I wish everyone a happy new year! Kicking off the blog by introducing a new series where I chronicle our journey of how Sky, a reactive dog, and we struggle with her reactivity.
Introducing Sky – a gorgeous two-year-old, super adorable and sassy independent female, who has been reigning and living in our home since she entered it, about 40-45 days old. He started showing signs of reactivity when he was 4 months old.
Life has not been easy, however, we have evolved and created a system that works for us. Many changes are still pending, but this is a work in progress. We share our story in hopes that our successes and failures might make your life easier!!
Exhibition on weekends and holidays
The socialization period was not very socializing for Skye. He did meet people and go out, however, I didn’t know how to get used to different places and situations and for certain reasons, daily walks were never part of Sky’s routine.
To improve on these issues, we decided to go on trips at least as often as I take vacations.
We explored a few parks and went to 2 new parks in the month. We saw a bunch of squirrels, stray dogs, traffic, sounds, big and small vehicles, got back in the car.
Daily Management
Any reactive dog you meet will mostly be on hypervigilance. They don’t know how to relax most of the time, so we started with management techniques to help her relax in her downtime.
We started with her sleep quality and managing situations to keep her as calm as possible.
He sleeps in the cage during the day. Being in the crate helps her sleep peacefully and is less disturbed there compared to sleeping outside. Over the course of the month, we set up a routine where he would go to the crate for 2 hours. Sometimes she doesn’t sleep, but we shut her up to relax her.
During the time she spends outside the cage, we draw the curtains after 11am, blocking her outside view and listening to a white noise in the background. He runs to the window for every noise he hears, however, over the course of the month I saw less anxiety and more curiosity. I don’t think we can get the guarding behavior out of her, but as long as she doesn’t get stressed, we’re good.
We have been getting loose with these protocols for the past couple of weeks and can see the differences. Good management really helps!!
The volume of her barking is much better now and when she does bark, if we go and stand next to her, she feels more reassured and calmer. She checks in after her first bark to see that we got the notification which is where we bring the “Thanks Protocol“.
However, I must add that she still freaks out when the doorbell rings and when strangers visit, but she is much better with house guests. He doesn’t bark incessantly. This is a work in progress.
Thanks Protocol
Basically, it’s recognizing guarding and alerting behavior in dogs rather than asking them to stop barking altogether. If you are interested, please google to read more about it.
I’ve been practicing this with all her meals for the past 15 days and it’s definitely helped her focus and we’ve had small wins in getting her to disengage in relatively low distraction situations.
Relaxation protocol
This basically gets her comfortable with sitting on her mat when she’s outside. So we started with interiors first and then graduated to the outdoors. On exits, she was given the option of choosing the mat instead of pacing up and down.
Staying still and calming down is very difficult for her, so this is a long-term project, but I can definitely see her choosing her mat while people are watching at home.
Consistent Training or Commitment
This time my approach included a consistent workout routine with her meals and snacks. I kept at it diligently and it definitely improved her focus and attention. Of course, it’s a long way off.
I’ve also noticed that not playing with her regularly leads to her not focusing on me. Use this as motivation to play with your dog starting NOW.
In addition to training, play is a huge part of our routine, although we are not very consistent yet. Pulling and ball pulling are our favorites.
You would see that daily walks and enrichment activities are missing from the list. This is due to Sky’s reactivity towards community dogs. Enrichment is more integrated into the day and I’m not very consistent yet. This is another area to improve this month.
Also, Being Consistent for whatever activities we do it worked really well for us helping with her reactivity. Our ultimate goal is to have a balanced dog that can be neutral in any situation, if not thrive. We will be back with the next version next month.
Say hello to Sky and wish the best in the comments!! Ciao and see you next week.
