Front Door Manners

When I arrived to work with Jeff and Chevy today I was in for a big surprise! Previously I was greeted by a happy, bouncing, kangaroo! Today Chevy was very polite and kept all four on the floor. It is obvious that Jeff and his friend have been working diligently with Chevy.

One thing that came up in our talking today that is worth mentioning is Chevy gets TTouch first thing in the morning when they are waking up and then again as they go to bed. Jeff commented that during the day sometimes it is only a few seconds of touches but not a concentrated effort of a full session. You know what? That is just fine! Tellington TTouch is all about moments and not minutes. It was quite obvious to me that the amount of touch Chevy is receiving is just right.

We had two goals for today. The first was to review what we learned during the week and then take a walk. One of Jeff's concerns about Chevy is his dog reactivity.

The other goal was one Jeff mentioned to me during the week. I will be the first to admit that when he said he wanted to work on calm door greetings with Chevy my first thought was "Ohhhh noooooo! Not calm door greetings."

Here is the ironic thing. Both of these goals for today are things I struggle with at home with our own boyz. Marley and Pierre are dog reactive. All three are very naughty at the door so much so that it impacts us having people over. I've tried it all. But with 3 dogs all feeding off each other and one who has challenges sharing treats it is difficult to work with.

So, I did some research this week and remembered a Victoria Stillwell episode I had recorded where Victoria helped a guy with 2 very boisterous pit bulls. I rewatched that episode and realized that was going to be the right method for Chevy.

I asked what Jeff wanted to see when someone came to the door. He had a very clear picture for us to work with. He wants Chevy to sit nicely at the top of the stairs when he goes down and greets the guest. This was perfect because you need a clear picture of the end result when you start.

What we did was have Chevy sit at the top of the stairs and "wait". We gradually moved away from him added one step after another.


Finally we could go to the bottom of the stairs and open the front door with Chevy patiently waiting at the top! Sometimes he got a treat and other times he got a few touches. Jeff and I took turns being the one to say "wait" and move away from him. Then we upped the ante a bit and I went outside and Jeff let me in. Still Chevy waited patiently. Today we progressed to a light knock on the door....all with success.


This is a homework assignment for Jeff this week. Keep practicing and building on this.

The next thing we did was go for a walk! But first we switched out his Flexi Lead for a nice soft fabric, double ended lead so we could walk him in the super balance lead. This is a configuration where one end of the lead hooks on a harness ring, through a loop on the front of the harness and then up to the top of the harness. This gives us 2 points of contact and better influence over the dog.

As expected, Chevy caught on immediately. He has very nice leash manners any way so adapting to the Super Balance Leash was no problem.

Soon we saw a dog and before it was too close I showed Jeff how to redirect using the "Touch" command. It worked like a charm. Then we let the other dog get closer (on the other side of the street). I wanted to show Jeff how to work with him when he reacts. Turns out he reacts the same way Marley used to. High pitch scream and trying to get to the dog. I was able to get through to him a little which kept it from getting worse but ultimately the thing that broke his focus from the other do was a handful of treats thrown on the ground.

Jeff had a great question. Does that reward him for acting up? No, it really doesn't. When a dog is in that state of mind he isn't thinking or making a connection. Food can act as a destressor for a dog and in these beginning stages we do what it takes to interrupt the cycle in a positive way. Later we will get to the point where he can sit and get treats as the other dog goes by. Right now we want to break the pattern without force of any kind. We want to start making an association that other dog = good things!

All in all I'm incredibly pleased with Chevy's progress. He is a very smart boy with a highly committed Dad. These two are really excelling in every way.