From Kat, owner of Alaskan Malamute, Niko at 8 months old, just finishing her 1st heat:
Roxanne mentioned I should add this morning’s experience to the Retrieve blog, and I still feel pretty wound up about it, so I figured jotting things down now might help me unwind enough that I can hopefully fall asleep.
This morning Niko attacked Boaz at our TS HHPR.
She and Riley had been playing a little rougher than I like, but it finally seemed like they had gotten their wrestles out and were starting to run alongside one another. Roxanne arrived with her three, Riley bolted toward them to say ‘Hi,’ and Niko followed. She was moving pretty fast toward Boaz, so I was trying to decide whether to recall just to keep her from approaching so fast. I think I decided because they knew one another from previous HHPR’s, it would be fine, so I waited to recall. Then she attacked him.
She was completely unprovoked. I still am feeling shocked by it— this was the last thing I expected from her at that moment. Of course, the dogs went wild. Roxanne told me to recall, and I was already trying. Repeated recalls and steadily turning the remote up, it was above 80 by the time she finally started moving away.
I’m so grateful Roxanne was there. She made me keep my feet when I didn’t know what to do next. We both worked Niko against Boaz, retrieves and heeling. We worked her against the whole group of dogs. I probably outed her at least 25 times today.
I know we are going to fall back on the training, and I know we are going to work through this. I am also a little terrified that the next time I think she’s fine, she won’t be, and another dog will be hurt. I’m not sure how to relax around her, now.
My eyes are getting heavy. I will likely revisit this after some rest.
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Roxanne responded:
It was an unexpected moment as Niko went into LLLL in nano seconds. Boaz, who is NOT an initiator retaliated with teeth, a thing I have only seen once before, years ago, when a GSD attacked him.
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By God's grace, Kat kept her composure, listened and followed my rapid-fire instructions and kept calling Niko, ever higher on the ecollar, until Niko yelped and went to her. Had Kat rushed into the bedlam, it would have added fuel to that fire. But she stayed CCC and PIC, in the face of watching her dog attack Boaz, and in time, Niko listened. I am so grateful as Niko did NOT win, actually she was staunchly corrected by Kat, by Boaz, and by my hovering Pack. Don't know if Kat or Buck heard me, but I verbally commanded Redd n Ruth to "LEAVE It!' and they did.
Then, we let the dogs roam about and did Recalls. I had Kat put Niko on the pitcher's mound, my other two dogs on Downs, Riley out of the area, and worked Boaz close Niko.
I put all my Pack behind a fence and had Kat backwash and do retrieves towards those planted dogs. Buck did, oh geez, at least 25+ retrieves on flat with Riley as we worked Niko.Trina was there with Zoey and then watched as I had Kat work Niko with DB in mouth very close to my stationary dogs. To complete that lesson, I then worked Niko on leash as I had Kat work Boaz. Niko was on edge and targeting so got corrected by me for that foolishness.
Onward we went to Mary/Ellie's FC Lesson 7, my dogs inside, but Link was there. We had about 15 minutes after Mary's lesson, before Allysa/Abby arrived and we did some crazy flooding with Gayle/Olive, Scrambled Heeling with Gayle/Olive, Mary/Ellie, Trina/Lena, Kat/Niko, and Jessi/Link. That video I have and will upload soon. All of that 15 minute was in front of Etta, the older woman with the killer Border Collie. Etta came alone as I had instructed her to do. Etta had a unique opportunity to watch and listen as I educated her, you will hear that on the video. Allysa arrived and I had time to share with Etta why I would not accept training her with her Border. I was honest with her. She seemed to know that her dog would not be able to work, safely, in such close proximity as what she was observing. Etta left and I am so deeply grateful we had that time for her to see, understand, and learn. What she chooses to do with her Border, I do not know. I left the door open for Etta to start over, with a puppy, with me, should she choose that path. We will see.
Finally, we had a quiet ILL with Allysa and Abby. Allysa was relaxed, laughing, Jessi did an exceptional job teaching, calling on Trina and Kat for teaching moments, Niko turned her back to the group doing Quiet Time, and was the ILL Demo Team. All in all, Niko, and Kat, learned a whole 🌏 today. Both were somewhat T.O.A.S.T when they left. I am so extremely proud of Kat, she did exceedingly well despite an unexpected and tense morning. Niko? Ha..she did NOT win, did NOT succeed, and had to WORK anyway, over and over. And over again. I do believe this was an important day, a day of learning, a day of life lessons.
Onward
“Onward” is right!
Thank you for adding your perspective as I could not remember some of that. While it was happening I was toggling between the e-collar remote and tunnel-vision on Niko, so even thinking about it I could not place the other dogs.
This morning it was still dark when we left the house, and Niko freaked out about a shape in the grass of my neighbor’s yard, maybe 15 ft from my car. After she started growling, it freaked me out a little, too! I moved my car so I could shine the lights on it- it was a 4ft decorative evergreen bush that had tipped over. It was positioned in a line of about five little potted bushes.
Before we unloaded I put Niko’s ecollar back on. She immediately targeted the little tipped-over bush. I told her it was fine and walked to the bush, intending her to follow. She would not.
I tried a recall (here), and applied pressure with the collar the way we have practiced so long. She would not come. As I slowly turned up the ecollar response and repeated the recall, she showed signs of feeling the ecollar but refused to approach me and the bush. I watched her grow increasingly agitated. Eventually she hopped up into the suburban to hide.
By that time, I was above 40 on the ecollar and I could see she was freaked out about the whole thing and started shutting down the way I have seen during our retrieve practice. I stopped applying pressure and walked to the car. I held her collar and walked her to the bush. She smelled it, checked it out, and visually relaxed. We spent some time working recalls around the row of bushes, after smelling each one. After I could see no more signs of agitation and she was recalling like normal, I finally let us go inside.
Why recount the story of the Mal and the Bushes? I can’t help but consider that somehow, they are tied to how jacked up Niko was today. Or maybe they should have been an indicator to me of how jacked up she was?
Second, her response to the increasing ecollar pressure against the bush has me concerned. I’m not sure how to recondition her to respond to my command in the presence of a HIGH distraction to ease the pressure instead of collapsing in on herself as the pressure increases…
The AKC sends out periodic puppy development emails and in the last one it mentioned pups can go through a second ‘fear phase’ around this age. I am definitely seeing the fear. I would not say fear is what triggered her with Boaz, necessarily, but maybe that heightened earlier response as well as all the hormones? I am scrambling
to pinpoint the trigger so I can be aware of it and stay ahead of it next time… but I honestly have no idea!"
That must have been intense and so scary, my heart goes out to you both! Kat, when Piper has really locked in, I've had to hit 80 or even higher. It's rare, but when their adrenaline is really spiked it seems to dull their pain receptors.
Piper was almost a different dog after her first heat. I've no doubt Roxanne will get Niko sorted out, just as she would have done with Piper had we that opportunity.
All will be well my friend, hang in there!
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Kat,
Not uncommon for a young dog to get 'spooked' by a perceived monster. Dogs recognize things by sight, sound, smell or silhouette. Niko's memory banks had no experience with 'strange bushes', to her it was a monster indeed. Sugar has one such 'monster' at about the same age, a ceramic 4" high frog. Yup, a frog statue. Sugar came uncorked and it took me over 30 minutes of working him around that dangerous frog till he approached it, smelled it and then walked away.
This is all part of the learning process for a young dog.
Roxanne
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The video of Scrambled Heeling.
This morning's drama recap
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