The doggie gods smiled on Sadie and me. Celestial kongs aligned. A solution to a challenge that has vexed us for months—walking across a bridge under which Sadie was convinced there lurked a dog-devouring troll–seemingly magically appeared.
See the guy on the bridge? He’s not a troll. That’s Ira, Sadie’s dad, and she’s worried
Ira courageously takes a stand on the Troll Bridge
that he surely has lost whatever kibble she thinks he has left for brains, daring nonchalantly to venture onto the troll bridge as if danger did not lurk!
Sadie has refused to place paw on that dog-trap-cum-bridge ever since we first stumbled upon it last August. And, I wouldn’t much care except that as it turns out the troll bridge connects two beautiful off-leash trails—one along the shore
Winter sun over Boulder Reservoir
of Boulder Reservoir and the other around Coot Lake. (Sorry, I have no earthly idea why it’s called Coot Lake.)
Sadie and I regularly visit the reservoir during summer to play in the water and we often take walks around the lake. But it wasn’t until we ventured off our beaten path late last summer that I discovered the reservoir and lake trails were linked by a little footbridge inhabited by it’s very own canine-craving troll.
We have since walked many times to the bridge, but not over it. I’ve seen numerous dogs trot across the wooden planks oblivious to the danger lurking below. But, not Sadie.
I had pulled all the tricks I had out of my treat-bag to help her face down the troll. I tried luring. Forget it. I clicked & treated her attempting to shape bridge-crossing behavior. Ha! In frustration one day I simply walked across the bridge, waved to Sadie from the other side, and continued walking for a few steps. She cried. I returned. (Sadie’s an excellent people trainer.) I gave other things a whirl too numerous to tell except to say none involved flooding (forcing her into troll territory) or anything more aversive than my solo jaunt across the bridge, except, perhaps, my audacious pantomime performance of Sadie, Watch Me Slay the Pooch-Poaching Ogre! A passing jogger applauded. Sadie was unimpressed.
And then one day a few weeks ago milk-bone mana tumbled down through cyberspace in the form of a suggestion from Dr. Ian Dunbar of Dog Star Daily. Little did he know he was offering up a troll-neutralizing spell when he suggested that I read Retreat & Treat. (You can read the posts which form the backstory to his recommending retreat & treat here, here, and here.)
At the time I wasn’t immediately sure how I would use the technique with Sadie since it seemed suited to fear-aggrresive dogs and while Sadie is fearful, she isn’t aggressive. Nonetheless, retreat & treat was marinating in the back of my mind when on our daily hike we again came to the nefarious wooden footbridge. Since I had run out of tricks, we had gotten into the habit of just turning around at the bridge. But not this day!
The thought popped into my head: Could ‘retreat & treat’ subdue the troll and coax Sadie over the bridge? I stood at the entrance to the bridge facing Sadie and gave her a piece of salmon jerky (just so she knew I had some really good stuff), then tossed a much lesser value treat over her head. While she was snatching up that morsel, I stepped backwards one step onto the bridge. As Sadie trotted towards the bridge I tossed tiny bits of salmon jerky onto the wood planks. When she scarfed up the last piece I again threw a lesser value treat again over her head and off the bridge. I backed up another two steps or so and sprinkled more jerky on the bridge. Sadie ate it up. On the fourth try, rather than scampering off the bridge after eating the last piece of salmon, Sadie just stood there, in the middle of the bridge, looking up at me as if to say, “Well, gimme some more goodies!” I gave her a jackpot and once more tossed the not-so-great stuff over her head and off the bridge. I backed-stepped another foot or so and tossed a handful of salmon jerky shreds like so much confetti over the length of the bridge. After Sadie ate the last tidbit I immediately started hand-feeding her salmon as I stepped backwards over the last length of the bridge. Sadie happily took the jerky from me all the way to other side!
Then I wondered, “Will the neutralizing spell cast over the troll by retreat & treat last, or does it have an expiration date?”
Epilogue
The answer to this question came yesterday when Sadie, Ira and I took a walk to and across the troll bridge. Take a look at this!
Sadie sets paw on troll bridge
Chill Sadie stops midway for goodies
Trolls don't scare me!
I’m so happy! The spell of treat & retreat remains intact! Now Sadie, she-who-subdues trolls, and I are free to hike these beautiful trails. In fact, that’s exactly what we’re going to do tomorrow with her BFF, Romeo. He’s been away at holiday doggie camp while his moms and baby sister visited family in Canada. I can hardly wait for Sadie to show off her new found confidence. Romeo will be so impressed!
Geat blog! Whoooo Hooo for YOU and Sadie. What a wonderful application of Retreat ‘n Treat, which, if I have your permission, I will lecture about. When I developed this technique out of sheer panic, when confronted by a Level 4 biting Akita that had calmly swiped off his muzzle, I had no idea of its many uses and so, barely talked or wrote about them. Suzanne Clothier was the person who emphasized to me that it is a cool and extremeley effective procedure. Sometimes we do things but don’t what we are doing or why. Now we do. Just like the many All-or-None Reward Training techniques that we use with adolescent and adults dogs that have started to blow off lures. I first heard Sue Sternberg talk about this technique and her rationale was that, there was no point in teaching New York shelter dogs commands in English because the adopters could quite as likely speak Spanish or Chinese. In a light-bulb moment I realised that this technique was the salvation for many frustrated owners with adult dogs. Behavior is not antecedent-driven by lures, prompts and permanent management techniques, rather behavior is directed and driven by consequences — primarily rewards and occasionally non-aversive punishment.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the blog. Certainly, feel free to lecture as you like about our troll bridge application. I’m honored. And, thank you for writing “Retreat & Treat” and suggesting that I read it. I agree with Suzanne Clothier that it’s “cool and extremely effective.” It was such a curious and fun experience for r&t to be sloshing around in the back of my mind as Sadie and I walked up to the bridge. It truly was a light bulb moment for me when the thought to try r&t dawned. And it worked! Sadie, Gigi and I are now working with r&t to help Sadie increase her comfort in small spaces and, in particular, elevators. I’ll keep you posted 😉
So true, that, as you said, “Sometimes we do things but don’t know what we are doing or why.” Some of my best moments as a communication consultant and trainer have been when someone in a seminar presented a problem or acted in a way that required my immediate response–something beyond a knee-jerk “Oh sh–t!” And, like you with the Akita, I didn’t always have time to think through all my options, I just needed to act. More than once when I reflected on what I had done and why it worked, I discovered new techniques for increasing mutual understanding, though not necessarily agreement, and for turning down the heat of conflict.
Thank you again for your support and encouragement. And, Happy New Year to you and Kelly.
Very cool blog! I congratulate you on your patience and perseverance. Too many people, including us trainers, want a quick fix. This just goes to show that the measure of a great trainer, in my opinion, are those that find a way to motivate our dogs in a manner that not only teaches, but enhances our working relationship in a positive way. It may have taken a while, but Sadie will never have reason to distrust you in a similar situation. For me, that is HUGE! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Jennifer
Thank you for your comment. I hadn’t thought about the trust issue, but I hope what you say is true. Sadie trusting me is HUGE. Not something I take lightly.
Hi Deborah,
You have a story-tellers gift! What a fun read – it truly feels like sharing the experience with you.
Now, about the “r&t” technique, has anyone tried it with their cat? Have you folks made the old “herding cats” saw obsolete?
Thanks for the Twitter nudge to come enjoy,
Tom
Hi Tom
Hmm. I have no idea about cats have never shared my home–allergies. You can clicker train cat. Maybe your can get them over humps with r&t as well.
Thank you for the kind words. And, btw, Blogpaws.com is a terrific site!
Thanks, Deborah,
… and speaking of terrific sites (and kind words) your new header image is even better than the original … not to mention, undeniably nearby!
Will you change it with the seasons? your moods?
Tom
Hello Again
Wow! I’m so glad you like the header image! I actually took that photo and cropped it.
Yes, you got it. I’m hoping to take seasonal shots and include Sadie and her friends. She and her buddy Romeo are in the larger picture toward the bottom running towards me on the trail. But, cropping to fit the dimensions of the header forced me to cut them out ;-(
Hmmm … one way to fudge that cropping problem would be to make a thumbnail of Sadie running and float it over the cropped header image with a drop shadow. I don’t know what photo editing software you use … but maybe there’s another tutorial possibility?
Anyway, looking forward to more local scenery, as Yvonne and I continue settling in to our new Colorado life!
Tom
Hi Tom
Float? Drop Shadow? LOL! I haven’t a clue what you are referring to, but it sounds fun and interesting 😉
I just have IPhoto. I did figure out how to reduce the pixel size so that my theme, Misty Look, would accept the photo. (A feature of the theme is being able to customize the header photo). Then, the theme gave a me ‘crop box’ within which to work. I could crop any portion of the photo, so I chose the mts rather than a barely visible poodle running against a totally white background.
Sounds like you use photoshop or something.
Thank you for the suggestions! I wish I knew what to do with them 😉
Sorry for getting all jargon-y on ya! 😀
If you’re willing to play Guinea pig again, I could show you what I mean with screen shots in a blog post that might help others. Just email me the original pic and I’ll see what I can do with it.
I suspect that iPhoto has the same capabilities, though you might have to “translate” the names of the editing tools. I could check with our book cover designer (a Mac person, like most designers) to see if I can provide hints on how-to in iPhoto, as well.
Tom
Hi Tom
I’m game! I’ll email the photo.
Thanks so much.
Deborah
What happy news. Congratulations. I’ll have to read that book and see how those ideas might help Lilly.
Hi Roxanne
You can read Ian Dunbar’s short article on retreat and treat at http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/retreat-amp-treat
Wishing you and Lilly a terrific year.
Deborah
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