There’s nothing quite as great as a great workshop

There’s nothing like a workshop to make me remember how much I love dog training, and how incredible dogs are!

We had quite the variety at this last workshop. There was KA, the young, LARGE dog with aggression issues, KH, the older GSD with leash reactivity problems, S and E, who were just 8 months old each, KJ, with some manners that needed to be polished, L, who is fear aggressive toward men, H, also with manners that needed polishing, and P and ST, new siblings who are getting to know each other. And of course they each had an owner to go with them!

I think some of my proudest moments were with KA, the young mastiff. Even though she got overwhelmed and ended up going home to rest at lunch (the owner returned), KA came in with such aggression and calmed it to occasional outbursts which, if I’m remembering correctly, was pretty dramatic improvement for her. This means we have a clear way of handling her that works, and her owner was able to carry it out properly. Wahoo!

I also have to give her owner props for trusting me enough to walk alongside her and KA, much closer than anyone has in a long, long time, after I changed the way she was handling KA on leash. Not only did she have to trust me to hop out of the way if needed, she had to trust the method we were using and herself to handle her dog. (KA hasn’t earned trust yet, but I have faith that she will!)

The other case that stood out to me was KJ, a smaller dog who just needed her manners polished. It wasn’t her manners improving that impressed me, though: it was her attitude, thanks to her owner. As the presentation went on, her owner started to see the way KJ was being rude.

It’s easy as an owner to think, “Well, I’m not having behavioral issues, so my dog must just be the exception and not actually ignoring me,” in a situation like that. It’s really easy. (Right up until the dog makes a very poor decision, or a series of them, and someone is traumatized even if no one is physically hurt.) Instead, KJ’s owner saw what was going on, and even over the course of the workshop started taking action to change it! By the time we wrapped up, her dog wasn’t tugging at her leash to be even a little bit of a bully toward other dogs, and was tuning into her owner and taking the unconscious cues her owner was giving. It was such a great thing to see, especially knowing both owner and dog will be happier and have a better relationship.

The last one I’ll talk about is L — or rather, L’s owner. First, I have to tell you that a dog under stress is just like a human. They make very poor, seemingly unpredictable decisions. And that’s where L’s been living whenever she sees a man, which means one second she might seem fine, and the next she’s snapping — or not. The only clue that she might snap is the stress signals, and very subtle ones at that.

This has understandably given L’s owner some PTSD, because she never knows which men L might be okay with, and which ones she’ll react badly to. Finding that boundary where L is a little stressed, but able to keep her cool (right at the farthest edge of stress) and learn that everything will be all right isn’t an easy thing to do. But I think L’s owner has this in hand, even if she doesn’t feel that way, yet. I think with a little practice, they’ll be able to tackle L’s issue and start improving things, and I’m looking forward to hearing about it!

Of course, everyone was fabulous in different ways, but those three really struck me. Although I’ve switched states, I’m looking forward to the next workshops, up here near Portland, OR!

Jenna