A free roaming dog has been coming by my AirBnB – just hanging around, sleeping on the porch, enjoying the view and the company. Well: if you’re an animal and you show up within the perimeters of a space I am renting, I can’t help but try and engage with you!
Since life has been socially distant, I wanted an audience! So I asked the FDSA alumni group for ideas: what would people like to see me demonstrate with my unsuspecting volunteer?
The FDSA students asked me to show how I would work up to touching the dog, and I made up a hypothetical scenario to go with this goal: putting a collar on her so she can be taken to the vet. In this hypothetical scenario, the vet visit isn’t urgent (if it were, I’d put a slip leash on her and just take her). However, I want to accomplish the hypothetical goal within a day or so, spending no more than 10-15 short sessions on slowly getting her used to my touch and the collar.
The following videos show the progression of this project.
Intro video:
You get to meet our free-roaming friend, and Game has a lot to say about our new project!
Session #1 of working up to touching a cautious dog. (Hypothetical scenario: I need to put a collar on her, but it’s not an emergency – so I can take my time working up to it. I estimate reaching my goal within several session (within a few hours/a day if I lived with this dog, and had access to her anytime I wanted to work on this).
Session #2
Session #3
Session #4 of working up to touching a cautious dog. I really like the last rep in this video, where I’m putting my hand under her chin, and she shows no avoidance.
Thank you Chrissi! Enjoying the step by step work you’re doing. Dog is learning to trust with short – sweet – successful measures!
Thank you, Joyce!