Amy Hatcher came to the Club on Tuesday 10th June and several members attended her talk. I list below a few key points she mentioned. Please note these are the views/recommendations of Amy Hatcher, and may or may not be those of your trainers.
Alot of her answers recommended 'flooding' type actions - which basically means exposing the dog to the 'problem' under controlled situations as much as possible.
Noise Problems: Play noise CD's as much as possible. Also play the same CD's over the noise of any fireworks that may go off.
Over Excitement: Find the 'start key' to the problem (ie picking up lead, keys, etc). Then pick up these things loads of times during day - so it becomes boring for the dog.
Barking at visitors etc: Do not 'hide dog away' - to put dog behind a dog gate where dog can see visitor and let visitor stand a fair distance away and visitor must IGNORE dog completely.
With extreme problems: Try using a 'pet corrector' to interrupt the behaviour. Once interrupted you should be able to then re-direct dogs focus. NB: Pet Corrector is a small 'can' which makes a noise.
Recall problems: Use a 'long line' (like a lunge line for horses). Let dog drag this around on walks. You can put foot or hold line trying to get dog to come back BEFORE line gets tight (Shirley recommends a harness on your dog when using a long line and NOT a plain collar).
Chasing Cars: Basically camp out at roadside. Take a car and a book, stake dog (obviously very securely) and sit for ages (again this is 'flooding').
Dog 'winding up' in Class situation: Needs to be out and meeting more dogs every day. Meeting dogs needs to be a normal calm event for dog. Also see use of 'KONG' below.
If your dog gets attacked by another when out: Take your dog out again as soon as possible (ideally on the same day) and try to meet up with a 'nice' dog which looks like the one that attacked yours earlier. Do not avoid going out - it will make matters worse.
Food: Amy recommends that you DO NOT feed your dog Bakers or Pedigree foods. Amy recommends food should be 19% or less protein content. No lamb or turkey for agressive dogs.
Kong Stuffing: Buy some 'kongs', stuff them with yummy food and FREEZE them (about 1 hour in freezer does it) .. take them (loads of kongs if necessary) to the areas where your dog gets wound up and place the kong UNDER your foot. The dog will have to work hard to get the contents out (as its like a very difficult to handle hidden lolly!) and will hopefully learn to 'chill' out in various previously stressful environments. Tinned TUNA in OIL (NOT brine) is an excellent filler - its smelly and attractive to dogs and freezes well.
Notes taken by and added here by Shirley - apologies to Amy if anything is incorrect.
CLICK HERE TO SEE AMY HATCHER'S WEBSITE
(Shirley 12/06/2008)