Whether your dog is working, or off-duty, you want to make sure that you can get your dog's attention. Other animals such as dogs, cats, squirrels, and rabbits, can easily steal away your dog's attention, which can be dangerous for you if you suddenly need your service dog to help you. When your dog has their gear on, you should be able to be confident that they have their "working brain" engaged and won't try to chase or play with another animal, but when they are off-duty and possibly off-leash (in your own yard), you may be concerned that your dog will be more inclined to ignore you. In this post, I'll talk a bit about why high focus on other animals can be disastrous, how to work with your dog to improve their focus on you no matter what tempting animal is nearby, and my progress with Robbie regarding this challenge. Why You Don't Want a High Prey Drive in a Service DogWhile many want their service dogs to have great retrieves, it is possible to have a dog that loves to bring objects to their handler but doesn't have the drive to run down a rabbit.
Learning to Ignore While WorkingThis will develop stronger as your dog matures, and their space-cadet puppy mode calms down. However, it won't hurt to begin teaching them early on when to ignore things and when it's ok to check things out. Below are a few rules/practices we set for Robbie to teach him:
Ways to Keep Your Dog's Focus Off-Duty & Off-leash
Robbie & RabbitsRobbie doesn't have high prey drive, thankfully. His interest in other animals seems to be curiosity and playfulness. Initially, we were concerned about him having a high prey drive, because we were still learning to read his body language. Take cats, for instance. The first few times we had Robbie around cats, he really wanted to be near them and would try to chase them if given the chance. Once we taught him to wait for our cue to "visit" with another animal, we got to see that all he wanted to do was play - numerous times he would go up to a cat and get in his play stance. We relaxed. Rabbits were much more alluring than the cats, however, and no rabbit was going to be dumb enough to come near a large dog. In the beginning, we approached this by working with Robbie on various attention exercises in an area that had a high rabbits population. The attention exercises we worked on included:
Robbie is smart, though. Eventually, he learned to ignore rabbits at that one spot, but would continue to zero in on rabbits and squirrels at home. We did the same exercises at home and other locations when prey animals were near, but decided to step it up a bit. Robbie & Liquid SmokeSo we bought a rabbit. Her name was Liquid Smoke, and she was a small, very fluffy, black bunny. During our training sessions, Smoke was always safe and never harassed by Robbie. Anytime Robbie got too close to her cage or too excited, we would give him a firm "leave it" and redirect his attention on playtime with us as a reward. Redirecting Robbie's attention helped, but part of way we wanted to go with buying a rabbit was because we figured rabbits were something of a novelty to him. Maybe if rabbits were as normal as the cows he sees every day, then he wouldn't be as eager to play with one. We worked on his exposure with Smoke every day, slowly increasing the challenge. Additionally, her cage was placed where he could see her during the day.
Robbie's fascination with rabbits dissipated considerably after purchasing Smoke. Now when he sees one, he raises his head, ears perked forward, and prances some, but remains at the heel even on a slack leash. Off-leash, he may start towards one, but either stops himself or listens to one firm "leave-it" without hesitation. Closing NotesWhen first teaching your dog to ignore animals it helps to know what animals they are highly interested in, have never been around before, and what they could really care less about. The low interest animals will be perfect for those early ignore training sessions because the animal won't be more interesting than you. If at first it seems hopeless, give it time! Be creative with it. Take your dog to animal shows or festivals to help expose them to all sorts of creatures. Try to avoid getting anxious or tense when working with your dog around animals because that will only translate as nervous energy to them, which will make it worse. After explaining why high prey drive isn't a plus in service dogs, various exercises you can work on to improve your dog's focus, and sharing my experience with Robbie and other critters, I hope you feel prepared to teach your service dog when to approach and when to ignore other animals!
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My Name is Sally...I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This blog is about my journey training Robbie, a dog who helped me regain independence, confidence, and achieve the impossible in the face of my disability. It continues on with the training of Austin, Robbie's successor. Check Out... - "More than a Dog" was published on a site called The Mighty Categories
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