To let you in on the characters of Occa and Belle a little more I decided to dedicate a post to each dog outlining their Good, Bad and downright Ugly (there is always something isn't there?)
Today I want to talk about our youngest; Belle.
Both our dogs are rescue dogs, however we adopted Belle when she was a bit over three months old and had already gone through what is known as the 'imprinting stage' (between 8 - 12 weeks) that is prime time for socialisation. She was also in a shelter from very young and I don't believe she ever made it into a foster home for socialisation. This is not the fault of the shelter at all, and definitely not wholly responsible for some of the issues that Belle has.
It was always clear to us that Belle had anxiety (the ugly). She has always struggled with new experiences (for example walking through new doorways is always an exercise that requires patience and understanding as it takes minutes..), deep voices, loud sounds (vaccuum cleaner, food processor etc), open stairs or bridges and of course her big one; new dogs in her face. With most of these issues she exhibits her anxiety in a standard fashion; she runs away, hides or cowers, but when dogs get in her face she expresses her anxiety and fear through aggression. Belle is not an aggressive dog by any stretch of the imagination, if you met her you would understand, and when she goes into her anxiety attacks around other dogs she never makes contact; she's all bark and no bite. But these episodes completely knock her around and she turns into a mess for a few days afterwards. To give some more context, Belle only acts like this when she isn't given the time and space to meet a new dog on her terms. She loves to meet new friends, but the introductions must be slow, polite and have boundaries.
Pyschologically, this makes complete sense! How would you like it if someone ran up to you and starting yelling and laughing in your face within mere moments of meeting them. You'd probably yell back or run away. To help Belle with this particular issue we've done a lot of research and got the assistance of The Canine Coach to write a special training program for Belle that 'counter conditions' her to have a positive experience everytime she sees or meets another dog. We also use Bach's Flower Essence on particularly sensitive days, and have adopted a very zen approach to life so there is no yelling or excessive anxiety at home. She is going beautifully and hasn't had a full blown attack in months. The basic structure of counter conditioning is marking and rewarding Belle at the moment she starts to feel her anxiety in an attempt to change her mentality from seeing a dog being something which causes anxiety and fear to a positive experience, as it means she is receiving treats and lots of praise (and generally having a good time).
That being said, this isn't a problem that will go away. She will always have this mentality and urge to protect her personal space. It requires constant management from us to ensure that every adventure out of the house is a 100% positive one for her. We do this through never leaving the house without a treat bag and vigilant eyes. Of course we still have some bad days, but we just take those as they come and remember that everyone has bad days and life is a continually evolving process.
Today I want to talk about our youngest; Belle.
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| honestly, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth |
It was always clear to us that Belle had anxiety (the ugly). She has always struggled with new experiences (for example walking through new doorways is always an exercise that requires patience and understanding as it takes minutes..), deep voices, loud sounds (vaccuum cleaner, food processor etc), open stairs or bridges and of course her big one; new dogs in her face. With most of these issues she exhibits her anxiety in a standard fashion; she runs away, hides or cowers, but when dogs get in her face she expresses her anxiety and fear through aggression. Belle is not an aggressive dog by any stretch of the imagination, if you met her you would understand, and when she goes into her anxiety attacks around other dogs she never makes contact; she's all bark and no bite. But these episodes completely knock her around and she turns into a mess for a few days afterwards. To give some more context, Belle only acts like this when she isn't given the time and space to meet a new dog on her terms. She loves to meet new friends, but the introductions must be slow, polite and have boundaries.
Pyschologically, this makes complete sense! How would you like it if someone ran up to you and starting yelling and laughing in your face within mere moments of meeting them. You'd probably yell back or run away. To help Belle with this particular issue we've done a lot of research and got the assistance of The Canine Coach to write a special training program for Belle that 'counter conditions' her to have a positive experience everytime she sees or meets another dog. We also use Bach's Flower Essence on particularly sensitive days, and have adopted a very zen approach to life so there is no yelling or excessive anxiety at home. She is going beautifully and hasn't had a full blown attack in months. The basic structure of counter conditioning is marking and rewarding Belle at the moment she starts to feel her anxiety in an attempt to change her mentality from seeing a dog being something which causes anxiety and fear to a positive experience, as it means she is receiving treats and lots of praise (and generally having a good time).
That being said, this isn't a problem that will go away. She will always have this mentality and urge to protect her personal space. It requires constant management from us to ensure that every adventure out of the house is a 100% positive one for her. We do this through never leaving the house without a treat bag and vigilant eyes. Of course we still have some bad days, but we just take those as they come and remember that everyone has bad days and life is a continually evolving process.
Belle also has a small issue (the bad) of herding dogs when out on an oval. Something which comes from her farm roots and something we haven't spent a lot of training time on because she has only recently been allowed off lead around other dogs. We do not let her off lead in dog heavy situations, and try to take her to places that are closed in and gently ask people to let us be if they wander by but sometimes it will occur that a dog will virtually come out of nowhere and off she is... zooming for them. She usually just chases them and pulls up last minute and then runs off again, which you wouldn't think would be a problem, but can you imagine someone sprinting at you (Belle is lightening fast) with now idea why they are chasing you.. what would your reaction be? Probably terror. Which is what we are afraid of. Through this behaviour she is putting herself in dangerous situations around unknown dogs (ironic given her anxiety) with no way for us to control her. So far nothing too bad has happened, most dogs are pretty good about it and either wander away before she gets to them or just say hello when she arrives. However, we're about to embark on a new training technique to help give us some control over her behaviour. We are planning on getting a long lead and normal/dog whistle to break her concentration when she goes into her torpedo mode. We're hoping the whistle will work and she'll be able to respond once her concentration is broken, but if not the long lead is a built-in added protection. We'll keep you posted.
Belle is an absolute teddy bear of a dog (the good/great/excellent!) and in life literally only wants to be loved. She will never turn away a cuddle and is amazingly atune to human emotion. She is also a keen learner. She longs to please us and picks up on any form of training within a couple of repetitions. She is the dog we plan to take through agility training, and is always the show and tell dog in class.. it is hard not to be a proud puppy parent.
Belle is also the more mature and subdued dog of the two - she will generally wait before leaping out of a vehicle, or dashing across a road, is quiet as a mouse and will choose to sleep in a quiet spot whenever we visit family or friends. She loves humans and will happily snuggle with anyone she meets and isn't remotely fazed by the weird stuff that small children (or even full grown adults!) do. She generally endears herself to everybody. We have had many people attempt to steal her (not literally) or keep her for just a little while.. everyone she meets falls head over heels.
She is also an ace exercise buddy; not only is she super fast, but she picks up on the nuances of your pace, where she should run when you are running or even cycling and is happy to just cruise at whatever speed is neccessary.
Belle is a special creature whom we adore unequivocally, who despite the bad and the ugly we would never change for the world. She is who she is and with a little extra guidance and support she is a fantastic family member. She is loyal to the bone and will always be around for a cuddle when required.
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| super relaxed in her zen household.. |
Belle also has a small issue (the bad) of herding dogs when out on an oval. Something which comes from her farm roots and something we haven't spent a lot of training time on because she has only recently been allowed off lead around other dogs. We do not let her off lead in dog heavy situations, and try to take her to places that are closed in and gently ask people to let us be if they wander by but sometimes it will occur that a dog will virtually come out of nowhere and off she is... zooming for them. She usually just chases them and pulls up last minute and then runs off again, which you wouldn't think would be a problem, but can you imagine someone sprinting at you (Belle is lightening fast) with now idea why they are chasing you.. what would your reaction be? Probably terror. Which is what we are afraid of. Through this behaviour she is putting herself in dangerous situations around unknown dogs (ironic given her anxiety) with no way for us to control her. So far nothing too bad has happened, most dogs are pretty good about it and either wander away before she gets to them or just say hello when she arrives. However, we're about to embark on a new training technique to help give us some control over her behaviour. We are planning on getting a long lead and normal/dog whistle to break her concentration when she goes into her torpedo mode. We're hoping the whistle will work and she'll be able to respond once her concentration is broken, but if not the long lead is a built-in added protection. We'll keep you posted.
Belle is an absolute teddy bear of a dog (the good/great/excellent!) and in life literally only wants to be loved. She will never turn away a cuddle and is amazingly atune to human emotion. She is also a keen learner. She longs to please us and picks up on any form of training within a couple of repetitions. She is the dog we plan to take through agility training, and is always the show and tell dog in class.. it is hard not to be a proud puppy parent.
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| during her first days at home.. |
Belle is also the more mature and subdued dog of the two - she will generally wait before leaping out of a vehicle, or dashing across a road, is quiet as a mouse and will choose to sleep in a quiet spot whenever we visit family or friends. She loves humans and will happily snuggle with anyone she meets and isn't remotely fazed by the weird stuff that small children (or even full grown adults!) do. She generally endears herself to everybody. We have had many people attempt to steal her (not literally) or keep her for just a little while.. everyone she meets falls head over heels.
She is also an ace exercise buddy; not only is she super fast, but she picks up on the nuances of your pace, where she should run when you are running or even cycling and is happy to just cruise at whatever speed is neccessary.
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| happy exercising on the beach |
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| gotta a lot of love to give |
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