An Update on Toby

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Autocheck in is term coined by Susanne Clothier but I found out that SG uses it as well, just does not term it this way. On outside it is very similar to Look at me game but is very different in essence. You start with no distraction place, give your pup 2-3 feet of leash, stand and wait, eventually your pup turns around and look at you "what are we doing" jackpot reward with 10-15 small treats given one by one, repeat, slowly increase distractions, start walking, move to new place etc, keep rewarding for checking in with you... eventually you arrive to the point when your pup see distraction i.e. moving car or jogger turns around to check in with you... What is different from "Look at me" or "Look At That" as Leslie McDevitt' game - it is a CHOICE that dog makes and not a trained command. Similar to you watching you fav TV show and phone ringing/ external stimuli/ vs you watching your show and have internal need to check why is your toddler is so quiet in his playpen:lol:
SG calls it building value, SC calls it relationship building... same thing for me:wink2:
SG greatly advocated tuggin, I have been quite successful getting Che off the broom/ one of his main enemies:yes:/ quite nicely with great tug... just as SG predicted it was quite different type of tug... imagine dog speaking with clenched teeth punctuating words like "I DO NOT WANT TO TUG... I WA- NNA GET DA BRO-OM"... pretty funny
 
SheltieChe said:
Autocheck in is term coined by Susanne Clothier but I found out that SG uses it as well, just does not term it this way. On outside it is very similar to Look at me game but is very different in essence. You start with no distraction place, give your pup 2-3 feet of leash, stand and wait, eventually your pup turns around and look at you "what are we doing" jackpot reward with 10-15 small treats given one by one, repeat, slowly increase distractions, start walking, move to new place etc, keep rewarding for checking in with you... eventually you arrive to the point when your pup see distraction i.e. moving car or jogger turns around to check in with you... What is different from "Look at me" or "Look At That" as Leslie McDevitt' game - it is a CHOICE that dog makes and not a trained command. Similar to you watching you fav TV show and phone ringing/ external stimuli/ vs you watching your show and have internal need to check why is your toddler is so quiet in his playpen:lol:
SG calls it building value, SC calls it relationship building... same thing for me:wink2:
SG greatly advocated tuggin, I have been quite successful getting Che off the broom/ one of his main enemies:yes:/ quite nicely with great tug... just as SG predicted it was quite different type of tug... imagine dog speaking with clenched teeth punctuating words like "I DO NOT WANT TO TUG... I WA- NNA GET DA BRO-OM"... pretty funny
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OK....yes, my trainer refers to this as a relationship builder. We just have the dog sitting at our side and wait until they look at us in the eye and then we give treats. I like the term "autocheck." That makes a lot of sense.
 
danisgoat said:
OK....yes, my trainer refers to this as a relationship builder. We just have the dog sitting at our side and wait until they look at us in the eye and then we give treats. I like the term "autocheck." That makes a lot of sense.
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Yes, that's what my trainer calls it too. We've worked on that a lot, but he still fixates some times.

The tug thing I could definitely try too, he does tug but I'm not sure that his tug drive is strong enough and its also hard for me to walk him by himself.
 
Thanks for the links, the one explaining how to motivate is great.

I have a couple of really good tuggies that I use with Sadie and Ginny so Toby can share with them for now.

I'll see what I can do with him.
 
OntarioSheltie said:
Thanks for the links, the one explaining how to motivate is great.

I have a couple of really good tuggies that I use with Sadie and Ginny so Toby can share with them for now.

I'll see what I can do with him.
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Let us know how it goes. Two out of the three of my are tuggers. Vinca is just not into it, no matter how we try.
 
With Toby its two steps forward, one step back. He's doing amazing outside but is now acting worse in other situations.

I realized the other day that he has a phobia in my kitchen. He looses control when we open the oven door, which has a slight squeak.

I've been trying to desensitize him to it but I don't seem to be getting anywhere. If I open it while he's near me he gradually calms down, but if I open it while he's out of the room he goes completely crazy, racing around the house barking frantically and nothing consoles him. Each time I open it he's just as upset as the first time.

We have construction going on near our house so he's been losing control every time a truck goes by - which lately is anywhere from every 15-60 minutes. I was home sick the other day and thought I was going to kill him.

He's also started waking us up at night when it thunders.

I had hoped to start desensitizing him to the smoke alarm but there's no way I can do it now.

Definitely feeling frustrated with him, but trying to remind myself that he isn't doing it on purpose, he has anxiety. But why oh why does he have to find new things to be afraid of!? :no:
 
I feel your pain. This is how Bailey is. Once I solve one barking problem, she finds something else to bark at. I don't know if it's anxiety or if it's that she needs a job. Since I train/condition her to not bark at something that she may consider a "job," she finds another "job."

My question is at what point do you consider medication? I'm hoping Bailey improves when I move out, so I won't even have to think about that.
 
take4roll10 said:
My question is at what point do you consider medication? I'm hoping Bailey improves when I move out, so I won't even have to think about that.
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I have a friend with a Boykin Spaniel and she has somewhat recently started medicating him. Honestly, he's the same dog, just with less edge. He does still bark, but not the frustrated, anxiety ridden panicky bark that he used to do. He doesn't get as out of control as quickly.

He still competes in agility (barks the whole time like he did before) but he just seems like a happier dog since he worries significantly less.

But, that's just an outsider's perspective.
 
I have lived with a dog that had many, many fears to the sounds of normal everyday life, he was also afraid of bugs, flashing lights, shadows and other things too numerous to mention, not thunder tho. He spinned, barked frantically and would get so upset that he didn’t even seem aware that we were trying to help him calm. It is frustrating because sometimes you don’t even know what sets them off, some insignificant sound that you don’t even notice. What helped the most was - we finally decided that it was not necessary for him to “learn” to like all the things he was afraid of. I know that many would not agree, but we just started to change “our” life to accommodate his. It wasn’t necessary for him to “learn to like” the smoke alarm, oven timer, sweeper”, and other things, he could easily be sent outside to play and do his business. We didn’t use flashes on the camera, we caught all the flies and bugs before he saw them or at least attempted to, we didn’t climb on chairs when he was in the same room which he also didn’t like. It wasn’t so difficult, and as we eliminated the things he didn’t like he became much calmer and was better able to handle the things we weren’t able to eliminate. He was like a different dog. Louie was a rescue and maybe because of all his fears and obsessions he was over the top, obsessed with his love for me too, I was so blessed to have Louie in my life, he died six months ago, I miss him, I would give anything in the world to have him back, fears and all. If there is such a thing as a “heart dog” he was it.
 
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