“Touch.” I thought our trainer had gone a cue too far. Why on earth would I want Sadie to touch her nose, sweet as it is, to the palm of my hand? On Cue? This is nuts, I thought. Make work. I wanted Sadie to sit, and down, and come, and leave it, and settle. Real dog training. But, touch. Not so much.
Well, that was then. Sadie has since taught me that while “touch” is a great cue for all dogs to learn, it’s been a godsend for her, a shy, fearful and sometimes reactive dog. For Sadie, “touch” built a bridge from: “OMG! That strange (fill in the blank) is evil. It’s going to kill me.” Bark! Lunge. Bark! Lunge.–to–“Oh wow! Check out that new (fill in the blank). I’ll bonk it with my nose and roast beef will pop into my mouth!”
Sadie’s first bark and lunge fit occurred two years ago. She was seven months old. I remember it like it was yesterday. She and I were enjoying a walk on one of the many wooded trails in the foothills west of Boulder when a woman wearing a baby-toting back pack seemingly appeared out of nowhere walking towards us. It must have looked like a hunched-back, two-headed monster to Sadie and I’m certain she thought it was a mortal threat. She barked ferociously, stood on her hind legs and lurched at the end of her leash. Horrified, I tried to move her as far off the trail as I could, hoping distance would help her to feel safer. But, distance made no difference. The threat was still in sight and the noise and struggle continued. Sadie was inconsolable. She seemed out of her mind. Which she was. She was out of her thinking mind. All amygdala no cortex. I felt helpless to help her. Tears poured down my face. Oh my god. I knew she was a shy dog. We were working on that with our trainer. But, aggression! Was Sadie fear-aggressive? Was this a harbinger of things to come? Suddenly all my hopes–Sadie my boon companion about town, my hiking buddy–dissolved. I wasn’t merely sad; I was grief-stricken.
I spun into help-seeking overdrive. I bought more positive training books on helping fearful and aggressive dogs than I would ever read in full. Mostly I took comfort in the similar stories of the authors; Sadie and I were not alone. I spent hundreds of dollars on animal behaviorists and communicators, and healing touch therapy. All were kind but of no significant help. Mostly they just confirmed that, yes, indeed, you have one fearful pup. “You better get to work on this or she could become aggressive.” One threw up her hands in exasperation, “Your dog needs meds!” Despite my calls, that was the last I heard from her. Fantasies of living down the road from Patricia McConnell looped through my mind. Surely she could save us.
Finally, when I surfaced from my own trauma enough to focus on Sadie, I realized her behavior was her way of crying out for help. Protect me. Help me feel safe. Help me feel confident. Help me calm down. Help me to not react. Help me to focus. Help me to recover more quickly when I do get frightened. I want to see the world as interesting and fun. Please help me!
Of course one cue, “touch,” in and of itself, couldn’t accomplish all of this. And Sadie and I are still a work-in-progress. But the “touch” cue we had learned in puppy kindergarten with Gigi had laid the foundation for new, possibly life-saving, cues and behaviors. “Sadie, go say hi.” And, off she trots to touch hands she once feared especially those reaching out to her. Somebody looking a little unusual coming at us on the trail? Sadie touches my hand as I lead her to the side of the trail. Once there, Sadie focuses on a variety of “touch” games until the “menace” passes. “Nose.” Sadie touches my nose with hers. (My personal favorite.) “Paw.” Her paw lands on the toe of my shoe. “Shake.” Well, you can guess.
And then there are all those everyday things that happen that merely startle normal dogs but scare fearful pups as if the world were coming to an end. Boxes fall out of the closets. Grocery carts roll by too close for comfort. Metal chairs scrape against concrete in an outdoor cafe. The list goes on. But, rather than bolt to the end of her leash, Sadie now momentarily flinches and looks at me. I point to the awful thing and in an upbeat tone say, “Touch.” Slowly she approaches and touches it with her nose. Click then treat. She touches again. Click and treat, again. Soon it’s a game. Click. Treat. Click. Treat. Yeah!
Is it possible that when she feels ambivalently about something–“Hmm. Not sure about that, but I’m curious”–that that in and of itself is a cue to “touch” that thing? I don’t know. I’m not sure if feelings can act as cues for behaviors. What I do know is that Sadie is less reactive. She’s relying more on a learned behavior, touch, instead of spinning out. She’s thinking. She’s using her cortex. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful that is for her and me.
In fact, touch has become so successful that we are now needing to learn a new cue to interrupt touching every hand in sight. For reasons Sadie cannot fathom, nor can I really, not all hands, especially those just hanging there, want to be touched by a wet brown poodle nose. And, of course, not all offending inanimate objects are safe to touch. So now we are working on “turn.” As I see Sadie heading for an unsuspecting hand or object of questionable safety I say “turn.” She turns on a dime. Click. Treat.
If you want to teach your dog the “touch” cue, also called hand targeting, watch this video.
I LOVE this article. You captured the emotional side of having a reactive dog and the joy that comes with normalcy. I’m sharing this with clients who balk at learning Touch!
Grisha
Thank you so much for your appreciation. And, thank you for sharing this with your clients. There are so many fearful, reactive dogs. Breaks my heart. But, I’m so glad there are people like you who are helping.
Deborah
[…] well she captures the mind of the dog, so you should read it yourself! For the full post, visit the Boulder Dog website Written by Grisha Stewart, Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle Tweet This […]
What a good problem you ended up with! 😉
Another great exercise for fearful or reactive dogs is the Look At That game made popular by Leslie McDevitt in Control Unleashed.
I’ve put up videos of how I’ve used hand targeting to practice a recall and meeting new people here on the fearfuldogs.com website.
http://www.fearfuldogs.com/targeting.html
Yes! Sadie and I, with our trainer Gigi, have been working on McDevitt’s cue, Look At. OMG! It works so well. Sadie now sees scary things before I do. (I’m always on the lookout 🙂 She looks and then turns back to me. Of course, we started with clicking her looking at the scary thing and then when she started to look back at me, clicking and treating that. I know you know the relief and joy we feel when our fearful dogs gain a little more confidence and sense of well-being in the world. Pure grace.
Thank you for referencing your videos. All are very helpful.
Thanks to Grisha, I was lucky enough to have been able to read this post.
I wish that everyone would take such interest, and show the concern you have done, in recognizing what a miserable state it is, for any living being, to constantly remain in a total state of fear. So few people recognize this, and it saddens me that the average, ordinary, person that choses to bring a dog into their life, would not even have considered taking the step of attending “kindegarten” classes. Someone on a list I belong to, after reading my concern for how important it is for people to be educated, as to why the importance of, at least, the basic life skills, is so necessary for successful and rewarding relationships between people in their dogs, reported that less than 10% of people who have dogs, offer any training at all. That is more than disturbing for me and gives more reason for me to feel that if spaying and neutering are part of “responsible” pet ownership, surely proper life skills training should be as well. Both areas help keep the “unwanted” and abandonned, dogs from shelters, and/or worst case, euthanasia.
I feel certain that there are very many people who would not have even given Sadie a chance, or rather, not paid enough attention, and then have had her bite someone, then leading to many negative possibilites.
I can only hope that your blog, along with the type of information Grisha offers, will somehow reach that average person, who would ordinarily not even think to pick up a book on the subject of dogs, or the training of them.
For the life of me, I cannot find a way to really reach these type people and it is such a strong passion within me, to do so.
Please keep up the great blog and of course, I will reach out and allow Sadie to “touch” my hand, if ever the opportunity presents itself.
Dear Kim
Thank you so much for your moving comments. I’m so taken by what you had to say. Less than 10% of people who have dogs offer any training at all? That’s appalling to me. I hadn’t thought about it before, but now that you mention it, indeed, helping your dog to learn basic life skills should be right up there with spaying and neutering.
And I have to be honest with you. I was so upset upon discovering Sadie was fearful and reactive that I wasn’t sure I could keep her. And, this was long before the first bark-lunge episode. I felt totally overwhelmed. Because I got Sadie from a reputable breeder, had I decided that I couldn’t cope, I would have been required by contract to return her to the breeder. Obviously, I kept her. But, I had a LOT of help. I needed it, and still do. For her and me. Our weekly sessions with Gigi truly are as much for her as they are therapy for me!
Thank you again for your kind and encouraging words. And, please thank Grisha for Sadie and me.
Wonderful post, truly touching (no pun intended). Thank you for sharing.
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what a great article! i’ve been there too. awesome job deborah
leslie
Thank you so much.
what an excellent article, deborah; thanks for sharing your experiences with sadie from back when you first began learning how to be best friends to each other. i think it’s brave of you to include your thought process as you realized that sadie was fear-reactive and wondered whether you were a good fit for each other. how awesome that her anxiety and your willingness to work with her has ultimately seemed to strengthen the bond between you.
thanks for sharing the particulars, too. distracting sadie with ‘nose’ and ‘paw’ etc. are a great idea. actually, i need someone to do that kind of ptsd-clicker training on me, ha ha, when i start seriously panicking and stressing about life issues. ;>) come to think of it, they say knitting is good stress relief for adults and kids b/c it unites the two sides of the brain as you use both hands at the same time to do this form of handiwork. think we can use ‘knit’ and ‘purl’ w/dogs to same good effect?? :>)
my partner and i are about to adopt a fearful and shy dog, so i’m doing research on some reassuring ways to interact as we are out and about together, and your thoughts and observations have been very helpful. i’m off to view videos on youtube of the ‘touch’ request, but last thing before i go:
i could totally relate to wishing patricia mcconnell lived nearby!! coincidentally, i just finished _the other end of the leash_ a few days ago and loved it, and i’ve been wishing she could sit on my shoulder as my benevolent dog training angel and whisper in my ear so i don’t mess things up w/ my rescue dog too much on my own before we can find a good training class/behaviorist of our own.
best wishes to you and sadie. thanks again for taking the time to post your thoughts!
Thank you so much for you kind words. I wish you all the best with your new pup. Here are two resources you might find helpful. http://www.fearfuldogs.com is written by Debbie Jacobs. She’s a wealth of excellent information about working with fearful dogs. Also, try Mary’s Dogs Blog (gooogle it). Mary is fostering a fear dog she named Aaron and she’s documenting their progress.
[…] by, for which she was reinforced. I described some of these behaviors in a previous post, “Magic Touch for Fearful Dogs.” Leslie McDevitt describes the ‘look‘ cue in her book, Control […]