Caution: I posted this in the CM section to get good advice on how to do this properly. If you want to engage in an ideological debate on alpha rolls in general, please start another thread elsewhere! Thank you in advance for your respectfulness.
I've been doing counter-conditioning/desensitising with treats and praise, I've been making like a tree, I've been adopting an "I'm in charge" attitude, Ixa's reactivity's been getting *better*. I've been doing NILIF, clicker training, massage and lots of exercise. For the most part, I have a good relationship with my dog, except this neurotic behavior, that I truly believe I've been feeding.
Yesterday, as I was backing away from a white poodle that inspired Ixa to flip like a salmon at the end of the leash I said, "nope," and I decided to stop "feeding" this problem.
I put Ixa in a down and rolled her on her side and held her there for a minute or so till she calmed down a little bit. She was surprised, I felt conflicted. But afterwards, I had about 15 minutes of the most perfect, beautiful, peaceful, dare I say divine, masterful walk I've ever experienced. We moved as one, she as mine. In a harmony of my making.
It felt much less like "manhandling" than I expected it to. In fact, it felt kinder and gentler than all the tugging of her I'd been doing to "move her to a comfortable distance" when she became agitated. It felt like the way you'd restrain someone in seizure so they wouldn't hurt themselves. I had my hands directly on her, and she was in a safe place below my body. Since I need her to trust me to be the one who handles the outside world, it felt like a more appropriate image to be trustful of.
I'd like to try this, or something similar, again, next time she lunges at another dog, which I'm sure she will since I've been *letting her* do it for 3 months now.
For those of you who do use alpha rolls in appropriate contexts, is this an appropriate context? Should I be doing a shoulder/neck poke instead? Is there a downside to doing this (doing this incorrectly) that you'd like to warn me about? Please help me understand how to do this successfully, so that she gets the full benefits of the message, and so I don't invite her to bite me. I feel confident to try this again with her, and the 2 trainers I have relationships with don't do this kind of behavior, so I'm looking to you folks for advice with this. I'm guessing if I do it right, I'll probably only have to do it a few more times.
I assume that the more I get my body over hers, the less I will have to use my hands to "push" her to the ground?
Where should I be holding her once she's on her side? Side of the face? Chest? Throat?
Do I look at her, look her in the eye when I'm doing this? Should I say nothing?
What signs of submission should I be looking for before I let her up?
I assume I don't give her affection after letting her up, but rather continue on with business as usual?
How do you do it? What are you willing to share to help me?
*Note: I am still going to continue with the counter-conditioning, nilif and all the other stuff I do, I don't consider this a "replacement" or a fix-all for this problem, simply another tool.
Edited to change subject heading