Bennie's Bootcamp

So innocent looking

After the last time Bennie bit me I looked back and realized he bites us a lot and it's moving beyond a puppy thing so we got a behaviourist recommendation. One behaviour to address is him barking when he hears other dogs and becoming uncontrollable when they actually get close enough for him to notice them. People walking differently, either because of disability or accessories (like strollers) can also prompt barking. The larger problem is Bennie has a strong sense of ownership - the source of bites. Our neighbours love to visit with him through the fence. They are unlikely to trigger an episode but ...

Bennie is the dog that will grow old with us so it's very important to us that he be well socialized. While we've had terriers for decades, this is the first time we're with one all the time and we see things to improve - actually these are things I've always wanted to improve but used work as an excuse not to. Retirement means no more excuses!

I got some really good instruction as part of the intake questions before the first meeting. Interrupting Bennie could be increasing his guarding, especially since he was in a wire kennel. So I stopped that and we've now actually put away the wire kennel because he stopped hanging out in it a while ago. We also don't argue about kleenex. He can have it.

Sheena at Keystone explained stressors, how they inhibit Bennie's response to us and how to recognize stress escalation. Two tools desensitization and counter conditioning were introduced. For guarding we're doing the Jean Donaldson structured work. For cold trials (he takes something and runs by) we do a small treat bomb that lead about a meter away, we can sit closer in and look away (to de-escalate). Once he move past us to get treats, we can pick up the item without drama. I've been doing the basic picking up no value item exercises in the house, backyard and next the front yard. Next up is leaving items with him long enough for him to feel ownership...I admit, this is tense as it starts to actually address his guarding.

Bennie has been getting click training since he came to us so he's well aware it's a promise with not always immediate reward*. I've been working a lot with the things he already knows - sit, charge, stay, touch, mat and getting more into automatic sitting and loose leash walking and making sure there's treats near by. I have to work more on the recalls - this is always my downfall. Soon I have to start with long lines outside the back yard (where he always comes).

We were really getting concerned and frustrated. Now we play a dog barking video while Bennie eats which is really helping with counter-conditioning. U turn and bar is open|bar is closed is also working great. Practice and logging how it's going makes me accountable. At this time the main thing is to be flexible and not rushed when walking Bennie. Taking time to do a bit of obedience after a U-turn gets his focus back. A lot of this is getting all of us on the same page for consistency. Luckily, Bennie loves training and working with us.

*treats are weird. Bennie doesn't seem to have favourites for most training except maybe Cheerios. so our house has containers of kibble/cheerio mix all over the place. For recalls, peanut butter is the ultimate and at the front door hot dogs do the trick.