[nagdu] ranting handling skills?

[Julie J]

Lora,

Firstly I don't think there is anything wrong with your handling skills.  I 
can totally understand why you might feel that way though, given your bad 
luck with previous dogs.  It takes time to really settle in, just keep with 
it.

Monty has been a struggle with dog distractions.  When he was a puppy he 
used to bounce up and down and make the most pitiful noises because I 
wouldn't let him play with every dog on the street.  Yeah, really not good. 
Now I can only tell he sees another dog by the way his body shifts and he 
gets intently focused on something.  As you work with Kori longer you will 
be able to pick up on the more subtle signs that he sees another dog.

In the beginning of working through dog distraction insanity, I would stop 
at the first signs that things were amiss.  Sometimes this meant turning 
around and walking a different way, sometimes walking up a driveway to let 
the other dog pass or turning and facing away from the other dog worked.  It 
would just depend on the particulars of the situation. After getting some 
distance between us I would get Monty to do something easy that he could be 
successful with.  I kept this up until he was settled and focused again.

As time went on the distance to the other dog got shorter and shorter and 
the level of the reaction lessened.  He has been working as a fully trained 
guide for about 9 months now.  He has had a couple of slip ups where he was 
inappropriately interested in other dogs, but generally if I sense he is 
about to do something stupid, which isn't often, I stop, pivot 180 degrees 
and ask him to do something else.  Generally the something else is sit, down 
and a hand target.  I only ask him to do something that I know he will be 
able to do so that I can praise him for the good behavior.  By turning my 
body away from the other dog I am breaking his attention to that dog.  The 
incompatible behaviors allow him to regain focus on me and for him to be 
successful.

As time goes on his interest in other dogs continues to lessen.  It is 
pretty rare that I have to do much more than verbally coach him past other 
dogs these days.   And now that I've said that he'll prove me wrong. *smile*

It takes time, patience and consistency.  It might also help to jot down 
notes each day about how he did.  Then it's a lot easier to see the progress 
you are making.

HTH
Julie