing sooooooooooooooo well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still a little way to go but hey, every time there is a MAJOR improvement, I just KNOW the kids going to be Bomb Proof before long

 

[MaryK]

Quickie on Ra Kismet today Went out a bit later and caught the start of the doggy walking brigade. We were sitting at the curb, when Rakins swung out, something he doesn't do as he's been trained to sit at curbs and wait for me to move off, took a quick glance in the direction of his eyes (at the same time bringing him back off the road) and saw, walking very sedately along with his/her owner, a lovely wee black dog. The other side of the road but that would have been enough to set Rakins off immediately! He did swing out, not a lunge or pull, but a swing BUT dear little chap came right back to Mom, where he was duly click/treated like crazy Really pleased with his response, not quite 'perfect' but no way did he 'zone out' on me, not even a smidgeon, not even close - just an alert 'swing' around (unfortunately into the road fortunately a quiet one no traffic hence the shorter than I would like lead, safety is a consideration in a built up inner city area).

He's getting so good with dogs barking all around, went through the 'chain reaction gauntlet' today without batting an eyelash Actually I think he now rather enjoys dogs barking, because he looks straight at me with an extremely hopeful expression 'hey Mom, barking dogs=click/TREATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS'. You should see his eyes, so expressive And of course he get's all the click/treats he loves

The rest of his walk, very calm, almost sedate well he's not exactly a 'sedate' dog but he is now becoming a VERY GOOD BOY and knows it too Still have the biggie and also if he sees another dog right next to him behind a fence, that still needs a bit more work, but wow, what is it now a month????? The improvement is massive. And even though he's always enjoyed his walks, he now LOVES them even more because 'hey Mom keeps telling me what a 'good boy' I am and I know those words and woooweeeeeeeeeee I just love hearing them, together with all those TREATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS'