Cgc

[Kuchi]

I would like to get his CGC, but how do I train a dog with separation anxiety to be with a stranger, he even freaks out when my boyfriend is home, but I'm just outside. I'm thinking more exercise, than the hour of walking we get already, but still how do get a handle on it?

How do I get him to settle to meet another person with a dog right in front of him? All of this seems so hard, especially since treats aren't allowed!!! I trained him not to bark back at dogs in yards, but he's still interested in dogs on leashes.
Anyone with a dog with separation anxiety that has the title, any advice?

[Dogsareme]

I would say talk to a trainer.

First if you dog is worried about being with strangers, have your friends come over and take him for short walks and do a bit of simple training with him. He just needs to learn to trust them. Just sounds like a bit of under socialization, or that he is really attached to you and needs to learn that being with other people is not so bad.

Seconds, yes during the CGC you cannot use treats, but that does not mean right now that you cannot use treats to train him to be able to do all these things. The point of treat training to help reward the behaviors you want in the first place, then you are to fade the treats out and use real life rewards. So by all means start with treats.

And teaching a dog not to not meet another dog when they are in front of them is all a matter of ALOT OF TRAINING and TRAINING WITH DISTRACTIONS. You have to work your dog up to that point. It's not going to happen on your first try.

Seperation anxiety is also something fixable. It is not a perminant problem, just a minor set back. As I said before I think contacting a trainer to help you work through these would be your first step into getting your dog it's CGC.

[Carrie]

I don't have a dog with seperation anxiety but I can tell you how you can go about conditioning him better to staying with a stranger. Start out with someone your dog is relatively comfortable with. Your boyfriend? Play with him together, perhaps out in your yard or in your house where he's most familiar with. Hand the leash to your b.f. and walk together a little bit. Have your bf stand next to a tree or building and you pop behind it and pop right back out again. When you're behind it for that one or two seconds, have your b.f. give him a yummy treat. (something he values a lot....meat, cheese) Do it again. Make it like a game. Very gradually, add another second, then another. Only when he's at ease with this, add a little distance. Have your b.f. take a step further away, then 2 steps. You go back to popping out from out of sight immediately. Now you're going to relax the duration that you're out of sight and work on the distance that he is from you. ONLY when he's comfortable with that, you will put them together. Hide for 2 seconds, 2 steps away, 3, then 4, then go back to 2 seconds, then 5, then 8, then 3 seconds. Keep him guessing. He won't know how long you'll be gone, but he'll know you're coming back. Take this very gradually. Take your time. Never more ahead until he's perfectly comfortable with the previous level. Use high value treats and praise at the moment (s) that you are hiding, not when you return. When you return into his sight, don't make any fuss over him....Keep it all low key and quiet. The only good stuff is going to happen WHILE you're behind the tree or building and it will happen for the entire duration, one treat after the next. Later, way down the road, you'll put the reinforcer on a variable reward schedule.

If he "acts out" or gets upset, do not make a fuss over him. That will reinforce that behavior. Practice every day a few times. Later, much later, when he is proficient at the above, you can increase your degree of difficulty. Each time you begin with new criteria, relax on the previous things. For example: When you try this in a new location, maybe while your bf holds him inside and you step outside and close the door, go back a short duration...opening the door, stepping out, closing the door and immediately coming back in. It's a novel thing when you change contexts or locations. So, ease up on the other parts of the exercise.

The same concept for meeting another person with a dog. Start from a distance where your dog is comfortable and relatively non-reactive. Reinforce for calm behavior. Gradually take him closer. If he barks or gets aroused, try to wait for a few seconds of quiet and then turn him calmly away and try again from a greater distance. Show him that only calm behavior will get him what he wants. (more distance between) Be sure to reinforce very, very frequently for wanted behavior, even if he is only quiet and calm for a second or two. Catch him inbetween barks.

I recommend the book, Click To Calm, by Emma Parsons. It's excellent for this very thing.

Is there a group class with a positive method trainer in your area who comes with recommendations? I'd get him into a CGC class. Good luck.

[sammy]

Sammy, my SA /mommy-sucky-poopy-pants dog got his CGC. In Canada it's done as a long down stay-- ie the dog can't break the down. I think I've been told in the USA they can change positions, just not leave.
My dog already had a decent down stay so I just had to proof for me being out of site and also build duration gradually. I trained it in a million different places. I very rarely had a stranger to help me so I mostly trained it as a long down stay alone. I used a community building with huge, full height windows in the winter, in the dark so that I could see Sammy, but he couldn't see me-- that way I could really be gone but see if he broke his stay.

As for te meet and greet, you need to start with a dog who can heel really well and then gradually add in distractions like people and other. Train with food rewards and gradually work up to longer and harder things and phase the food out. You can praise your dog and talk to them in CGC.
Good luck!

[Kuchi]

Carrie I thank you for the long reply. I will definetly look into that book, I don't use the clicker, but I know I have one somewhere, I'll just find some small yummy treats.

Kuchi isn't afraid of strangers, he's had dog walkers that come by in the past. He's afraid of seeing me leave and that what I need start working on.

He's up to a 45 sec. down stay. I would like to do the test with in in a down stay so he can hopefully relax. I'll sign up for an advanced obedience class and hopefully that'll work.

Thanks again everyone.

[Carrie]

You're welcome Kuchi. (my replies are always painfully long and rambling. LOL) Desensatizing dogs to things can take some time but it's a good way to shape the behavior and make things relatively stress free.

Sammy, The American CGC requires that the dog be held on a leash by a stranger while the owner disappears for 5 minutes...or is it 10? I forget now. So, that was why I suggested practicing that way with another person holding him. And maybe after he gets use to doing it with the b.f, try another friend and start the practice the way you did at first....just a second, then build up. See how it goes.

For some reason, Lyric, as attached to the hip he is to me, (he follows me a lot around the house, inside, outside...most of the time, lying next to me) he is just fine if I leave him. But I practiced with him from puppy hood. He stays outside the little country store here and I go in and get something or just hide for a minute and he stays put. I loop his leash around a post or something just in case. But he really anchors himself and just waits. Occassionally, he'll stretch out on his side and rest. He's really pretty unconcerned because he experienced me coming back sooo many times. That's what you have to do Kuchi...disappear and re-appear many times in succession, gradually increasing the time and distance.... until he finally habituates to it. Best of luck.

[Sophie45]

Sophie is extremely shy with strangers, so I carry a baggie of hotdogs out on walks and let the strangers give her bits of hot dogs. If she is too stressed out to let them come near her (which is rare now!) I still have them toss it to her. It has helped exponentially!

[Carrie]

That's a great way Sophie, to help a dog like strangers. But Kuchi isn't afraid of strangers. He's afraid when his "mom" leaves him. So, he needs to be conditioned to not minding so much when she is out of sight.

[flyndog]

The CGC Supervised Separation test is only 3 minutes. Most dogs can pass this. It used to be that the tester could not talk to the dog, but that has been changed because most people would not leave their dog with a total stranger who did not talk to the dog.

[Carrie]

Oh....3 minutes. See....I have already forgotten and was too lazy to look it up. So, 3 minutes isn't too hard to achieve with some practice. Good luck!

[Kuchi]

No not bad at all, i thought it was longer too, I think that might be possible. Thanks.