Ett urplock från CleanRun mailinglista: Tema - Stress

From: "Carla Baker - A to Z Dalmatians"
Subject: Re: Stressed out?

I would appreciate any and all advice about dogs shutting down during training. I am a novice, we have been taking classes for about 5 months. My dobe seems to be fine when we are doing small sequences but when we start to focus on one particular obstacle she seems to shut down more often now, she goes to one particular corner of the training room and lays down. For example, one week she will progress with the weave poles, the next week she looks at them and goes and lays down, the same with the tunnel.

It may be a problem with how many repetitions of the one obstacle you are doing when you "focus on one particular obstacle". Some dogs can handle and even enjoy a lot of reps, while others find it distressing. There are any number of ways to anthropomorphize the "why" it bothers them - none of them particularly helpful. Just suffice it to say that you might want to look at how many reps you are doing when you "focus"...

Carla and the Spottie-Dotties
A to Z Dalmatians

From: pam
Subject: Re: Stressed out?

Keep it FUN. Lots of short sequences and really be a cheerleader. One of my dogs has done the shut down thing before. She is a worrier. I actually stopped training her for about 6 months & concentrated on my other dog.
She came back eager to train & got her open jumpers title in 3 trials. I have a friend with a Dobe who does some of the stuff you are describing. She does not actually lay down but she walks instead of runs & just sniffs around. Sort of like she is ignoring her totally. She has had a problem with this for a couple of years & is at her wits end. She came down on her dog sort of hard early in training & is having trouble getting her back. She will be the first to tell you FUN FUN FUN
Good luck. She may be sensitive but be patient with her
Pam

From: "toughynutter"
Subject: Re: Stressed out?

--- In CleanRun@y..., "Carla Baker - A to Z Dalmatians" <AtoZDals@s...> wrote:
It may be a problem with how many repetitions of the one obstacle you are doing when you "focus on one particular obstacle". Some dogs can handle and even enjoy a lot of reps, while others find it distressing. There are any number of ways to anthropomorphize the "why" it bothers them - none of them particularly helpful. Just suffice it to say that you might want to look at how many reps you are doing when you "focus"...

Right on the Money. I have a harrier who while he does not shut down completely, he will start offering other behaviors after 3 reps. It was quite fustrating spending the next 30 minutes trying to get the correct behavior back. I found swaping between 2-3 short sets or single obstacle was enough of a break to prevent a problem.

Be careful of cheerleading and other so called motivators. Often times what is suppose to be motivating the dog is actually stressful for it and/or rewarding the behavior you do not want.

From: "Carla Baker - A to Z Dalmatians"
Subject: Re: Re: Stressed out?

Actually, you have a good point about "cheerleading & motivators". When we focus on a particular obstacle we do no more than 3 reps, sometimes during the first attempt is when she shuts down. I am there with treats and toys to motivate and if she is not responding I will ask her to do one of her favorite tricks to keep her focused. Maybe what I think is positive reinforcement is stressing her out.

You may want to have someone videotape your practices for a couple of times, the whole thing, every second. I'm guessing you have problems and motivation issues that you aren't aware of. Examining a video tape would help you identify the signs and what and when its caused.

Carla and the Spottie-Dotties
A to Z Dalmatians

From: "Dave 'n Di"
Subject: Zoomies

About a year and a half ago, the girl I run started zooming. She didn't care what I said and refused to return on recall.

Hi there,
Zoomies are often considered to be a sign of stress. Dog doesn't know what is required so tears around madly. The dog may not have understood or in that state may not have even heard what you said.

Cheers
Diana
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From: Beth Szczygiel
Subject: Re: Stressed out?

I just wanted to follow up on email I sent about my Dobe stressing out in class and just laying down.
Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response to my dilemma. The past 5 months have been a slow process, short training sessions, few reps and an incredibly patient trainer, and it still took 4 months to get her to go through a straight tunnel. When thing were starting to look up, we took two steps back.

So I had been very confused when in the past few weeks she started laying down. What I have realized (with the help of a behaviorist too) is that because she is an ultra sensitive dog to begin with, the laying down response is a defense mechanism, it is better to lay down than disappoint me. I was so used to her balking at certain obstacles that I would find myself hesitating to see what she would do. Even though I thought I was putting up a positive front, my body language told her another story. She would be just devastated when she saw this! Being more aware of this has definitely made an improvement, I hope this helps the many others that are experiencing similar problems.

Beth & Chelsea

From: "caleytheo2000"
Subject: Stress

I realized something ready the posts re stress - I always thought of it as asking the dog to do something too demanding – either physcially or mentally. I never thought about the stress I was showing - even at class I get really nervous and my body language is so obvious I am practically shouting STRESS out loud. How do you overcome this? I am sure that I would see an improvement in my dog if I can calm myself. Our class is fun but nerves have always been my problem. I do great at work because I thrive on the adrenaline rush - but at agility it is having a definite negative effect.

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From: "Noreen
Subject: Re: Stress

OK, I'm no shrink, but I am an x-equestrian who pretty much self
Destructed because of nerves. I became hooked on agility the first time I saw it because .... it was fun ! I am happy to say now as a dog handler, I seldom if ever get nervous. Very excited, but not nervous. I am a "nuts and bolts" kind of person, therefore unlike riding horses where you can and do get hurt, what is there to be nervous about? Making a mistake ? big deal.... getting an NQ ? big deal.... There is nothing you could possibly do, that hasn't been done a thousand times before.
The only thing I would worry about is my dog getting injured. If I do my job correctly, chances of that happening are slim. So, it's all good !

No one likes to make mistakes, but that's how you learn. Do your homework, bring it to a trial and have fun ! Your dog will have fun too.

From: "Dawn Smith"
Subject: Re: Stress

“My poor dog felt my stress and didn't want anything to do with me.”

I tend to get stressed big time at the start line. One day at a trial there was great music (the kind you just want to dance to) being broadcast over the speakers as I was at the start line. It totally relaxed me and put me in an upbeat frame of mind, and my dog ran SO fast and HAPPY on a difficult run. Wish I could wear a walkman around the course!!!!

Dawn Smith and Sarah Bear

From: Karla Kimmey
Subject: Re: Stress

At 02:34 PM 1/24/2002 +0000, you wrote:
I never thought about the stress I was showing - even at class I get really nervous and my body language is so obvious I am practically shouting STRESS out loud. How do you overcome this? I am sure that I would see an improvement in my dog if I can calm myself.

The first thing is to determine what it is that is causing you to become anxious. Edit your self-talk (the thoughts that run through your head before you do an exercise or compete). Are you worrying about what might happen? What if....? This is "future thought" and it is something that you have no control over. What you do have control over is what is happening right at the moment. Rather than live in future possibilities, start becoming aware of the things that you can control: your interactions with your dog, how you approach an exercise or the start line, how you warm up your dog etc. Have a goal that is process oriented (rather than outcome oriented) for each and every exercise or run you do. After each exercise or run, spend a few minutes thinking first of the positive stuff that happened (there is always something!). Then think about the areas that didn't work quite to plan. See where you need to focus your training.
That is also a positive. At a trial, when someone asks you how your run was, reply with the positive stuff ie: I was really pleased with .........
To often people will ask did you Q? A no answer then overshadows all the positive stuff that did happen.

These things take time to develop. By the fact that you are now aware of your stress and it's effect on your dog, you have taken the first big step!

Best, Karla Kimmey

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From: "mmerlinsmom"
Subject: identifing stress factors

It's not always easy to figure out what's stressing our dogs. With one sheltie it was loud noises, being in a strange environment, and the prospect of being handled by strangers. We managed to deal with all of those and compete successfully in obedience and agility. So I was surprised that my younger sheltie who is immune to noise and loves people and interacting with other dogs was showing stress towards the end of an Agility class in a new facility. He would recover if we did another set. Turns out that he was anticipating having to negotiate those "nasty" stairs. He doesn't much like riding in the car either which always happens at the end of class. I am going to have to learn to stop projecting that class is almost over.
Maybe it's looking at my watch?

Helen
Wilderness Shetlands