Background:

Salam is a very sweet and energetic dog. She was found with her littermates on the side of the road at a very young age. Her new owners gave her all the love and care she could possibly need. Without rules and structure in her life, bad behaviors started to appear with time and one year later, she became too much to handle and the owners sought help.

‍Lack of Obedience and Walking Skills:

Salam’s owners gave her lots of love and affection but little to no rules and boundaries. This had a detrimental outcome on her behavior and responsiveness. She was lacking obedience at home and even more so outside of the house (naturally). She had no reason to listen to her owners because rules were never enforced. On walks, Salam was a vacuum cleaner, sweeping across from side to side, picking up food from the sidewalks, and literally dragging her owners behind her.

Reactivity Towards Dogs:

The first time I ever saw her accepting the mere existence of other dogs is after Sam worked with her!
— Baraa, Salam's Owner

Being separated from her littermates at an early age, Salam did not have the proper socialization that dogs typically need to learn how to act around other dogs. She developed a fear of other dogs and so during walks she would bark, lunge, and pull on the leash whenever another dog is in sight, wanting it to go away. She had a very low threshold for tolerating other dogs and was very difficult to control once she went beyond that threshold.

The Training and Counterconditioning:

I started off with teaching Salam some indoor obedience skills such as “sit”, “come”, “down”, “stay”, “leave it”, “heel”, and “no” and took it to the next level by practicing them in the outdoors when she was doing well indoors. I was pleased to see her always looking at me for the next command or for approval. She was no longer pulling on walks, but instead stopping and auto-sitting next to the handler when he/she stops.

I took Salam in as a board & train and bonded with her at first while teaching her obedience commands and default calm behavior. Those skills were very useful later when I was showing her what behavior is expected when we see a dog. I played impulse control games such as “It’s your choice” with Salam to teach her to think before she acts and to know that her actions have consequences. I gradually introduced Salam to other dogs, from a very far distance at first (under threshold) while watching her behavior for any signs of anxiety. I desensitized her to the stimulus of other dogs around and changed her from an impulsive reactor to a thinker and decision maker. She eventually changed her emotional response when seeing a dog from a negative to a positive one. She started loving seeing dogs and actually got the chance to meet many and play with them one on one as well as in groups.

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