Today's Cloud

Honestly, today's been pretty good! Although, when we came home from grocery shopping some people out walking their dogs had stopped to chat with the neighbors over the fence, and when I loaded Monster out of the car he did tense up at them and wanted to get a closer look (which would have been too much for him). After yesterday that feels so normal it's barely worth noticing, but the key truly lies in being successful in the small things - that's when the big issues can be dealt with. I was tired and carrying a heavy bag, and I should have planned things out better. I saw them as we drove past, I even thought something along the lines of "Aw, man, now I have to deal with that too!"... So I should have taken Monster out separately and gone back for the shopping. Perhaps I could even have used the situation as an opportunity for half a minute's training, if I'd only been active in the situation and thought ahead. Instead of moaning and complaining, reacting instead of planning, and setting Monster up for failure.

Well. This wasn't such a small thing after all...

See? I told you.

Today's Sunshine

Alright, let's give this a go anyway... I've spent a lot of time since the last post just playing with Monster, both to use up some of his nervous energy and to try to make sure he associates me being physical with him with fun and games, rather than with stress and conflict. I don't know how well the second part's working, but I think I got the first one down. He's now conked out on the couch next to me, he's eaten (always a good sign with regards to his stress levels), and he's ignoring sounds from the outside.

Don't type so loud, I'm trying to sleep here!

We haven't been playing any "useful" games at all (i.e. training games), just high energy goofing around, lots of wrestling, jumping around on the furniture, playing tug, and "ambush the thief"*. He's shown some clear signs of being uncomfortable around me, like when he sees me coming and he's doing something he shouldn't (like stealing the new sheets from the bags in the hall, in order to shred them...) he's displayed evasion and pacification. Since I know where his "bad behavior" is coming from, and he can't really help himself (the tension needs to be released somehow!), I've told myself that no matter what he takes it into his head to do I'll let him - or even loot the bags with him - as long as he doesn't get into something that would be harmful to him. Today is not a day for teaching or enforcing rules and good behavior. So what if I have to buy new stuff (or do without): Monster comes first! Priority one is getting back to normal, until then special rules apply. (And yes, I'm aware that there will be some setbacks in basic good behavior around the house once things are back to normal. Worth it.) We've also been for another (fairly short) walk, and I did my best to be fun and engaging for most of it - and he seemed (it's quite dark out, so reading more than basic posture - if that - is difficult) to enjoy himself. We didn't see anyone else - and if we had I would have turned and ran for the hills, no more triggers today! (And the closest hills are an hour's drive away, so that would have been some solid exercise...)

Woohoo, let's wrestle some more!

All in all, I think I've done the best I could to quickly right the ship. Let's see how it plays out over the next few days... In other - but possibly related - news, I got a desperate craving for salt, and wound up eating about a spoonful or two of table salt! Weird... Straight away I started feeling a lot less weak and off kilter. Anyone got a clue what that's about?


(* A game where Monster "steals" something - it can be absolutely anything, including his own toys, the difference is in how he behaves with the thing he has: when he's a "thief" he splays out his legs, looks at me over his shoulder, runs off with sort of straight legs (think Monty Python and silly walks), and blows loudly through his nose. Then I "angrily" stomp-runs after him for a few steps, until he's far enough away to not see as I turn and hide behind some corner. That's the ambush... Monster will come sneaking back - "stolen" item and all - and caaaaaaarefully walk around the corner where (he knows) I'm waiting to jump out at him. And I chase him for a few seconds, and usually set up a new ambush again. He loves this game (if I wasn't so mature and sensible I'd love it too), and it usually ends with him circling around me and hitting me with the thing he "stole", until I'll get down on the floor and wrestle with him for a bit.

You'll never catch me!

It's a lot of fun, and I believe(?) that the over the top threatening behavior from me is good for his confidence around people. I know he's (usually) not scared of me, but he finds it very difficult to be around people who are arguing for example... Who knows. I'm doing the best I can.)

Today's Cloud

Absolutely miserable day today. And it's barely even afternoon. We've had a huge setback today, and I feel awful.

Me too...

I've been feeling "off" from when I first woke up this morning, and I have no clue why. Some days are just like that I guess. And Monster is perhaps reacting to it, and/or me being off kilter has made me handle situations all wrong. We've just come in from a walk where Monster reacted to another dog walking past about 40 meters away! And we're not talking the odd lunge or growl here, we're talking full blown meltdown. I had to (or rather, I chose to) physically wrestle him down to keep him on the ground. That may have been a mistake (it certainly didn't help calm him down!), but he was lunging, air snapping, and jumping so bad I was worried the leash would snap. And as soon as that dog had passed and we'd taken three steps toward home another dog turned the corner... Monster was already wound up, and of course it all went south again.

Can we stay in today?

This is the first time in a long time that I can remember Monster being vibratingly hyped even after the trigger has passed. When we got home he proceeded to pretty much trash the house and run barking from window to window. I think at least 90% of that is from how I handled the situation, not from "just" going over threshold. (Judging from what's different this time.) I handled it badly. As I said I'm not sure what I should have done differently, Monster was really acting up and I felt it was too risky to not try to intervene - but of course, in that state any intervention needs to be amped up to 11. And it will come back with interest. Which it has/is. And I worry about this setback will affect him next walk, tomorrow, next week... And it worries me that even after I've realized I made a mistake I can't come up with a better solution! Is that because this is still a bad day and I'll figure something out when I'm back on top, or am I really no better than this?

And I knew today was a bad day (I had already chosen to not let him off leash today, since that only happens on days when I'm feeling focused and in control, and Monster acts his best), so I was aware I needed to be extra careful. Failed that too.

This is a shitty day!

I doubt there'll be a Sunshine post today... Now I have to go stop Monster from eating the curtains. And not lose my temper with him.

Wow... Long Time No See, Right?

So, let's get the excuses out of the way first, OK? (I've tried not writing any excuses at all, but clearly I'm a weak, broken person...) I don't get it, I really don't! Is there something sort of like a "localized depression"? Where everything else is working normally, but when you go near a specific part of your life everything falls apart? Because whenever I sit down by the computer I feel awful! I get anxious and uncomfortable, none of the things I usually like to do online have any appeal whatsoever, the blog is a burden and logging on to a forum is physically impossible. Before starting this post I paid a bill that was three weeks late, because I haven't managed to log onto my bank for ages! I mean, what is this!? But clearly it's not something I can "rest myself out of", since absence has not made the heart any fonder. So, let's try the "power through" approach instead. Or at least, let's try to try...
(To be clear, I'm not equating whatever lazybones block I've stumbled into with a real depression! I know depression is a real and very serious illness, and I'm not trying to cheapen that - I'm just trying to explain a weird thing with a likeness, OK?)

She really is being super weird - she won't even chase me around with a camera any more!

It also doesn't help that my computer appears to be singing its last few verses... After replacing the hard drives (managing to save at least some data from the broken ones, thank the computer gods!) I believe there is also a problem with the mother board. I hate changing mb's! I'm not doing it, you hear me!? Stop messing about, and just shape up! Not only that, but I suspect there is a problem with the wiring in the house, which most likely isn't making the computer feel too great (and likely why a bunch of hardware started failing at once?) - not that I feel good about it either. These suspicions were strengthened by six days with no power in two thirds of the house... But I can not afford to completely rewire the house. And I do not do electrics! (My father worked in high voltage lines before I was born and for a while in my childhood. Presumably because of this(?) he has zero respect for electricity, and thanks to naked wires and wall sockets without coverings all over the house I was electrocuted three(!) times growing up. It's very painful, scary, and potentially fatal, and I don't even go near the fuse box these days without first throwing the switch to the entire house. Not going near a frayed wire, and if something goes "pop" I run for the hills. Thanks dad.) Fortunately, my sister (who largely inherited our father's personality - and who was older in our dangerous household and therefore only got electrocuted once) happily dabbles (she has some education in the area, so she is qualified) a bit, and managed to help patch up the worst. I now have power back (and according to her the house won't burn down, nor will I get electrocuted trying to make a cup of coffee... we'll see), but the basic condition of the wiring in the house is still just short of disastrous. Anyone know a good electrician who'll work for a cinnamon roll?
(Yes, I know "electrocuted" usually means dying from electric shock. But you try being five years old and closing a circuit in a wall socket between your left and right hands, and then tell me I'm exaggerating...)

I'm not coming out of here until you get me rubber booties!

In other words, even if I manage to overcome my weird (and admittedly ridiculous) mental block about being on the computer, I may still disappear from the blog suddenly. Because while the state of the wiring isn't dangerous to us living in the house, it doesn't appear to sit well with the computer (and a couple of other things - anyone want a stand mixer for a paper weight?) - and unless Santa thinks I've been a very good girl (hah!) there won't be a new computer appearing any time soon. Besides, it'd probably start failing too, right?

There, that was a quick bit of explaining, right? No? Nah, you're just whiny. But OK, let's move on to Monster then.

About time! I am the star, you know!

Things are improving, I feel. I wouldn't say we're without issues (heh, what a thought - what would I spend my time worrying about then!?), but I do feel they're a lot smaller. Let's see... On a good day, Monster doesn't react to bikes passing us (but bikes meeting us, where he has time to watch them approach and build up tension, will still get a halfhearted lunge or so), will pass meeting people and dogs without reacting even on the narrow bike path provided we can walk parallel to the road (about a leash length away seems to do the trick) so we're very clearly not meeting (although of course we still are, sort of). He has close to no issues with cars, trucks, motorcycles etc any more. He's so relaxed on the road now I don't always bother to call him to heel when a vehicle drives past, instead just letting him wander on a lose leash. The only thing which still bothers him about cars (and admittedly it bothers him quite a lot!) is when someone stops their car to talk to me. Something about this scenario drives him completely around the bend, and it makes no difference if he knows the person in the car. In fact I was talking to a neighbor for a while a couple of days back, and Monster was content to sit and watch the world go by as we chatted, but two minutes after we'd parted the same neighbor drove past and stopped to add something he'd forgotten, and Monster just went nuts... Clearly something we need to work more on, although it's not a very frequent occurrence. But anyway, while cars and other vehicles were never a very big part of the problem, I feel that Monster now being (mostly) just fine around them is indicative of his general improvement, not just around cars.

"Improvement"!? Are you saying there's something wrong with me?!

I also think that we've gotten over a sort of hump in the training, causing a positive spiral for once! Since Monster is easier to handle, (usually) isn't horrifyingly threatening to innocent passers by (as long as I'm paying attention and manage the situation so he doesn't go over threshold), is fairly happy to pay attention to me when we're out walking and likes to do some sudden, random training games (rather than spending all his time and attention on scanning the surroundings for "threats"), and (quite important!) doesn't seem to build much stress even when something does go wrong - where before a walk would be a lost cause as soon as he'd gone over threshold once, since his threshold would then be lowered to an unmanageable level - (this sentence has run completely wild, let's try to reel it in!) we can now be more active. We can go for longer walks, in more challenging environments, meaning he both gets more exercise and exposure to the world happening around him. And every time something happens around him and he doesn't react, he becomes a tiny bit more stable. I think. As a rule now we go for a ~2 hr walk every weekday which leads us past/through a train station. It's not a very busy one, and I make sure to keep to the outskirts (I don't want to get "trapped" with triggers approaching from several directions at once), but being able to it at all builds confidence for me and positive associations for Monster.

It's quite loud when the trains go past, though...

I've also started to let Monster off leash for parts of our walks! Only on weekdays (when people are more predictable in their activities, and there are quite simply fewer joggers, bikers, families out walking, etc), and only in areas with good, unobstructed views. Which means two sets of about 20-25 minutes each (at most: if someone else turns up Monster is recalled and leashed, naturally), which maybe isn't super duper awesome great compared to the freedom of some other dogs, but it's a heck of a lot more than Monster's been getting before (except when we've been to my family home of course, where he gets hours and hours off leash every day). I'm tense like you wouldn't believe while he's off leash, scanning the surroundings constantly, checking behind us for fast approachers, making sure Monster doesn't fixate on something (like a sound or smell I can't pick up), and if we'd ever had a failed recall or if he'd acted on true aggression (as opposed to a lot of blustering to cover up his secret scaredycat self) I'd never let him off leash in the quite densely populated (by my standards) area we live in. In fact, if he didn't himself take the initiative to check in, invite to play or training, keep himself close to me, and come racing back with a big grin every time I recall him, he would be leashed at all times. I think I'm doing the right thing... I can decisively say I have better control over Monster than many others do over their off leash dogs - but theirs' aren't Monster size. Or have Monster's (amazingly gorgeous) looks. Nor do they have Monster's reactivity. Well, some of them do, but I don't really care to compare myself with people who let their dogs run completely wild, shouting "he just wants to play!" when their little... adorable thing comes running up bouncing and snarling, circling around us and lunging. That's not "playing", people! Oh well. Right now my decision is that I have sufficient control over Monster off leash, as long as I make sure to monitor the surroundings and revoke the privilege in situations that become too difficult for him, to let him run free in carefully selected areas. It's giving me an ulcer and a constant tension back pain - because I do take his issues seriously and very much don't want to see an escalation; nor do I want to cause fright to anyone else - but he's so happy, and I have a huge grin on my face for almost all our walks now. I think it's good for him, and unless I have a reason to I'm not stopping! But I expect the length of text explaining and justifying this choice does reveal to you that it's not a very easy decision for me, and I'm aware that it's not completely without risks. The things is, nothing is without risk. Any dog can do something unexpected, at any time. No matter how impressive your dog's obedience is, you can never predict the kids throwing firecrackers at him, or the day his unknown brain tumor presented suddenly... All you can really say is "In this situation, with these conditions, I have reason [backed up by experience, preferably] to expect to have control over my off leash dog". "This situation" and "these condition" may vary from dog/owner to dog/owner, but I guess my position is that as long as you've evaluated what these mean for you and you make sure to stick to them, you're responsible enough.

... Right?

Absolutely.

Lately Monster's also been having a friend over to stay with us a lot! A dog owning neighbor's met a girl, said girl also has a dog. And my neighbor's dog, upon meeting her new would-be step brother, said "Let me just fix that pest problem for you!"... Since there's about a 5:1 size difference the situation is quite serious, and Tilly has a history of not really... appreciating many other dogs. She attacked Monster a couple of times when he was younger, and we're not talking about a telling off, we're talking about intent to injure. These days though, she's quite OK around Monster - provided I'm careful with food and treats, and some toys, since she has some resource guarding issues as well - so we've been her relief home when the couple are getting together. Monster enjoys the company, and after the first few times (when he was quite anxious and relieving nervous energy in less than constructive ways - it's not a good idea to make yourself more annoying if you want to ingratiate yourself, Monster! - and she was quite annoyed at his relentless activity and attention) they've settled in to the situation quite well. They play a lot, and Monster has learned to take it down a few notches since she's older and a bit stiff, and doesn't appreciate overly physical play (Monster is a tackler and wrestler if he gets things his way). There have been a couple of "arguments", for instance when I was being a bit scatterbrained and put down a bag of food next to them in a narrow hallway, but they're just "words" and no one holds any grudges. The only negative aspect I see is that it appears to be teaching Monster to develop a bit of resource guarding as well, he is now quite tense at feeding time as well (they're fed in separate rooms of course, but he is clearly aware of her), which is a bit unfortunate but not something I see as a huge issue - certainly not while it's not directed at me, which it isn't. I think Monster having regular company of another dog is good for him in the long run, even if the dog has a few issues of her own (but show me a 100% perfect dog - or any living thing). There is one thing which I consider to be a major issue though, and that's Monster's susceptibility to follow the lead of other dogs, coupled with his inherently different nature. Misunderstandings ensue... I've noticed (and been troubled by) this issue before, in relation to dogs back home. Monster is a guard type dog. There is a huge difference between that and the far more common watch dog type breeds, but explaining this to others (mainly the watch dog owners, naturally) has proved to be quite difficult. Tilly is a German Shepherd, which I think most people consider to be a guard dog type but I don't quite agree. I'd say it's rather a breed walking the thin edge, with big differences between individuals, and most dogs these day landing in the "watch dog" camp (but I'd say with a smaller radius than most watch dog types) as the needs and desires of dog owners change. Tilly is certainly of the watch dog type. The difference lies mainly in two things: when and how they react to approaching "threats". This summer when I was back home I had lots of opportunities to observe this. We were staying in a village of about 12-15 households, all of them with dogs. Most of these dogs are hunting dogs (many spitzes, basically the epitome of watch dog types), and many are kept outdoors for most of the day. All are either watch dog types or neither watchers or guarders, none are guarders like Monster. What happens in a village like this is that the dogs develop a sort of grapevine, where they will bark and howl at people moving through the village not only to warn the intruder away/warn their family of the intruder (which is the purpose of watch dogs) but also tell each other that something's happening over here, so keep alert and you'll soon spot it too. Growing up in a setting like this I've learned to understand a bit of this communication as well - I'm not claiming that dogs can speak, but I do maintain that you can understand rudimentary information from different barks and sounds. Like whether the "intruder" is a surprise or a regular occurrence (like the mailman's car), or someone known or a stranger (they will bark at everyone, it's not an expression of aggression), or if it's a horrible, horrible enemy (basically: the ice cream truck). (Although actually, Monster's arrival in the village prompted just such an "Enemy! Enemy! Enemy!" response from some of the dogs, to the point of waking up my brother at 4.30 in the morning - and promptly realizing that we must have arrived. So it's not just me claiming to understand what they're "saying".) (And by the way, check out the studies performed by The Family Dog project, many of them are fascinating, and at least one of them backs me up on people understanding some verbal communication from dogs. So there.) Sitting outside on the lawn one day this summer, I took the opportunity to really observe Monster's place in this system. He doesn't have one. Which isn't a surprise if you understand the basic types of dog and their respective behavior, but I find it interesting all the same. Monster doesn't "bond" with dogs that aren't part of "us". The neighbor dogs barking is barely interesting to him, unless they're really angry about something and he misunderstands and believes it's directed at him. The other dogs bark "I see something", "This is what I see", "Alright, it's passing me now", "I hear you've seen something", "Apparently something's happening over on the other side of the village", etc. They react and communicate about things they can see (or hear), and whether or not those things are actually approaching them or their territory isn't overly relevant. They see something within their radius of "I can see this far", and that's enough to react. Which is as it should be, sounding the alarm early means more time to prepare properly after all. Because watch dog types aren't supposed to do anything about what they're seeing. Their job is to warn, and then someone else can deal with it. That day on the lawn, the neighboring dogs would react as soon as they saw something far away (and tell each other about it). Monster would just watch. Someone walking a couple of hundred meters away would earn an occasional glance ("just checking you haven't started to do something bad"). Someone far away but moving toward us would earn a little more attention, maybe Monster would sit up (making himself a bit more prepared in case action needed to be taken) but provided they didn't get too close they still weren't a problem. People walking past on the road just outside the house could be an issue, depending on which side of the road they were walking on - one side was "too close" and Monster would stand up, clearly making himself visible to the "intruder", and anyone stopping to talk or pay attention to us or our territory would get confronted (Monster was on a line, so all he could do was bark and growl). Unfortunately I brought him with me to take out the trash once, and that made the bins across the road also "our territory" from then on, making him react whenever anyone got too close to them as well. But that's the point I'm getting at: Monster's radius of action is much, much smaller than your typical watch dog's. And the action taken is quite different: a watch dog will talk about it, a guard dog will act on it. Monster is a guard dog, but a problem I come across often is people expecting him to act like a watch dog - because that's what people are most used to they consider that the norm. That's not fair, there's nothing wrong with Monster because he doesn't react like a completely different type of dog! His behavior is perfectly natural, and while I certainly have no intention of denying that we do have some quite severe issues I get a bit annoyed when people expect things of him just because they're to lazy or self centered to grasp that different things can be perfectly normal for different dogs.

T: Is she going anywhere with this?    M: She's lost again, but she usually figures it out about here...

Right. So. That's one situation where the difference in type is clearly shown. But, what happens when you have a watch and guard type together, with the guarder accepting the watcher as one of "us"? Well, then the communication becomes quite important! The watcher sounds the alarm, and the guarder does something about it... Monster is subdominant and socially insecure. Pair him with a watch type dog, and he'll likely do something stupid - a watch dog will bark at anyone approaching, including friends! Monster, who doesn't understand levels of warning, will react far too strongly. Monster alone will approach visitors, and his adrenaline level will cause him to act in some very unfortunate/inappropriate ways, with jumping, bumping the legs, snapping at clothes, etc. He doesn't quite know how to react, what to do with himself, and he tries to do everything at once. It's my job to (try to) control him and give him direction, as well as make sure that he doesn't have to deal with people who will escalate the situation. Or simply separate him from the situation. I won't claim this is working flawlessly, but there haven't been any disasters and we're working on it. But. With a watch dog present, Monster gets immediate and simple direction. What he hears is "Intruder alert! Deal with it!"... In other words, I consider Monster to be potentially dangerous when paired with a watch dog. This is a huge problem when I'm for instance visiting my parents, who have a watch dog as well as a steady stream of visitors through the day. No matter how I try to explain that Monster can't handle Dory greeting visitors by running up and barking at them, this is making him dangerous, they don't want to understand it. Separating the dogs and letting them greet separately is considered ridiculous, not letting Dory out when I have Monster off leash in the yard works for about 30 seconds, and so on. This has led to me no longer staying with them when we go up for a visit, instead staying by ourselves in my brother's guest house, and I've made it clear that I won't be visiting at all unless we can make this arrangement. They think I'm being ridiculous and overreacting, and whenever we've gotten oh-so-very-close to a very serious incident with Monster and Dory vs. a visitor they just brush it off with a "huh, that's weird, why'd he do that" and refuse to learn from one time to the next that this isn't weird, it's perfectly expected and explainable! Aarrgh... OK, sorry about that, rant over. Reeling it back in again: Tilly is a watch dog type. She'll bark at people moving around the village, she'll rush barking toward the fence when someone's walking by, and she'll even greet her owner with hysterical barking when he comes to pick her up. Monster accepts her as one of "us" now. Which means that with Tilly in the house I consider Monster potentially dangerous to visitors. I have a strict no visitors policy when she's here (not that I'm a social butterfly otherwise...), and I'm uneasy about her behavior to charge the fence since it resembles far too much an actual attack and let's face it, if Monster ever wanted to he'd charge straight through that fence... I try to look on the bright side and use her behavior as a chance to train alternative behaviors for Monster in these situations, and I suppose that's going OK. Monster will now generally run along with her for just a few steps, before throwing a glance to me and fairly reliably choosing to seek me out instead for a game of tug, even while Tilly's still going nuts by the fence. So that's good I guess. I just remain uneasy about the whole thing, I suppose I think of her as a bad influence!

Yeah! Cause I'm super calm and sweet, and nothing's ever my fault, right Mom?

Something like that, maybe... Maybe not. Anyway, I've put a lock (well, OK, more of a "really hard to reach from the other side"-latch) on the garden gate, a sign on the gate warning of dogs running free and absolutely no admittance, as well as moving the doorbell from the front door to the gate (right next to the dog warning sign). I'm 100% solid on the "no visitors with Tilly here"-rule. The dogs are never outside unsupervised. Beyond kicking her out I'm not sure I can manage the situation any better? Besides, the last weekend she was here she went into heat - that was a fun three days! - and won't be returning for a while. Which is good and bad, it feels calmer for me but it's more boring for Monster, and I'm missing some training setups I can only do with another dog here. But, enjoy what you have and all that!

Well, of course: you have me!

Well, what do you know... Apparently, once I start writing there's no stopping me (as usual). Now it remains to be seen if I can force myself back tomorrow... See you!

Aaaargh, disaster!

Complete, utter computer failure. Lost three hdds (out of four), lost all photos (they were backed up, but unfortunately it wasn't just one that failed), can't access my accounts (had passwords and account info backed up on the other backup drive - which also failed), and it may take a little while before I've got my hands on new drives, reinstalled the OS (etc, etc - you don't know what you've got till it's gone, right...), and figured out all the things which need figuring out. Monster's been a big help in keeping me moderately sane through this, although his interest in also helping when I'm elbow deep in computer guts is slightly less appreciated... Well, silver lining and all that... I guess... Maybe now I can take a stab at my massive backlog in my gmail account (sooooo sorry everyone!), since that's pretty much the only password I've figured out so far? And... Hey, savings are for chumps, spending is fun - plus my new drives will be a lot more... modern! Yeah, it's not so bad.

All those puppy pictures of Monster, though... But, at least some of them are uploaded to the blog (albeit in smaller size)! Yay!

Oh, God, the insurance photos of the house...

Well, never mind that right now: this is written on my nephew's tablet, which he doesn't part from easily - meaning I won't be blogging again until I've got a computer up and running (yes, I still have one functioning drive but I'd rather not format that to a primary since then I'd really have lost all my stored data, so new drive(s) it is). Admittedly that's probably not that big a difference from how well I keep the blog updated anyway these days, but I thought you should know anyway.

I make everything better!

That's very true, Monster.

Let's Try This Again

Ooooof... Stayed away for a long time again, right? I think (part of) the problem is that I write far (faaaaaaaaaar) to much when I manage to drag myself back to the blog again - it's not meant to be a series of novels, it's a blog! Occasionally posting ten-page stream-of-consciousness discussion is pretty much the opposite of keeping a daily record of our failures and successes - so let's stop doing that, OK? (Well, at least let's try...)

Here's what's been going on, as short as I can make it:
*Monster's bitten someone... (I wrote a loooooong paragraph here detailing the whole thing, but this is supposed to be a short summary so I deleted it again.) My mother was watching him and he jumped up at a visitor and bit her on the arm. She wasn't injured (no broken skin or lasting marks) nor particularly upset, and neither she nor my mother can say if he was angry or trying to play when it happened. They had no difficulty stopping him and putting him in another room, however.

*Monster behaved oddly toward my great aunt, whom he knows from before. Suddenly he acted as if she were the most dangerous thing he'd ever seen... The behavior stopped once she was in the car with us.

*I'm trying to look over our routines now that we're back home again and get something of a fresh start, trying to build better habits. It's not going great so far...

*We're having an issue with a dog owner who lets her dog run off leash along a stretch of the path we walk every day. The dog is guarding the path and appears quite actively aggressive (threatening body language, taking up confrontational positions, reacting from quite a distance, and so on), and the owner is clearly aware of this - if/when she spots us (or others trying to walk by) she'll race to catch her dog and/or call out for us to wait at a distance while she gets control over him. The situation feels quite bad and I've chosen to turn back rather than walk past a couple of times now - but it's not so fun to have an intended two hour walk turned into a half an hour slink-away instead... Maybe I'm reading the dog wrong and it's actually all "talk" and no action, but to me it does look like it intends to act and I am not amused. Monster also clearly finds the dog disturbing, as he actually "hides" behind my legs as we're walking past, pressing against me and peering sideways at the other dog. Which is allowed to stare unblinkingly at us with stiff body language while we're walking by - apparently catching it is good enough. Why is it off leash!? Along a quite busy hike/bike path!? Feel free to point and snicker at the glass house I'm sitting in, but I don't feel the owner is being responsible.

That'll have to do, now you're basically up to speed. Let's see if I can get to blogging regularly from now on... See you tomorrow then!

Wait, what's this - no photos of me!?! I object! There, that's better.

(Over)Confidence, Revisited

First of all, that quote in my last post? That's what's called an ugly quote, as in I never read the source I just thought it sounded good/on point when I happened to stumble across it. I was looking for a Pratchett quote about hubris, but I couldn't find it (and can't remember which book/character it was from). I do read Pratchett. (Religiously.) Still can't Google up the quote though... Let's go with another one of his, just because.
"In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this."
(Terry Pratchett)
This is not a quote about hubris, since cats just keep getting away with it...

As, it turns out, do I. So far... I find it hard to evaluate my actions and choices in regards to Monster's freedom, what is the right choice after all? Since I do keep "getting away with it", perhaps I'm overvaluating the risk? Or is it just chance, setting me up for a big fall?

Err... Whuh?

Last night Mom wanted to go berry picking again. Fortunately(?) as I arrived at their place with Monster a guest on a bike (Monster: "RRRRAAAAAAARRRGH! An ENEMY!") arrived at the same time, and Mom got a good demonstration of how I actually am not "constantly exaggerating" Monster's problems. To the point of asking me if I perhaps shouldn't leave him at home while we went to the forest... I patiently (well...) explained to her that absolutely nothing had changed from yesterday, or any other day when she blithely ignores my concerns on risk management with regards to Monster and thinks he should basically be allowed to run around free. And acts on it, if I don't keep a careful eye on her! Since he was no more dangerous after her seeing him react to the biker (as opposed to hearing me tell her about him reacting to something), her concerns should be no greater than before. Monster hadn't changed at all. With this he came along, and Dory too. This time I was however more successful in getting Mom to move further from the road (also helped by us going to a different spot, where the terrain was easier for her to navigate), which was a relief for me. The evening passed without incident - a couple of times Monster perked up toward the road and started to move toward it with interest, but he turned away immediately when I called him. Dory was very much getting on my bad side however, since she kept trying to lure him away! Following a path through the forest for a couple of minutes would lead to a couple of houses with dogs outside, and Dory quickly ran off to visit them (Mom: "... She'll come back eventually." Me: "!"). She did indeed come back (dogs howling and barking in the distance, to Monster's fascination), but only to fetch Monster. She ran around him in invitation and got him to follow her down the path, but! He wouldn't go more than 70-80 meters or so (after stopping them a couple of times I allowed it to see what would happen - hubris again, right?), when he reached the "too far" line - as decided by him - he sat promptly down and refused to take another step no matter what Dory did. When she eventually ran off without him again he started barking in frustration and running around, but he would not follow her! How about that...?

That's cause I'm a Good Boy.

Today, on our daily walk down to my parents' house, we encountered yet another chance for me to make the wrong, risky choice. Of course I took it! As we came around a bend in the road we spotted a deer in a field (150-200 meters away). Monster was off leash and noticed the deer a little after me, but I chose to not distract and leash him even though I had the option (probably). As the deer noticed us, and we kept moving towards it, it turned and walked into the forest behind the field. Monster, by then perhaps 20-30 meters ahead of me, picked up speed, his body tense, head high, tail rigid and upright. I let him go. Could I have called him back at this point? I think so now, and I thought so then. But I wanted a greater distraction, I wanted a test... Monster was running ahead, toward where he'd seen the deer disappear, and I could see the instant he crossed the scent trail - if he'd been running before he started racing now. I still let him go. He followed the trail into the woods, running flat out and completely fixated on the hunt, and when I couldn't see him any more I called out once, turned and walked away...

Did you think this through?

... And was instantly rewarded with an almighty crash behind me, as Monster immediately took the most direct route toward the sound of my voice (I'm guessing), and rather than retracing his steps through easier terrain just barged through bushes and small trees instead. He came literally thundering up behind me, covered in branches and leaves! Happy with this success I immediately proceeded to test him further (of course! why not end in defeat?), and turned around again and set off on a course where we'd cross the deer's trail quite close to where we'd seen it disappear. Monster still off leash. As we came to the spot Monster again became agitated, sniffing around, craning his head toward the forest edge, stepping in place and looking toward me. I didn't interact with him at all, just kept walking past. And Monster just dropped it, followed me and was as relaxed and responsive as before the whole thing. That's something, right?

(To be clear: the deer walked away quite calmly - for a deer - and had a good head start. If it had run off, if I had thought there was any risk of Monster getting very close, if it had set off across open terrain instead of into the forest, or if in some other way I had judged there was a risk of severely stressing the animal, I would have (attempted to?) stopped Monster from engaging. I do not think the world is around to serve our/my needs, I do not think I can make others "pay" for Monster's "gain". I made two judgments, the first that the deer was in no risk from Monster's pursuit, and the second that I could stop Monster from prolonging the pursuit beyond the point where I felt I had a good overview of the situation. You may well judge me as having put the deer at risk anyway, and I'll have to live with that, but I did believe at the time that I had the situation under control. I do believe in retrospect that I did not cause any harm to the deer beyond the initial alarm on seeing us approach - and that's unavoidable whether leashed or not.)

Down south where we live, the stupid animals hang around staring at us until we're just 10-20 meters away - or less - before they go running off in a panic across wide open fields. In that situation Monster would never be allowed off leash to begin with, much less allowed to pursue.

So. Did I do the right thing? Was it a horrible mistake? The result would (perhaps?) indicate I evaluated the situation correctly... I thought I could recall Monster from a hunt situation, and I succeeded. I thought even at a distance of a couple of hundred meters, out of sight, and more or less wholly engrossed in a strong behavior (tracking/hunting/pursuing), Monster would respond to my recall. Well, he did. I thought that even when seriously revved up by the experience, rather than it drawing him back to it again he would let it go when I showed no interest to engage in it with him. He did. So I walked away with a confirmation of my expectations. But the question I'm stuck with is whether or not that's actually a good thing?

Why not?

Because adding to my confidence levels, both in my control over Monster and in my ability to judge my control over Monster, could after all lead to disaster down the line, right? There is a line between training and real world we all have to cross eventually, in most of our training. There is only so much "controlled environment exercise" you can do successfully, before it becomes time to (gradually) move it out of that environment. (Unless you're content with staying there, but few of us are I think.) I have zero ambition to walk Monster off leash in for example a city environment, but I do want to be able to let him off the leash in less stressful surroundings. In order to get there, I have to let go of the leash. But when? Where? How? I don't want Monster to be a threat to others. I don't want him to even frighten others (within reason; people getting upset at the mere sight of a calm, leashed dog some distance away can just learn to deal with their own problems, frankly). I think I have sufficient control over him off leash in order to be moving carefully across that line into the real world (while still staying in a very unchallenging environment), but how do you know? Well, I know the answer to that: you don't. You can only try to be objective and responsible, and keep evaluating as you go. Right? But for something like off leash control, the 80% rule doesn't really apply I think. You need to be much closer to 100%. But you never actually reach 100% though! You can never know with absolute certainty how a situation will develop or how your dog will respond, the best you can do is "fairly sure". (No matter what some people will tell you! No one can guarantee their dog's absolute obedience in any situation, it's simply not possible. And quite frankly, anyone who makes that sort of claim is someone I'd steer quite clear of, as it to me reeks of poor judgment and lack of responsibility.) And for a lot of people, even less than that is quite acceptable (at least to them); they have dogs they don't need to control all that closely, as they're perhaps small, cute, with zero interest in other people or animals... Monster is interested. And while I think he's about the most adorable creature who ever lived, not everyone shares that view of him. He's certainly not small. I need to have him under control. But at which point is he under sufficient control?

Just how much harder do you want me to work, really?

If I thought he was actually dangerous, he'd be permanently leashed. But I don't. If I thought he'd run off from me to confront someone we came across, he'd be leashed (perhaps permanently, but I'd at least try to work on that). But I don't. If I thought he'd go after the wildlife, he'd be leashed. But I don't. My assumptions in these things have been tested (1 by meeting a man on a close path, Monster barked at him but returned to me when called; 2 by walking past people picking berries in the woods by the road before I realized they were there; 3 by getting called off the hunt today), but that's not really proof of anything more than success in those specific situations. Sure, it's also good indications of reliability of behavior, but it's not proof. Proof can not be had. So. What to do? Do I (try to) rein myself in, or do I trust myself more? Because it's not like I'm impartial after all. No matter how hard I try to objectively evaluate myself, Monster, results, etc, I am also always driven by ambition. I want a specific result. How much am I influenced by that in my evaluations?

Don't you trust me?

Teach, you need to teleport up here and help us out! An objective view is sorely needed. I'm all alone up here... ("Try a shock collar!" I was told today. And then they stop listening when I patiently(?) try to explain why that's a terrible idea.)

What's that now? "Shock collar"? Fine with me - I'm the one holding the remote and they're the ones wearing the collar, right?

I would like to try some setups, I think... I would like to encounter people (with and without dogs) at various distances, moving and standing still, in our path and off to the side... But there is no one here to ask - no one who wouldn't use aggression and intimidation on Monster if he should approach them. And that's not a variation of setup I feel ready for. Not because I'm sure it would go badly - I'd estimate perhaps 80% certainty that I'd still be able to call him away - but because it's a somewhat higher risk, and most of all because it's not the kind of experience which will aid Monster's progress...

Nah, what could possibly go wrong?! I'm a very stable dude! No bad experiences are going to influence me...

And since quoting Pratchett is a lot like that proverbial popcorn eating, here are a couple more I couldn't help myself from cramming in here...

A difference I often observe in traditional vs. positive dog trainers:
"The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to those who think they’ve found it."
(Terry Pratchett)

And something for all of us to keep in mind:
"Sooner or later we're all someone's dog"
(Terry Pratchett)

 I had to put them last so I could stop myself from just writing more and more by quickly pressing "publ