Our training stalled. Or we hit a wall. Whatever you want to call it, we weren’t moving forward. Last week’s post outlined the lowest point yet in our training journey.
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What Happens: Stalled Training
When I hit the wall with training Pandora, I hit the lowest of low – mood wise. And I felt nothing when I went out to train her. That’s the worst position to be in. I don’t want her to think she’s the reason for that attitude. As far as I know, dogs can sense our feelings and I don’t want to put my disappointment on her shoulders.
They are not sensing specific feelings but instead the positivity or negativity of the feeling. Once dogs sense the way you are feeling, the way in which they act will often reflect that same feeling. They will then start acting and even vocalizing in a certain way based on your feelings, body language, and tone.
Can Dogs Sense Feelings? – Wag! (wagwalking.com)
For us, we hit a wall. I went through the motions of training, but my heart wasn’t in it. And I don’t think Pandora’s was either. We both were looking at each other with the “What the hell?” look. Me, at her, for not getting past the fear of the road and her, at me, for not understanding her fear of the road.
We Stepped Back
Then I went back to just taking her outside for frisbee. Mostly because I was bummed, but also because I felt she needed something to let her know I wouldn’t keep trying to drag her up the driveway every single time we stepped outside.
And that put a spring in her step. Or rather an extra spring in her leaps for the frisbee. I hate taking a step back. It makes me feel like we are going to lose every shred of ground we gained, even though sometimes it helps us move forward. I know that it could help us, but I’m so terrified, I keep pushing.
So, I did what I do best. I whined, to every dog person I came across in hopes someone had a suggestion I haven’t tried. Low and behold, Pandora’s groomer (we pay for nail trims – she has the dark nails) gave me a suggestion. She told me to try the Happy Hoodie. Apparently, she uses it for some of the dogs when blow -drying them. The blower is loud, and it helps diminish the noise and makes it more bearable. She also said I could try some cotton first before investing in the Happy Hoodie. I’ve linked to the hood on Amazon. It’s basically like a gator that goes over the dogs’ ears and neck. Pretty sure Pandora is going to look like a surprised seal when we get ours.
We Refreshed
Finally, we refreshed. Instead of trying to coerce her up the driveway, I took her to a trail that the groomer recommended. She said it had a lot of trails and was away from vehicles. I’m sure for most dogs it would be great, but the road was still too close for Pandora’s liking. However, Pandora did get out of the car and start checking out the new area. I can’t say how many miles of trails there are since Pandora only did about a third of a mile. She got nervous after hearing a car and tried to veer back to our vehicle.
I still think the trip was worth it. I put no expectations on Pandora. I let her sniff everything she wanted to and let her choose the direction she wanted to go. Did you see the picture of her at top? That was on the trail. There was a tree that had a long sloping trunk, that I had her hop on to get a picture. I tried to reward her with a piece of steak, she wouldn’t take it. She was still on edge.
And both Saturday and Sunday, I took her to meet my friend who was puppy sitting a super hyper dog and we took them to some trails away from all vehicles. Pandora and Bo ran and leaped and played for a few hours each day. Pandora even went swimming.
And now, Pandora is feeling happier and so am I.
So, when the training stalls, don’t get discouraged (I should follow my own advice), just do something different and bring the joy back into your pup and you with whatever makes your dog happiest.