The Behavioralist came to visit yesterday. Lilly launched herself at him, cursing, when he arrived and then in a split second it was a lovefest. He said she was the sweetest German Shepherd he'd ever met and that aggressive dogs become more aggressive as a stranger approaches, while she does exactly the opposite. He marvelled at the 180-degree turn in her behavior.
We sat at a table where he could take down her history and the family dynamic. She continued pestering him for hugs, kisses, and pats, and he taught me a trick for stopping this, which I had to practice all the while we talked.
I took the dogs out for a long walk and he walked with us to observe Lilly's interaction with people. He said Lilly's aggression is mild; that she is a very friendly dog who is only over-reacting to stimulus in her environment. It's not just one thing she's reacting to, but a series of things happening that progressively send her pressure up until there's a final trigger. Firstly, I'm to concentrate on keeping her excitement level down by gaining control of the leashes and slowing the walk, then I'm to associate in her mind seeing a stranger with getting a treat. She was averaging 20-25 seconds from seeing a stranger in the distance to reacting negatively, so during those quiet seconds I'm to pop treats in her mouth. See a stranger, get a treat. Over and over with this message, until the two things become paired associates.
Shiloh said it takes 25 seconds for the stranger info to get from Lilly's eyes to her brain.
He gave me a lot of literature and said he didn't think he needed to come back, but I asked him to come back next week so I can have things reinforced and also so Mr. Cracker can participate.
He told me to never get another Shepherd because it would be doubtful I'd find another one as overtly affectionate as this one, while Lilly was repeatedly trying to sit in his lap. He thought she was a great dog.
Of course, we know that, but the people we encounter on walks surely think she's a death beast. She acts like one. We'll work on this until she sees the appearance of strangers as meaning only good things for Lilly.
Posted by floridacracker at January 22, 2005 09:54 PMROFLMAO...Lilly trying to sit in his lap. Thanks for the entertaining visual. :-)
Posted by: Amy at January 22, 2005 10:43 PMHe really got a kick out of her. In his practice he's the one that deals with the aggression cases, and he says most of the dogs he sees want to kill him. I'm sure this was a refreshing change of pace.
Posted by: Donnah at January 23, 2005 12:09 AMThat's right, train the dog to look at people on the street and think "mmm, that would be good to eat!" They're all just great big walking bacon strips...
Posted by: James at January 23, 2005 12:30 PMLOL. I'm not rewarding her *while* she's barking. But, yes, in a way, people still do come out being associated with food to her.
I was wondering why she was calling everybody "long pig."
Interesting stuff, Donnah. My wife rescued a one-year old that is half white-shepherd and half husky. He's a big beautiful fellow, looks mostly like a big, healthy wolf. He's also very aggressive, and shows very little emotion to anyone other than my wife, whom he worships. He used to never even wag his tail.
He and I initially had to straighten out who was the Alpha-male in the house. I was winning until we woke up one night to hear him having seizures. He's epileptic and his life span is anyone's guess. So now he gets away with lots of stuff -- I'm ashamed to admit it -- even jumping up in the bed to sleep with us. Try shoving 100 pounds of sleeping dog off your legs when you have to get up and pee.
Posted by: Salt Lick at January 24, 2005 09:10 AM
