Positive Training

Billy has been in positive training for quite a while now. There are lots we need to fix.  He is fear aggressive. He's afraid of all people except for his inner circle, he is afraid of dogs except for his sister Riley from another mother and my moms pup, Bryn, he is afraid of long things like dusters on a stick, curtain rods, rulers and measuring taped.  He despises water and hates anything that is faster then we moves except for cars. 

I would really like to know what happen to this poor boy before he ended up mine.

In the house Mr. Bills is a lovebug! Outside in the big bad world he is a wreck!

What's a Billy....

This is Billy and here is his background....

I wish I would have started this blog last year but guess it's never too late...

I started fostering Billy in the spring of 2011.  When he first came to me he was a gentleman other than the fact that Billy was a barker.  I took Billy everyplace with me.  We went to the pet store and he went to the park and never any issues.  About three weeks into fostering him, I decided to take him and my other dog to Mines Falls for a walk. While there, I noticed something was different with him.  He started to growling at dogs that past us, even at dogs that were far away from him.  It was quite the change from what I experienced in the first few weeks.  Unsure of what was going on, we decided it would be best to cut our walk short.  On the way back to the car we had to go down a narrow part of the path. A guy with his dog stopped so the dogs could sniff, I ask him to please keep going because something was up with Billy.  He did, but not before Billy growled and lunged at the dog and pulled me right to the ground. I was now scared and we still need to get to my car.  I gave my other leash to my mom and walked Billy alone.  I was tense and I’m sure he could feel it. We were near my car and I started to relax some when what seemed like out of no ware an unleashed dog was coming over the embankment and scared both Billy and I.  Billy barked and lunged at the dog and tried to bite it. He ended up nicking his nose.   Once I got Billy safely in my car, the owner of the dog Billy bit and I exchanged info.  Luckily, the owner was extremely understanding and nothing came of the bite.  At this point I wanted to adopt him because I was afraid for his future.  In the house and around his inner circle he is just a big love.  Knowing that he has some issues I still signed adoption paperwork the following week.  I had NO idea what I got myself into. 

Billy was now officially mine, I knew that I had to get him into training as soon as possible.  I went on a “word of mouth” referral and sign him up in a beginner’s doggie obedience that was corrective training using a collar made out of rope and looked like a choker and a leash. 

The first was an evaluation.   I explained to the trainer that Billy seemed to have issues with all other dogs.   In the evaluation, the trainer pushed Billy as hard as he could to see if Billy would bite him.  The trainer didn’t hold back. It was just awful to watch. But, I trusted that trainer and thought that this was what had to be done in order for me to help Billy.  The trainer told me that Billy could be helped. 

I started classes the following week.  The first thing I was taught was how to correct him. This entailed a snap of the leash that would cause a quick choke and then release.  At times the correction would cause Billy to yelp. Every time Billy growled, I was told to snap the leash and say NO.   This is the same thing that I was to do when I told him to sit and he got up before I released him. This is the same action I was to take every time Billy did something that I didn’t want him to do.  As time went on each class started  the same way, with me giving a synopsis of how the week went, followed by the trainer putting on his bite suit used in protection spots and pushing Billy as far as he could while I held the leash and yanking it with a hard corrections and saying NO. This was to teach Billy that he was not to act like that no matter what.  After about 20 min of correcting his growling, lunging and barking, we starting working in basic obedience.  I didn’t understand why Billy wasn’t really getting some of the basics.  I know now that he was completely shut down from all the stress that he has to endure.

A few weeks into the classes during that beginning of the class, Billy was so stresses from being exposed to the trainer provoking him that he expressed his anal glands and he was growling at me. Billy was so stressed that the trainer warned me to back off because Billy looked as if he was going to bite me.  Still, I thought this was the way it had to be, I was dealing with an aggressive dog.  I also noticed that Billy was now aggression issue towards people, something that wasn’t there prior to corrective training.

As the training went on, I was convinced that I need to buy and start using a shock training collar because I was not strong enough and my corrections were not consistent enough and that is why Billy’s behavior was not improving.  Until I could afford the 300.00 collar that was suggested, we used the collar that they trainer had.  So we continued training like this.  Every time Billy acted out he got a zap.  I finally purchased my own collar and started to use it.  I was told he was ready to be test around people.  So we headed to the park with a friend of mine and every time Billy reacted, zap.  Billy was so stressed that he almost bit my friend in the face and I was so angry, stressed and defeated that I was basically hanging Billy in the air by his training collar at a lost for options.

Billy did graduate from this training knowing sit, stay, come, and to wait at the door however, he was NOT a friendly dog and NOT a dog I could take with me. He was destined to never be out on public and to never be a dog.  I was still in a world of mess with Billy, he wanted want to attack everything, from a bird to a person walking to a dog even a half mile away.  I remember looking at him and just crying because I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought about euthanizing but, he was such a happy boy in the house, and I thought about returning him to the rescue but, what if he spent weeks on end in the shelter and it was decided that euthanizing was the only option. 

I was doing some reading on aggressive dog and realized that Billy’s issue was fear.  Time and time again I read that correction training and the fearful dog do not mix.  Then I came across an article that really frightened me.  It was about a dog that had bit someone. No warning, no growling just a bite. If further reading, that dog had been through corrective training.  It was explained in the article that the dog was corrected for the act of growling and not biting, so the dog just stopped growling.  It further explained that the problem was still there just the growl has stopped.  I know that I would rather get a warning from a dog rather than a bite. 

I contacted the rescue where I adopted Billy and asked if they could help.  They referred me AllBreeds and I went in for an evaluation.  I met with Britney and I explained Billy’s history.   She explained to me that she was trained using the correction method and she has used this training method on her dogs and she experienced the same resulted.  She explained that she now uses positive reinforcement and counter conditioning. She explained to me that when something that causes Billy to have an outburst come around, treats rain from the sky. She felt with time, consistency and patience Billy has a chance.  Since Britney has really “been there, done that”. I was a believer and was willing to put Billy’s future in the hands of the person willing to properly train me.

I’ve been seeing Britney for a few months now and Billy has shown remarkable progress.  She has shown me how to work on the underlying issues that are causing Billy to react and not by pain but by rewarding his good behavior.  She had me add additional exercise and mental stimulation that help wear Billy out. The differences between both training methods were incredible. Billy spent the first few weeks calm and was not given the chance to react. We gradually made changes that have positively impacted both our lives.  He can now go to the park and not react to every little critter, dog or person. I have learned to read his body language and know when something or someone is too close and we must back off.   Billy has started to look to me for guidance more and more each day.  He is still a work in progress and will be for a while.   There is no real quick fix.  In the past when Billy was correct for acting bad, he would cower, now when I reward the good behavior he looks to me for praise and looks for more chances to be good.  I get to tell him how he’s a good boy. I get to celebrate the small victories like ignoring the squirrel or the bird.  Not too long ago Billy and I were walking in my neighborhood and we came across various things that would make him have an outburst…  a kid on a scooter, someone walking their dog, some guy weeding near the end of the street and tethered dog that charges at us. Billy did bark but never lunged, I told him to look at me, we did and we exited.  Not once did he try to pull me.  This was one of the biggest celebrations so far.  Our relationship as improved and so has Billy’s confidence.  This is bar far the best decision I have made for Billy and myself!!