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Fear anxiety training...


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So because Tsunami's fear/anxiety is getting worse & worse (I cannot even take him out of the yard for a walk!) I decided to make an appointment with a local dog behaviourist & trainer.It will cost a fortune, but after talking to him on the phone I'm hopeful that he will get to the bottom of this!

Actually he said he already knows! The person who referrred me said he worked wonders with her Husky X boy, so I'm hoping we'll get Tsunami back to his old self soon!

Any advice on what to look out for with the behaviourist/trainer when he handles Tsunami? Anything I should do or not do there?

All he said is to bring the dog and his water bowl...

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I'm a bit confused as to how he can say he knows what's wrong without having ever seen the behaviours first hand but maybe that's just me.

To answer your question, Word of mouth recommendations from other husky owners are always a good sign. As some trainers do not really work well with an unbiddable breed like a sibe. What methods did he use? One person had a trainer say he wanted to take her dog to his place for a week. No joke! [emoji33]

Good luck. Hope it goes well. Xxx

Sent via the power of telepathy.

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8 minutes ago, Emma said:

I'm a bit confused as to how he can say he knows what's wrong without having ever seen the behaviours first hand but maybe that's just me.

To answer your question, Word of mouth recommendations from other husky owners are always a good sign. As some trainers do not really work well with an unbiddable breed like a sibe. What methods did he use? One person had a trainer say he wanted to take her dog to his place for a week. No joke! emoji33.png

Good luck. Hope it goes well. Xxx

Sent via the power of telepathy.

Well I emailed him exatcly what happens and we spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes... It has something to do with his confidence... Will hear in detail on Monday.

Right now I have no idea what or how he trains, but the lady that runs his appointments said he trains you and not really the dog... I mentioned to her that the place people referred me to in the first place requires you to board (right word??) the dog at their place for 2 weeks while they train it and you are not allowed near the dog for that time! And she told me that its not how her boss works...

He trains police and sniffer dogs too, so he does come highly recommended.

And he will cost a lot, but hopefully it will be worth it. I should know on Monday if I am happy with his methods or not...

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20 minutes ago, Emma said:

I'm a bit confused as to how he can say he knows what's wrong without having ever seen the behaviours first hand but maybe that's just me.

To answer your question, Word of mouth recommendations from other husky owners are always a good sign. As some trainers do not really work well with an unbiddable breed like a sibe. What methods did he use? One person had a trainer say he wanted to take her dog to his place for a week. No joke! emoji33.png

Good luck. Hope it goes well. Xxx

Sent via the power of telepathy.

Agreed I have read about some bad trainers from other users on here before.

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1 minute ago, Awolf401 said:

Agreed I have read about some bad trainers from other users on here before.

Yes, you get a lot of bad trainers here unfortunately... Most of them use force or punishment!

If I don't like what he does, then we are outta there no matter what I paid! I don't want Tsunami any more traumatized than he already is! 

3 minutes ago, Emma said:

You sound like a woman on a mission, lol. I hope he turns out to be a good one. :up:

Sent via the power of telepathy.

I'm always on a mission! :D

When it comes to the dogs I want to find the best people for them, I'm not going to leave them with anyone alone for training...you never know what a person will do to them! I also don't like other people 'handling' them...its different when I know and trust you, but you have to earn it before taking control of my furbabies!!! Petting nd playing is another story, but the leash stays with people I trust only!

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All I have to say is - bloody well done! :) So few people invest in a behaviourist/trainer but it is a very wise thing to do. It is an investment that will pay you back tenfold. 

I am assuming she is positive reinforcement based???

 

Well done and I will look forward to hearing more :goodjob:

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4 hours ago, Jase said:

All I have to say is - bloody well done! :) So few people invest in a behaviourist/trainer but it is a very wise thing to do. It is an investment that will pay you back tenfold. 

I am assuming she is positive reinforcement based???

 

Well done and I will look forward to hearing more :goodjob:

Yeah, I really hope it pays off!

Everything I got told and read about the trainer sounds good. He sounds like he knows his stuff and said he trains positive behaviour...so I'll only be able to meet & see him work on Monday personally ;)

The lady that recommended him is pretty much pro positive reinforcements too... She just started a local puppy school, but is still studying dog behaviour course so she referred me rather than she try and do more harm...

Hopefully Tsunami will respond to him, right now he lets no one approach him, he runs the other way! I want to stop this fear anxiety before he gets aggressive or something gets worse! He's not enjoying life like this! :(

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22 minutes ago, loudlucky said:

Yeah, I really hope it pays off!

Everything I got told and read about the trainer sounds good. He sounds like he knows his stuff and said he trains positive behaviour...so I'll only be able to meet & see him work on Monday personally ;)

The lady that recommended him is pretty much pro positive reinforcements too... She just started a local puppy school, but is still studying dog behaviour course so she referred me rather than she try and do more harm...

Hopefully Tsunami will respond to him, right now he lets no one approach him, he runs the other way! I want to stop this fear anxiety before he gets aggressive or something gets worse! He's not enjoying life like this! :(

Sounds great, if you stick with a program you will have success, these things can take a little while as there is no magic wand, but you are headed in the right direction. I will look forward to updates :)

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So, its a weird arrogant guy the behaviourist/trainer but Tsunami responds to him... He was scared at first but walked around and the trainer could even walk him around on the leash, so according to the trainer there is hope, but it will be lots of work!

Sessions start tomorrow morning, every second day for about 2 weeks. Only working on his fear issues first as his basic obedience is out the door when he gets scared. 

The guy was very set on the fact that you get homework everytime to do with the dog, otherwise theres no need to start the sessions according to him. 

So papers signed and okayed the homework part, so we can get started tomorrow! Will let you guys know how it goes and what homework we get :D

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On 2/25/2016 at 1:22 PM, loudlucky said:

Well I emailed him exatcly what happens and we spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes... It has something to do with his confidence... Will hear in detail on Monday.

Right now I have no idea what or how he trains, but the lady that runs his appointments said he trains you and not really the dog... I mentioned to her that the place people referred me to in the first place requires you to board (right word??) the dog at their place for 2 weeks while they train it and you are not allowed near the dog for that time! And she told me that its not how her boss works...

He trains police and sniffer dogs too, so he does come highly recommended.

And he will cost a lot, but hopefully it will be worth it. I should know on Monday if I am happy with his methods or not...

Dont forget to check Tsunami's homework before giving it to the teacher.

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Just now, Awolf401 said:

Dont forget to check Tsunami's homework before giving it to the teacher.

Haha yes, I have a feeling we'll be in trouble there as he tends to be pretty stubborn when other people gives him commands! Tge trainer asked him to sit today...all Tsunami did was stare him to infinity!

So any ideas how to get him to play nice in class????

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Put a Dunce cap on him and then put a dab of peanut butter in the corner so he has to sit and look at the corner.

Seriously, I have no good suggestion for you.  Cheza takes a pat on the butt to get her out of her trance. (Want to be clear I dont "hit" my dog just a tap to let her know I am speaking when I am being ignored)

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51 minutes ago, Awolf401 said:

Put a Dunce cap on him and then put a dab of peanut butter in the corner so he has to sit and look at the corner.

Seriously, I have no good suggestion for you.  Cheza takes a pat on the butt to get her out of her trance. (Want to be clear I dont "hit" my dog just a tap to let her know I am speaking when I am being ignored)

Yeah, I usually clap my hands to get his attention... And it seems he does not value any treats when he is so scared :(

Oh well, we'll see how it goes, it will hopefully help somewhat at least.... He did walk with the guy so he interacted with at least one human today :D

Hopefully we can get up to at least 5 new humans by the end of the 2 weeks!

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We just got back and WOW!!!! Tsunami is doing so so great after his first session!!!! I'll go into detail a bit later, gotta go fill his kiddies pool so he can cool off and relax a bit before doing his homework!

So glad I took him, well worth the money spent!!!

IMG_20160301_104420_287.JPG

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So glad you are pleased with the results so far.   I did not want to post before but my experience with a behaviourist was not good. He also said he could help with rescued Cain's issues  (attacked me twice breaking bones) and bad possession/ball issues - he was more than useless  -  after a couple of sessions he said to consider putting the dog down if he could not be trusted  -  I then took the dog to the vet - and it turned out he had focal epilepsy  -  got him on meds and 5 years after no further issues.   He went over the bridge just before Xmas at 15 1/2 years old.

 

Hope that Tsunami continues to improve and lose his fears - the world will open for him again.

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2 hours ago, loudlucky said:

We just got back and WOW!!!! Tsunami is doing so so great after his first session!!!! I'll go into detail a bit later, gotta go fill his kiddies pool so he can cool off and relax a bit before doing his homework!

So glad I took him, well worth the money spent!!!

IMG_20160301_104420_287.JPG

Great stuff! I'll bet Tsunami is exhausted after the session :)

 

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That's indeed great news. I see this dog trainer in TV sometimes and always saw a bit of a hype and to get money from the rich ones which don't know how to handle dogs. Great to see that they obviously really know what to do per individual dog.

Big thumbs up

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4 hours ago, Jase said:

Great stuff! I'll bet Tsunami is exhausted after the session :)

 

Lets start with YES, yes, yes, yes, he was and is now again exhausted! He only lasted 20 minutes of the 45 minute session! Lol

So today we only worked on his walking, started with the command for 'heel' I suppose? as the Afrikaans word used translates to 'place'.

It went well at the trainers place, we even walked the block with Tsunami, first the trainer handling him and then me! He was more scared when I handled him, but hopefully I get trained soon! :D The trainer said while its going to be a lot of work getting him used to people & trusting them again, he walks nicely for his first session and he sees a lot of hope! So I need to remember to praise Tsunami the whole time while he walks & behaves in training... The trainer is very set on verbal praise and touching your dog :)

Homework was...well, not that great! :( I have to walk him like two houses in each direction in my street...which did not go great as my (irritating!!!) neighbours are busy moving today! (If I wasnt so busy with the dog I'd go help them pack up! :D) so with moving vans, trailers and lots of noise Tsunami went in only one direction...indoors!!!

I did take him out again and got him to walk on that side of the house and up to the driveway, but he wouldn't go in the road with everything going on :(

Hopefully they get on with it so we can try again in the morning! His second session is on Thursday...

5 hours ago, wolfpup said:

So glad you are pleased with the results so far.   I did not want to post before but my experience with a behaviourist was not good. He also said he could help with rescued Cain's issues  (attacked me twice breaking bones) and bad possession/ball issues - he was more than useless  -  after a couple of sessions he said to consider putting the dog down if he could not be trusted  -  I then took the dog to the vet - and it turned out he had focal epilepsy  -  got him on meds and 5 years after no further issues.   He went over the bridge just before Xmas at 15 1/2 years old.

 

Hope that Tsunami continues to improve and lose his fears - the world will open for him again.

Sorry to hear your experience was bad! Trust me 99% of trainers here are bad and hurt the dogs!

I only went to see this one as someone with a Husky X recommended him! The 'advertised' behaviourist near me costs 5x what he asks and you have to board your dogs with them for 2 weeks with no contact for that time! So I'm really glad I found this trainer, he looks well worth it and Tsunami actually sat on his lap today!

Oh and I have to mention he is owned by a Husky boy...so maybe thats why he's so good with them ;)

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So back to homework this morning!

Thankfully the neighbours moved their (hopefully) last stuff by 4am, so I figured Tsunami & I will have a quiet morning to practice...boy was I wrong!

Now the owners are starting to repair/repaint what the people who were renting for 2 years messed up! Apparently there were dog poop still all over in the house! 

So with the noises I started walking him in a quiet part of my yard first, it went well :)

Moved to the other side, where the noise is and it went rather good...until a toypom yapped and he sped off in the front door's direction! Got him back and tried again until we were in my driveway! :) mission 1 accomplished! WE got outside the yard and acrossed the road about 5 times! :D

Then a truck pulled up and delivered some galvanized poles...the workers throwing it off the truck, so guess where Tsunami went?? :(

So far I'm happy with his progress, I mean 2 days ago he wouldnt go out the gate unless he was in the car! So I'm guessing its going to take a lot longer...and a lot of patience to get him to the next house!

Will take him out somewhere (in the car)tomorrow after the training session and see how he does in a strange place ;)

Edited by loudlucky
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Progress!!! WE made it to the driveway across the road, walked under the neigbours tree and up to their gate! :)

So happy dance we did!!! :D

I'll be sending all my friends to this trainer if they ever complain about their dogs again! @Jase was 100% right, it is worth the money and the effort...I can already see Tsunami changing and being happy again!

On a sad note the trainer that I did not pick because of the boarding issue and price, she 'lost' one of the dogs she got to train yesterday as it got out of her kennels...they found the poor doggy today run over by a car :( so glad I did not choose her!

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13 hours ago, loudlucky said:

Progress!!! WE made it to the driveway across the road, walked under the neigbours tree and up to their gate! :)

So happy dance we did!!! :D

I'll be sending all my friends to this trainer if they ever complain about their dogs again! @Jase was 100% right, it is worth the money and the effort...I can already see Tsunami changing and being happy again!

On a sad note the trainer that I did not pick because of the boarding issue and price, she 'lost' one of the dogs she got to train yesterday as it got out of her kennels...they found the poor doggy today run over by a car :( so glad I did not choose her!

Good on you again Cindy - responsible ownership right there :goodjob:

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