Can't Get No Satisfaction

November 23rd, 2012

I decided to take some action instead of blogging that I had a horrible day.  The first thing I did was to call Shelly.  She was a trainer that had worked with Drake the last four months that he was in prison.  I wrote a note to a lady here in Austin that works with blind and deaf dogs.  I sent a couple of paragraphs describing Drake and our issues, asking her for to arrange for an evaluation of him.  I called my friend Debi, who has a blind/deaf double dapple named Chewy.  I discussed some problems that I thought we had in common with our dogs.  They are also both two years of age.  The difference is that Drake was rescued at one and a half years old.  Chewy has been with Debi since he was 5 weeks old.  I also reread the notes that Christi made for me through her time training Drake.

My best information came from Shelly.  We talked about an hour and I was sort of retrained on how to handle Drake.  Many of the things that she said rang a bell, but had been buried with me trying new things and listening to people that have no idea about Drake.  The first thing was the water spray bottle.  She emphasized that I had to have it all of the time.  Well, I never take it outside and she also suggested that I get a little water gun (child's) to carry when I take him to dog, grain or building stores so if he throws a fit I have a very quick remedy.  Somewhere along the line I had started saying no, no instead of spraying.  Then no, no starting becoming less effective I started removing him and putting a lead on him.  These things aren't bad, but April was right to say that I was the weak link.  I felt his respect dissolve and have not known hod to regain it.  However, after Shelly had candidly shared his bite history, I decided I had to get his respect or he would slip back to biting.

The other thing that I figured out as I listened to her was that I was letting the compulsive behavior go on too long before correction.  We share the feeling that Drake has a psychological problem, probably stemming from his breeding.  I am guilty of not keeping up with his trainig as I shold.  She reminded me that when he left he would stay in place for 45 minutes, now he bardly goes into hold,  Most of his problems are temper (frustration), overstimulation (compulsive behavior) or some small wire crossed in is little brain.  We neither think that he will ever just be a dog, but that a lot of his odd behavior can be changed with constant reinforcement.  Also, the crate has to be used again.

My conversation with Debi didn/t really get to the meat of any of our problems.  We are becoming good friends and I think that we will be a good source of comfort and infromation.  The notes revealed a lot and also are a valuable tool if I use them.  I know that I can do so much better with Drake now that I feel refocsed.