After a really sketchy session last week, I had become very cautious and hesitant to train Piper in public. She was being even more nervous and reactive than usual; no doubt she was also picking up on mine. When I read the Week 1 exam, my anxiety spiked and I knew we were never going to get there without solid help, so I reached out to Loni.
After we made arrangements to meet on Monday (today), I bought Piper a travel kennel that scared her, but surprisingly, only took 30 min and some string cheese to get her past it.. Now she goes in and out without hesitation. The bonus... she exits the vehicle calmly and under complete control.
I took Piper to Home Depot on Saturday and we had a great session allowing us to achieve two unbroken 30 minute QT's in public and an 80% lunge line. It was very good for grounding us but didn't offer enough distractions.
Loni suggested mixing it up with Tractor Supply on Sunday. We spent almost three hours there yesterday and the best we achieved was one 20 min QT. Lots of distractions, neighbors, dogs, UTV's, nosy folk with no boundaries, lol, you name it.
This morning we got two unbroken QT's in the house (which is now easy for her) and a 60% Longe line with lots of running farm animals taunting her. We went down to Hoovers at 12:30 for a QT session before meeting Loni at 1pm. We achieved zero down time since Piper could smell her dogs from across the street and was too anxious to settle.
When we parked in the lot, I left Piper crated and Loni introduced me to Shadow and Keesh. Both younger than Piper but so well trained and calm that you'd never know they weren't older. After a quick walk to release tension and go potty, we got started.
Loni is such a pro! She refreshed me on all the basics, then started us drilling. First giving us wide berth to warm up and acclimate, then drawing the dogs in closer and closer. All while calling out clear, concise and calm instructions... Left... Right... About... Halt... She made it very easy for us to track.
Eventually, we were circling tight confines around benches. Loni had Shadow sitting on a table and was walking Keesh around us. The worst thing Piper did was ignore me at times to focus on sniffing the ground. She did try to approach Shadow a few times but it wasn't with aggression.
After almost and hour, we stopped and let the dogs do QT while we chatted, taking a bit of time to get to know each other and our overlapping worlds. Piper was calm and quiet the whole time.
When we wrapped up, Loni gave us feedback and explained again what the Week 1 Exam expectation was and how Piper had already been doing it during our session. She was confident we wouldn't have any difficulty filming the test by the end of the week.
Loni has been such an enormous blessing for us! She's restored my confidence and optimism. Piper has been calm and attentive all evening and is already showing the early signs of behavior change in response to consistent work. Praise God!
Loni, I know I've said it already but thank you again for your generosity, kindness and willingness to share your wealth of knowledge and experience. You are truly a blessing and I'm so very grateful for your help!
BTW... So far the muzzle has been on hand every day but not needed. I may change that once we start working in the stores and restaurants, but for now she's doing fine.
Wonderful way to coach Kellie to success and confidence Loni👏
ReplyDeleteLoni is very straight forward and no nonsense. She has coached some of our prior students with really, Really, REALLY bad dogs like Ducky. Ducky was the VERY worst aggressive dog I have ever worked that wanted to fight. Loni is not afraid of aggressive dogs as she has put down her own aggressive dogs that went after her children.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such kind words. But it’s your determination and hard work that is getting you and piper through this difficult time. Trust me we’ve all have been through this before and together we’ve all have succeeded. So keep up the good work. I just gave you a little push forward
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