We survived a package delivery where the guy WENT ON OUR PORCH AND SAID STUFF

T

timothygrae

New member
Knocking on the door has become less of the nightmare shitshow we all probably know and love, but I could cry I'm so happy. CARE and careful, systematic counter conditioning works.

It's a rainy day and I was having expensive paper delivered, so I've been anxious waiting on a knock at our porch door (porch door, porch, then our interior/exterior door. I heard someone say something at the door, heard the porch door open (no delivery guys do that), and my dogger was a little stiff but what shepherd isn't when stranger danger is doing god-knows-what outside the front door. The delivery guy managed to open that door and bring in a big package and was probably visible through the glass at the top of the inside door to my dog. No bark! No woof. No dramatic huff/sigh. Very proud of my guy and the year and a half of real work we put in.

My partner and I were just talking about how much better he's gotten. Last night he wouldn't get up off the rug when I was vacuuming, while a year or so ago he wouldn't come in my room for a month until we realized that he knew the vacuum was in a CLOSED CLOSET and was scared. He used to wake up all night any time I moved slightly in my sleep, and I'd be woken up to a stressed out dog hovering over my face freaking out until I had to relegate him to a crate in another room so both of us could sleep through the night. Now his Whistle records him sleeping 17 hours a day and I believe it. We live next to a park and the dreaded, scary children carry on screaming all the time with schools closed in it, the neighbor husky breeder and her infinite dogs wail all day, the neighbor with the 24/7 outside ignored poor pitbulls bark at us every single time we open the back door, and all is good.

While he is on a low dose of fluoxetine - which definitely helps a little bit with the general anxiety - I really think careful environment management and then counter-conditioning have been the keys to most of our successes. I am so proud! He is my first shepherd and has been a nervous guy since day one, and having a 110 lb human reactive dog has been a real journey but life is so great for us.
 
@timothygrae I’m so glad to hear that!!!! I know it’s hard to have a reactive/nervous dog but it’s really so rewarding when all the work and training finally pays off!! Side note: if the pit bulls u mentioned are outside all the time are they taken care of at all or are they neglected? If they are u should call animal control so that they can be adopted to a better home... not saying it’s your fault in any way just feeling bad for the dogs!
 
@ilmc I've called animal control, they've come by, and as the dogs have water and food there isn't much they can do. It's just sad as they are both young and seem to be well adjusted and social, just really lonely, and over time I feel this will change and by then the teenage boy who owns them will dump them. I have never seen anyone play with them once which makes me really really sad.
 
@ilmc I will. It's just hard - in the southeast US dogs are treated terribly in many places and AC has little they can do. When I lived in another neighborhood I called AC on dogs being left in crates outdoors in direct Florida sun and AC came by and made them give them water that day, but couldn't take them. I don't know what to do anymore, these dogs at least have food/water/shade but no enrichment or human attention.
 
@judychong Whistle is a GPS collar that also is an activity tracker. It's surprisingly better at the second function, and tracks his sleep, play, scratching, etc. I initially got it in case he got out since he would run from people and an ID tag doesn't do a lot in that kind of situation. (I am in the US so not sure if Whistle is set up to work elsewhere!)
 
@judychong I see so many posts on rescue pages of "shepherd in the woods, won't let us get close" and my heart just sinks because that would be my dog. It's not a perfect device, apparently the Fi collar might be a bit more accurate. They both require a monthly subscription
 
@timothygrae May be silly question, but can u give an example of counter-conditioning?

I’m sure I can look it up...but would like real dog-owner info :)
 
@ger Short version: Dog sees evil tall man with hat, dog gets cookies (not asked to sit, look at me, etc). After a month or two at a great distance with good management, dog sees tall man with hat, looks at me ready for cookies. Way better than dog lunging like a maniac.

The cookies have to be really high value, the dog needs to be kept under threshold almost all of the time, the distance needs to be right so your dog is in learning mode. It's Pavlov's dog and the bell, but substitute the bell for your trigger (dogs, skateboards, etc.). For Office fans, it's Dwight and the Altoids.

Longer/better version: CARE.
 
@timothygrae I think I’ve been trying something similar with our dog, but give her a cookie if she looks at me after seeing a dog. Will switch to just giving cookies w/o having her look at me. Have had other dog owners give that idea, too (after my dog freaking out at their dog)

Thanks for the info and CARE resource!
 
@ger It's really hard for a scared dog to look at you when evil is around, which is the difference between operant vs classical conditioning.

Operant - dog sees trigger, you get dog to look at you, treat (dog may be stressed turning back on trigger, may not be sure if treat is due to presence of trigger of behavior - looking back at you)

Classical - trigger - cookie in mouth. Eventually dog looks at you (this is called a conditioned emotional response, or CER+) because they see trigger and know that good things happen. This replaces the worry.

I think most people in this sub fall into the "look at me!" operant category and do have success, I just followed my VB's advice since she kind of knows her stuff (and in the beginning, my dog could not have turned his head away from a human at line of sight).
 
@timothygrae I will adjust our training. Our dog definitely likes to fixate and stare down other dogs before she reacts. Thanks again for the resources! Have already read through much of the website and will do a re-read in the AM!
 
@ger It takes so many re-reads! I half-assed it for 6 months and was annoyed at the slow progress, then I actually gave my dog a 2-week shut down and followed it to the letter and we had real progress - night and day. Best of luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
Discounts / Package deals ??
Replies
10
Views
11
heavenward7
H
J
My puppy is currently crying because: I opened a UPS package, but I am not letting her sniff its contents. Poor, poor baby
2
Replies
31
Views
32
carolyn111
C
T
Is it normal that my dog eats less than what kibble package stated?
Replies
7
Views
29
aigli
A
E
In a bit of a pickle - show poodle grooming supplies delayed in delivery! matts beginning to form
Replies
0
Views
1
esmerelda
E
Back
Top