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!!