Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Posted by Animals at 5:44 PM Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Miles Goes to School

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 07:28 AM PST

Miles-and-DrLarry-relax I've mentioned that we have a little problem with Miles. He's a little fearful, especially when it comes to men. I had two friends over last weekend to watch some bowl games and Miles was reluctant to accept these visitors. Even after they had been here for a couple of hours Miles was still very nervous around them.

He's really good with other dogs and if there is a person attached to that dog they automatically get a pass. We were walking him off leash up on Boston Hill on Sunday and a friend walked up with her dog and all was fine. We even had a male Mountain Biker go by and Miles didn't seem to notice. The problem happens when someone comes over unexpectedly.
 
Miles does not like to have his turf invaded.
 
Miles had plenty of interaction with dogs as a puppy. He would spend all day playing with the neighbor dog. In fact they dug a tunnel underneath the fence separating the two yards so they could play together. The neighbor dog liked to bark at passers by and I think Miles might have learned this behavior from her.Miles-in-training
 
Tomorrow we are going over to our local training facility for a private lesson with the trainer on how best to deal with this issue. The trainer's name is Gail and she owns Mis Amigos Pet Center. She comes highly recommended by Cheryl and Riley, graduates of her clicker training course we've written about before. I'm a big fan of calling in an expert when I'm not real sure what to do myself.
 
I had a long conversation with Gail last week and I'm convinced we are on the same page as far as training goes. For her part it's all about rewarding good behavior. She likes to talk about catching them doing something good and reinforcing that behavior. I don't hear her talking about correction or some other code word for punishment. We also have to be aware that we don't unconsciously reinforce bad behavior by our reactions.
 
We have our appointment tomorrow afternoon. I'll report back on what we learned and how we are going to deal with this problem. 

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