Well I've had a lot to think about. At the dog trial on Saturday I took Woozle out first and walked around a bit near the main building. Ten minutes later I was almost in tears. He wasn't responding to anything. Any dog even one 100 yards away was sending him into a barking frenzy. I tried luring with both toys and treats. He simply didn't care. He just wanted to bark and bark and bark.
I had been trying the bark collar on his walks and around the house, but it seemed to be making him snarky so I had decided it wasn't fair unless I was SURE he was just being a brat. That pretty much limits it to crate-use only. So I was really at my wits end. I couldn't stop the barking; couldn't socialize him effectively without stopping the barking. I couldn't even exercise him properly without stopping the barking, even around home.
That and I was freezing cold. It was quite windy and I had forgotten my outer coat. We had walked along a lawn one side of the building to try and find some workable distance away from other dogs.Then some dogs came around on the south and we had to move further. We didn't move far enough or fast enough and some dogs came around on the north and we were boxed in between the side of the building and the road. I tried to keep in the middle but there was no stopping Woozle's barking. Then some more dogs came out of a side door and then the quarters were even closer. There were 5 or 6 dogs about 20 yards away all minding their own business, but Woozle was going ballistic. I sat down really defeated and miserable, just trying to keep him from lunging out of my numb fingers, and waited for the dogs and their owners to drift off.
In the meantime I was having a running dialogue with myself. "What on earth am I supposed to do? He isn't viscous. Au-contraire, he is extremely friendly, but how can I work with this? These are doggy people so they are understanding but still... I can't take him anywhere without causing a major disruption. He seems to be getting worse, not better. He is also getting big enough that I really might have a hard time training this out. Even Britte wasn't this bad in public and I was mostly powerless to help her." All these negative ugly voices and self-doubt were filling my head.
Then for whatever reason there was a split second lull in the barks (he has to get a gasp of air occasionally) and for whatever crazy reason, or maybe it was just the last shred of hope I had left in me, I said "Yes".
Woozle's head whipped around. Ten seconds later, after maybe two more markers, he was sitting in my lap begging for more treats. The other dogs were still milling around. Who are you and what have you done with my puppy?!!! I was stunned he even heard me.
My treats were soon running low, so I took him back to the Blazer and switched dogs. We went in to the trial. Daisy's progress was ho-hum, but on the plus side, the stairs don't seem to bother her much anymore. We sat down, warmed up, relaxed and didn't accomplish much. Daisy had the audacity to steal someones pretzel. Grr... I should have been watching her more closely. Fortunately that person was understanding and wouldn't even let me buy her another one.
On his second rotation, I didn't have any treats left so I took Woozle to a large dog yard and let him off leash. There were dogs in the distance but for the most part none came closer to the fence than 50 yards. The kong-on-a-rope was enticing enough to mostly hold his focus. We had an awesome game of fetch and I had one pooped puppy at the end. He still lit up quite a bit on the return trip to the car but now I have an effective tool for dealing with it as long as I have treats!
So... why did the shaping work, but the luring/bribing didn't? Is it possible that he really just wants to please me?
Woozle... you always seem to come through for me buddy. Of course you wait until I am pulling my hair out but as long as it works out in the end...
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