Recall Class at Whos Walking Who in Ajax

We were in class last night, a total recall class at Whos Walking Who in Ajax.

This is a photo of Baxter who is a Wasabi and Kat pup. He was one of the Havanese in the class. We had a number and that made it ever so much fun but we also had big dawgs so they got exposed to them too. As you can see Spice thinks all dawgs are there to say hello to. That came with expose, expose, expose. It actually works.

I took photos but they aren't the best. Lighting was bad, I was too busy enjoying vs. paying attention to what I was clicking but still you can see that fun was had by all. Check out the photos.

Total Recall is a class that lasts for an hour and a half. It goes by rather fast but over and over again via fun ways you solidify a come with distractions. It's a must do class, imho.

Tonight Spice heads to handling class and we are taking truffie in a carrier so he gets exposed. He needs it. He won't be on the floor as he hasn't had his second shots but he will be in a sherpa bag looking around, getting exposed to sounds and dogs and people. It's never too late to expose. It should be something we do always without thinking. Our dawgs are better off due to it.

I constantly learn and think up new ways to help the pups along. It's important that we do as much as we can to give them a headstart. With Spice we took her in the car daily to Petsmart, Global, parks, stores, homes, walks etc. Her first car trips she would drool and vomit. Some dawgs do, some don't but keeping them away from the car is not the answer. After a solid daily ride in the car to fun places, Spice has no worries. We will do the same with Truffie. With more litters coming, I may just be doing it with them before they go home. It's a time intensive thing but they are so worth it.

Now Raylan never for a second worried about the car. He wants to go and he never had any concerns. He just wanted to go. They are all different. Our pups go into the car twice. Once to the vets and once for their hearing. We have the odd one shake or have a spit up but conditioning works. Each litter we learn and try to perfect just as you would with your kids. We never stop learning.

So, do take the Total Recall class if you can. Invite a Havanese or two and have FUN!!

Wish Spice good vibes at handling class tonight. Wish Truffie a great start to car conditioning. Spice is great in obedience but that doesn't mean she will be in handling. She has to be exposed in a fun way and that's what we will be doing. We will be doing the same with Truffie. You should too.

You will like the results.

Comments

[jenny]

We always bring along our girl in the car since she was young. She had no complain,
being quiet and calm. But since she turned about one year old (which was about 8 months ago), whenever she goes for a car ride, she shivers and is panting almost all the way. She does not look frightened, and the vet thinks she is just nervous. I do not understand why the conditioning in her earlier life did not work.

[Darlah]

Jenny:

Conditioning NEVER stops unfortunately. Some people think just having another dawg is sufficient but it isn't. See http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/all-about-our-dogs-boarders/2011/3/2/spice-had-a-bath-today-and-as-you-can-see-she-is-already.html Anything can create a concern. Something minor that triggered a reaction early on. All you can do is work on conditioning her and helping her gain her balance. Conditioning never stops. They don't suddenly turn 1 years old and voila nothing bothers them. Just like I talked about with Kat who was older when we had that pool house fire, my reaction had an affect on him.

There are different degrees of anxiety but all *can* be dealt with believe me. Each human and each dawg has them. What some have is a natural ability to find their coping skills more easily than others but with some conditioning and consistency, they all get there. We fear what we do not know. If we practice exposure and conditioning throughout their life, they will find their balance. Some more than others but what we do is absolutely a factor.

For instance, if someone had a fear of driving in the rain and went out every day in the rain and practiced driving their confidence would grow and then suddenly it didn't rain for a year or 2 and some, not all of that anxiety would come back.

If you had a good base, you would recover more quickly but if we don't, it takes more work to get there but you can get there. But you must expose in daily living. If a fear is the car, you can't get them to where they are not shaking and think your work is done. You may not have to take them out daily any longer but you should incorporate it into your lifestyle so they continue the exposure never letting any anxiety to creep back.

Our late Whitney was afraid of traffic. I walked her early on 8 times a day literally for a year. She was a rescue so I was playing recovery. You do not have that issue so the instense conditioning is not necessary but the consistency always is. Whatever they fear make it fun. Be creative. They may never LOVE, LOVE the car but they will look forward to it if they know the car equals fun.

Spice no longer shakes but does that means I don't take her out anymore? No, it means I still take her out and make it fun so eventually that fun overrides anything negative she attached to the car. If you allow it to become a habit where just thinking of it gets them nervous then you have to do more intense conditioning for longer so eventually all that is there is the fun. Ignore the shaking. Do not coddle. Ignore throwing up if that is something they do but don't feed before a trip. The idea is to set the stage for success. Just clean up, ignore and distract and reward, reward, reward when the shaking stops. It may feel like it never will but one day you will go oh wow she's not upset any longer like she used to.
I can't tell you how long it took Whitney to get over the fear of walking next to traffic. I know it was about a year but one day she just got excited about going and I started walking less but longer. I was on a exercise phase there. But because she had a walk daily eventually vs 8 or 4 times, she kept that conditioning and related to that walk with the reality that it was FUN.

If somone has a fear of dirt (my sister) you go out and put your hands in dirt. You do this every single day till one day the heart no longer races and you incorporate gardening without gloves etc. The key is if you do anything enough and the end result is positive, you will start replacing those negative reactions with positive ones. It works with humans and dawgs but you must be consistent. You can't say, I don't feel like it today. On those days it's simply shorter but they are what you put into them.

What your breeder does early on can help things along but it doesn't stop when they go to their forever homes. There are changes that pups are not exposed to simply because we can't expose them to your house, your yard, you lifestyle etc but if we try to expose and help their coping skills by giving them a headstart, they start with a great base.

Do not accept that my dawg is just nervous. I had 8 experts out that told me Whitney had to be accepted as she was and would always be neurotic. They were wrong but most people wouldn't do what I did but she was worth it and it made my life easier in the long run.

No one should be saddled with fears. Our lives are shorter and we can't embrace life fully. Life is always busy but I personally think the dawgs are worth the effort and I know for a fact that you can make a difference with conditioning and consistency.

Did I cry in frustration with Whitney? Many times. Did I feel like giving up? Many times. Just when I thought this would never change, it did. It also worked with Kat when I foolishly allowed him to be exposed to my extreme anxiety about the pool house blowing up and therefore I created an anxiety that didn't exist for him. But I used the same techniques I did with Whitney and it took time but I can solidly say his coping skills are more solid due to this experience. We are what we experience for better or worse but we can choose to learn or be prisoner to our experiences. I much prefer learning for myself and my dawgs.

I never think I will ever stop learning and wanting to do better for them.

You will get there with work. It may not feel that way at times but you will.