Sunday, December 16, 2012

Pshhh.. Calm. HAH!

Day two I didn't do too much. I was regularly tossing treats down for laying calmly, standing and not whining, sitting calmly, etc. All while just sitting at the laptop. It helps. A little. Day three. I tried a session tonight with Zen. Not sure if I want to look at the footage or just delete it. It was 40 minutes long. The first 10-15 consisted of him barking, whining, offering behaviors, and pacing. There were moments where he would offer a calming signal, or appear to be ignoring me, but each time I treated he started offering behaviors again. This will be a long road. I'm hoping I'm on the right track and that was some extinguishment burst or something. In order to get anything other than demanding behavior, I tried petting him and lots of rewarding of calming signals. (lip licking, soft eyes, etc) It didn't help that Rumor was right outside the bedroom door whining the WHOLE time. Then my husband came looking for me, so that stirred Zen up again. At least I got him to put Rumor outside for the rest of the session. I ended with a rub-down/massage and I feel like Zen needs to go back to the chiropractor. It's been a few weeks and a couple of agility trials and I think his back is tight again. I got the best results just rubbing his neck and shoulder area. Any lower and he was wiggly and restless. Tomorrow I'm going to Houston for a few days and Zen gets to come with. Hopefully I'll have some time to just bond and do some calm walks and possibly a session in my brother's house where I know it will be quiet and distraction free.

No comments:

Post a Comment