Training Exercises

Evan loves playing with the chase it toy purchased for him by Charlotte.  His trainer, Meredith, wants to keep him engaged in play.  As we all know, a playful, well exercised dog is a happy dog.  It was great for him to be so active with Harriet because she was someone he did not know that well, and he really bonded with her.

Evan is walking on a short leash with Laura, a staff member he knows and trusts, while Harriet, someone less familiar to him, walks him on a long lead.  This way he feels safe because she is at a distance, but he gets use to her being there.

BAT training: A Walk in the Park

Evan attended another class at CaninePhD last Saturday.  It was a big day for all the dogs and humans involved.  We have moved from the indoor classes to the great outdoors and this week we took a walk, as a group, around Inman Park.  This is a big deal for Evan who is commonly frightened in new settings.

We began work in the parking lot by practicing BAT training.  This is a positive and confidence-building technique that teaches dogs to respond to fearful situations in a calm and healthy manner.  The handler is essentially teaching the dog new ways of responding to a variety of situations.  For example, if a dog barks and pulls at the leash every time a dog walks by this type of training works to teach him/her to respond in another way, adverting their gaze, yawning, shaking off, showing calming signals.  In the case of an anxious dog, like Evan, distance can be used as a reward.  If he sees something that he finds frightening from a safe distance, he gives a calming signal, and he is rewarded by the handler who retreats with him.  He is learning that calmness in the face of fear gets him what he ultimately wants, which is a sense of safety.  It is a great way of building a bond/trust between animal and human.  It also increases the dog's self-confidence and makes them braver, as well as more able to handle real life situations.  In Saturday's class Evan met, at a distance, a tall man wearing a hat that was unknown to him.  This is a situation that might make him shake or bolt in another setting, but he is getting better and bolder with each new lesson.  He was nervous, but he did fantastic and responded with several calming signals.

After BAT training, we took our walk around the park. Evan had a rough start, but near the end of the walk he was resting and chewing on blades of grass.  He seemed to enjoy his time away from the chaos of shelter life, and he made us all very proud.  His next class is this upcoming Saturday, and we are excited to have yet another chance to teach, learn, and brag about our boy.

  This picture was taken about 2 months ago.  It shows Evan, resting calmly, as a volunteer group works on the kennels behind him.

Meredith's 2nd Training Session With Evan at PAWS Atlanta

Meredith came out to the shelter to work with Evan and Laura yesterday!  We practiced having Evan go in and out of his kennel in a calm manner.  It was a really great exercise because it not only helped Evan, but it also started to help his neighbors get use to having another dog walk by. 

We also began working on helping Evan get comfortable with someone other than a staff member or longterm volunteer walking him on a lead.  We did this by having Laura walk him on a short leash and Meredith walk about ten feet away holding onto a long lead. 

Evan responded really well to both exercises, and he relaxed more quickly this time than the last time Meredith came to work with him!  These tasks may seem small, but they are huge to a dog that is living in the insecure environment of a shelter, particularly a pup like Evan who is incredibly sweet but also highly stressed out. 

One of the most fun things about working with a wonderful dog like Evan is seeing his progress, but it also neat to try out new, postive, and unique techniques.  Meredith is constantly doing research, talking to other trainers, and learning about new tools for the success of all of the dogs/people she teaches.  For example, we are going to start having everyone who walks Evan wear Lavender.  It is a naturally calming scent, but it will also give him a positive association with the smell that he will link back to Charlotte, Mike, Laura, and those who take him out for walks and entertainment most often.

This is Evan wearing his beloved cooling vest, which was donated to him, during his Saturday morning class at CaninePhD.  He is currently in his 3rd six week course there.