Ken’s Comments:
I love behaviour modification. Figuring out what makes a dog tick, introducing people to classical and operant conditioning strategies, discussing applied behavior analysis and employing its’ strategies to real life scenarios is fascinating for me.
Often people approach me for help who are not local. This presents many challenges. Not everybody can avail of classes, group walks and a dog community like we have here. Opportunities for help are sometimes limited yet the issues they face are very real. I have been very successful helping people using the technology of Facetime and Skype. While it cannot replace a face to face meeting, it is a viable and at times, only alternative. Using Facetime I have been able to help people across the island, in other provinces and even into the United States.
Such was the case with Coralie and Diesel.
Coralie and Diesel live in Toogood Arm, a small community on New World Island that is a good 5 hour drive from St. John’s. Coralie contacted me in April of this year relating she had a young boxer she could not trust around people. She explained Diesel was unpredictable. He would walk past some people, lunge and nip at others.
Coralie is the type of dog owner who is a dream to work with. She did not minimize Diesel’s behaviour nor did she make excuses for it. She realized the problems were very real and knew she needed to take action.
We discussed a plan involving heavy classical, counter conditioning and desensitization strategies that she could use while managing the behavior issues. Living in a small community meant she had to get creative with her socialization exercises. Coralie stepped up to the plate big time. She kept in touch with me in the weeks and months that followed, sharing with me both successes and setbacks.
Diesel is far from perfect. Coralie knows more work needs to be done. However, Coralie reports to him being much better. She shares triumphs like Diesel being approached by kids and greeting them well or being charged by a strange dog and not reacting. You can hear the pride in her written words.
Here is their success story from Coralie:
Diesel, my 2 1/2 year old Boxer, has aggressive behavior. Being a dog owner for many years, aggressive behavior is something I had never encountered. Owning a dog is a big responsibility, but owning an aggressive dog is a whole different story. And until you do, one can never truly understand what its like to own one. A lot of stress, anxiety and there will be tears. Diesel is afraid of strangers, dogs, loud noises, vehicles and has separation anxiety. Being from a small community, the lack of proper socialization surely played a role in his behavior. I had no opportunities to enrol him in any training programs, day cares or group walks.
Walking Diesel had become unpleasant, not to mention embarrassing. Barking, growling, lunging at everyone we met. It became so bad, that if I saw someone coming towards us, I would just turn and walk the other way.
His aggression was escalating and the thought of him biting someone scared the hell out of me. I knew that there was no way I could handle this type of behaviour on my own, and that I needed to get help. I decided to contact Ken to see if he could help me. Being about 5 hours away a FaceTime session was my only option.
So on May 1st we had our session and Ken did up a plan for me to follow. He assured me that I would have a lot of work ahead of me. It wasn't easy, but I stuck with it. And the results have been so worth it. Diesel is now a pleasure to walk. Walks by my side, is no longer reactive and I can actually stop and talk to people, without him freaking out. We had an encounter with an unleashed dog a couple weeks ago. As the dog sniffed him all over, Diesel looked at me as if to say "I got this ". He was more calm than me. His separation anxiety has gotten so much better. No longer peeing in the house. Yay!
Even though Diesel has aggressive issues, I love this guy so much. It's unfortunate that few people get to see how loving he can be. To see how far Diesel has come in just a few months amazes me. I am so proud of the progress he has made and proud of myself too for putting the work and time into it. Diesel still as a long way to go, but i am confident that he will continue to make progress. I know the training classes and group walks would have helped him tremendously, but unfortunately we do not live close enough.
Ken, I want to thank you for putting us on the right track. Because of you, I now have a much better relationship with Diesel.
Thank you so much,
Coralie and Diesel
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