Ellie, Day 5 -- just picked up Bob, a fairly high-strung little ball of energy (Jack Russell / Pit mix, maybe?!) who Ellie has not met. She stayed laying down in the back while Bob approached the car (That fact alone is HUGE for Ellie -- a week ago, just laying down in the car on command was like the End of the World to her) and watched calmly as he loaded up in the front seat. She isn't tethered and I didn't need to verbally or physically coach her at all (apart from a little eye contact, which she absolutely understood to mean I was closely watching her reaction π). Here she is giving me some serious side-eye as I go back to the driver's seat. She's like, "I know this game, now. I can play by your rules!" This is a 2 year old pup who has had very little interaction with other dogs for the past year of her life due to reactivity, aggression, and over-excited spazzy reactions to pretty much everything, especially other dogs. It's amazing what high expectations coupled with some gradual desensitization, lots of coaching and loads of structured exercise and self-control "games" can accomplish for dogs like Ellie in a very short period of time. No treats, except as distraction / added challenge (such as handing out treats with the reactive dog in the center of a well-behaved group of dog), since treats add a lot of energy / excitement / distraction to a dog who is already used to being in a state of constant over-stimulation and has a hard time regulating their emotional impulses. Next week, Ellie is going to be going 100% off leash on hikes and practicing running and playing with all the dogs in our pack, who range from 4# to 80# π Stay tuned! P.S. Bob can tell Ellie is a little inexperienced and he isn't thrilled at being used in one of my "science experiments", hence his expression which I thought was pretty hilarious, so of course I snapped a pic! I assured him I am about to take them on a fun hike to make up for the indignity π #reactivedog #pittie #pibble #gooddog #cutepuppies #jackrussell #jackrussellterrier #boulderdogtraining #dogtrainer #offleashdogs #boulderco #ddk9a #dreamdog @dreamdogk9academy @dreamdogk9 @bfenton23 @breck_in_co (at Boulder, Colorado)
