I decided to start training Patience with the walk as a priority. I'm pleased to say there has been some small progress in just one week. I'll start with the behaviors I noticed the day I brought her home one week ago today.
Patience displayed very hyperactive behaviors as soon as I put on a jacket, and those behaviors escalated when I picked up her leash. Putting the leash on her collar was like trying to catch a greased pig. She ran in circles, jumped on me and whined while I was trying to get the leash on. So during the week I started going slow. When I put my jacket on, I simply stood and looked at her until she stopped being hyper. Then I did the same thing after I picked up the leash. Now she doesn't get hyper until after the leash is attached to her collar.
The following behaviors haven't changed much except to become a little less hysterical. Last week, once the leash was on, Patience lunged for the door. I began pulling her back from the door again and again until the lunging stopped. Now she usually only tries once and waits after I pull her back the first time. Then she started lunging again when I reached to unlock the deadbolt, so I've employed the same strategy at that step as well. Now I only have to pull her back once at this stage also. Last week she was lunging again when I turned the door knob, so I've pulled her back repeatedly at this point as well. I still have to do it more than once, but slightly less often than a week ago. Her final bout of lunging occurs when I actually pull the door open and the same strategy is slowly beginning to work in this instance too.
Once we're outside the walking wrestling match begins in earnest. She is absolutely convinced that my job is to faithfully follow wherever she leads and I should keep up or be dragged. I've started by establishing two different protocols: the sidewalk protocol and the grass protocol.
There is a small park a block from my apartment, but every walk starts with the sidewalk protocol until we get there. When we're in the grass I allow her to follow her nose and go where she wishes, but when she pulls me I stop and tug the leash until she stops trying to drag me. Then we resume walking in the direction she wanted to go. After a week, she still tries to drag me but stops with the first leash tug. She seems to understand that we won't proceed until she quits pulling. She still tries, but stops much sooner than she did a week ago. There is another grassy area about halfway through the walk, and the same rules apply there as well. The progress at our second grassy knoll is the same as the park.
The sidewalk protocol has seen very little progress. Here she can't pull me, run ahead of me or change our direction at her whim. This results in a mile and a half of almost constant leash tugs that slow her down for about three steps...then she tries to take over again. Obviously this is going to be the most challenging aspect of the walk for quite some time to come.
Last week Patience seemed to believe that any edible object on the floor was there for her to immediately jump on and eat. In just a week I have convinced her to wait for an invitation to her food bowl and treats placed on the floor. I simply kept pushing her back from them until she quit trying to approach without an invitation. In one short week she now sits when I place her food bowl on the floor until I invite her, and ignores treats on the floor until I pick them up and offer them to her (unless I leave the room). Since this is obviously new behavior for her, she is somewhat hesitant to approach, but I'm putting that down to learning new behavior. As she learns my signals to approach I believe she will become more relaxed as long as I remain consistent. I can imagine an inexperienced dog owner thinking, "Great! Now she's scared to eat." I don't believe that's what the hesitation is about. I think we're learning how to talk to each other.
The other small forms of progress are probably more about Patience beginning to feel more secure in her new home than about training, but there is one incident worth mentioning. One afternoon when I heard some strange noises outside and opened the door to see what was happening, Patience slipped past me. She didn't go far. In fact she stopped right outside the door and looked back with her tail wagging. When I stepped toward her, she turned to take off and stopped when I failed to come out. Small and friendly persuasions failed to lure her back so I went to big and bossy. Standing straight-backed with my chest out and my fists on my hips, I barked at her to come in while I snapped my fingers and pointed at the floor at my feet. She trotted right in, looking at me like "why didn't you just say so?" She didn't didn't even lunge for the door when I stepped over to close it!
So, there has been some small progress in learning to understand each other, and we're both feeling a little more secure in each others' company.
More to come next week.
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