-
Hello@DoggoneSpecial– I just was reding your case study (from last month) about the pit bull mix, Storm, the mouthing & arousal &B your work with her foster family– your Tx plan for this family sounded very well-thought out, and the support and suggestions from everyone who replied were equally thoughtful and very applicable also. And being a total beginner here (just starting my CATCH Master Class program, but have been involved with rescues an different shelters for several years) I had 2 questions – as opposed to suggestions, sorry- and I’m sorry to say they’re not going do much to helphere. First thing, I am impressed with this foster family’s committment to Storm! considering that this is their first-time out fostering and they might not have been prepared (or hopefully they were at least prepared by the shelter INFORMATION-WISE) for the emotional roller coaster that a dog with this issue can bring along. It sounds like the idea of putting a structure in for Storm is spot on, so to ease some of the anxiety or whatever emotion she’s hooked into, AS WELL AS for the humans so they can feel some sense of control. My question is about the human side of things: knowing nothing about the people’s situation other than that they live in an apartment in NYC and it’s not your typical suburban family kind of situation, just was wondering what kind of response you were getting to the plan, aside from the surface appreciation from folks that really need some way to work withthe dog? Did you pick up on any ambivalence initially about their working the plan? (and hopefully that isn’t an issue now since a month’s time has pssed) Did they – or the main caregiver- go ahead and make some kind of schedulefor Storm’s daily routines? I’m just curious. I have a social worker background and so it might inform my perspective in working with customers. The 2nd question I have is more generic: I’m not a newbie at aall where clicker training is concerned BUT it’s been many years since I used it regularly. You mentioned you were giving the fosters ‘training’ on using a marker first without the dog present: do you hve any suggestions for ME to improve my skills using the clicker, like any pre-dog practicing exercises? I’d reaally appreciate anything you want to share.
Thanks,
Nina (a.k.a. Beaglemania)
