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Personalized Training Program: Zuko
Current Training Goals:
Reactivity towards husband in the home - sudden appearance into the room
Reactivity towards strangers
Reactivity towards unknown dogs
Guild Hall is a client portal within my website - you’ll find classes and events available only to past and present clients there, as well as discounts on certain future services.
Scheduled Session Dates:
Recommended Reading:
Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell
Control Unleashed : From Reactive to Relaxed by Leslie McDevitt
These are the two I would start with - they’ll include several familiar exercises, but expand on them and add additional. Leslie McDevitt is the founder of pattern games, so I think a lot of what she has to recommend could be helpful for Zuko.
01/22/2023: 11:30-12:15: Session Zero
04/02/2023: 10:00-10:45: Inspiration Coaching Session
05/07/23: 1:00-1:45 Inspiration Coaching Session
05/21/23: 10:30-11:15: Inspiration Coaching Session
06/12/23: 6:00-6:45: Inspiration Coaching Session
07/31/24: 7:30-8:45: Session Zero
09/11/24: 12:00-12:45: Inspiration Coaching Session
09/16/24-10/14/24: Campaign Board and Train (4 Weeks)
01/22/23: Session Zero
Energy and Enrichment Management
Building in enrichment behaviors will help meet Zuko’s energy needs. I want to keep up this conversation throughout his sessions so we can add or tweak things based on what you’re finding successful and what is reasonable to manage in you and your family’s schedule. For now:
Scatter Feeding - I’m including a video on food scatters. For now, definitely don’t use his entire meal if you’re unsure that he’ll go for it, and start with a very small area. If he’s not interested, we can adjust and maybe start adding some higher value stuff amongst the kibble or even introduce some training context to make it more fun and tap into German Shepherd brain :) I’d like to experiment with how we can get him sniffing and working hard expending physical and mental energy without the need to add a lot to your plate if we can!
Meals in food puzzles! We discussed a Toppl specifically (link at the top of your page) Start with the Toppl open and a little bit of binder (yogurt/peanut butter/pumpkin, etc) with some kibble in it to build interest. Progress towards freezing the meal, or even using two sizes of Toppl together to create a puzzle he needs to open. This is a great way to still feed the majority of his meal in a crate while working his brain and body (oral energy is energy!)
Flirt pole for arousal regulation - Using the flirt pole, start looking for and rewarding offered stationary behaviors like sit or down, and release him to chase the flirt pole. As he gets better, start being specific in the behavior you’re asking for, begin dropping the pole to the ground, or even moving it before he is released to play. Not only will the play burn up some energy, but asking him to control himself is a tool that can help overall with arousal regulation, both in reactivity but also with other fast-moving bits of fluff in his life - like the cats :)
Behaviors
Start Head Halter conditioning both as a new behavior to shape and get Zuko working that mental energy, but also as a safety tool to have in your pocket to keep you safe on walks. For now, avoid using the halter for your day to day on walks, and save it only for training sessions. I want to hear how he adapts to putting his nose on it and we will continue to grow the behavior at his pace over our sessions!
When your husband enters the room, he should come back with a handful of kibble or something yummier to offer a food scatter for Zuko to focus on. If he’s not in a position to, the person in the room with Zuko can also offer this food scatter. My goal with this is to interrupt the habit Zuko has created of barking upon your husband’s entry, and replacing it with a behavior he will enjoy that makes his previous behavior difficult. Since he acclimates quickly to your husband back in the room, once he finishes the scatter, he should be able to engage with your husband with stress. Let me know how this goes and we will tweak as needed!
Start practicing look at that indoors with benign distractions. Once Zuko understands the pattern, this is a good thing to practice in predictable environments where you can create distance from known triggers.
Next Steps:
I have two potential courses of action to recommend for Zuko’s training plan. Let me know what questions you have. If you’d like to go with the “suggestion #1”, you can use the button below to purchase the sessions as a package - that will give you a virtual “punch card” code to enter when you schedule specific sessions (via the purple button).
Suggestion #1
My first suggestion would be more heavily focused on private sessions and work with you and your family between those sessions. The behaviors I would like to introduce could be covered in five in person sessions followed, if your schedule allows, our in person reactivity class.
I would like to aim to go over these behaviors with some coaching built in to progress previously learned behaviors each session:
Introductions to New People
* Head Halter Check In
* Staggered Approaches for Comfortable Greetings
* Super Bowls for Structured Greetings
* Introducing Relaxation
Moving Past Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* Ready - Get It
* Magnet Hand Management
Moving Away From Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* This Way - Emergency U Turn Behavior
* Using Hand Targeting for Reactivity
Coping with Triggers in the Environment
* Skills Check In
* The Yo-Yo Pattern Game
* Work off a a Person and Neutral Dog
Coping with Triggers in the Environment
* Skills Check In
* 1-2-3 Pattern Game
* Work off a a Person and Neutral Dog
Drama Class: In Person Reactivity Coaching
On alternating Tuesday evenings, in-person Drama Class will focus on implementing and practicing reactivity and behavior modification training in a group setting and is only available to clients who have completed behavior training with myself or my colleague, Charlotte Hoberg, previously. Drama Class is appropriate for dogs who struggle with over-reactions to common occurrences - regardless of the emotion that’s driving those reactions. Class runs on alternating Tuesday nights from 7:00-7:45pm.
The private session package linked below is $675.00 - the Drama Class would be able to be purchased when you’re ready to attend classes and would be $180.00, so together this package (5 private sessions + Drama Class attendance) would be $855.00.
04/02/23: Inspiration Session #1
Session Focus: Introductions to New People
* Head Halter Check In
* Staggered Approaches for Comfortable Greetings
* Super Bowls for Structured Greetings
* Introducing Relaxation
It was so good to meet you and Zuko in person today! We were able to check off most of the boxes for the behaviors we planned to review today, and were able to revisit a few others. One thing we didn’t get a chance to check in about is the head halter - I know that was up in the air, and I wanted to check if it was something you were wanting to condition Zuko to. If so, I will make a point to check in about it on 04/16 - if not, I’ll take it off the schedule!
One of the things to keep at the forefront of your mind when working with Zuko is that, in many cases, we aren’t training “operantly” when working with reactivity. Ideally, it’s always preferable to catch and prevent a reaction before it starts, but once Zuko is reacting, he is not in a “learning” state of mind - which, among other things, means that food at this moment (or any other positive “reinforcer”) isn’t going to reinforce the behavior of reacting. The example I might use with Zuko is the dog he saw today that we did have a momentary reaction to. While he was barking, my putting food in his face and leading him away was not acting as a reinforcer (reinforcers increase behavior) - in fact, adding food and distance interrupted his instinctive behavior and resulted in him being able to be more thoughtful and participate in a cued behavior (Look!”) The food is working as an interrupter, and in that moment also functions within classical conditioning - the more the positive stimulus - food - is associated with the negative stimulus - strange dog - the less intense the reaction towards the dog.*
The same thing is something to keep in mind with your husband. While it’s great if you guys can get a food scatter snuck in, or a tossed treat before he barks at your husband, I want him to have the scatter regardless - both to interrupt the behavior of barking and to create a different association with Dad entering the room (this means food, it doesn’t mean I bark). I would also think of other rewarding things he and Dad can do together - whether that’s have a midday run over to the mailbox for a sniff, or a special treat that only Dad offers - something that makes the appearance of your husband not = barking.
Food scatters also have an advantage because they encourage sniffing. The more you can set the expectation that sniffing will be rewarded, the more interested Zuko will continue to be in a scatter. Try to continually drop treats where he was last sniffing to create an “everlasting” scatter for Zuko to stay engaged in.
The behaviors we really focused in on today were:
Staggered Approach: Using this for your husband potentially, as well as anyone else Zuko is meeting. This can prevent a conflicted dog from running up to a person and overwhelming themselves, while still creating a positive experience for him with the new person. Rather than just avoiding the greeting altogether, putting the option in his control allows you to gauge his increase in confidence over time and how comfortable he’s feeling in any given situation.
Up/Down to build engagement: This was the first step of the Super Bowls game that I want to spend a little extra time with, especially since in the new environment, focus was tough for Zuko. Without waiting for attention, drop a treat on the ground or in a bowl in front of Zuko. Mark and reward for any chin movement up until you can reasonably predict he’s going to give you eye contact. Building these offered behaviors is especially helpful to gauge true thresholds for dogs who have a lot of skills and are motivated to work for their people. By not asking him for anything, you can see what degree of engagement he’s actually comfortable with.
Relaxation: While Zuko is adept at relaxing in the house, we want to build this as a skill so we can take it out and about. For 45 seconds-1 minute a day, reward him for offering or luring into a down and relaxing with you - look for body language, soft focus, and the opposite of a “ready to work” down. We want to let him know that food, engagement, and reinforcement isn’t only available when he’s “up” and active.
*I wanted to break down a little what I noticed with Zuko in the moment he had the reaction because we didn’t get a chance to circle back around to it either. He had handled several different potential triggers at this point of the session and I think what made this one very different was that (1) they came out of the trees and were immediately closer when they became visible than others and (2) the shepherd they had was also very stare-y, even though he didn’t bark or lunge. When a trigger arises, you very quickly hold the leash taut and hold your hands in the middle of your body. While this makes sense - especially since I know he’s pulled you over before, I want to encourage you to practice casual body language when you notice Zuko get tense. Moving your hand up the leash without letting it get taut, and holding it by your hip can be less obviously tense to your dog and can avoid any potential negative feedback loops.
When Zuko stopped taking the “good” treats and reacted, he was still able to follow the treats and once at even a slightly larger distance he started eating them and was able to avoid a bigger backup. I would try to keep “emergency” treats on hand for this sort of thing when you’re out and about, and always be ready to make distance, even if it’s not a huge move. He recovered super well, which is awesome, and was able to get right back into things, and even relax after the tough moment, which is a really great skill for him to have.
I also am adding some book recommendations as requested to the top of your site!
Next Steps: Inspiration Private Session , 04/16 at 11:45am, Rockburn Park
Moving Past Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* Super Bowls for Structured Greetings
* Ready - Get It
* Magnet Hand Management
I was not entirely sure in January when we had our initial session when this would be ready for release, but if additional video and resources would help, especially between sessions, I also have recently completed a self-led online course for reactivity overall. If at any point you find you’d like to add more skills or need more to practice, I wanted to point you in the direction of that course. In conjunction with the course, I’m also making the monthly Zoom Q&A on reactivity open (and free) to any clients, past and present. Both the class ($120) and the Q&A registration are linked at the top of your page.
05/07/23: Inspiration Session #2
Moving Past Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* Super Bowls for Structured Greetings
* Ready - Get It
* Magnet Hand Management
I was glad to see you and Zuko today and to get and update on his progress and talk through a way to keep moving forward with him. In terms of the sessions you’ve been doing, keep practicing look at that, but move indoors with benign distractions. I want to make sure Zuko fully understands the pattern and the behavior before we’re asking him to apply it to more difficult situations. Using benign distractions also will mean you can do longer sessions in those cases (a long session is about 3-5 minutes). When outside at your house, position yourself so you can make distance/go inside easily and do one repetition of look at that and then take a break.
Start introducing his head halter using the video above - take each step slowly so he’s enthusiastic about the process before having the halter rest on his nose. We discussed that this might be a better safety measure long term than the prong collar because it can help turn his head away and present him with reinforcers, rather than add a correction and potentially exacerbate negative feelings about his trigger. That said, please use the prong collar if that makes everyone more safe and secure. You can still do the exercises regardless of the collar Zuko is using and we can work on comfort and security without it as time goes on if the eventual goal is to move away from it.
Use Super Bowls to begin teaching Zuko how to move past distractions. You can work this behavior with benign distractions as well, or it may be a good alternate behavior working in front of your house.
Practice Ready - Get It as a way to quickly create distance away from potential triggers or to move back into the house after a session outdoors
Practice Magnet Hand indoors - this one might be a little harder or less helpful to use regularly, but the more it can be muscle memory, the more helpful it will be if you do need it.
Next Steps: Inspiration Private Session , 05/21 at 10:30am, Rockburn Park
Moving Away From Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* This Way - Emergency U Turn Behavior
* Using Hand Targeting for Reactivity
05/21/23: Inspiration Session #3
Moving Away From Triggers
* Head Halter and Relaxation Check In
* This Way - Emergency U Turn Behavior
* Using Hand Targeting for Reactivity
It was great to see you and Zuko today and to meet Em! I know we did more troubleshooting than new behaviors, but hopefully it was helpful, and I was definitely happy to see him work off of a few of his more moderate triggers in the environment. I’m glad to see him increasingly take food from me even though it takes him a moment to warm up.
I do think that luring, particularly with the “this way” cue is going to be a losing battle for him, so rather than the instructions as laid out in the video, I would focus on generating that head turn, and then rewarding either a hand target or presenting the food just to the side of his mouth rather than him getting a face-full of it as that does seem like something he’s working to avoid. As we discussed, think about what makes most sense for your family and the way you use the cues - either adding a quicker head turn and a focus on you to his existing “let’s go!” cue or building “this way” to be a sharper turn than his current redirection cue.
Next Steps: Inspiration Private Session , 06/12 at 6:00pm, Rockburn Park
Coping with Triggers in the Environment
* Skills Check In
* The Yo-Yo Pattern Game
* Work off a Person and Neutral Dog
I’m also starting to use an app called Marco Polo as a way to connect with anything students would like feedback on or want me to see between sessions - if you download the app on your phone, you’ll have essentially a direct video walkie talkie connection to me and can send me quick videos or questions about the behaviors you’re working on or behavior/body language you notice from Zuko on a walk. I’m able to review and quickly provide video or feedback as a response.
For Em! - For your reactive service pup, plan on working through some of the same behaviors that Zuko has been introduced to. Let me know where you need to troubleshoot (you’re welcome to use Marco Polo as well) - if we get into details we may want to set up a session, but I don’t think we would need to start from Ground Zero since you already have much of the same resources for Zuko already!
Once you’re comfortable, you can get Paima (I think I got the name right) signed up for the in-person reactivity coaching class I’m linking below. That’s four sessions long, and then from there maybe we can do a private or two at a more populated area if that would be helpful!
I’m also linking the Facebook group for the IGP training meetups that my group goes to in Boyds - they’re very welcoming and you’re totally welcome to come without a dog and watch (as long as that’s fun for you haha)
Short Rest Boarding: Heroes’ Guild Notes
Monday, 06/26:
We have a busy week this week! We have a few overlaps with boarding dogs, which meant we had lots of guests for our Day School today! After a few of the dogs had their treadmill runs, we worked on introducing Penny to the mill as well. She’s still a little uncertain about the whole process, so my focus is in building her confidence and making it fun for her. After some treadmill time, we worked on relaxation for the majority of the group - either through a little worry or a lot of enthusiasm, lots of our day schoolers struggle to settle near other dogs. We started with Lexi and Seeger. Lexi isn’t one of the pups that are excited to play, so she and Seeger have had very few reasons to interact or see one another. We worked behind a barrier and eventually brought them close to one another. And then with our Thursday dog Korra, who is boarding until Wednesday, settling next to Penny after they found out they were long lost besties. The last settle session worked off of Fig, since Zuko can be a little extra uncertain about other dogs, and I was already asking Korra to work a second session off of relaxation off of our guest Soom Soom .
Andre was feeling a little under the weather today, but continued his hind end awareness work with backing up (a couple solid steps onto the platform today! and pivot bowl work. Lexi and Seeger also worked on the pivot bowl for their second session, while Zuko worked on confidence taking food outdoors and offering relaxation in a more stressful environment. The only dog who hasn’t yet had their second session is Soom Soom, who will be working at dusk on reactivity towards things he’s a little less sure about.
Tuesday, 06/27:
Today was another full day with lots of playtime and treadmill time for the pups between the heat and the storm! Each of the pups had some new playmates to meet, which resulted in some great opportunities to bust some energy even when things got stormy towards the afternoon. After mill time, both Snoop and Finn worked on offering the behavior of getting on and staying on the treadmill- Snoop got some more movement in there, and Finn worked on holding still once there!
In terms of hind end awareness, we did some pivot bowl work across the board - working through persistence with shaping with Finn, the perching behavior and some slight hind end shifts with Snoop, Korra, and Bailey, all the way up to some offered heel position with Pickle. We also worked on introducing a back up behavior for Bailey and Pickle, as well as with Korra.
Our other boarding pups, Soom Soom and Zuko, worked on “dog park TV” with the help of Korra, Finn, and Fig. While the three of them played, both boarding dogs worked on look at that and relaxing behind a barrier. They also worked on a “this way” cue to help them quickly exit bad situations.
Thursday 06/29:
I was hoping we’d get to play outside today, but the air quality from the wildfires is once again in the red range, so we stayed indoors to work and play! We did some Nosework for the dogs who are on odor - asking Oscar, Korra, and Snoop to do some interior hides - starting with an easier one, and then building to an elevated hide. Each of the pups did really well and were able to find the first two hides, with some help for the third, elevated hide.
Zuko had additional engagement sessions - he joined in with Coco and Oscar playing Give Me a Break to build drive motivation for engagement and training. Each of the pups were significantly more motivated by the end of the session and were able to offer simple cued behaviors followed by lots of breaks to do their own thing. Coco also played some dog park TV and worked on relaxing in her crate while Snoop and Korra had some playtime.
We continued shaping with several of the dogs as well. Snoop continued building the treadmill behavior - and we got some movement with the mill moving today! He’s doing excellent and I think we will see him move to treadmill outside of training sessions within a few more weeks. Korra got to the point of offering both feet on the pivot bowl so we can start building some movement into her hind end coordination, and Zuko worked on offering to wear a head halter.
*Sunday, 07/02:
Zuko skipped day school on Monday in favor of working the day before. We were at training club for the day, and Zuko had multiple opportunities to work off of the dogs and people there, as well as off of training sessions Charlotte was running with her dogs in a more populated area later. Zuko did phenomenal during these sessions, where rather than treats I focused on social interaction and distance as rewards.
See Marco Polo reels for those sessions!
Tuesday, 07/04:
Happy 4th of July! Today we focused on building confidence and exercising brains and bodies so everyone is set to settle quietly for a (hopefully) uneventful night. We started with continued introduction to the treadmill for Clover and for Snoop. Snoop has come a long way in building his confidence for the mill, and will move over to using the mill during enrichment and play time rather than as a training session. Clover was a little more uncertain today, but like our Monday pups, I’ll be taking a break with her to focus on other things after this week.
Honey and Zuko are working through their reactivity curriculum - Honey learned Ready Get It as a new game for her to play, while Zuko worked on his head halter conditioning. The others continued shaping behaviors by working on the pivot bowl - both Snoop and Clover did a great job of offering some rotation and moving counter clockwise around the bowl.
We continued working on confidence in crating with Honey since she’s still a little unsure about going into the crate at the beginning of the day. Zuko worked on this as well - while he enters the crate happily, he likes to bust his way out - either right away, or later when the door opens, which can make things tough for his family when taking him places!
Thursday, 07/06:
We’ve all survived the fourth, and focused on lots of time for decompression today as some of the dogs are still recovering from the additional stress of the holiday. We first worked on some shaping behaviors - with Natsuki, we continued to shape the chin rest that we started during his last session. We got more consistent nose touches to the pillow, and he seems clear on the behavior now - so the next step is a matter of adding some duration. With Korra and our guest, Zuko, we worked on having both dogs settle near one another. Zuko can be a little nervous about other dogs, and Korra is hard to convince that another dog might be a stranger, so this was a good exercise for both of them to build neutral behavior towards a relatively new dog (they did meet last week).
Continuing our muscle conditioning and hind end awareness, both Korra and Bailey worked on the pivot bowl today, with both of them getting really consistent with offering a paws up behavior - the next step is to get them moving their back legs to the left, which I think for both of them is a challenge. Both Korra and Bailey can get discouraged if the answer isn’t clear, so we’re trying to take this shaping exercise really slow and encouraging for them. Bailey also worked on shifting her weight back for a back up.
Oscar, Coco, and Natsuki are all building additional engagement behaviors. Natsuki is our star of the show here, as both Coco and Oscar were a little extra nervous today, so they mostly went back into play behaviors or non-contingent reinforcement to build comfort levels. Natsuki worked on staying attentive by the door both closed and shut - this is a huge deal for a dog who couldn’t pay attention anywhere in the room if he could instead stare out the door!
We also continued work on building social play. This is such an interesting group to watch because their play styles are different, so what has worked for confidence building is different as well. Oscar is the most experienced, and isn’t terribly physically sensitive. His absolute favorite thing to do is to bowl me over and then lay down with me. However, he’s incredibly sensitive to tone, so everything stays lighthearted and fun. Zuko has a similar rough and tumble play style, but likes to bounce up a little more and enjoyed it most when I cackled and teased him (no volume, sorry lol). As a contrast, Coco is much more physically sensitive than the two boys, so for her I’m standing and encouraging chasing games more than roughhousing. Each of the pups did incredibly well with this exercise and I’m excited to see how we can use it in training overall since all three of these dogs do not always reliably take treats.
Session Zero: Planning Session and Consultation
I’m sorry to hear Zuko’s been causing some difficulties in his arousal regulation while outdoors! While we will primarily focus on this during his board and train as well as general reactivity work, I wanted to include some of the precursor steps we discussed onto his website.
Keep him guessing! When headed outside with Zuko, ask for random behaviors that are familiar to him - sit, down, targeting, fun tricks, anything that he knows well - to keep him focused on you. Watch for the latency of the behavior to see if he’s able to continue to move forward or if he’s getting close to his threshold.
Wait and watch. Split “going outside” into several small steps. Observe when he starts to get tense and excited and work in the “guessing games” immediately before you expect him to start showing excited or tense body language.
Work in “Handful Sessions” - this is new from what we talked about, but especially because Zuko can be reluctant to engage and take treats, playing “handful sessions” throughout the day will help build his habit of engagement and make it easier for him to connect in challenging moments!