It’s a mark of resilience if your dog can look at something he previously found worrying, say “Ho-hum,” and move on.
This is what’s happening in this image above.
Yannick is very worried about strange dogs. Here at this lovely beach we had plenty of space to study the three people and two Shepherds (one a bouncy pup), decide they were not dangerous, and move on.
You’ll see below the moment he decided to turn away.
By the way, this is Leslie McDevitt’s brilliant Look at That! which is a lifesaver for reactive, shy, anxious, “aggressive”, dogs. You can see a video of it in action here. It’s something we teach in From Growly Dog to Confident Dog (see the free introductory Masterclass at the bottom of this page!).
Not just reactivity
But this bouncebackability is not only useful when you’re out with your anxious dog.
Some dogs LOVE working, and can do long training sessions and want more.
Some - the super-sensitive ones, perhaps - worry terribly if they think they’ve got something wrong. Then they’re likely to switch off, zone out, abandon the session.
This is not bad or wrong - it’s just a demonstration of their level of worry!
So building up your sessions from tiny to very slightly longer is the way to go here.
When I say ‘tiny’ I mean maybe two repetitions, for two treats.
‘Very slightly longer’ may be five repetitions, for five treats.
And you’ll have to find a way to reassure your dog that when he makes a mistake it’s all simply part of the learning process and you can work through it together.
Resilience is built up slowly, over time.
It’s not a one-off transformation
Look at That!
Here’s where Yannick decides that the dogs he was watching are no threat to him and he doesn’t have to bring out the big guns to make them go away! He simply turns away.
As you’ll see, DISTANCE is a big part of the success of this technique. Nobody can look away from an apparent hazard if it’s nearly on top of them!
Could you look away if a person seemed to be advancing towards you with a weapon?
Giving your anxious dog plenty of space - and in this case the dogs were crossing our path and not heading straight towards us - will enable him to make a sensible decision.
And the beauty of this is that the confidence this brings will build and build, till your previously erupting reactive dog is able to manage the sight of an oncoming dog quite close up.
Softly, softly, catchee monkee!
As the coach of one of our tennis stars, who confessed to being a perfectionist, said: “If you're going to be a perfectionist, be perfect at bouncing back!”
Lots more help for you in this free Masterclass for Growly Dogs
