Day 4!

This week I have concentrated on meeting Bert’s needs in enrichment and exercise.

I have been walking them 1 x per day for a while and I recognise that the lack of enrichment has contributed to an escalation in his behaviour. 

Of course, this alone will not cure the reactivity, but it is an essential aspect of training that contributes to an overall transformation. 

My dogs are raw-fed, making it hard to use food for training. But there are many options for ditching the bowl and changing the predictions of dinner time that increase behaviour. 

I have set up targeted searches for their food in household items such as toilet roll holders, boxes, puzzle feeders, scatter feeding in the garden and lick mats and kongs. They have also had a chew daily

Other than the morning feeding (which I stopped doing at a specific time some time ago so they don’t get too wound up) I have been giving their food randomly.

I have noticed that the time my partner comes home from work is a trigger and they both get agitated and bark at any small noise, so this needs work.

Today I worked more on leaving the house and Bert’s reactions increase leaving the house and walking past the cat house and corners in general where dogs have popped up.

When negative events occur a flashbulb memory occurs in the brain driving reactions in similar situations. 

If you have an anxious dog and you walk past a house where a dog has barked, it’s likely they will recall that house each time and depending on the dog show a reaction of some degree, not always barking and lunging.

You can here in the video i got a bit frustrated, I must watch the way I ask for the sit! Love watching the vidoes back and noticing where I can improve.

The work I am doing is not distracting, it’s changing that initial response in the brain from barking, to a different behaviour. This needs to be trained for however long it takes. 

Working around noises – try when the noise happens scatter feed = the noise creating something good!

I will be back in a few more days. Look out

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