‘Control Unleashed’

Just read this book (by Leslie McDevitt, Clean Run Productions). Thanks for the recommendation fellow bloggers :o) (and Jan for the loan.) I thought the book contained some very interesting ideas that are quite different to a lot of conventional dog training wisdom.
The most important idea I think is that behind the “Look At That ... (Dog/Person/Whatever)” game, in which the dog is positively reinforced for glancing at something that scares/stresses/distracts him, but when he then looks quickly back to his handler he is rewarded and builds a positive association. The exposure is managed so that the dog notices the thing but doesn't go bonkers (ie. he's exposed 'below threshold'.) I was pleased to read the theory behind this idea as it’s something I’ve already been kind of using without fully thinking about how/why it works. e.g. at a show during the summer Maisie was really frightened by a low-flying noisy ’plane. After this, even around home, she became totally over-anxious about any plane, even though she’d been fine before with ones going over at a ‘normal’ height. She was even uneasy about birds overhead, and other engine noises that hadn’t bothered her before. I’m always worried by Maisie getting anxious about things out on walks as she has a tendency to bolt when she freaks, and that is worrying. So instead of using the usual casual ignoring approach to things dogs are scared of, I decided to actively try make planes a positive thing, and as soon as we heard one approaching and she looked up and looked to me, I told her what fun it was and gave her a treat. If the plane was too low/loud Maisie went into shutdown (‘over threshold’) and in this case I just kept her safe and then rewarded when she started to relax again. To cut the story short, when she hears a plane at all now she comes straight to me into ‘heel’ looking for her treat, so she is a) safe and b) happy. This even worked with quite a low helicopter the other day. Not sure we’re quite ready for low-flying tornados yet but she is able to cope with the things we come across daily in her normal environment. Would love to use this approach for the firework thing for Maisie and Billy, but the trouble is that when they happen they are so waaaay over threshold – though may try working on it again for next year with a scarey sound CD, etc.
Another way I’ve used the theory without realising(!) is handling the dogs around livestock – “Ooo look at those nice sheep”, come here, treat, no problem. I think it’s quite good that I can walk three herdy type dogs through fields/moors within feet of sheep, and feel totally sure none of them will do any more than glance at them and stay close to me.

I guess different people will get different things from the book – a lot of it seems geared towards dogs that are ‘reactive’ in an aggressive (usually really nervous-defensive) way, especially to other dogs, but the same principles apply to dogs that over-react to stimuli/shut down in other ways – sniffing, running away, barking, etc. and the whole idea is that the dogs are taught to relax and manage their own response to their trigger stimuli by a combination of the handler helping them to make positive (rewarding) associations with their stimuli, relax e.g. using T-Touch/massage, and using gradual desensitisation exercises.

The author describes some dogs as being “hair trigger dogs” and this describes my Billy boy perfectly!!! He’s very easily over-stimulated by a number of triggers and quickly goes over his low threshold into manic barking and total loss of focus/self-control. In Maisie’s case she either goes into shut-down/panic or displacement activities like sniffing; and Tim – though generally very well-balanced, if over-faced can go into wandering off and sniffing or clinging to other people/dogs, though he’s got much better very quickly. Another of the ideas in the book works well for him – using short bursts of intense play and then releasing him for a break and ignoring him – the idea is that you release the dog before he’s had enough so he wants your attention, and you reward him for himself choosing to turn back to you even though he’s been released – working up to the dog wanting continuous interaction e.g. through a training session.

So this has turned into a jumbled essay!.. Just good to 'talk' through the ideas. There’s lots more to think about, digest and try to apply too. In fact it is a very thought-provoking read, and because it's all about helping dogs to be happier, more confident dogs it's all good.