14 Oct 11

(Background - Willow became 'extremely' highly strung and anxious (over the top!)  when she saw other dogs. She was highly stressed. We tried a couple of strategies to try and get her to calm. I found we needed to work on the triggers, by helping her refocus her attention to help her let go of this anxiety. We decided to use a form of attentiveness training using a martingale to train Willow to focus on the owners and not the other dogs. Once this anxiety in Willow had shutdown, we found we could then have her around other dogs and be quite calm. However this is a continuous behaviour modification program until we have helped Willow work through the triggers. When I first visited Willows owners, we went to an off-lead dog park and stood outside the fence. Willows anxiety remained extremely high for around an hour, with her not being able to settle. Since we incorporated attentiveness training, this anxiety has now reduced to around fifteen minutes. I am certain with this strategy and the owners commitment, the triggers setting Willow off, will eventually cease, or in the least be very manageble).

Hi Mark,

Today we took Willow back to the dog park to practice the methods you showed us on Sunday. I started off 20 metres away from the fence - walking towards the other dogs, then changing direction whenever she started to get excited/anxious. We eventually managed to walk up and down the fence line, and then sit next to the fence with Willow remaining very calm and making minimal noise. I have attached a photo that Tyson took after we had been at the dog park for 15-20 minutes as it shows how much calmer she is compared to 2 or 3 weeks ago.
Thank you for helping us so much, we are really looking forward to our next Socialisation Class. We'll be there either 13th or 20th November, depending which day I get off work.

Lisa.