We started off at the vet. He really didn't like it and we were there a while discussing his epilepsy. He got gradually more and more stressed, and when he eventually had his needle he was not happy about it! The kennel cough vaccination came straight after, so he wasn't a happy bunny and made some 'I'm going to kill you' noises at the vet. His open mouth and teeth were right next to the vet's arm, but apparently he didn't catch him. From that, I can only conclude it was just a severe warning. As a pug cross he wouldn't have done major damage but he's still quicker than any human so if he'd wanted to bite, he would have. I've now got a new behaviour to throw into the mix, desensitising to having that area touched. It'll be lots of touching+treat repetitions, gradually getting firmer until it can be a grab+treat. I'm not going to use a clicker for this, he's relatively new to clicker training and was frightened of it at first, I don't want to risk tainting the clicker if I accidentally go too fast with the desensitisation.
It took a while to be able to use a clicker with Pig, because he hated the noise and ran away. Thanks to the brilliant tip from Kikopup on YouTube (check out her awesome videos if you haven't already) it was much easier to muffle with a bit of blu tac, and since then it's been all systems go.
Today we did a bit of free shaping 'on your mat' and he was very good at it. Dare I say a genius? No, definitely not a genius, but good.
Then we went out and did more ball training.
If anyone wants to know how to train a dog to be possessive of toys, Pigbee's previous owners could teach you. First, you take a dog who likes toys. Then you don't walk him (ever), and pay him little attention. Then, any sign of him wanting to keep his toys, take ALL of them away from him for a week. No wonder the poor guy was keen to keep hold of them!
At first he would growl and leap on a toy if he thought you wanted it. On a walk, even the usual tricks (two balls, swapping for treats) wouldn't work. The behaviour of guarding toys had been very strongly proofed! The behaviour of letting the human have the toys had been very severely punished. Incidentally, this was very specific guarding. Dogs around his toys? No issue. People? You're gonna have a problem.
I bought him cheap fluffy toys he could tear apart, and left the toy skin around for him to play with as long as he wanted. I got him a squeaky toy that was tough to squeak (easy squeaky toys were hell because he'd just stand there and squeak incessantly. Does your dog destroy squeaky dogs in seconds? LUCKY YOU!)
So, today I went armed with my clicker and some hotdog, and I practiced in the park. He was much better, he'd return with the ball, and drop it for a click. Then I was reaching towards it, and clicking and treating, and repeating that getting closer and closer. Then I picked up his ball, clicked and put it down again. I did that a few times, threw the ball and then repeated the process. I don't like to throw the ball right away as a reward, because I think to some dogs that can be mildly aversive. They run after the toy not because they're having an awesome time, but because they're stressed about losing it.
I am still deciding on a proper training plan, because there are some things I'm not comfortable with.
Right now, I'm clicking for me leaning towards the ball, regardless of his reaction. Sometimes he moves his head down, ready to grab it if I make a move. My dilemma is, do I go for classical or operant conditioning? Classical conditioning means that it doesn't matter what he's doing when I reach, the Conditioned Emotional Response is what matters. Operant conditioning means that I should be focusing on his behaviour above all else.
I think the plan of action is to just make it easy. I'll get three toys of varying appeal. Grade C toy would be a boring rubber ring or frisbee. Grade B is a tennis ball, and Grade A would be his squeaky squirrel. I'll practice in the house, getting him 100% in the house and garden working up to the Grade A toy, then go outside starting with Grade C.
My favourite thing that happened today, was a couple walking their jack russells. One of the Jack Russells, Charlie (I know his name is Charlie because his owner was screaming it at him as he came hurtling over) wanted to interact with Pig, but Pig just wanted to play with his toy and completely blanked him. Poor Charlie! His female owner saw I had a clicker and treat bag, loudly shrieked to her husband "she's training him! She's using a clicker!" and they gathered around to watch. I know I live in a rough area, but I've seen people less interested in a car on fire than on somebody training their dog!
Thanks for reading, if you got this far, CLICK AND TREAT FOR YOU!
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