Katie the Sheltie-girl and I have accepted a challenge from Ricky to  head out each week and attempt to work on something that really makes her crazy.  We’re trying to do a bit of behavior modification and the challenge is helping us step up and get some much needed work done.

We’re not the only ones working on this challenge.  You can see the whole list of people and their pups that are working on tough stuff over at Ricky’s blog;  dogs like Sara’s Oreo and Misty, or Marie’s sheltie Dare,  Kathy’s Breeze or Patti’s Brutis and Tytus.  In fact there are so many people working on trouble spots with their dogs that you really need to go over to Ricky’s blog and look! The list is on the right side of Ricky’s blog and you can read all about everyone’s adventures on their blogs because we’re all going to write about our experiences each Sunday.

Soooooo….what did Katie and I do this week?  Well, you may or may not know that Katie lunges at cars, and if she weren’t always on a leash I’m afraid she’d run right out into the street after them.  She barks hysterically and is pretty hard to handle whenever we’re out and a car goes by.  She doesn’t like bicycles either, or joggers, or anyone or anything that goes by fast, especially if they make any noise.  So Friday we headed to a park where the first mile of the path runs parallel to the road.   I don’t usually take her there for a walk because it’s just no fun, worrying about her lunging and barking, and possibly pulling out of her collar.

The first thing we did was hang out at the top of the path, where it crosses the road.  Each time a car went by I’d tell her to sit and stay.  If she managed to do that without barking or lunging at the car she’d get a treat.  As the first car went by she took off barking; she got a correction and no treat.  And she knew I had treats with me!  She’s used to getting something if she sits and stays, but she blew it when she took off after that car.  And she knew it.

As the second car approached I told her to sit and stay.  She sat, looked at me, looked at the car, looked at me.  I reinforced the word “STAY!”  She looked at the car.  You could see the muscles in her shoulders bunch up.  But she didn’t move anything except her head as she watched it go by.

Well GOOD GIRL Katie!  She got lots of praise and treats.  And the light bulb went off, you could actually see her think about what was going on.  We started down the pathway which descends a long hill.  Lots of people were out on their bikes…

…each time one came past I’d pull her off the path and put her in a sit.  She watched them go by, wanting to bark, but not doing it.  She got treats.

See her ears go flat?

That’s because two little boys just went by on razors which made loud clacking noises.  She sat still for them as they passed us, but just after she couldn’t handle it anymore and reacted with flattened ears, running up to me.  She got a treat because she came to her mama rather than chasing the children.

And of course when I saw a woman on roller blades coming down the hill as we were headed back up I put Katie into a sit.  It wasn’t fair though because Katie had her back to the woman, and just after this picture was snapped she leaped into the air, surprised as the rollerblader swooped past.  My fault. Guess the mama needs to work on stuff as well!  But Katie didn’t bark at her, nor try to give chase.

We spent a good couple of hours walking up and down the path, watching people go by.

We even sat under a tree across the street from the golf course where lots of cars were coming and going.  She watched, once in awhile she checked in with me, and I kept saying “good stay Katie!” and she chose to stay.  Good girl!

I don’t know if she’s broken the habit.  I’ll have to proof her in a few more places.  Like in our driveway where she’s at home and feels a bit more like Queen of the Hill.  I think in the park she felt slightly out of place, was more intimidated and more likely to follow directions.

I’ll have to see if all this translates to behavior at home.