Obsessive Behaviors

In this video a German Shepherd, spots a leaf on the overhead skylight. The behavior is that of a dog experiencing great amount uncertainty, apprehension and panic to sudden changes in his environment. Such behavior is quite common in German Shepherds, especially those that are bred poorly. Reactivity may be observed when changes in the environment are sudden, such as relocating of furniture, objects appearing where none existed before, such as wall art, changes in family dynamics and more.

If you listen to his vocalizations you'll notice variations between high and low-pitch sounds, which reflects a conflicted, or frightened state. 

 The man in the video attempts to reason with the dog, and the dog's mate, attempts to soothe him by nuzzling his mouth with her own. The best course of action such situations is to acknowledge what the dog sees, lend it comfort then remove the dog from the area. Continued hysterics, and panic attacks is unhealthy and can trigger a set of reactive responses in the dog for at least 48 hours after the first reactive experience.

Unfortunately, this one event lead to a series of obsessive behaviors lasting several months that involved the dog obsessing at all ceilings in the home and exhibiting the same behaviors.  He was treated with a combination of exercise, a change in diet, and redirection.

 Trouble. Trouble. No Trouble.

In this video, my husband decides to capture the chaos that occurs in my home when I'm out visiting training. I posted this video so my current and perspective clients can see that problem behaviors even occur in a professional dog trainer's home, and that it isn't always so easy to get everyone on board with training. My training colleagues loved this one!

Go Under!

This dog suffers from global fear issues and the owners were advised to euthanize him. This advice was offered before any training was attempted. I decided to take on the case because the owners were determined to save their dog. In this video the dog is practicing agility indoors in a technique called “going under” (a chair) to help him get desensitized to objects over his head and back which normally would elicit a bite. He’s totally loving his new trick and his behavior is improving daily, thanks to his devoted owners.

Indoor Agility for Fear-Aggression

In this video the same dog is learning basic agility in the owner’s home. One week earlier the dog was fearful of the hoop. As advised, the owners continued to create positive associations with it by offering treats near it and offering rewards to the dog for merely poking his head through the hoop. In short order the dog associated positive things with the hoop and began to enjoy the lessons, which were also designed to help him associate positive feelings towards objects above his head and back. He's become quite the expert hoop jumper!

Exercises like these, in which a dog learns to overcome fears of the unknown, can have a dramatic impact on raising the dog's self-esteem and his coping skills in the outside world.

He loves his new trick and his behavior has improved significantly since he enrolled in my aggression/fear training program.

Not only that, but pay close attention to the giggles and laughter of his owners. Laughter and giggles were few and far between before training began. When owners begin to relax and have fun, the dog has fun. Exercises like these also affect human stress levels, which can positively and directly impact the state of mind of the dog when he and his owners find themselves in tricky situations. This is all part of my leadership program. I predict a very long and happy life for this dog.