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Thank you so very much Mike that is valuable information, and the compliment on our home (there were actually two homes, Utah and California but you undoubted referred to our Cali home, since I have not a stick of furniture in Utah, getting ready to sell that place).
I was wondering about the dominance aggression, so we have to be careful with that. We have our work cut out for us. I will go through all the links you provided. I am also going through your 4.0 sessions and that’s quite a lot. We are hoping to get with Sybl in the next two weeks. Right now my BF is out of the country. When he comes back we have a week overlap and then I leave for Utah again, Navy will stay in California with Navy and hopefully continue work with Sybl. Hopefully I will be back for the holidays.
Navy is muzzle trained, that is one of the first things I did, so that is good at least.
My BF I think has now elevated himself from his subordinate position since he has been training him the last 6 weeks and handfeeding him his kibble. He used to be afraid of him but is not at all anymore now, for better or worse.
My first job has been to get Navy stable since last week’s debacle training session. He is his normal self now. He is also on Trazodone since a few days ago. I heard you mention you hadn’t used any of the medications – the reason I wanted to try it is because I want to get him used to more environments and since he appears so stressed by that, I wanted to put him in a better position to deal with it. That has actually worked, he is still stressed but it definitely takes the edge off. I am walking him daily (well walking is too big a word since I’m doing the you pull I go back method or I make him sit).
So I’ll describe what I saw this morning with that. When we first walk he is very stimulated and so it’s a struggle to get his attention. I go back and forth a lot, and make him sit and just take in his environment.
I wanted to ask about that. This is something we do with horses to get them to relax in a new environment since they are flight animals. Is this OK to do with a dog or am I just letting him do what he wants? I wait for his body to relax and then we move on.
I noticed the first portion of the walk is tough. Granted we were by a farm with chicken and goats. He did well considering, no lunging, no barking. Just some mild pulling ahead and staring, and no treat taking. But, victory, in the end, after going up and down this little stretch many times, in the end he was in semi heel position eagerly looking at me for treats and so we ended on this good note.
My strategy (for the outside stuff) is to continue to do more of this down the street and hopefully eventually into main street. I work in sits, stays and downs, focus, and some heeling.
I will read the materials and I’m sure will have many more questions. Thanks so much for taking the time to help.
