The One With My Second Seminar

This post could also be called, The One Where I Bit the Bullet and Put My Dog on Display for All to See because that's what happened at the second seminar. Before I tell you what happened, let me just say that dog people are extremely judgmental and condescending as a group. I'm on several yahoo trainers groups and there are constant fights about everything from training philosophy to breeding. No one ever thinks they're wrong or are being hurtful in their comments but everyone else is, of course. It's quite frustrating when I'm on those lists to learn. But when the organizer of the seminar sent out an e-mail asking for demo dogs, for some reason, I didn't hesitate. I always want to hear what the greatest minds in training think I should be doing with Muggsy because someone might think of something no one else has thought of. I don't know why it didn't occur to me until the presentor said, "Melinda, we'll have you bring in Muggsy after this break. Come up here and sit in the front. First, I'm going to interview you for a behavior assessment, then we're going to observe Muggsy," that I was really putting myself out there for a lot of hurtful criticism. (Afterward, my boss would tell me that she was really, really worried about me doing this.) I could feel the panic rising.

The presentation was done very well. The presentor told everyone to remember how hard this must be for me and to put themselves in my shoes and not judge. She then said she'd be the only one asking questions. No one interacted with Muggsy because he was too anxious and giving people hard stares to stay away from him, but she had some very good suggestions for me.

First of all, she said he needed an outlet for all his anxious energy. She recommended that I buy a ski-jor harness, which is a bungy that hooks from my waist to Muggsy. I should then muzzle him and drive him out to the desert and just let him run until he's exhausted where we don't encounter any people, or when we do, we see them from far enough away that we can get off the trail. She wants me to do it three times a week, but I think twice is all that I'll reasonably have time for. But I'm also going to start muzzling him in the mornings and taking him for an hour-long jog. This will be harder for me than anything because I hate running and will have to condition myself as well. She suggested that I move to a more quiet area :) and nip the barking in the bud by using mild corrections such as sharp words or squirting water to the face when he can't see that it's me. She also wanted me to quit feeding him except when he's working for his food and start freeshaping behaviors so that he starts offering behaviors when I have treats instead of looking at all the scary people around him.

Freeshaping is a little hard to explain, but you basically watch the dog for behaviors you want to reward. For example, if I want Muggsy to look at me, I would wait for him to even slightly turn his head toward me. Then I would say my reward word, good, and give a treat. Then, I'd wait for him to turn it farther. Eventually, it would build up to rewarding him for looking at me. In many sessions, he should start offering that because he's been rewarded for it. When he's readily offering it, I'd put it on cue. You can teach very complicated behaviors, such as opening the fridge and bringing you a beer, this way. It's supposed to be a more powerful way of learning because you aren't telling them what to do. You're rewarding them for things they've decided to do on their own. I've never tried it with Muggsy, but I think it will be fun.

Anyway, after the presentation was over, everyone came up to me and offered me little pieces of help. One woman told me a good place within an hour of me that I could take Muggsy to run. One woman printed a list of tricks I could teach Muggsy and let me read her trick-training book over lunch. Several of the women came up to me and told me how brave I was to do that and how much they admired me. One woman came up to me and said, "I hope you don't think we were back there judging you. We were all saying how much we admire you for working with this dog." I don't think these are any compliments to me or anything. I think my love for Muggsy shines through when I talk. There's an openness and vulnerability to loving someone that you just can't hide. And I think people can relate to that. It brings out the best in them. I was in a room full of judgemental people and didn't get one comment, or even look, that made me feel bad. Everyone was completely supportive, and that was a very nice feeling.

Now, I know you're probably thinking that this new training plan sounds like a lot of work. It really worried Ross because he, for some reason, thinks I spread myself too thin and don't take time to relax. But I think that if I take off work early on Wednesdays and then leave my Sunday mornings open for this, and I can work the running into my schedule. And I'll just get up an hour earlier every day. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and maybe the exercise will be good for me. Plus, I need to work with the dogs more anyway and this will be fun. If I have to cut back on something else to make room for this, I will. This is what moms do. And no matter what your feelings on dogs vs. human children, I'm a mom, and I'll do what it takes.

Muggsy spent most of the last two days in a crate with a blanket over it because he was barking at everything. But what impressed me about his behavior this weekend was that in the hotel, he was very non-reactive. There were lots of doors slamming and people talking all through the night. He used to be very reactive in hotels, but last night, he didn't make a peep. He was probably tired and stressed, but I think it's a good sign. It means he's getting better in new places. Here, he can't be expected to make changes that quickly. If I were trying to work on calming my temper, which I've done and know how hard it is still, the best place for me to do that would not be Arlington. It just wouldn't. I have too much baggage and bad feelings toward it. However, if you take me to a new environment, I'm getting better and better. I don't think that this house, where Muggsy has already established a reactive pattern, is going to be a place where he noticeably improves. However, he's improving in new situations, and I think that's great.

The rest of the seminar went well, too. It was very interesting. This is the same presentor that talked about dog body language and Lug Nuts on Saturday, and she talked about her shelter temperment test -- how to identify aggression in a dog without necessarily seeing growling etc. so we aren't adopting out aggressive dogs to the public. It was very moving and enlightening, and I can see how hard it would be to work in a shelter full-time, deciding which dogs get adopted and which dogs die. It would be brutal. But as someone who was adopted a dog that shouldn't have been put out to the public, it's hard to get a dog that isn't fit to live with the average family. Now, I'm not the average family, and Muggsy has made a huge and positive impact on my life. But he's not the dog for everyone. I came away from this seminar with a much better idea of how to read dogs. And I know I won't be making the same mistakes in the next dogs that come into my life.

But I will be eternally grateful for the dog who got placed in my life. One of the questions the presentor likes to ask is "Why did you select this dog?" It's still easy for me to answer -- the look of love in his eyes when I walked in his crate at the shelter. I still see that look every day, and as long as I do, he's worth every bit of effort I put into him.

Now, I'm back in L.A. and have another seminar for the next four days. This guy is supposed to be excellent as well. He created the abandonment training that I used to keep Muggsy from attacking Chubbs. I'm looking forward to that, too.

And if anyone is more curious about Muggsy's part in the seminar, it was all recorded, and I should have the DVD in two weeks. I'm very excited to re-watch and see the interactions again.