Restful Rover Masterclass

I found it useful. Obviously I can't explain it as well as the expert herself but I'd like to share my key takeaways and reflections.

Marilyn talked about how everything depends on emotional security with our fearful and sensitive dogs. She explained emotional security as having a secure attachment, a felt sense of safety, and being pain-free.

It's not enough for the dog to be safe, they have to feel safe. This is where I struggle with George - I know we are safe but George clearly doesn’t feel it and I can't communicate it to him.

It made me think about being pain-free in a different way also. We did a pain trial with George when we first met with the vet behaviourist but didn't see much effect. I had been thinking that pain might be contributing to his reactivity but hadn't fully considered the other way round. Just as in humans, his anxiety could be causing pain - muscle tension, pain in neck/shoulders/back, tension headaches etc.

Marilyn reiterated that the survival state (when dogs react) is not something that they can control.

She explained that chronic anxiety blocks learning and that when the dog has developed the habit of reacting to a trigger, the reaction becomes the default. I think this is where we are now with George with some triggers. It has become a habit to react in that way.

What differed from the advice I am currently following is that Marilyn doesn't advise her clients to use desensitisation to triggers as it is easy to get wrong. This I can attest to! She talked about the difficulties her clients have in reading body language, understanding the behaviour, having to keep track of the data, and having to make decisions on how much exposure is safe for the dog.

I will give this some more thought. I think it is working for George but unfortunately there are exposures to triggers we can't control despite our best management which definitely hinders our progress.

Marilyn advises her clients to work on relaxation, purposeful movement, predictable patterns, and attunement.

Relaxation is something we actively work on, and predictable patterns have been a huge help. Attunement is about communication and relationship, building fluency in reading your dog's body language and giving your dog choices.

The purposeful movement information was the key takeaway for me because I thought this was something I was already doing.

Marilyn describes purposeful movement as showing dogs that they have options and can choose their actions. Purposeful movement can promote resilience.

To practice this, you use a long line and let the dog lead, only interrupting if there is a threat to safety, whilst observing their body language and behaviour. I've heard this described as a sniff walk/sniffari.

This is different to off-leash time as it is building collaboration and connection with your dog.

As I was listening, I was thinking, yep, yep, I already do this. But then I started thinking, do I actually really do this?

I use a long line yes, and I allow George to sniff. But I think I am so focused on triggers and management of the situation that I rarely let George lead. I am usually constantly alert to the environment and am frequently redirecting him to increase the distance from triggers.

I came to the realisation that I am not actually doing this, or at least, I am not doing this well.

We tried it out later that day. It was an open space with good visibility but there are usually triggers (people, dogs, cars, bikes) on the periphery.

I tried to genuinely let George lead and sniff, even if it was in the direction of triggers. It was a very short experiment but he did seem to be less alert to the triggers and more interested in sniffing around. He seemed to be more curious and less tense.

I will try and change my technique and hopefully this will assist George. 

A couple of other useful points from the recording.

Marilyn explained that dogs need to look at the scary thing to process it - that's why sit/stay/look at me cues in the presence of triggers generally don't work. I can attest to this also!

She talked about how harnesses that have the horizontal strap across the front are restricting the dog's natural way of walking which can be particularly harmful for sensitive dogs. My current trainer had pointed this out to me in the early days also as I had unfortunately been using one of those harnesses. Now we have a couple of harnesses with the u-shaped strap.

And finally, I got a useful reminder that when changing behaviour it is completely normal to have some progress, then a  relapse, then some progress, then a relapse etc etc. Always useful to remember as it feels like an emotional rollercoaster at times!