Adventures of Grey, a male Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer living in Margate on the east Kent coast. Now with added Polka his rescue English Pointer sister. Lots more photos on http://greyandpolka.tumblr.com/
Firstly, thanks everyone who has asked about Grey and his skin infection. He's made an almost total recovery, so it looks like our vet was right. It was an infection rather than an infestation. It's more or less cleared up and he's no longer itchy.
He's had two sessions of hydrotherapy. He's been on the water treadmill. He did really really well. Tried to drink most of the water in a typical Grey way. Was much more confident by the second session. So really pleased with him. I think he'll be going in the actual pool for a swim on Saturday. Yay!
He's doing much better with walking and so I feel that we're really on a road to recovery now. Just have to keep it up.
Just when we thought it was all moving on to being better in the world of Grey and I noticed he was getting sore with some scabby browny red deposits on his back legs, bum and tummy area and then the fur started coming out around it. I'd first wondered if it was a type of mange, which might also have linked to a compromised immune system, but a trip to our vet revealed it is most likely a skin infection, but this could be linked to an immune issue. He's now on anti-biotics, Piriton and having tea tree oil cream applied. So he has the look of a monkey bum from behind. Let's hop he doesn't go bald on these patches.
I'm still in shock after our walk round the square just now. Something really interesting and earth shattering for Grey's lead walking has just happened. I decided that seeing as I was going to give Grey his tea, that I would pop out onto the square with him and sit on a bench, watch the world go by and pay up for nice calmness. I thought it might be nice for him to see some things as long as it was calm seeing as he's a bit isolated at the moment still. So I grabbed his evening portion of kibble and went out on the flat collar and sat on a park bench in the shade. We never do this because we live here. We're usually always on the move walking.
I clicked and treated for a few minutes for being relaxed and then for looking at the other people in the park and back at me as long as he was calm. There were some other people in the park: a group of people 20 metres away with intermittent shouts and they had a staffie that they threw a ball for and then an old man came in with a long haired GSD that barked at us when it came in 15 metres away and Grey slightly whined but then managed to put attention back on to me and got to eat loads more of his tea. So things that usually would have him kangarooing on his lead. Then after a few minutes of calm rewards, I stood up and slowly in this relaxed mode took a pace and Grey just continued to be very focussed on me, gentle and calm! ! He was trotting about at my side with the lead in a huge loop down and was then allowed to sniff bits and I continued to click and treat with small handfuls of food. It even didn't go wrong when the stupid staffie owner chucked the ball near us and ran over with his dog to look for it. Grey did get a bit excited, but I was able to settle him down into a sit, a watch and a down and then we continued on our way.
I had to get L out of the house to watch me walking up and down the path as I have never in my days see him do this! Obviously this might have been a real fluke. But I wonder if I had short circuited the adrenaline surge by calming down outside? I have often tried to calm down inside before going out, but his energy has always been so high then it's hard to come down. So by calming for a minute or so before setting off I was able to get his attention.
If this never happens again, I will still be happy with the sheer joy of walking up and down outside my house with my gorgeous dog, Grey! A small glimpse of a possible future!
A friend had asked me for some links on research that debunks dominance theory in wolves and dogs. It was a nice request as I was reminded to go back through some links and start to look around to see if I could find some more to read myself.
This list isn't exhaustive, and I'll add to it as I go on. Perhaps I'll create a specific link page because as a subject it is so important. Every single dog trainer I've seen has emerged as steeped in dominance theory and eventually waxed lyrical about how wolves use dominance to raise their young. They live in family units of two parents and the pups. Early wolf studies used captive artificial packs. And in any case, domestic dogs are not wolves. Studies of feral domestic dogs show more relations in pairs than packs and relations are opportunistic and sporadic.
Here's my quick list:
Nice blog post from someone who used to believe in dominance theory and then changed his mind. This is a rare thing:
"4. Wolves in the wild generally do not gain their high rank by fighting their way to the top. Instead a male and female breed and the pack is a family unit comprised of the parents and the offspring. The parents naturally become the leaders. The offspring naturally follow their lead. As a result of this discovery regarding pack structure, wolf biologists no longer even use the term alpha with wild wolf packs."
I had a bit of a rethink yesterday about Grey's walking on any kind of headcollar. I came to the sad realisation that for him it's been an instrument of torture as he didn't just settle into it and self correct when the tension was applied through him pulling. He requires as much close training as a flat collar but with the bonus that I have control over him if he lunges at things he reacts to in the everyday environment. So I'm slapping myself on the wrist for allowing him to have far too much tension on the collar which hinders him learning and giving relief. He's been so hard to hang on to on a flat collar if he does rear up, that this safety belt aspect of the headcollar took over in function. It's a stark reminder that equipment is no quick fix for training.
I heard a saying yesterday which was 'train the dog you have, not the dog you'd like to have'. I would have loved Grey to have been the dog that went into instant calm on a head collar, but he isn't. He pulls less on a headcollar, but he still pulls.
So I had a revisory look through some videos and learned a few little changes that will help change the headcollar into a more benevolent management tool. I've posted some of these before, but in case it is useful to have them all in one place.
Two videos on introducing the Gentle Leader. The first Jean Donaldson creates an conditioned emotional response:
The second is a nice guide on fitting the Gentle Leader correctly by Becky Schultz. Note:
- the very snug back strap and loose nose strap.
- The snap of the lead should be hanging down and the lead should be a 'J' shape. i.e. a nice loose lead at all times.
- Reaching down the lead to take it very close to the dog's muzzle to gently turn the dog round as you would lead a horse round close to the bit.
I've looked at these videos purely for tips on better use of a headcollar and not the general situations that have been set up. Our walk this morning was much better. He had more relief and was brought more to focus on me by being turned to face me for a sit and watch which interrupted his constant strong pulling to sniff.
Was flicking through some videos on how to fit the Gentle Leader and found a Patrica McConnell video on getting a dog to stop bugging you with a couple of head pats and a look away. I need to remind myself to do more sideway movements on the headcollar and not a straight back pull.
