Hi there,
Just a query about a little hiccup in my training.
A little background first. My fear aggressive girl has been doing well.
I have picked a variety of spots for training/walking. They have been chosen based on:
- Very minimal offlead dogs
- Low/medium people/dog traffic depending on time of day. (I don't want high traffic at this stage, but we need something to base our cc and desensitising on!)
- Good visibility (No chance of running into people/dogs around the corner, and I can see whats going on for miles)
- Room to move around so that I can move above/below threshold and we are not trapped in a bad situation.
In these areas we are doing very well, we are moving in closer to her triggers and I haven't seen her react aggressively or even be overwhelmed for some time.
I decided to add a new area today. It was low traffic, but there were a few more barking dogs (secured) than I remembered. The combination of the new place and approaching triggers (both barking dogs and walkers) made her very frightened. No reaction, more like shutdown.
Once we had passed the triggers, she did bounce back which shows her improved resiliency. Once upon a time it would be all over, she would completely shut down for the rest of the walk.
Now, my question... Where to go from here?
Is this what they call relapse?
Do I take her back to our usual places?
Forget adding new ones for now?
Too much too soon?
Or is this normal for a new place?
Will I ever be able to expect her to transfer over to different places without being overwhelmed? Or will I always have to introduce new places slowly?
Any suggestions appreciated!
On a side note, I have ordered Click to Calm, can't wait to receive it!!
Just a query about a little hiccup in my training.
A little background first. My fear aggressive girl has been doing well.
I have picked a variety of spots for training/walking. They have been chosen based on:
- Very minimal offlead dogs
- Low/medium people/dog traffic depending on time of day. (I don't want high traffic at this stage, but we need something to base our cc and desensitising on!)
- Good visibility (No chance of running into people/dogs around the corner, and I can see whats going on for miles)
- Room to move around so that I can move above/below threshold and we are not trapped in a bad situation.
In these areas we are doing very well, we are moving in closer to her triggers and I haven't seen her react aggressively or even be overwhelmed for some time.
I decided to add a new area today. It was low traffic, but there were a few more barking dogs (secured) than I remembered. The combination of the new place and approaching triggers (both barking dogs and walkers) made her very frightened. No reaction, more like shutdown.
Once we had passed the triggers, she did bounce back which shows her improved resiliency. Once upon a time it would be all over, she would completely shut down for the rest of the walk.
Now, my question... Where to go from here?
Is this what they call relapse?
Do I take her back to our usual places?
Forget adding new ones for now?
Too much too soon?
Or is this normal for a new place?
Will I ever be able to expect her to transfer over to different places without being overwhelmed? Or will I always have to introduce new places slowly?
Any suggestions appreciated!
On a side note, I have ordered Click to Calm, can't wait to receive it!!