I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted anything. I suppose after our dog park experience (where Sarra decided it would be fun to eat a Pit Bull) and my hip surgery (when I could do nothing but lay in bed for six weeks) I got discouraged with training for a while. But now that I am back in school full time and completely mobile we have been doing a lot more training in the past 6 months.
When I first got Sarra she knew nothing. No sitting, lying down, playing fetch, walking politely on a leash, nothing. At this point she is the absolutely most perfect in-house dog I could ever want. She sits, lies down, shakes, ups (bumps a fist with her nose when it's above her head), and thanks to my time as a lump in a bed she will shove anything around with her nose or paw so long as you call it a 'bucket' first. She has also generalized another thing I taught her while playing 101 things to do with a bucket. If I point to something and say, 'on,' she puts both her front paws on it and waits. Anything. Chairs that roll, shelves of bookcases, packing boxes, laundry baskets. I accidentally discovered this when I was showing off for a friend.
Though I feel my particular crowning achievement of in house behavior was to teach her that she could only be on the couch when her blanket was on it. I can now toss any blanket in the house on the couch and she won't come up, but as soon as her blanket is there she waits politely to be invited. Okay, there's the bragging portion.
The other half is that while I can walk her safely around people she is a menace to all dogs, cats, and most especially squirrels. I live very close to a lake that has a beautiful 2 mile path around it, it is my dream that one day I will be able to walk my dog around this path with no snapping, growling or chasing. I've observed carefully to figure out her issues with dogs. We can walk parallel to another dog, at 4 or 5 feet away without issue, but if a dog is coming towards us, by which I mean a dog is facing us and Sarra can see it, she growls and lunges. I can get her to listen to me when other dogs are around. She'll sit and lie down, but she growls the whole time. If I'm really lucky I get eye contact. I feel that with enough exposure and some dog owning friends I could fix most of this problem.
Squirrels are another bundle of issues altogether. When she sees a squirrel her doggie brain melts into a mass of molten whatever doggie brains become at high temperatures. If I try to redirect her attention by turning her head towards me or walking in the opposite direction she screams. I have never heard another dog make this sound and I worked in a dog daycare center for almost a year. She screams like someone is hacking her legs off with a chainsaw. I generally walk her on a halti when we are around other dogs just in case, and she backs up and strains and behaves like a freaked out horse or a really pissed off fish. I hate to admit it, but one of my negative reinforces is extreme embarrassment. And when your dog screams and attempts to asphyxiate herself it draws attention, and not of the, 'oh, what a beautiful dog,' variety.
I've read several blogs of people who have dogs with strong prey drives. I've consulted with trainers, some who use OC and some who don't. I've practiced getting her attention when there was a squirrel outside the house and she is inside.
She still gets lots of walks, just not around the scenic lake. She is mostly well adjusted. But when we see a squirrel I have to physically pick her up and carry her away. For some reason once she is being carried she calms down completely. I've though of carrying her around while she looks at squirrels, but she weighs a little over 50 pounds and I'm not in that good of shape. Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated in this matter.
Thanks,
Kelly and Sarra
