Puzzling behavior

[mjbgsd]

So I've been to 3 Open classes so far and she's done very well, a lot better then what I thought she would do. (Let me give you an idea of the area. It's in a huge building where theres a little "island" in the center so technically there's two sides.) The only thing that puzzles me is her stays. She's VERY solid in her stays and has NEVER broke her stays in the 3 and 1/2 years she's done it except last week but didn't brake it this week but the last two classes she has been acting anxious. She has very solid nerves, is even fine with gun shot noises. What happened last week was when I was out of sight, a lady that had her dog next to me, her dog got up and she yelled NO very loud and clapped her hands pretty close to Isa. (Isa is a little handler sensitive, any harsh NO and she shuts down for a few seconds) After that, her stays in just THAT AREA have been shakey. I've had to stay in sight. She'll act anxious just in that area. We train in both sides of the building and she's perfectly fine on the side that we do the stays, plays with her balls, retrieves the dumbell, goes over the jump, etc but when we go in THAT SPECIFIC AREA, she acts like a dog that has anxiety. It's very odd, not like her, and just plain puzzling. I've asked the trainer and she said sometimes things happen and that she's probably associating that thing from last week as that specific back area as negative. I did her stays at home, we just did her RAE this past weekend and even though we're in sight and they're onleash and it's very short stays, she was perfectly fine. But for some reason just in that specific back area she acts anxious. I played ball with her at the end of class today in that area and she was fine.
Any comments??

[IliamnasQuest]

Grrrr, it really irritates me when a handler chooses to correct their dog loudly in a stay line-up. It's absolutely WRONG and that lady should have had her butt kicked! That's something that should be taken up with the training director. Any TD or instructor that's half-decent should know that any corrections done in a line-up need to be done calmly and with absolute concern about the effect the correction may have on the other dogs in the line-up. Same thing with rewards - don't make a fuss and use a lot of treats when rewarding your dog in a line-up .. keep it small and calm so as not to disturb the other dogs.

I would probably try to do some short, close-up stays in that area with really high levels of reward. Think "beginning stays" and see if you can re-adjust her comfort level. Sensitive dogs can be ruined by insensitive handlers like the lady you described, and I would really recommend that you try to change your dog's association so that she no longer has the fear problem.

And personally, I would NOT do stays in a line-up there if they're going to allow that kind of nonsense. At the very least, you might talk with some of your fellow handlers and see if a group of you can do some stays together with the agreement that no one will yell or clap or do anything that could scare a dog. With you out-of-sight, your dog had no support system and it was probably more traumatic to her than you realize.

Not to scare you, but I've seen dogs absolutely ruined for out-of-sight stays by being too close to handlers correcting their dogs in a line-up. It's important, especially since you know your dog is sensitive to this kind of thing, to only put her in situations where she will continue to feel safe.

Good luck! Isa will likely be just fine with a little remedial stay work. And I would encourage you to speak to the instructor and ask if those people who are going to correct their dogs be in a separate group than the stays you do. You are the one that has to assess what your dog can handle, and protect her accordingly. Even with my tougher dogs, I don't want someone yelling and clapping their hands in correction next to them when in a stay. I'LL provide the distractions, thankyouverymuch! *L*

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[mjbgsd]

I don't think this has ruined her stays but I don't think she'll ever like that specific area again. I've asked the trainer if I could do stays with the Novice group that's before our Open/Utility class. So I'll see how that goes as they are in a different area for stays.