Crios..Help me.. with Control Unleashed

shihtzusandwich · 12-11-2009, 06:53 PM

Okay..so I'm reading the book "Control Unleashed"..It reads like an instruction manual, which is helpful..but I'm now to the Chapter about reactive dogs (My Rally) and how to help them..She says to play the "Look at that game" and she encourages the Reactive dog, to pay attention to the 'other' dogs..whether they be nearby..walking down the road..running..etc.. This is the COMPLETE opposite of everything I've been taught (which I'm not saying is right, but this is just a foreign concept to me) so I'm just trying to understand it all.. I know you have read the book so I need help..

When she says encourage the reactive dog ANY time he see's other dogs..does that mean I should encourage the excitement, and barking too?

Is this for any dog he see's at anytime? And I should just reward and say "Look at that" to make it work?

Wouldn't it be like encouraging excited/nervous/anxious/ behavior? Or is that what I'm supposed to be doing, since I have not had success discouraging that behavior??

Sorry for all the questions, but like I've said, I've been told to ignore bad behavior, so encouraging it seems bizarre..but I'm willing to do whatever to get him back to a normal state..

THANKIE!!

**Criosphynx** · 12-12-2009, 02:06 AM

Hi!

I think you may be misunderstanding the game...you are rewarding the dog for looking and nothing else. If he barks/reacts you have moved to fast, or your timing is slow...

here is Chili playing it a few months ago..you can see him look, freeze up/get stiff, but before he barks...I say "yes" (click) and then reward him...sorry the quality is bad.

he had already practiced this a month or more (i forget) when I took this video, so in the begining of training I actually had to be faster and further away, but the time I took this he was already starting to control himself. Its the look/freeze BEFORE the outburst that your are clicking for...it all happens very fast, so your timing must be spot on...and eventually, since the dogs emotions actually change, they will be less dramatic about it...eventually they will just sideways glance at it, OR they wont even look at all...Chili doesn't look at a 1/3 of the stuff he used too.

YouTube - Chili Playing "look at that"

there should be a microinstant where the dog sees the trigger but hasn't reacted yet...thats when you click...if you click and the dog ignores the click...then your too close.

your changing the dogs emotion behind seeing the other dog, so in time when he sees another dog, he will automatically look back at you for his cookie.

**Criosphynx** · 12-12-2009, 02:49 AM

heres a few more links for you

before
YouTube - Yoshi Before Control Unleashed

after (during is a better description)
YouTube - Yoshi Plays Look At That (using a clicker)

shihtzusandwich · 12-12-2009, 09:59 AM

So how do you get to that point? Rally is like the video of Yoshi in the first clip..Lunging barking crazy.. and I notice she just walks away..Lets him calm down, then when he looks over, she treats..Is that right? So when Rally is going crazy, I need to walk away, but then wait for him to look back..When he looks back I treat? Or when he looks back, then looks at ME treat him?

**Criosphynx** · 12-12-2009, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shihtzusandwich

So how do you get to that point? Rally is like the video of Yoshi in the first clip..Lunging barking crazy.. and I notice she just walks away..Lets him calm down, then when he looks over, she treats..Is that right? So when Rally is going crazy, I need to walk away, but then wait for him to look back..When he looks back I treat? Or when he looks back, then looks at ME treat him?

I think she let yoshi get "too close" for the sake of the video, so avoid getting too close if you can.

but yes, the dog looks and she treats....just treat the looking for now...once the dog is 100% not reacting you can wait for him to look and then LOOK BACK at you...this step takes a while so don't rush it.

start as far away as you have too...even if that means hundreds of feet away.

Brittany · 12-12-2009, 05:34 PM

I could actually use this same technique for Kimber's obsession with balls right? Lately I just keep a tennis ball with me on walks and let him have it if people are playing with balls in our sight and it has worked somewhat but it sounds like this technique would work to actually fix the problem.

**Criosphynx** · 12-12-2009, 05:56 PM

reward good behavior with the ball instead of distracting him with it? Oh yes, that would work definetly

as long as you can hide it well beforehand

Brittany · 12-12-2009, 06:09 PM

Oh no I mean just click and treat when he looks at me instead of the ball that someone else is playing with. Same as what you told shihtzusandwich to do except my distraction is a ball instead of a dog.

**Criosphynx** · 12-12-2009, 06:30 PM

oh yes yes, definetly! Sorry I misunderstood.

while controlled unleashed is written for reactive dogs, there are really alot of exercises that most dogs can use.

shihtzusandwich · 12-12-2009, 09:23 PM

I tried it with Rally tonight. We are at my parents house, and there is another reactive dog that Rally hates. Neither of them get to the point of Attack, but they do not like each other..So when they were both in the house and he growled at her, I would blow in his face..He looked to me, and then I treated..We did it again, and again..Eventually he quit reacting a bit..I know I'm probably not supposed to wait for him to growl, but I'm trying to take baby steps with Rally, and he wasn't lunging, or barking, just a low growl while looking at her..So if I blew on his head, it would cause the growl to stop, he looked away from her, and then he would look to me, and I would reward, and pet..he seems to really respond to this..I know we will not be able to do this much, and it might be wrong..but it seems that he got better as we did the exercise, and became less responsive to the other dog..I'm hoping thats okay..