A woman at the field this morning was encouraging her 1 yr old Duck
Toller to chase Abby while Abby was chasing the
frisbee. I don't really care, and it's good practice for Abby to just focus on her toy and ignore the dog...but, for the sake of the other dog's training I wanted to ask the woman, "Do you realize how many potential problems you're causing??". Before Abby would play fetch with me I thought it was 'cute' that she'd chase other dogs instead of her own toy. If I could go back, there would be a LOT of training to 'leave it' and play with me instead of learning how fun it is to chase other dogs.
It seems like I'm making chasing other dogs sound like Abby's major issue, but it really isn't. It's just the issue that I deal with the most right now. Abby has snapped at 2 of my roommates since September - first when one was rolling around on the floor laughing, and then at the other when she bent down over Abby and put her face right up to Abby's. I've been dealing with those by management mostly, since I really don't know what else to do. I don't let strangers pet Abby, and I keep a constant eye on her around the house. She gets put in a 'stay' if people are running/jumping, and my roommates have been asked to please not put their faces in Abby's face. I've been doing some training with leaning over her, petting her head, putting my face right up to hers and praising/treating for calm behaviour. Not sure how well that translates to anyone but me, though, since she has always been fine with anything I do to her. She is very much a one person dog.
The guarding me issue is also a big one. She has quite a range of tactics to try and get people out of my room. She'll jump on them, push them with her body, slap their faces if they're sitting down, lick their faces frantically (not in a nice way), jump on them from the back as they come into the room (if she doesn't notice right away). When I have a bigger room next term I plan to keep treats by the door, then have her go to her bed when people come in and they can throw some treats to her for staying. Right now my room is tiny and an awkward shape (narrowest part is at the door, and that's where her bed is - my desk is at the other end of the room - so perfect guarding spot from her point of view). I've basically given up on trying to change her reaction to people coming into my room this term, and have resorted to making her stay in one spot. I've been a lot firmer with her when I am sitting next to someone, or leaning towards them. She has to stay where she was instead of leaping up and trying to butt in between us.
On a better note, Abby is such a smart girl! I set up an agility course in the living room tonight - made a tunnel under the coffee tables, had a board for targets, some broom jumps in the hall and her bed at the end of the hall. She had so much fun and I was able to call her off obstacles even in that tiny space. Right now we're mostly practicing going 'left' and 'right' over jumps, and perfecting her targets (she seems to think targets are only for home practice, and not for class or trials...)
We're going to try herding in January, so I get to find out how Abby is with sheep! Should be exciting. And I'd like to try lure coursing in the spring, and also get more into Rally-O.
Nuttymutt can do it all (with the possible exception of herding - I'll have to see if any sheep get eaten)!
