Ranger

Ranger

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Finna Rollercoaster

Last night was a definite low point in this wild ride that is life with Finna and then this morning a very encouraging high point. Life with Finna; you take it moment to moment and try to anticipate problems and set her up for success and sometimes you even succeed.

Last night I was standing in the hall talking to my husband. Finna was standing with us watching him closely but quiet and not in the hyper-vigilance stance we frequently see. But when he gestured slightly with his hand which was not far from her face she snapped at him. She's very controlled in her threats, she didn't come very close to connecting at all (a good four inches away) but what I want her to learn is that it's possible to walk away. I understand that she was frightened by this unexpected movement of his hands not far from her (maybe a foot away) but the appropriate response would be to back up. Sadly, Finna doesn't back down or walk away and I'm still working to figure out how to teach her that walking away, backing up, leaving the scene is an available response and one that should be the first tool out of the box when dealing with people that scare her.

But this is life with Finna so we went from that low point to a very nice high point this morning. My daughter had a friend picking her up today, a big, bearded, glasses wearing, scary male (for Finna at least) friend. With his permission we set up a training exercise. He was to remain outside the fence and when Finna came charging at him barking, growling and generally freaking out he was to yawn and turn his back, two very definite calming signals. I'd just started playing ball with her when he arrived and Finna did charge over to the fence trying to bark around the ball in her mouth. He yawned and turned his back to her and you could see her ratchet down a few notches. I immediately called her and asked for the ball. She was slightly reluctant to give it up but after a few glances at his turned back gave me the ball which I immediately scooped up and threw. He turned back to pet Ranger and talk to my daughter and Finna continued to play ball earning lots and lots of praise and my undivided attention. She looked over several times but made no further effort to scare him away. There was a stranger standing right outside her fence and she was not freaking out. I was so pleased! This is a dog I can work with and have hope for. Last night's version is a dog about whom I have serious concerns.

Which dog is Finna; the one that responds appropriately and ignores a possible threat or the one that  is determined to keep all possible threats at bay using aggressive behavior? The hard part is that she's both dogs in one complicated package. My job is to set her up for the kind of success she had today and to manage things so that she isn't in a position where she automatically reaches for her favorite aggressive tools. Sadly, that's often much easier to write than to do.

On her road to recovery and rehabilitation where is Finna? The truth is that she's very much the rollercoaster ride. Over all I think she is improving. Rather than always mugging The Great Catsby for some roughhousing when she starts getting wound up she's sometimes asking to go out and play ball. She's developing a more reliable response to "Come" and early this morning even aborted a run out to the edge of the fence near the street to investigate and no doubt scare away something that she saw when I asked her to come back. She's learning that "Sit" and "Watch" are the default behaviors we want. Is she a safe dog? No. What she is can best be described as a work in progress. I think there's hope that in time she can become a more reliable dog but I'm not sure she'll ever be safe, not in the way that Ranger is a safe dog.


The Great Catsby is not exactly thrilled to have Finna licking his head but he's very patient with her as is Ranger. I hope the incredible social skills exhibited by Ranger and Catsby rub off on Finna. 

4 comments:

  1. Many of us humans are like Finna. I am speaking for myself. I know right from wrong, but too often I choose the wrong response or approach to a problem or challenge.

    You are doing a good job with Finna, she has come a long way! She still has a long way to go, but she will make it. You can't make her into another Ranger - there will never be another Ranger!

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    1. Thanks FancyHorse, My goal is that Finna be the best dog that she can be and that she have the chance to do whatever it is she most wants to do. Ranger loves doing therapy work, that's clearly what his purpose in life is and what makes him happiest. Finna's got so much drive and determination that I suspect she might love competing in canine sports if she gets over her socialization issues and learns some more appropriate responses.

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  2. How do you teach a proper response? Good question! In the friend at the fence scenario, he helped by offering calming signals, and then you called Finna back, giving her something to do. I wonder if there is a way to redirect her anxiety, that when she feels that kind of adrenaline she can run and get a favorite toy, or maybe a tug rope that she can shake instead. Won't it be interesting to read Trisha McConnell's blog about parasympathetic excercises for the nervous system? (Hope I got that right.)

    You're right, Finna will probably never be as safe as Ranger. My Pupper isn't. But I know she'll get to a point where she'll be safe for anyone in the family because she'll know that they understand her and would not hurt her. That day will not be soon, but it'll get there.

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    1. Teaching the proper responses is indeed the challenge. Sometimes it's fairly straightforward. To teach Finna that barking at the dogs next door or at people or dogs walking by on the street wasn't the right response we used negative punishment and removed something she liked to decrease a response. In other words, bark ferociously and Mom won't play ball with you anymore and you have to go in the house. It took her about twice to figure out that she'd rather play ball and stay outside. Now she rushes down to the corner where the other dogs are visible squeaks her ball hard in their direction a couple times and brings me the ball to throw. It's a pretty amusing response and pretty non-threatening. When she runs up to bark at people walking by on the street after a couple barks I thank her for her alert and call her. Ranger loves this; he works with me and herds Finna back. She's happy to run with him and because he's taking her to me she's fine with being herded. I saw her earlier bark three times, stop and wait for Ranger when I whistled. She's getting it.

      Other things it's very hard to figure out how to teach the response we want. We do our best to keep a clear picture of how we want her to behave and try everything hoping we hit on something that communicates it to her. Life with Finna.

      And you're right I'm really looking forward to Trisha's promised blog. I know in it and the comments that follow I'll learn things that will be added to my toolbox.

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