Keep on NDT-ing! Brownie's progress.

[BrownieNJoyce]

I've been seeing great progress in practicing NDT with my lab Brownie!
We've had him 5 months. He was 6 yrs old when we got him. I've been practicing NDT with him 4 months: pushing with meals is usually 2 X/day.
re: Pushing--
when he runs out in to the yard he heads for his fave spots to look out for prey but I'm usually right behind him with food and he comes right over 90% of the time to push when I call him or even before I have a chance to.

On walks, he still goes on high alert for squirrels and cats (and dogs if too close) but he doesn't pull on the leash, he stops and is usually pretty easy to redirect for pushing. Pushing is strong now both in the yard and on walks. I can even push him off and he comes back for another push. We're working on down and down-stay on the box. He stays better in sit than in down. I think I need a taller box. Also working on heel.
re: Tug--
We are making some progress with tug using raw-hide. He is starting to come towards me with it seeking the interaction. He still hasn't taken to biting on any toys or rope and he has to gnaw on the raw hide a bit before he can get a grip to pull. So I am holding it for him while he chews which feels pretty cool and then when he gets a good hold he starts to tug. Not as effective as rope would be for strong tugs but it's a good start.

All of this is just amazing, when I think back to where we started and the period we went through the second month where we had to start back at square one because Brownie suddenly hit some old clog in the energy pipe one day and cowered as if I was the ultimate boogieman unless I put my food hand on the ground and hid the push hand (see other posts by me). It was spooky but I stuck to "trust the process" and we worked it through in a few days.

He recently found his bark when someone rang the doorbell. He's barked a few times since- only at the doorbell. But he's gotten past the major block for that so I am glad about it. NEVER barked before since we've had him.

[Heather]

Brownie sounds like such a neat dog. It is great to hear of his progress!

Happy's favorite "prey" is other dogs. I could offer him a cow carcass and he would choose the dog, the other dog could be totally ignoring him and munching on the cow and he would still try to engage the dog, so I have a lot of work to do to attract "other dog" energy, that's a lot of energy he is not giving to me.

[Indy]

What's amazing to me is how much energy can be beneath the surface even after having a really strong pushing or tugging session. I can take my dog Nelly out and get her to push REALLY hard, and she still has huge amounts of intensity stored up to try to chase squirrels or dogs. Shows just how "deep" the emotional battery can be.

[Bea]

Congrats Joyce. Good to read your post.

Glad you mentioned the set-back and to have faith. The dog I started this work for is becoming very manageable in his anxiety state on the trails approaching strangers and he is simply brighter and clearer in general. My youngest pup is now re-expressing angsty behaviours that had all but disappeared as she grew!!

We are very early days yet.