Friday 7 September 2012

Behaviour Updates


Jazmyn is now almost 10 months old… Her overall obedience/behaviours in the house are improving.  She is still crated while we are away from the house and at night, for her safety and the safety of our belongings.  She is still an active chewer & can be mouthy, so it’s a safer option for everyone/everything.  She can go a short period of time without supervision, depending on the situation.  She understands the difference between leaving through the front door and the door to the main floor.  If we go upstairs without her, she will sit/lay down on the landing and wait for us to come back.  She will often do this with the front door as well, but not as often and she gets that’s a more permanent form of leaving.  While we’re home, we close off doors and have a gate up, but other than that, she generally has free roam of our basement apartment.

We’re bad…and Jazmyn is welcome on the couch/bed, with the STRICT understanding that you get off when told.  She doesn’t horse around on the couch, but rather gets comfy in her favourite spot, or snuggles with us.  This is another huge change.  2 months ago, Jazmyn did not cuddle.  Now, she loves to come and lay down beside us while we watch a movie or hang out.  The other night we were lying in bed watching a movie, and she slept for 3 hours! This was a first, and a nice sign of what may be to come as she matures (usually, it’s a mouthy play fest).

The primary issues that we want to tackle with Jazmyn are:
  • Her Reactivity towards dogs (on walks, seeing them from the front porch, etc) and how we can learn to handle/manage her better
  • Barking at people as they enter our home (via front door, backyard gate, etc)
  • General obedience & respect towards us as her handlers
Thought I'd also share her new collar!  It's a little bit punk rock like her "mom" & "dad" and a little bit diva/princess like she can be (afterall, she WAS named after a Disney princess lol)

Thursday 6 September 2012

Behaviour Assessment

I had posted previously about completing two private training sessions with Jazmyn at SuperDogs Central.  While the theory of what we were working on was correct, my husband and I didn’t feel it was the right place for us.  Jazmyn would get extremely aggitated/stressed/worked up even as we entered the parking lot.  It was too high energy of a location for her to really calm down and begin work on her reactivity.  It was also “positive only” training, and while I agree with it if it is a right fit for your dog, I knew we would need a more balanced approach.


This leads us to our new trainer, Mike Clay (Country Lane Pet Resort), and I’m glad we made the switch.  I had been researching trainers in our area, and had also talked to a few friends, and people on the GSD forum that provided recommendations for us to go and see him.  I really liked that while he offered private training opportunities; he also owns and operates a boarding facility within 10-15 minutes from our house.  He is extremely familiar with german shepherds, and that alone gave me a lot of confidence.  A lot of trainers don’t feel comfortable with the breed, understand their behaviours or are not familiar with their tendancies.

And so, at 7 months old, we started with a Behaviour Assessment on Jazmyn.  As a whole, Jazmyn has a few issues that cause her reactivity:  fear, anxiousness/hectic nature and handling from us that doesn’t totally match her behaviours.  We are aware we need to learn to handle/manage her better.  To get a better idea, here are some snippets from the assessment:

  • “Jazmyn's reactivity is strong in nature. This is something that is of concern to me if not managed properly as it can escalate, leading to more serious issues.”
  • “She has established a relatively strong desire to perform that pattern of behaviour and now it has to be undone which you will need to work hard to do. Combine this with a dog that does not show much of a "bond" with the handlers and it presents even more of a challenge. THIS IS NOT DUE TO A LACK OF EFFORT ON THE PART OF THE HANDLER, but is quite common in this strain of dogs.”

The plan:

“Overall, what we need is to alter your handling, management and training regiment. This may include utilizing highly stimulating exercises to teach her to come in and out of a state of high stimulation. Focus is a good thing to build, it must be built to an obsessive level, then we alter it slightly. We can manipulate food as well, but this may be more of a challenge to keep her focussed. Most importantly, this has to be done in stages and we cannot expect to make huge progress each lesson.”

Paul and I walked away from the assessment feeling really positive.  Jazmyn was a hot mess initially when we got out of the car at Mike’s.  After about 2-3 hours there, she calmed and was able to take her attention away from Mike’s dogs.  What we learned, is that we need time, and lots of it!!


Sunday 2 September 2012

Cottage Fun

At the beginning of August, we spent 6 days at our best friend's cottage, and Jazmyn (of course) came along with us!  It was a big event for Jazmyn...longest trip in the car, first time overnight away from our house, and of course, first time swimming!!

Not going to lie, I was nervous.  She used to get carsick as a pup, so the 3.5 hour drive was daunting!  However, she made the trip like a champion!  I think we're pretty safe to say that carsickness is a thing in her past, but we still take precautions to prevent it.  She fell asleep within 20 minutes, and was very well behaved in the SUV.

We brought along EVERYTHING that she may need for the week at the cottage.  Food, toys, first aid, more toys, bones/antlers, emergency info, her bed, her crate, etc.... The car was PACKED with mostly things for Jaz.  It was our first large trip with her and we wanted to be prepared lol.

Within 20 minutes of arriving at the cottage....this happened...
and she spent the rest of the weekend in the water, every second that we'd let her.  She fully learned to swim within about 30 minutes, and now is officially a water addict.

As most know, Jazmyn is quite dog reactive, so she spent her week on a 30 foot leash to prevent anything from happening that could be avoided.  Dogs run loose on their own properties and this was our piece of mind.  Since she loved the water more than she loved barking at dogs, while we were swimming & on the dock, it was pretty easy to keep her reactions under control.  On the porch was a different story, as she could see the dogs running free next door.  Overall, she did well in terms of her reactivity.

Her behaviour in the cottage was AWESOME!  She listened to commands, followed everyone around and just in general was respective of a home that wasn't hers.  We had her crate with us, so sleeping was a non-issue.  This week was also a turning point for Jazmyn, where her cuddly side began to show.  She wanted nothing more than to be with us all of the time, and spent hours snuggling on the couch during movies at night.  It was awesome (and such a change from her usually mouthy self).

Enjoy the photos!


It's Been a While...Photos!

It has been quite some time since I have updated the blog!  Life has sort of gotten in the way and I've been spending time away from the computer.

Jazmyn is almost 10 months old!!  Here are some updated photos between my last point and the beginning of August...


The fur is getting longer!


My Husband ("Dad") and Jaz

Happy Canada Day!!! (also her first time wearing a bandana)