We were back to training yesterday morning and my trainer decided we should start to tackle the problem destinations head on.  We arranged to meet at my workplace and I worked Sadie towards the shopping centre not too far away.  At the end of each long section of the walk and at the down kerb, Sadie got lots of praise for keeping up her pace and getting me safely to that point.  At the first praise point, my trainer remarked on how well Sadie was stepping out especially as she hadn’t been doing that when in for her assessment…could be that Sadie was remembering our route from last year and was just happy to be going for a longer walk than those we had been doing for the last few months on my lunch breaks from work.  Further along the route and as we neared Sainsbury’s door I used the new “find the door” command I had been taught last week and Sadie very positively found the door and went straight into Sainsburys where she got lots and lots of praise and a little food treat to reinforce the supermarket as our destination as well as her good work following my commands and getting me safely into the shop.  As Sadie is still on her eye drops and having increased the value of the reward she gets when she co-operates with me putting her drops in, I needed to stock up on more supplies so worked Sadie through Sainsburys and on to the check out.  Sadie is generally very good at waiting in queues but did try to sniff the lady in front of us coat so I corrected her – but being mindful of my trainer teaching me last week that the punishment should fit the crime, it was a gentle correction really just altering the tone of my voice rather than the need for using her harness or lead as part of the correction.  We then made our way out of the store and asked Sadie to find the pole as we neared the bus stop.  There are quite a few poles in that area so although Sadie did try to find a pole, she didn’t pick the correct one (why would she as its not something we’ve asked her to do previously) so I touched the correct pole and encouraged Sadie to “find it” and when she did touch the correct pole praised and rewarded this behaviour.

Our plan when we had set off on our training walk was to get the bus back to my work place but as there would be a bit of a wait, we opted to walk Sadie back.  We chose to avoid the area of the shopping centre Sadie had stuck at last year and instead went out a different exit, one we had done on class with no issues, which also meant that we were returning to my work place via a different route but which kept the entire walk more positive for Sadie.  Again Sadie kept up a good pace along quite a long stretch of road until we reached our turning point and again being mindful of what my trainer had discussed with me last week, I chose to ask Sadie to go straight up to the kerb and do a left turn (which is actually a back right turn) rather than asking her to make the turn on the move.  There were two reasons for my thinking on this…last week my trainer had advised that Sadie might be a dog of habit, so if we turn at a particular point once, Sadie will expect to always turn at that point especially if we make turns on the move which could lead to sticking in her expectation of constancy, so to stop any unwanted habits forming, I should take her to a kerb and then make the correct turn from there.  Making the turn this way also gave me practice in doing a left turn (ie back right) – thought I might as well make best use of my refresher training!

Sadie made the turn perfectly and then the fun began!! There is a fair incline on the route at this point but Sadie initially kept a reasonable pace however as we reached the first ‘summit’ on the hill, Sadie immediately started to dither on the pavement.  Knowing my trainer was very close behind us I told her Sadie was starting to dither (no tension at all on the harness and I could feel Sadie start to weave left to right with no real purpose to her movements or obstacles that I was aware of) and admitted that I didn’t know what to do.  My trainer told me to use a slightly firmer tone with Sadie and tell her “straight on” but not to add in any praise for moving forward in a straight line.  Sadie did move on but was very slow paced so again my trainer told me just to occasionally tell Sadie “straight on” but not to add in any praise or correction as Sadie walked on.  My trainer explained to me that as we were on a hill, Sadie might have naturally slowed her pace and then having gotten away with then adding in some dithering that I had accepted previously thought she’d try it again.  By giving her a clear command but no praise/correction, I was making it very clear to Sadie what I expected of her (forward movement) but as we were on a hill I couldn’t expect that Sadie would keep up her former quicker pace…rather handy as my cardiovascular system was in need of a slower pace on this hill anyway!

Having reached the absolute ‘summit’ and crossed a road, Sadie should have picked up her pace again but didn’t and as there was no reason or justification for this, my trainer told me to take the lead in my right hand and using the slight forward movement she’d shown me last week with it tell Sadie to “hop up” at which point Sadie reverted to nonsense puppy mode and tried to take the lead in her mouth so I again asked my trainer for advice.  She advised telling Sadie “no” and “straight on” in a very firm tone which nicely put an end to Sadie’s behaviour and she returned to sensible guide dog mode keeping up a good pace all the way back to the entrance to my work place.

At this point we discussed my previous reaction to Sadie’s dithering (allowing her to grind to a halt and getting her moving forward again, often repeating this numerous occasions on some routes) and calming Sadie when she wanted to take off with her lead in her mouth rather than correcting her.  I remarked in my blog last week on how I had felt sad that in trying to do my best by Sadie, I had created unwanted reactions and responses to Sadie’s behaviour.  I mentioned dithering and nonsense in feedback reports but I wasn’t given the skills I needed to address them so reverted to my default mode, especially if I know stress is involved, and took workload (and expectations) off Sadie and calmed rather than corrected.  Now knowing that stress isn’t playing a part in Sadie’s behaviour and she is well settled in to her new life with me, I am confident in having been given the skills I need to address unwanted behaviours from Sadie to correct them.  And Sadie gave me the perfect practice for my new found confidence when after making a plan for day 4 training, my trainer left me to work Sadie back to my office….but Sadie decided that going with her trainer would be more fun so started to dither on the pavement which I corrected as I had been shown so Sadie once again reverted to puppy mode but again being corrected for it and me using a firm tone with her, she gave in and happily guided me, with reasonable pace for our surroundings, back to my office where I gave her lots of praise and played for a little while with her with her toys.

Like any training walk, there was a lot for me to take in as my trainer advised me as we encountered each situation and a lot for me to remember but I felt it had been a very positive walk…Sadie and I had been out for a good length of walk in glorious sunshine, I had been able to reach a destination I’d not been able to for around 4 months, Sadie had shown us some of her problem behaviours and I’d gained skills in addressing these and of great importance to me, Sadie had responded really well to any corrections I’d given her but also to the praise I gave her (I’d hate for my wee waggly bummed dog to diminish in any way).  We are both learning from our refresher training – Sadie is learning I now don’t let her away with unwanted behaviours and have upped my expectations of her and I’m learning to appropriately address unwanted behaviours from Sadie.  That’s all I’m aiming for from this training (my trainer admittedly may have different goals).  Sadie slept well for the remainder of my working day, another indication that our training walk had been a positive one for Sadie as well as me.