Control Unleashed

There's an email list that I'm on that is for CU people.  The author frequently answers questions.  If you're interested in more info, pm me and I'll find the info for you.  But I'd be happy to discuss here too or have a group online class.  (I don't really post on the email list and it is a fairly high volume list) 

I actually started working on LAT yesterday w/Zpuppy at Lowe's.  We needed to go there and she was in the car, so in she went.  She was very good and loved getting lots of treats, but I'm not sure if she really go the LAT game.  Then I decided I should go re-read that portion in the book. 

I'm on the list already, but it is pretty high volume and kind of intimidating. I'd rather just have a chat here with people I already know and like

Leslie did make an interesting point about LAT at the seminar I attended with her--that she's noticing that people are trying to jump into CU with that without doing all the preliminary stuff first, and she meant it as a progression. She didn't want people to be doing LAT in a vaccuum.

Have you tried doing Gimme a Break? I saw some absolutely incredible stuff happen with that at the seminar.  

I haven't read the book, but I'm interested and will probably buy it. Can someone tell me what LAT stands for?

LAT stands for the Look At That game, which for me really represents what makes CU so different from most other reactive dog rehabilitation programs. It's a training game that teaches a dog to look at the thing that is worrying them, and then return attention to the handler, instead of demanding 100% attention from an anxious dog and never allowing them to look at their trigger. It flows from Leslie McDevitt's assessment of reactivity as an "information-seeking strategy". So you let the dog get his information which helps them get a handle on their triggers, get the information they need and feel more comfortable.

Her demo dog Snap was at the seminar I attended and he's a complete ace with Look at That. When she first got him he was really super reactive and shut-down, and one of the things that was at the top of his trigger list was loud noises and barking dogs. At the seminar there was a samoyed who just would not. shut. up with this high pitched bark. Leslie brought Snap out of his crate and said "Look at the dog that's barking!" and Snap calmly looked over at the samoyed for a second, then looked back at Leslie. It was pretty awesome.  

I have the book, and have been trying this in some situations with client dogs, and it has been working well.  I do think that the basic "look to the handler" idea is sound, and without that the LAT can't succeed very well, since you don't want to extend the time the dog is focused on something else to the point where he becomes aroused by it.  It pays to utilize that millisecond of looking at the scary thing, and have the remainder of the learning take place in what I call a "safe zone".  The gradual acclimatization, and the handler attitude of nonchalance, or even upbeat acceptance, is helpful to many dogs in being able to change their opinion about a scary stimulus.  JMHO

Cool! I've sort of been doing something similar with Keefer. He's become so barky around other dogs when he's on leash, primarily I believe because I rarely do leash walks with my dogs, and they are used to being able to interact freely with other dogs on our off leash walks every weekend. He's highly social, and loves to go up and greet other dogs. He's just over two years old, VERY energetic, highly distractible, easily aroused, with a low tolerance for frustration. He was throwing doggy tantrums because his desire to greet and play with every dog he sees was being thwarted. He's not fearful or aggressive, I've been doing NILIF with him since he was 9 weeks old and he's quite obedient around the house, he just needed more training under different, more distracting circumstances.

At first I started working with getting him to watch me until released on our walks, without any other dogs in sight. And then I'd use other dogs as bait, but from a distance he could handle without going off. Rather than tell him to watch me, or to specifically look at the other dog, I'd just talk to him with a happy face and voice, reward him for attention, and when he noticed the other dog I'd simply wait without saying anything. When he looked back at me, I'd reward him with a jackpot of treats and praise. I was able to find a couple of dogs behind chain link fences next to the sidewalk that I could use to work him gradually closer and closer to as he learned to control himself. At that point I'd tell him "look, there's a doggy over there!" in a happy tone of voice when we saw a dog across the street or in a yard and let him look as long as he wanted, then do the jackpot when he looked at me. On one walk we had 5 bait dogs to work with, and he didn't bark at a single one!

I think it's a good idea to let them look at what's interesting or stressing them rather than try to get perfect attention in the face of a distraction that big. I've never heard of it explained as a specific strategy, it just seems too hard to expect a dog to keep his eyes glued on you when there's that much going on, and I also like the idea of letting it be the dog's idea to look away and choose to focus on his owner rather than having to always command him to do so. When both Dena & Keefer were very young I'd sit down with them with a clicker and a bag of treats and reward them for spontaneous attention, really my first significant experience with using a clicker. I'd read about capturing behaviors so I thought I'd give it a try.

I keep meaning to buy this book and never get around to it. It sounds great. 

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Okay, well, you got me.   I haven't done much, certainly not any organized progression.  We were at Lowe's and board as DH was picking up lumber (and getting it cut) for several Aframes.  Zpuppy isn't reactive, at least not that I've ever seen in any circumstance, but she is distractive (I mean we are talking about a badsenji).   And I was pleased with her focus in a new, strange environment.  Of course, thankfully, anywhere she's never been is only a new environment for about 2 seconds before she decides she owns the place.     I should also add for any Lurkers out there, this 11 month old puppy has been to lots of new places, normally dogshows but other places too, and is always charming, curious and usually fearless.  Dogs and puppies with a more cautious nature should be handled differently.  But, I will not try to get ahead of myself again and do as Houndlove has suggested.  This will be how we spend our winter training sessions since I and my dogs are fair weather agility team.

 I'm waiting for my copy to arrive so will chime in when I get stuck in

houndlove

Her demo dog Snap was at the seminar I attended and he's a complete ace with Look at That. When she first got him he was really super reactive and shut-down, and one of the things that was at the top of his trigger list was loud noises and barking dogs. At the seminar there was a samoyed who just would not. shut. up with this high pitched bark. Leslie brought Snap out of his crate and said "Look at the dog that's barking!" and Snap calmly looked over at the samoyed for a second, then looked back at Leslie. It was pretty awesome.  

Snap sound exactly like Chloe. I have the book but haven't finished it. I am still on Chapter 3 or 4 I forgot which but I am too busy to read at this point in time. Its been sitting here for 3 months just collecting dust.

I am just getting into it, Chap 3 I think.  It's great so far and I love the theories behind it.  How many trainers have told me, "Don't let your dog sniff!", "You need to be more interesting!", "Your reward isn't valuable enough!".   Blah, I'm glad to hear someone actually thinks some of that is bologney.   ;)  I have been using sniffing as a reward for several months now and my dogs have WAY better attention now then they did last spring!  Pepper will even look away, like she's thinking about going off to sniff, then turn back to me.  Or I'll say "Free go sniff" and she'll run off a few steps, sniff, then come back.  So yeah, it does work!