The Dogfather (and Mother)

My parents came to visit for the week and it was the first time that we had overnight guests since Hershey's been with us. We did exactly what Irene our behaviour specialist told us to do - and it worked. Hershey was nervous and barky/growly at first, but quickly calmed down to the point where she could accept treats handed to her and listen to their "sit" and "down" commands. We tried not to push it and I think we learned a lot about what works well for Hersh.

We were quite busy but still managed to do a lot of fun things with Hershey - she got to run with Thilo about 3 times, go on long walks, including one in the river valley and a nice outing to a nearby National park. She got to sleep upstairs the whole time, and while she was pretty good overall she did growl and bark at the stirring noises downstairs.

Anyhow, pictures and stuff will likely come shortly!

Day 2 clicker training pro!

Hershey has been doing great with the clicker training. She breezed through Day 1's tasks within 2 days of practice with both Chris and I. I was able to do Day 1 training with her outside which was great and very unexpected. We've now moved on to Day 2 which we started yesterday and she's been doing great with it too. I practiced the tasks with the door open in the kitchen (with the screendoor shut of course). She paid attention and was confident the whole time, even when cars drove past or the neighbor's dog was barking.

Today we'll try Day 2 outside and then we may move on to Day 3. I don't think we'll get past Day 4 or 5 before my parents arrive. I'm going to try to have them eat dinner with her around loose, but we'll see how that goes. I won't be able to have a party in the house while they're here unfortunately, instead, I may invite friends to join us for a lunch sometime...

Anyhow, I'm happy to report that things are still going well - we're optimistic and feel very good about Hershey's progress!

Our behaviour specialist rocks!

What a difference today! We had the behaviour specialist come this evening and she spent 2 and a half hours with us and Hershey, talking about how to deal with Hershey's fearfulness and ways to get her to refocus during stressful times so that her fear can be replaced by calm and happiness.

It was nice to be able to talk to someone who listened and watched carefully before making judgments and recommendations. It was also nice to be told that there was a way to "fix" this and have Hershey be a normal happy dog. The behaviour specialist was excellent at answering all our questions, providing us with lots of tools and methods of working with Hershey and we now feel far more empowered in this process. This is so different than before - we felt disappointed, unsure and honestly scared of Hershey with the old trainer. This is such a better feeling.

The behaviour specialist has suggested we do clicker training. Hershey wasn't afraid of the sound and seemed to respond well to the few instances we tried while the specialist was in our house. Hersh wasn't scared of her either, and their interactions were as close if not closer to what Jacqueline had tried - unsuccessfully in her case! The whole experience was very positive and we have clear directions on what to work on that make a LOT of sense.

We start full-speed ahead tomorrow (Hersh was too tired after the excitement of someone new in the house to start this evening) - and it'll be 6 very full days of intensive training. Given how fast she catches on to everything, I hope we can get her "hooked" on the clicker pretty quickly!

In other news; on our walk last night I almost stepped on a dead squirrel. The squirrel was in full rigor mortis - looks like he had a heart attack. Gross.

The trainer sucks

Jacqueline - with Wags and Wishes - called us today to tell us that "due to concerns from the owners" of the store, Hershey would not be allowed back in the class. Apparently the owners received call(s) from some of the other dog owners in the class. There is no reason for this dismissal - frankly, Hershey was one of the best behaved dogs in the class, and Chris and I were listening the most closely to instructions of anyone on Sunday. I believe it was something that Jacqueline said to the other owners that put them off as nothing during the class would substantiate their claims.

We are extremely disappointed in this situation. We have demanded all of our money back. We want NOTHING to do with this business. Obviously Jacqueline did not stand up for us, and all her assurances and support must simply have been lip service. I do not know what to do with the information regarding training that she has given us - when we are getting different directions from the behaviour specialist and given the fact that Jacqueline changed her entire approach twice on how to train Hershey between the time before first seeing her (and obviously she did not pay close attention to what we were saying), then after meeting her (where she provoked the dog) and about 30 seconds after (where she had already yelled at the dog and made us yell at Hershey too - she told us this wasn't the right thing to do afterall). Clearly there is problems and no compatibility afterall.

We are going to persevere with the behaviourist and are looking forward to a better training relationship in the very near future. Chris and I will be writing formal letters of complaint to Wags and Wishes in addition to the call we already made. We will also be circulating copies of this letter to local shelters and other businesses. It is completely unfair that we have been given bad advice, been made to feel horrible, and now have been kicked out of a class (at a time where it is now too late to register for most other fall-term obedience classes) after having provided all the information we have, been completely open and have worked so hard with Hershey and her trainer to do our best for her.

Fear not friends - Hershey will still be getting care and education. We are committed to this dog - despite the lack of commitment we got from Wags and Wishes.

Academic Upgrading

It has been a tough week and a bit for Hershey. We've been trying to introduce her to lots of people and so we've had guests over to the house several times in the last 2 weeks. While she's been pretty good with some of them, especially those that she already met, there are others whom she is more fearful of. It's sad to see her be so nervous. We're trying though, and we must persevere.

On Sunday we had our first dog school session. We got there early and got to speak with our trainer. Hershey was very frightened and reacted poorly because of this - I guess it was a lot, driving down, being in a new place, meeting new people, and realizing she was going to have to change her behaviour. It was hard - because someone who knows about dogs and scared dogs confirmed that Hershey is terrified of people and possibly was abused or yelled at. It broke my heart and knowing that things would be rough and complicated on Hershey for a while as she learns how to work with people, and follow new rules. However, we have no choice. It would be a huge disservice to just ignore these needs and could eventually be totally detrimental to her.

Our trainer gave us very specific directions to work with during the class and things went quite well. Hershey sat and paid attention for a longer period than we had ever seen before - in my opinion she did great and I'm looking forward to our next classes. She was totally pooped by the end of the class though. The class did last 2 hours and we had arrived about half an hour early too. A long day. I was a bit worried about her throwing up in the car - she had so many treats as part of her training I thought it was inevitable. When we got home, she promptly fell asleep (and so did I).

We've been careful to follow the directions and practice the exercises from the class a lot. We talked with our trainer again for more suggestions with regards to working with Hershey in preparation for my parents' visit. She also suggested we work with a dog behaviour specialist. We have followed up on that and have booked an appointment for later on this week. The specialist has suggested a few modifications to the directions we are to follow, and has assured us that the appointment will really help us. I certainly hope so.

We've actually seen changes already with the directions and exercises. Hershey is much more attentive and "in her place" compared to before. I look forward to continued progress!