I realize that I haven't given an update in a while! Shame on me. So, here it is.
Our CU class is officially over. However, we all know that you can't really get through CU in 5 weeks. So, our trainer decided to keep us going "unofficially". Someone found us a barn to work in and all we have to do is split the cost of renting the barn for a few hours. This amounts to about $10 per class. We have been meeting about twice a month since the class officially ended. Also, since our class was such a success, the trainer decided to offer it again (officially). She got such a good response, I believe that she had to split it up in to 2 groups.
Anyway, looking back, Abbie probably should not have even been in CU class. She was right on the border of not being appropriate and being too reactive. So, we did not make the same progress as everyone else. However, I'm more than happy with the progress that we have made and I totally realize that I can't compare her to the other dogs. She is what she is and I have to work with it.
During most of our CU classes, I pretty much stayed in our box and worked on LAT and mat/relaxation work with sheets covering our "walls". All the other dogs were doing box work, there's a dog in your face and parallel games while I laid on the floor with Abbie and gave her treats and massages. Every so often, I would crack open a space between our "walls" so she could see the other dogs and get treats for not reacting. If she reacted, the sheets went back up. Eventually, I worked on exiting our box with her and doing whiplash turns to re-orient to me. Then we would immediately return to our box and I would tell her "go to your blanket" and give her another massage and treats. Of course, it wasn't always perfect. She probably reacted about 20% of the time, but that is still pretty good.
2 CU get together's ago, I was able to bring Abbie in to the big box in the middle of the room. All the dogs were in their own boxes, but she knew they were there and could see most of them. However, I brought her blanket in with us and we worked for a very short time on LAT, blanket stuff and passive attention. She never reacted, but she was a little stressed. I kept the exercise short and she got more massages and treats back in our box.
During our last CU get together, the trainer put an agility jump and tunnel in the big working box area so each dog could go in and have a fun time while the other dogs were in their boxes or working just outside of the big working box. Abbie did FANTASTIC. Even when one of the girls was playing tug with her malanois, Abbie's little tail was wagging. I was thrilled. She was relaxed and happy, eager to do the jump and tunnel.
Because she did so well, we tried some parallel walking with one of the passive dogs in the group. It was stressful and she started to react, but I was able to redirect her ok with our coping skills.
So, that's pretty much where we are at. She loves loves loves her blanket. That is such a powerful tool. I had no idea how important it would be when we started. No matter what is going on around her while she is on that blanket, she stays calm and relaxed. It's amazing.
Even more amazing is just how much impulse control she has learned. I take her to every SAR training with Neiko and I just so she can be around the other dogs and people. She is never out of the car when the other dogs are near, but she still knows that they are there. On Sunday, I took her to one of the pet stores and we sat in the corner working on LAT. 2 guys brought their PB's in and were working on their training, walking up and down the aisles and such. One came somewhat near (not within leash distance tho) and Abbie started to react, then caught herself, whiplash turned to me, sat down and waited for her treat (which I had ready!). One of the staff saw it and said "Wow! It's like Victoria Stillwell" haha. I was surprised that anyone even noticed really because it happened so fast. I could have jumped for joy though. The fact that she actually caught herself and turned to me was just down right awesome.
So, we are getting there. It will be interesting to see where she is a year from now. I'm so lucky that we have a trainer in our area that was willing to do this class...and is willing to donate her time to see us continue as well!
Edited to add: Since the PB's were so well trained I decided to kind of use them to work on Abbie. Each time one of the PB's came in to view I would go "There's the puppy!!" and feed abbie treats. When they went out of sight, I stopped the treats and said "Uh oh, the puppy's gone". After doing this for about 5 mins, Abbie started wagging her nub whenever the PB came in to sight. Not bad :)