I thought I would give an update on Lockie and his training.
He has, overall done very well. It is odd how it is just a particular dog that he may target. At the course we have been shown techniques in how to distract and desensitise his behaviour and what to do if he does react. And I have used these techniques while at dog obedience.

Week 1.
As soon as we got out of the car a large aggressive Rotti targeted Lockie. We were easily 20-30 feet from it but he went nuts. Lockie reacted to his challenge. We moved him away but knew that this was one dog we would have to watch out for. During class Lockie showed some signs of stress, yawning, body shakes and general agitation but was not overly distressed.
We opted not to try weaving as I thought this would put too much pressure on him and I asked other owners not to get too close. Instead of weaving I asked if we could just walk around the outside. That went well till we got to Woody the psycho Rotti. Woody growled and lunged with the owner hauling him off the ground. We gave a wide berth and continued on.

Week 2
This time when we got out of the car a small black terrier which wasn't here last week showed up which made Lockie react with a growl and a lunge. I moved him away but he made no further reactions. I used distraction if he showed too much interest or if his ears twitched too much and I paid extra attention if the terrier came close. This week we did try the weave getting Lockie to follow my hand as we weaved amongst the dogs. It is very difficult doing this with a large dog that you are trying to keep an eye on as people stand so close, but anyway...we didn't seem to have issues with the rotti this week but we still kept a safe distance.
Lockie was also put to the test. There is a mother and daughter that come to class which are both, how can I put this without offending anyone, “mentally challenged”. Anyway the daughter thought that her dog, a small kelpie X could do the weave off lead. I guess it went down the line OK but when it got to us the dog went mental doing play bows and zoomies trying to get Lockie to run and play. Very cute but not appropriate at this time. The woman could not get control of her dog and Lockie was getting twitchy, I couldn't tell if he was in play mode or prey mode but either way this young dog wasn't helping. The trainer came and stood between Lockie and the other dog until the trainer finally got it to calm down and be leashed again. She was very apologetic but that didn't help at the time. It wasn't like I could move away as the dog would have just followed.
Lockie was much more relaxed this time and was happy to just lie down when bored. After class I went over to 3 woman that all had labs and just stood close for a chance for Lockie to “hang out” in a relaxed setting. He was quite happy and lay down.

Week 3
This was in most parts a great day. Lockie showed no overt reactions at all. He was interested in a new Staffy but we used our techniques and that went well. The only problem we had was with psycho Woody. This dog went balistic when we did our weave. He was growling and snarling and leaping in the air. I moved Lockie away and he didn't react at all apart from being alert and watchful but he showed no signs of retaliation. Eventually he moved him away from the line. This dog is completely nuts.
After class I went and stood with these other women, one of which was the wife of the bloke with the psycho dog, she had the other one. While standing around I asked her to tell me when her husband was coming over. She said Don't worry , this is the dog that tried to atack you. The dog was sitting happily beside her wagging its tail and was totally non-confrontational. This was a different dog, and apparently only behaves like a psycho when the husband handles him.
Unbelievable what a transformation it was.
I talked to the trainer afterwards and he said that the dog was 100% better than what it was and that the bloke was the only one who could hold onto him. I think the dog now associates aggressive behaviour with the male.
I am really happy with our progress and am sure that Lockie will settle down the more he gets used to other dogs being around and knowing that they are no threat. He is my big goofy adorable, loving boy.
Anyway I have waffled enough

Great to hear that both you and Lockie are feeling much more relaxed while training. I hope you are enjoying this time with him, both you and Lockie will be more confident by the time you have finished the training. Good luck for the rest of the programm.

Well done Lockie It is not easy to do the weave thing with a big long dog...they need more space than the others! Bless him

I took my girls traing when they were young. Daisy May got bored after a while & could not really see the point of the down stay.... I would find a long nose poking me in the bottom after a few minutes She got the basics, recall, stay etc. But did not really enjoy it in the end, but it was good for socialisation.

Elsie Grey went as soon as I got her and after trying to steal every one elses treats, she settled & learnt some manners! But she got bored to after the basics! Maybe sight hounds don't quite see the point of some of these excercises

But, well done again Lockie and keep up the good work

Good for the 2 of you ! And , doesn't Lockie seem to be just a great dog compared to some of the others at this course ???? I hop it will turn into real fun for the 2 of you - which , astonishingly , training can be , even with a hound !!!!

Verena

P.S.: Do not forget to breath , especiall deep exhales help , believe me.....

See Sam, Verenav has hit the nail on the head, Lockie is fine and nothing compared to some other dogs. I think it was just a lack of socialisation and a bit of male dominance thrown in, especially when he has the bitches to 'look after'.
Well done both of you, keep it up, the social skills he will learn should put him on the right path!!

Thanks Guys Daisy May, Lockie gets bored too and after about half an hour starts to get whingie and when we do the stay he looks at me as if to say "why have you moved? Do I smell or something?" and will start to creep a long leg out.

Norbert and I is also going to course now we have only one time left. It has been very good and specially for the socialisation, he loves other dogs and people now, well it wasn't any problem before either. He isn't very interested in what we are doing but he do it once and twice and maybee a third time and then he is not interested anymore.
Today he was good, I have meatballs to reward him with and it was worth working a little bit for.
He is best in the class when we are inside, he is the only one who can totally relaxed he like to sleep. But he is doing well outside to.

As my kids would say "Awesome!" Great news that you and Lockie are doing so well in class. He sounds like a star pupil.
Amazing isn't it how the deep slow breaths help when doing something the dogs aren't keen on? Bathing Cailean has been a 2 person ordeal until the last time I bathed her alone. I stood in the tub with her and kept deep breathing throughout while speaking softly but firmly. I am getting much better at not communicating tension (it sure makes a difference doesn't it?)
Cheers

It makes a huge difference - even for totally unknown animals ( I do work at the SPCA ) - one thing we do not usually take into account is , that animals , too , hold their breath /breath really , really shallow when they tense up - which makes everything worse of course . Sometimes , when we breath deeply , it will stimulate them to do so , too ( not only make us/ourselfes feel much better ) - if not , I try to coax a dog to take a treat in such situations , when they chew/eat , they have to breath.....

Brollachan wrote:



My girls would whinge too! Daisy May would lay behind me and almost as soon as I moved forward she would do a 'commando crawl' across the floor Then jump up and poke me in the bottom! All of the collie owners would look very shocked at her (Think the collies all thought they were auditioning for a part in a Lassie film......very serious they were!) Hounds just have a good sense of humour

Keep up the good work Lockie....we are cheering you on

It soundslike the course is making a huge difference to both you and Lockie Sam. Keep it
up. Your perseverance will pay off in the end.

I'm sure it will. He is not "aggressive", just a cocky **** that needs a bit of confidence and realisation that the world does not revolve around him
Apart from being amazed at the difference in the Rotti, I was also surprised that Lockie didn't react to him so I am thinking that Lockie is reacting to how the dogs are reacting to him eg eye contact etc. Also I was relaxed as I thought it was a different dog and not the male.
So it is a combination of factors. Mind you before this started I was always relaxed and have only become tense after repeat performances.

There is a dog training show I have watched a few times. The host just really bothers me as he is so arrogant & rude to his victims but I have learned a couple of things that have helped me with my dog Cailean.
According to this fellow (I can't honestly remember his name or the shows name) we reap what we sow in some instances. Giving too much latitude to the dog & their ownership of the house is a big no no. Teaching them that all humans in the family are ahead of them in pack dynamics & that extends to human possessions and furniture should be taught in order to avoid dominance issues.
I think you know Sam alot more about dogs than I do, but I am amazed that they are so sensitive to our love for them & can wrap us around their hairy paws if we let them. I think Deerhounds are masters of manipulation and soulful glances.
I speak as the wife of a husband who would say "its just a cat!" or "its just a dog!" but for about 15 years would get up even at 3AM to let kitty out and then get up an hour later to bring kitty in??!!??
Again, its great to hear things are going so well with Lockie, you must be very proud of him.

Today was interesting. When we first arrived I joined the ladies with the labs. Lockie was very relaxed and was being sociable. They commented on how better he was being. All looked good. The Rotti's were absent today so the trainer asked me to do the weave as there were no dogs for us to worry about. We did that fine.
Then came the exercise of sitting your dog infront of each dog. We stand as Lockie won't sit and it's not something I want to force with showing and all. Lockie went fine here too apart from showing some extrs interest in a heeler he hadn't seen before. There was also a long haired chihauhau which he hadn't seen. When this chi did the sit infront of us, the owner was way too close and you could see that the dog was terrified of Lockie, cowering into the owner with it's eyes bugging out and "staring". Lockie was fine to start with but this woman would not move her sog on and I think the constant staring got to him in the end. He made a move which I stopped instantly but the chi still squealed (no contact). What is wrong with some people? If I thought my dog was terrified of another I would give it more space. This all happened very fast. Another thing I don't understand is how people just assume that your dog is friendly. I seem to be always telling people "not so close". They don't seem to realise that a tall dog has a long reach and since I am trying to desensitise him I don't need him feeling threatened at all.
After class the trainer commented that overall Lockie has settled down a lot and looks much more relaxed. He seems happy enough to lie down during the boring bits. He still shows lack of confidence by always wanting to touch me, leaning into me and sometimes wanting to jump up.

Oh bless him, Lockie is doing really well. It must be very daunting for him, as a big dog surounded by so many others. Maybe if the owner of the little Chi had distracted her dog Lockie would not have had to put up with the staring!!

With my girls, if I need to distract them, or get them to focus on me..... I say 'Watch me' & they look into my eyes That way an agressive or nervous dog can pass them etc. I started by holding a treat near my eye & saying 'Watch me'.....sounds daft but it works (make sure you don't poke yourself in the eye with it though!!)

It might be worth a try with Lockie, so that he does not always notice that another dog is giving him the eyeball!

I do that too especially if I'm expecting something. I think I was so gobsmacked looking at this terrified dog and thinking "why don't you move it away" that I wasn't fully focused on Lock. It reminded me of The mouse and the elephant:laugh:

Now that has painted a funny picture in my head Poor Lockie.....dare I say it.... perhaps he thought the little Chi WAS a Mouse