Bing Blog #21
"The Vet Appointment" -- July 17, 2006 A few weeks ago, I survived one of my biggest training triumphs with Bing so far. I’m not sure why I didn’t write about it. We have known for a long time that Bing likes people but is afraid of hands coming toward him, especially his head. If he feels that he is not in control or is overwhelmed, he might snap at the hand. Much of what we have been doing with him is managing his environment so that he doesn’t need to feel that way. It was difficult at the beginning because he is so handsome that people just want to go up and pet him. But it has become easier because we have become more used to the issue and its complexities, and because we have taught Bing some great coping skills (both classical and operant conditioning, and counterconditioning and desensitization). |
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Hanging out in the sun room. |
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| The impending ‘next vet visit’ weighed heavily on my mind for months. Thinking about it was enough to make me panic and threaten to break down in tears. I knew that for my own sanity and for general safety, I would need to at least teach him to like a muzzle. I would also need to teach him certain things to do and not to do, such as hand target, give his chin, and accept forced restraint from me. In order to teach him to like the muzzle, I free shaped him for sticking his nose in the muzzle. At first I clicked and treated him for sniffing the muzzle as I held it up. I did this about a dozen times, then I held out for something a little more adventurous. When I didn’t click him for nosing the muzzle, he pushed his nose into it a bit. I clicked and treated that. Gradually, over many repetitions and quite a few training sessions, upon seeing the muzzle, he’d SHOVE his entire snout into the muzzle and wait to hear the ‘click’ which told him he could get treats. Bing LOVES to learn new stuff. Getting the neck strap on was a bit more touchy. It required breaking the pieces down into as many pieces as the ‘nose in the muzzle’ part required, and more motion on my part because I needed to reach with the straps to the back of his head, then click, then remove the muzzle, then treat. But once the entire muzzle was on and clipped, I fed him tons of treats through the muzzle, his whale eye showed up a few times, but he continued to eat. He found eating through the muzzle frustrating, which didn’t help. But lo and behold, each time I’d pick up the muzzle, he would get all happy and excited, prancing around and wanting to stick his head in it! At our vet appointment for his heartworm blood test (IMO, something that can not be avoided), he stood on the scale like a champ, then went into the exam room. Sister Acacia was in there with us. Once the tech came in, I asked for a few moments to begin working on the muzzle. Initially he was hesitant to ‘play muzzle’ in this new location but warmed up over only about 5 repetitions. Once the muzzle was on and tightened, I held him in forced restraint. This is a technique which my friend Pam Dennison showed me. It involved ‘hugging’ Bing over his shoulders, wrapping your arms around his chest and holding each elbow with the opposite hand. Then I took his head and turned it away toward the side, then I tucked his head in my armpit. So far so good; this was something Pete and I practiced only twice and he did great at it. The moment the tech lifted his front leg, and he realized it wasn’t me, he let out a very low growl. I asked them to ignore him, which they did. When he realized that the growl wasn’t working, he started crying as if someone was squooshing him. We all told him he was fine, and within seconds he simply collapsed in a surrendered heap in my arms. In about 12 seconds the blood draw was over, I removed the muzzle and gave him a million treats. I was unable to think or speak for a while after that; it was such a stressful event for ME! I was so very proud of him….the work I did on the muzzle wasn’t intended to teach him to like to be stuck with a needle, but to accept the muzzle. And it was effective! I still have a long way to go, but we got our test done (and he watched his sister do the same thing without a muzzle!) and he got out of there, and our work on learning to like hands continues. YAY for Bing! In the meantime, we are taking one of my own Foundations courses, taught by my trusty sidekick, Sue Sanders. Bing knows all of the skills already, but it’s so nice to go to a class with doggy distractions and work on focus! One of the skills we work on is sitting for petting. All of the students can go up to Bing and ask him to hand target, sit, and down, and he enjoys the interaction. He also will offer his chin for anyone who asks. He truly enjoys the interaction, so long as no one tries to reach out and pet his head. Sigh. So much to work on! Ali Comment to the Webmaster about this story. Your comments may be posted. Comment to Ali in private. Return to the Main Blog Page. |
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