Now it was the Wednesday before I was to leave on Friday. My staff person wasn't sure Sweetie was going to warm up and allow her to come into the house or even touch her if I wasn't there. I had hope, though. One of Sweet's special qualities is that once you're in her club, you're in for life. She's not a shy dog that has weird handling issues and will snap or be uncomfortable once you've made friends. A small blessing, but it means a lot when she makes new friends.
But, we knew that if she was going to be watched by a new person, that person would have to come up to the house when I wasn't there. So, when her new friend came over, I left the house (hesitantly but optimistically) a few minutes before she arrived.
We had success! My staff person walked in the door with treats, dispensed yumminess, and was greeted with a bouncy-ish Sweetie. Not totally loosey goosey but interested and wagging. When I returned in the house 5 minutes later, they were in the kitchen by that point and a petting session was in progress in Sweet's favorite doggie doughnut bed in the kitchen. She had relaxed enough to be on her back and have a full-on belly rub.
She had made a new friend, and my trip was on! I was nervous, I cried out of joy that she had made a friend and a little out of nervousness of leaving her. I have a high level of management for Sweetsie to keep both of us safe and allow her to progress, so the thought of leaving it in someone else's hands was a little scary. But, I knew she was in capable hands.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
2nd Meeting, New Person (1st Week/September)
With not a lot of success in the first meeting, I decided to take a closer look at how Sweetie was going to meet people at my house. What I thought would work, with not a lot of thought put into it, did not pan out. A plan was needed.
So, I put the Manners Minder in the kitchen and sat in a chair in the living room - and we made a game out of dinner every night over the next couple days. It played out like this: Sweets runs to the chair, targets my hand and then the cue noise goes off on the MM and dispenses food (which is actually the more salient cue for her). We made a relay race out of it with her bopping my hand and running back into the kitchen for food. I wanted her to associate the chair with super good things, that she didn't have to put herself in a weird emotional place to eat the food (she was safe in the kitchen for later use) and she could keep playing as long as she wanted. She took to the game very quickly, so we tried another meeting with new person #1.
This time the meeting was much more managed. I kept Sweets in the kitchen and hallway initially separated by the baby gate at the threshold of the living room. New person sat in the chair I had sat in during the game and Sweets first saw her sitting down. Sweets got rewarded for coming up to the gate and looking at my staff member with kibble from the MM in the kitchen dispensed. I continued to set up the MM in the kitchen to provide a mini-break from the stimulus and dial down her stress levels.
This time, we had virtually no barking and lots of wagging loose postures. So, after 10-15 watches, I moved the baby gate up to the sofa so Sweets could move up if she wanted to - and she did. We repeated rewarding the watches - and then I removed the gate and provided the new person with dried chicken strips (hopefully outweighing the kibble by this point and safely allowing an interaction after this managed build-up).
Sweets approached hesitantly and took the strips - and came back for more. The new person feed and starting incorporating some chin rubs which pushed her a bit too much and resulted in some stiffening and a little unease, but not a lot. We continued the treats for a bit, she relaxed more and then we moved outside to do the come game in the backyard with me, Sweets and the new person. I had kibble, new person still had chicken and we would call her - and she would run to both of us for yummies, preferably to the new person as the treat was more high value. We did that exercise for a couple minutes with success and called it a night.
She was interested in interacting with the new person, finally! Progress, no reactivity, although some stiffening, but potential.
So, I put the Manners Minder in the kitchen and sat in a chair in the living room - and we made a game out of dinner every night over the next couple days. It played out like this: Sweets runs to the chair, targets my hand and then the cue noise goes off on the MM and dispenses food (which is actually the more salient cue for her). We made a relay race out of it with her bopping my hand and running back into the kitchen for food. I wanted her to associate the chair with super good things, that she didn't have to put herself in a weird emotional place to eat the food (she was safe in the kitchen for later use) and she could keep playing as long as she wanted. She took to the game very quickly, so we tried another meeting with new person #1.
This time the meeting was much more managed. I kept Sweets in the kitchen and hallway initially separated by the baby gate at the threshold of the living room. New person sat in the chair I had sat in during the game and Sweets first saw her sitting down. Sweets got rewarded for coming up to the gate and looking at my staff member with kibble from the MM in the kitchen dispensed. I continued to set up the MM in the kitchen to provide a mini-break from the stimulus and dial down her stress levels.
This time, we had virtually no barking and lots of wagging loose postures. So, after 10-15 watches, I moved the baby gate up to the sofa so Sweets could move up if she wanted to - and she did. We repeated rewarding the watches - and then I removed the gate and provided the new person with dried chicken strips (hopefully outweighing the kibble by this point and safely allowing an interaction after this managed build-up).
Sweets approached hesitantly and took the strips - and came back for more. The new person feed and starting incorporating some chin rubs which pushed her a bit too much and resulted in some stiffening and a little unease, but not a lot. We continued the treats for a bit, she relaxed more and then we moved outside to do the come game in the backyard with me, Sweets and the new person. I had kibble, new person still had chicken and we would call her - and she would run to both of us for yummies, preferably to the new person as the treat was more high value. We did that exercise for a couple minutes with success and called it a night.
She was interested in interacting with the new person, finally! Progress, no reactivity, although some stiffening, but potential.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
1st Meeting, new Person (1st Week in September)
After settling into our routine here in Colorado, I decided I wanted to return to Illinois for a friend's wedding. But, with only a week or so before the trip, I was concerned Sweetie wouldn't be ready to have somebody new watch her.
Nevertheless, working at shelters has perks - like being around dog savvy folks and better yet, trainers. So, one of my staff members came out to my house to meet Sweetie. Despite my best intentions, I set up the meet all wrong. I had Sweetie out on my porch and her potential friend walk into the kitchen. I put the Manners Minder out on the porch and had it set to go off automatically and feed Sweets.
Having a new person walk into the house, with her on the porch and seeing the two-legger walk towards her (even if separated by a screen door) caused her to bark - and bark in the "what are you doing here" sort of way. I backed off my staff person to give Sweetie some distance (maybe like 10 feet or so), and she stopped barking (90% or so). She was eating and happier, relatively speaking, but then returned to barking with a barrage of barks - continuing for probably 15-30 seconds. I stepped out of the room, to potentially dial down the barking, but with no effect.
I stayed out of the room and instructed the nice person to leave the room the moment she stopped barking. She did for a second, and we called it a night. Not a great first meeting. I was not optimistic.
Nevertheless, working at shelters has perks - like being around dog savvy folks and better yet, trainers. So, one of my staff members came out to my house to meet Sweetie. Despite my best intentions, I set up the meet all wrong. I had Sweetie out on my porch and her potential friend walk into the kitchen. I put the Manners Minder out on the porch and had it set to go off automatically and feed Sweets.
Having a new person walk into the house, with her on the porch and seeing the two-legger walk towards her (even if separated by a screen door) caused her to bark - and bark in the "what are you doing here" sort of way. I backed off my staff person to give Sweetie some distance (maybe like 10 feet or so), and she stopped barking (90% or so). She was eating and happier, relatively speaking, but then returned to barking with a barrage of barks - continuing for probably 15-30 seconds. I stepped out of the room, to potentially dial down the barking, but with no effect.
I stayed out of the room and instructed the nice person to leave the room the moment she stopped barking. She did for a second, and we called it a night. Not a great first meeting. I was not optimistic.
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