Adrienne

Hello and welcome to the forums! I have a few questions to better understand the situation. Is this form of growling towards you happening only when he is possession of something and you are trying to remove it? Or also in other circumstances? Would you say his behavior change towards you and other dogs is something totally new that has happened sort of "out of the blue?" Were there any previous signs of guarding things in the past 6 months? (Like taking stuff and running away, getting tense when he has something, eating faster when you walk by him?) Is your dog on any medications? How is he doing health-wise? Any changes in appetite, stools, behavior (more licking/scratching) increased/decreased appetite? What happens when you ask him to drop it? Why are you trying to remove things out of his mouth (not recommended as this makes resource guarding worse) if you are asking him to drop? Is he not responding to "drop it?" Does he know "leave it"? Has he received any prior training? How are you playing with him with his toys? Are you touching/grabbing his toys when he has them? In what circumstances exactly did you see him growling at the other dogs? What were the other dogs doing when he growled? Were there toys or food around? You said his growling at other dogs is very rare, which implies he has done this before, if so, please list the contexts in which this growling occurred. Thank you for the elucidations.

Hi Robert, Welcome to the forums! You have received excellent tips above. For ease of navigation, I will provide some of the links where you can find all the guides. The first days, it's mostly about getting the pup used to his new place and the crate and starting potty training. Puppy may whine at night so keeping him in the bedroom with the crate nearby can help him habituate and can help determine when and how often to be taken out (2-3 trips at night/early morning are not unusual initially.) Love the crate exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Main article on potty training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/7-secret-potty-training-strategies/ Advanced potty training program: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/ Obedience guides are found in the link below. Since your dog is likely a young puppy you will need to factor in short attention spans, so make those training sessions brief and fun (you can start with just 2-3 minute sessions spread in 4-5 sessions throughout the day and see how it goes.) You want to end the sessions with your puppy still having fun so to inculcate eagerness to being trained. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/ Importance of socialization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/ Smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ Bite inhibition and bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/biting-mouthing-nipping/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ Prevention of resource guarding: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ Brain games are great to keep your pup busy and mentally stimulated: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/ As your puppy develops, exercises to prevent separation anxiety: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ With a large breed dog as a mastiff, tackling jumping early is important: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/ If you search the forums you will also find loads of extra tips for puppy nipping and lots of other puppy related info. Keep us posted when you get your pup! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Loki is doing super well in the great outdoors where there are many distractions and he is very attentive. The recall is also very joyful and the type I strive for. This is great for just a month of training and Loki is still so young! Raising a puppy and watching him learn and grow is an amazing experience. It's lots of work especially the first months, but things tend to get better. Watching them bloom and reaping the rewards is the best part.

Glad to hear Loki is doing so much progress! Keep up the great work! Your patience and determination is paying off. And for sure, a calm, relaxed and happy state of mind can help a pup feel more safe and secure. Just be super careful that he doesn't get too bold and gets too close to the fence again! But yes, you and Loki deserve this great victory so lots of pats on each others' backs. Happy training!

This may prove may more efficient that counter counditioning actually : we had a major progress yesterday thanks to that We went to a walk, and we met with one of the neighborhood dogs who are allowed to play with him fully (not just little greeting, but really untied unrestricted play) We untied them and let them go wild in the area. They ran crazy like mad men and Loki seemed to had the time of his life. Even he was running behind with his little paws (the other was older and bigger) At some point, he was panting heavily, not taking water and was just focus on his buddy, and we thought it was time for calling it a day for this time. We tied them again, went separate ways otherwise he would be still be over treshold. On the way back, he crossed the dreaded road as it was nothing scary !!! YAAAAY Having a good time with a buddy seems to be like the best counter conditioning method ever for him. I'll definitely make other buddies contribute 😄 Yes, it is often underestimated how powerful the presence of other dogs can be, especially puppies who are easily influenced and take other dogs as examples. Our Rottweiler Einstein we often used him to help fearful puppies who needed a little confidence boost. In this article below, there's a video of Einstein showing a dog scared to jump in the car how to do it with confidence. After a little training on jumping and getting momentum using the coach, this pup learned to jump in the car in just a day. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-getting-car/ Also, I tried more desentization that counter conditioning as I felt it way easier for me. I seem to struggle a bit about the "book method" of counter conditioning as it seems important to time the trigger, not get pass the point he would get over threshold (which can be very subtle)... We just were in the field where there is the cow pen. We came for the opposite side, far away. And I just came closer, stopped, let him come to me, sniffing, having a good time untied, some recalls with treats, then I went a little bit closer and repeat the exact same. This sounds a bit like the treat-retreat fashion, mentioned in the other post where you keep the leash loose at a distance from the area, and when Loki advances a bit ahead you praise and reward that by staying in your place and feeding a treat from there (Loki comes to you to get it). Then you wait for him to advance again, take one step forward (still staying a bit behind) and praise and reward feeding a treat (your pup still walks back to you to get it). At some point, we came to a farmer harvesting cherries, came next to him, did some talking... And I called it a day, not be sure not to had something bad in the experience I find it way easier for me this way, and less energy consuming. Is it efficient though ? I'm not sure he really acknowledge the trigger but to me it's a form of desentization In the dog training world there is a saying "Pavlov is always on your shoulder." This refers to Ivan Pavlov, the "father" of classical conditioning. It means that when you are working on reinforcing behaviors (which is operant conditioning), there is always some classical conditioning going on too. Even if it looks like you are just desensitizing by letting him take baby steps, when you praise and reinforce the recalls with treats, you are also creating positive associations with the area, you and other stimuli around you.

Hi Marlene, Please see my observations/tips in bold under your questions. "Hi again, with the above training, for eg when I am walking Apollo and he starts pulling with excitement knowing that where we are walking too has dog friends there, I will practice the heeling/ look into my eyes also the sit and calm behaviour as we attempt to get closer. But is there a time limit on how long you can do this for as they may become super frustrated." As with most training, it is best to practice initially indoors in a quiet room and then move gradually to the outdoors using intermediate areas (like the yard, front porch area, driveway) and to start with short sessions and gradually increase duration. Better to make the exercises easy -peasy initially, setting the dog for success ( in an error-less fashion) and just aim for a little success and call it a day, rather than turning the training boring or frustrating. You can even start with the LOOK AT THAT exercise if he loses his mind upon seeing dogs on walks, so to gain a little glimpse of responsiveness, in other words a little starting point that can help you with asking attention heeling on walks. Here is the guide for that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ If you have volunteer friends who have calm dogs, it can help create "setups". You can practice them having their dog at a certain distance, and if Apollo pulls, you may stop or even turn around and walk several steps back, and if he walks nicely next to you, you progress walking ahead and feed some treats along the way if he'll take them to reward walking nicely. A loose leash basically is your accelerator that gets him closer to where he wants to go, a tense leash is your break. If you notice signs of frustration, you have likely progressed too fast (he needs to learn to be calmer in less excitable setups) or are making the sessions too tedious and long. For walking politely around dogs, I prefer doing attention heeling rather than sits which can increase frustration since all that excited energy must go somewhere. I prefer to leave the downs and sits for when a dog has already been around the other dogs and their excitement has gone down a bit so that they are a little more in a "thinking state." And do I not allow him to eventually play with the dog friend if he can't intially just be calm enough for me to even take off the leash. Yes, this is good. I would make sure though to feed treats every now and to reduce a bit of the frustration. In other words, if a dog is really eager to meet another dog, we risk being perceived as the obstacle who is holding them back. If we feed treats though to reward little signs of progress like sitting or acting calm for us to remove the leash, we are increasing our value to our dog's eyes (who may eventually possibly desire to be more with us than with other dogs) while also making us appear less then an obstacle. This type of impulse control requires lots of practice and training. This often entails being more around dogs in calm settings than excited ones. I personally prefer to use the perimeters of dog parks for training, and organizing walks with other calm dogs, and allow play only once the dogs have proven to be calmer around dogs over time. Sometimes, even though our dogs sit before being sent to play, they are still too over threshold (like a dog may learn to sit before being unleashed, but may be shaking or whining in trepid anticipation). When there is still too much underlying excitement, this excessive excitement may inadvertently become part of the behavior chain of walking up to the area and sitting to be unleashed. At your dog's age, it also helps to do more impulse control training and frustration tolerance exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Also yesterday I was at an oval he saw a dog friend approach, I had him on leash and he started pulling and jumping around wanting to play with his friend. In this circumstance I was already at a park,. Trying to train focus with him, which was hard as all he kept doing is looking around waiting for a dog to come) Anyway he got too strong for me and took off and I fell. I didn't hurt my self. I am so sorry to hear your dog caused you to fall. Are you using a front-attaching harness of regular collar? A front-attaching harness can give you better control until he learns to be a little calmer. A head halter can help too, but it needs some conditioning time. Here both are discussed: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pulling-on-the-leash/ He played with the dog but I feel he was too rough, and being the bigger dog he would stand over the smaller dog, so I leashed him again and had him sit/ down position and waited for calm, the other lady leashed her dog as well so she couldn't come to Apollo either and excite him. When he showed calm we let them get closer, when he stood over her I pulled him off again and so on. He definitely calmed down, but there was no off leash time after this, In this case, because he initially pulled and showed no calm at all once I got hold of him should I have taken him away and not allowed any interaction with the other dog. This is where my confusion starts, they need socialisation but are reacting inappropriately to start with. Was Apollo standing over doing the "T posture" thing where the dog places himself perpendicularly at a 90 degree angle in respect to the other dog? Or was he trying to actually mount the other dog?

- yesterday night with my gf, i think she tried to go by the infamous road, which were difficult, until he spotted another dog, then he just wanted to play with the dog, and had no trouble getting on the way => can being with buddy friends in this area can help counter conditioning by itself. We have a playdate coming, can we maybe just walk them together through this road to associate is with a nice experience, or he must be fully concentrated on the trigger, and see the trigger, then treat, and repeat ? or just having a nice time in the spot he dread can help ? Yup! I mentioned this in my previous answer in the original thread. Walking him with another confident dog can help as it may cause him to focus on the dog rather than other things in the area. You would have to see how it goes as you approach the area. If he is super social and loves to play with dogs, and if this dogs walks confidently in this area, he may just walk along and focus on his buddy. With more and more successful walks, his brain may eventually mark the areas again as safe. The other dog can be walked by the side facing the fence so that Loki has a little visual barrier initially. Sometimes, (not always!) all it takes is a good teacher dog showing them there is nothing to fear. Consider that, if this dog is the same dog who also got shocked, he/she may do just the opposite, communicate Loki that the fence is a danger through some subtle body language. If Loki happens to momentarily stall, sometimes having your other friend love up on her dog (lavishly and with emphasis!) may get him walking to get his slice of attention too if Loki loves attention. If he resumes walking, you can praise him and reward him "jollying him up" as you walk past the area and doing some steps of attention heeling. So this is something worthy of trying, but mostly paying very closely attention to how he responds. We don't want to undo the good associations if Loki at some point suddenly realizes where he is, and decides to escape in fear. So how it works out depends on a variety of factors such as how salient the presence of another dog is, how much he is influenced by other dogs, and whether some of the work you have already done with Loki will help further buffer the triggers causing them to go more in the background. If things start looking bad, making an emergency u-turn; https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ can prevent a full-intensity exposure that may cause the fear to make a comeback. - I took another road (actually reversed the side of our usual departure). we ended up in the field of my last picture, but we took the road from the other side to really come from a new environment (we never took this road before, as it goes quite far and he was a bit young earlier). He did go in the field, may have spotted the cow, didn't flee per say, so I wasn't sure I should counter conditioning because I was not sure there was an actual trigger... but at some point he took the road, but on the side opposite to the cow pen... Did I miss something and created a sensitization ? recognizing the threshold levels is not as easy, as the manifestation may differ from time to time. He didn't flee with ears down, but walking fast paced in the side opposite to the side... The good thing is also get to greet a new buddy, which could have help the experience Yes, sometimes if can be a bit of a challenge identifying what may be exactly going on in their mind. It is good he didn't flee, and that his body language wasn't with the ears down, so that's some progress since that's what he did initially. However, just because he didn't flee doesn't mean that he was necessarily fine with the situation. Walking fast paced can be a sign of avoidance, but if he got to play with a good buddy in that area, that could have helped soften things. I would consider where this happened so you can work behind this point next time and prevent more setbacks. One thing worthy of mentioning, is that, once you have enough progress that he walks nicely on the road where the shock occurred, you can stop it there and not aim to get him walking right next to it. It is possible that dogs may sense some buzzing from the fence or a slight sensation without actually touching the fence, so we don't want to bring back bad memories by walking too close. - this is a known problem in the area : I got to another dog owner on the way, and she told me to be careful about the electric fences, so I told her the story, and she said she had the exact same issue... her pup took a shock also, and does not want to take the way anymore (it's not the same way as Loki) That reassured me quite a bit, my pup is normal 😄 😄 That shock is quite high voltage for those large farm animals so it can be very scary. It's meant to inculcate "single event learning" meaning it leaves such a strong impression that the animal becomes reluctant to ever go past the barrier again. I know some dogs who get shocked by electric pet fences and are too scared to return to their homes due to the shock (and these shock less than electric fences for livestock). - for my last counter conditioning work, I have spotted some errors : I may have just treat without timing the actual trigger, as I wasn't sure if he was looking at the cow, the fence, the road... I may just have ended "treating continuously" + advance, which is mentioned that shouldn't be done in the counter conditioning article. Hmmm..... I am not sure if I understood what you did correctly. I went back to the counterconditioning article and not sure where it says to avoid "treating continuously" + advance. What matters the most is the order the food is presented (the dog sees the trigger, food is fed) and that the dog is under threshold so that one doesn't advance too quickly to avoid setbacks. - besides, as it was liver paste, it obviously saw the bottle in my hand, he may have been more concentrated on the bottle and on the treat, rather than on the actual trigger... but I tried to time when he looked away in the direction of the field With the liver paste, you are a bit at a disadvantage because you have to carry the bottle in plain view and this can distract him, but he'll' come to eventually learn that liver paste dispensing only happens contingent upon looking at the triggers and not at other times. - the article says to only use a specific high value treats for counter conditioning a specific issue, but I did it with the liver paste, which is the known highest value we have... btw I'm not sure you can be sure of high value before having actually tested it for something else, isnt it ? Yes, once you recognize something your dog drools buckets of saliva for, you can then start using that for your advantage by providing access to that exclusively for the most pressing issues. Are those bad errors ? or little errors ? what are the risks of backfiring ? Should I take a step back from the beginning and fine tuning or I can correct as it goes ? I wouldn't consider those bad errors, especially being that you are working on this on your own as you are learning more and more about Loki every day. Little bumps can occur here and there as we learn more about what triggers exactly the dog responds to and how he reacts to them. Your pup has showed signs of a generalized fear, so it's not always cut and dried what exactly he fears. What's important is to mentally mark the area or what may have evoked the fear response and take a step back, aiming to prevent it from happening again next time which is often done by increasing distance and/or presenting the trigger in a less threatening manner while still creating positive associations.

Thanks Jennifer for opening up the picture! What a lovely boy indeed!

Congrats on getting a new rescue! It's awesome that you have the time to help this fellow out. Mostly the work with fearful/territorial dogs is changing the dog's emotional response towards by passers/ visitors from dreading their presence to looking forward to it. The below tips are therefore just examples of what a behavior modification plan may entail, as every dog will need an individualized approach. Use Management Techniques Have you ever heard the saying "practice makes perfect?" Well, on top of allowing actors to perform well after rehearsing a play over and over, dogs practicing territorial behaviors over and over allows them to get particularly good at it, turning it into an established habit that is more difficult to eradicate. Here's the thing, every time your dog barks, growls or lunges towards visitors, he will come to think that it's thanks to his barking, growling or lunging that the person ends up moving away. This allows the behavior to establish a strong reinforcement history. On top of this, every time a dog rehearses a problem behavior, stress hormones flood the body and cause dogs to be more on edge. Management therefore entails taking steps to prevent dogs from rehearsing their problematic behaviors. Here are just a few examples: If your dog acts fearful/ territorial towards people walking by the yard, prevent access to the yard when people are walking by. If your dog must be taken out the yard, keep him on leash at a distance from the fence-line. If your dog acts fearful/territorial when he sees other people through an indoor window, prevent access to such window (use baby gates, remove furniture the dog jumps onto or cover the windows with window film). If your dog acts fearful/territorial when people enter the home, keep your dog in a separate area where he doesn't get to rehearse the behavior. Provide Exercise and Mental Stimulation Dogs thrive when they are provided with exercise and mental stimulation. Deprived from this, dogs are more likely to feel chronically frustrated which can lead to undesirable behaviors. Aerobic exercises has been proven to allow dogs to release pent-up energy while also releasing feel-good endorphins which are known for promoting calmer behaviors. Mental stimulation provided under the form of brain games, food puzzles and training provides the mental enrichment dogs crave allowing outlets for instinctive behaviors in a positive way. Training and brain games also can help build a dog's confidence. Implement Behavior Modification While management prevents rehearsal, the goal of behavior modification is systematically exposing the dog to its triggers using baby steps in a structured, gradual manner (through desensitization) so to keep the dog under threshold, while also creating positive associations (through counterconditioning). Here is read about desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Here is a read about counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ And here is a read about threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ So in the case of a dog territorial towards people walking by the property/visitors, behavior modification may entail the following (please note this is only an example, every case requires a personalized approach) Train your dog a solid response to the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Begin feeding your dog high-value treats anytime he sees people walk by, by watching through a window. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Practice in several sessions, always ensuring your dog is comfortable. If your dog ever reacts, that's often a sign that he wasn't ready for that level of exposure. Keep tabs on what may have caused the setback (the person was walking too close, was swinging the arms too much, was wearing a hat) and aim to reduce the level of exposure next time before progressing. Aim to obtain what is known as a positive conditioned emotional response. In other words, your dog looks forward to the other people walking by/approaching rather than dreading their presence.https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ As your dog improves, start gradually raising criteria. In other words, raise the bar. Have somebody by the window walk a little closer, then practice outdoors with your dog by the door, then by the porch area, but always being extra careful in taking baby steps as always and using the leash. Use your dog's body language/reactions as a barometer of whether it's time to progress to the next step. If there's a setback, it means going back a few steps to a level of comfort again and building up gradually. Once the dog does fine watching people walk by a similar type of work can be done gradually having guests enter the home. Here is a case study: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/ The treat retreat game may also help once the dog is more comfortable with people entering the home and sitting on the couch: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/treat-retreat-game/ I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

I am so glad you and Loki are seeing progress already! That's a sign you are very in tune with each other, Loki following your gentle guidance and feel safe with it and you being careful he's not pushed too far. In regards to your concern, counter conditioning the fear versus diarrhea, I understand your point perfectly. Fear can be really a big hurdle to work on especially when it puts roots and generalizes. Of course, the ideal solution would be finding a way to help him without causing the diarrhea as it seems like his digestive system has a "threshold" as well. For weight control, dividing treats into small pieces or offering just a little pate on the finger each time can help. There are other ways around this. As mentioned, your vet can suggest some high-value treats/foods that are OK for sensitive tummies. Other options that come to mind: -Using their normal diet for training by mixing it in a baggie with some smelly meat or low-sodium beef hot dogs overnight. Then, the meat/hot dog is removed and since it retains the smell of the meat, it becomes more high value. However, personally, I find that when dealing with fear, dogs seem to do better with soft, easy to eat foods that can be eaten/licked quickly versus crunchy ones that take time to munch on. -You can ask your vet whether your dog's kibble comes in a canned version using the same protein that you can offer just for behavior modification. You can even slice and dice the pate and then cook it into little soft treats. -You can buy from your vet canned food for sensitive stomachs and do the same. Loki looks happy in the picture. It looks like he just spotted a cow and was looking at you for a goodie. He discovered the perks of "cow watching!"

Yes, definitely the bridge method won't work with a great dane! Before going the capturing route, you can try the bench or chair method. The method is similar to training a dog to take a bow using a chair as a prop, only that you would click or say yes when the elbows and bottom touch the floor, whereas in taking a bow you would click or say yes when just the elbows touch the floor and the bottom is in the air. Below is the demo of the chair method to take a bow, you would mostly have to wait it out for your dog to get tired a bit to lower the bottom down as well. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-bow/ Happy training!

Hi Brenda, Sometimes there are some dogs who for some reason or another may be a bit reluctant to lie down. Sometimes it's a matter of conformation, sometimes dogs just feel a bit vulnerable lying down, while some other dogs may have a bit of joint pain perhaps, but in that case you should notice stiffness and a general reluctance to not lie down often. Joint issues/pain aside, here are some ideas; If this is a small dog, one thing you can try is the "bridge method" where you sit on the floor with your legs bent and use your food lure to get your dog to walk under your legs. To walk under your legs she'll have to crouch down or "army crawl" so when you notice her elbows and hind legs touching the floor going into a down, mark that and reward that. Rinse and repeat several times to allow muscle memory to kick in. Then, after getting the behavior reliably, you can start to gradually fade reliance on your legs by getting her to perform the down with your legs set up higher and then farther away from them until the behavior became fluent enough for her to perform it without the aid of your legs. Alternatively, you can try working under a low bench. Another option is to use capturing where you praise and reward a natural behavior without the use of any prompts. Sit on the couch with your dog on leash and wait for her to get tired and lie down (this may work best when your dog is tired). Once she lies down, say "yes!" or click the clicker and give a treat. Repeat several times (the behavior should increase once she starts associating the position with treats), then at some point, once the behavior starts getting more and more reliable, you can then move on to naming it. Simply say "down" right as your dog is lying down, praise and reward and then start saying it one split second prior to lying down and praise and reward. At some point, the behavior should start getting more and more reliable. I hope this helps! Let me know how things work out for you. With some dogs, we need to think outside of the box, which is what makes training dogs never boring! Best, Adrienne

That's so nice that your girlfriend made a snuffle mat for Loki! I love how he attends nicely and sits and then goes when you tell him. Nice job!

Just forgot to mention (couldn't edit my previous message) When we were on the road with the fence, he had a poop, less solid than the one in the morning I wondering if it's the new treats ? Or could it be it was from stress induced, even if the work seemed to went well ? If so, should I back off with this counter counditioning work or it will pass the more we work on that and he becomes reassured in the presence of those triggers ? Let's hope it doesn't turn into diarrhea again. I have seen some dogs get diarrhea from stress, but if you have new treats, and last time he had diarrhea it was also due to new treats, then this recent change could be the culprit. If he has a sensitive tummy, it may be worthy discussing with your vet whether probiotics may help him to strengthen the intestinal flora and/or whether he/she can recommend some high value treats for sensitive tummies.

So I tried some heel walking, trying to take the road with the fence next to us, while treating here and there. He still responded. I didn't want to be too greedy, and keep it positive for the time, so we backed off a bit and went to another way. ..... As you say, I intend slow and steady here, but I feel more confident with "the method" now. I really get the grasp of what you say about the threshold, as today he responded to treats and we could actually work, while yesterday he was just escaping and not even caring for the treats Sounds like you are doing a wonderful job! It's not easy, and it's so tempting to progress too fast, but you knew when to stop which is great. Slow and steady, yes, the process can feel sometimes like watching paint dry, but it can feel very rewarding at the end. Loki is very fortunate to have such a dedicated owner. Keep up the great work and don't forget to pat yourself on your back too 🙂

But lately he started to have a problem with the stairs while he didn't before (we never forced him, he just happened to follow us downstairs some times). The stairs get to the door and he was ok to take them to go for the walk. But since 2 days, he stood up, with the envy to follow us, but some fear to get down... I don't know why, I may have seen him missed a step, but really not falling or hurting himself... Is vertigo a possibility also ? Unless, he's sick for some other reason, vertigo isn't common in dogs as in humans. I would think more orthopedic things can cause fear of stairs and so can visual disturbances. Do you have carpet? Wondering if he could have gotten some static shock and this reminded him of the electric fence. Also, since he was shocked recently by animal fencing, it may be worthy checking just in case if he has any cuts or abrasions on the skin. In any case, if this is new behaviors, mention it to your vet. Anyway I try to train / counter conditioning by trying luring him on the first step, treating, luring on the second step, treating, then treating only every 2 steps, then every 3, then jackpot in the end, rinse, repeat... Btw, is the the correct way ? And is it ok or I should forbid the stairs and carry him ? Rather than luring, it may be best simply placing the treats on the steps so that he goes on his on choice. Luring can cause approach/avoidance, where he'll feel like following the food, but then realizes he's doing something scary. Discovering that I'm starting rethinking a certain part of training : - treating outside always with the liver paste for the recall, leave it, drop it, impulse control with people and other dog The outside part is getting better but I think with the best value treat, we may get results faster in "fluency", and only then starting to reduce the treat value and the frequency Is this relevant ? Or would there be a risk that he wouldn't respond anymore to the less valuable ones ? From this "discovery" I'm starting to think that some of the important things that were a bit of struggle (looking at me at the smacking sound for example) could advance way more with better treat management I would reserve the most valuable food for the most pressing issues you are facing for now and use the next high values for outside training and then the rest for indoor training. Once the most pressing issues are solved, you can then reduce the value, but you can offer the high value every now and then if you notice the behavior weakening. I am a fan of mixing treats of varied value so I can use the higher value treats to reinforce outstanding performances as they unroll. Once a behavior becomes reliable, you also want to move to an intermittent schedule: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/polishing-up-training/fading-continuous-rewards/ Sure, just like us, dogs will work harder if they know that something very valuable is coming their way. That's why us humans are given pay raises and bonuses as incentives in the workplace. They motivate us more. Care should be taken to not teach a dog to hold off a treat because we will offer a better one. This will teach the dog to purposely refuse a treat in hopes of getting a better one.

Seems the fence will not be that simple. On the walk yesterday evening, when on the field from another way, he started to freeze and turn around... I don't if he recognized the road, the fence, or perhaps it was the cows he saw, but he was surely in distress. It was a good approach to get to the field from another way, in hopes of him not making the association. However it sounds like that shock from the fence really impacted him at a deep level and he recognized the area. From you description, it also sounds like the fear may have generalized to other things around him at that time, the cows, the area, road etc. On the plus side, from what you mention, it seems like you haven't become part of the generalization if he was OK being around you at home and to go on the walk, so this at least is a good thing. I try to advance while treating but he didn't take the treat... At some point, he just turned around and when straight back as fast as he could while fully pulling on the leash (long one and he pulled at maximum distance) while he usually walks around us... Impossible to get anything from him then, no recall, no look, just him fleeing like a mad man... This tells us he is going into avoidance. The fact he didn't take the treat nor was responsive to you and your directions tells us he was way too over threshold to cognitively function. When your puppy reaches this state, he cannot think clearly and there's therefore little space for learning to recognize the trigger as non-harmful, and therefore, accepting it in future encounters. However, ironically, when a dog is at this level, there will be plenty of space for another type of learning, that is, learning the best way to survive. In other words, learning how to avoid the trigger (the fence, the cows, the place) in the most efficient way as possible. In your pup's case he does this by escaping. Besides his distress, which obviously I would rather he doesn't have, this road is the way to the forest, which he loves, so it would be sad if we wouldn't be able to pass there anymore... It is a real inconvenience and very unfortunate that the electric fence happened to be right on the way to the forest:( I guess the way to go there would be counter conditioning, but how specifically ? Starting treating way before the road ? Using only high value ? I suspect the cows, so I soon as we see a cow, I treat ? Tackling a dog's emotions such as fear, anxiety, reactivity falls under behavior modification more than actual operantly training (like we do with sits, downs etc). In behavior modification, the goal is changing the dog's emotions towards frightening triggers or events. Behavior professionals work on behavior modification mainly using systematic desensitization and counterconditioning. These two work best together as they work in synergy. Systematic desensitization consists of strategically planning low level exposures that make the trigger less scary. One would therefore start by walking at a distance from the trigger so that it looks smaller, less intense and less intimidating versus walking right next to it. So if the areas by the fence is the trigger, you would start to walk at a distance from it (like far the opposite side). https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning works on changing the dog's emotions towards a trigger or event. It mainly consists of pairing the trigger the dog is frightened of with something the dog really likes so that the trigger comes to predict good things. So as you walk at a distance from the fence, you would feed high value foods. These high value foods should be only given in this circumstance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ There are many techniques based on these methods and many trainers/behavior consultants have crafted their own, you can see some examples here: The Jolly Routine by Campbell: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/using-jolly-routine-fearful-dogs/ Exposure Therapy: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exposure-therapy/ Look at that (in this case it would be done by looking at cows:) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Ideally, you would split the goal of passing that area in several small steps which could mean not going all the way through at first until your puppy looks more comfortable. It may go like this, Loki sees a cow, you make you smacking sound and feed something tasty until you get a positive CER: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Loki walks a bit in that area at a distance from the fence without showing much fear? You Jolly him as you walk by and feed several tasty treats. Loki looks uncomfortable? You should take a few steps back. It would therefore most likely take several days of working in the area for a few minutes each day, until he can feel comfortable to walk all the way through. Another approach can be leaving the leash loose and rewarding any signs of Loki taking initiative such as looking at the fence and then moving a step forward ahead, by feeding a treat with you slightly behind him so that he gets rewarded for the initiative. With more and more initiative, you may gain him walking through the whole area on his own. It would look like this: leash is loose at a distance from the area, Loki advances a bit ahead? You praise and reward that by staying in your place and feeding a treat from there (Loki comes to you to get it). Then you wait for him to advance again, take one step forward (still staying a bit behind) and praise and reward feeding a treat (your pup still walks back to you to get it). With more and more initiative, you may gain him walking through the whole area on his own. This is inspired by the treat/retreat game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/treat-retreat-game/ However, this is just a simplistic overview. The whole process of working through fears can be quite complex. This is why it is recommended working along with a professional. The biggest mistake made is going too fast through the process by getting closer and closer to the area with the puppy not being ready that level of exposure as of yet. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to conquering fears during behavior modification. Part of a successful behavior modification plan is ensuring the puppy is under threshold as much as possible. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ And recognizing early signs of stress and fear so to not push too much: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/ If you expose Loki to overwhelming situations, he'll be likely to "lose it" being unable to cognitively function. On top of this, he can get "sensitized" rather than desensitized, meaning the fearful response risks getting worse. When your puppy reaches this state (being over threshold), he cannot think clearly and there's therefore little space for learning to recognize the trigger as non-harmful, accepting it in future encounters. It may help to avoid the area for a few days in hopes of the memory no longer being "fresh" as it is now. Make sure Loki feels safe and happy at home (no stress). Then, one day you can try again carefully gauging how it goes. Caution: allowing him to manifest fear in that area and pulling away will only exacerbate things because he'll on “practicing” to be fearful and practice makes perfect, causing fear to become more deeply rooted. Other things that can help if his fear mellows down over the days is walking him with another confident dog who will cause him to focus on the dog rather than other things in the area. Driving him to the forest and then seeing if he'll be more comfortable walking back, scattering treats along the area beforehand and taking him on a treasure walk where he'll use his nose more than his eyes. Having a helper drive a large van past the area so it visually offers a barrier. If I miss the timing, wouldn't that reinforce the fear ? The timing is this: Loki looks at a cow, you make smacking sounds and deliver a treat. Looking at cows predicts treats. Contrary to what we have been told in the past, you cannot reinforce fear because fear is an emotion. The late Sophia Yin demonstrates this in the video below. Does she reinforce the snapping behavior even though she delivers treats? No, actually the snapping goes away on its own because it's just an outward manifestation of an internal turmoil. Hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

Sounds like a great plan!

Thanks for the info, we can then rule out a false pregnancy, which can cause non-spayed female dogs to sort of "mother" toys as if they were pups. There are several possible explanations for the behavior you seeing. A perception of the toy as high-value: Some dogs, when given high-value items such as bones or toys they don't see very often, will whine and walk around for some time, almost as if looking for a safe place to bury it. Then they eventually calm down and decide to chew on or play with it. Some dogs if taken out in the yard may bury it. An instinct to bury the toy: If your dog does not normally hide stuff, it could be that she instinctively knows that there is something she is supposed to do with her treasured toy, but doesn't know what (especially if she has never seen another dog bury his treasures). Excitement: Some dogs, on the other hand, seem to be so excited about having a new toy they do not know how to express themselves, and this generates whining sessions. As long as your dog does not become protective of the toy, whining is quite an innocent behavior. But it can get annoying, especially if your dog notices it flags your attention. If it's getting too much, you can try to invest in toys that are more interactive such as Kongs, Kong Wobblers, Topple toys, which you can fill with goodies, which encourages your dog to actively seek out its contents. This leads to the dog laying down and working on it, rather than carrying it around aimlessly. If you need to get a hold of the ball, unless your dog knows how to "drop it", play it safe and swap with something else rather than forcibly remove it. There is really no 100 percent complete safe way to remove a toy, but here is a safer version than the traditional exchange many dog trainers suggest. Simply have the dog enjoy the toy in a room where there is a door nearby. A KONG toy (or other valuable edible that is safe to give) is then stuffed near the door with smelly, high-value treats inside (make sure your dog sees you putting the treats inside and that you catch her interest). Now toss it out of the door. When the dog drops/leaves the toy and is out of the room to get the KONG, the door is shut closed and the toy is removed safely.

I did that to avoid forcing the harness onto him as he had a bit of stepping back reaction, and I didn't think I could past this reaction in one session. I still do the harness baby steps though Good thing is I think I did it in the right order : I come with both the harness and the lick mat, I invite him to put the head in the head buckle with the mat behind it, when he does I fully give the mat, and attach the chest buckle while he's licking, and I let him finish before actually going Sounds good! Yup, you got the order right, and it's nice that you're inviting him to put the head through the loop and then giving access to the mat as that makes putting the head loop on a predictor of something great to follow. On another note, more related to the playpen / crate : last couple of days have been a bit more difficult to put him in, surely because of the heat. However, the other concern are still there : he still does not settle alone correctly outside, and I still have to do some things on my own during the day... Yesterday night, and this morning, there was some chasing him around the house involved, and carrying him in. Well, chasing him around and carrying him to place him in the crate/pen can backfire. Here's why: If you routinely chase your puppy and carry him to only to place him in the pen/crate, in the long run, your puppy will eventually learn to play hard to catch if he doesn't like to be in the pen/crate. Puppies are smart this way, they learn through associations, so it's doesn't take long for the puppy to learn this equation: "every time my owner chases me and then carries me, it's to close me in the crate. So from now on I'll be hard to catch. " Playful pups may also feel it's all a game. They'll run around because they want you to chase them in a fun game of "keep-away." The problems with this is that, a puppy giving you a hard time being caught (either out of play of not wanting to be closed) will also give you a hard time in other circumstances where you may need to immediately get a hold of your puppy for something more urgent, such as preventing him from rushing towards something dangerous or getting into a road with traffic etc.(hence why we want to create positive associations with collar grabs). It also can put a dent in picking your puppy up. However, even if you have a puppy who allows you to grab him easily and pick him up, it would be important not to immediately place him in the crate/pen if he doesn't like to be confined there. Instead, if you really need to, carry your puppy around a bit, let him look outside a window, feed him a couple of pieces of kibble as you walk around the home, ask him to perform a couple of trained behaviors like hand target or paw, anything pleasant that breaks a bit the association between being caught and pickedup and being placed in the crate/pen. And of course, the ultimate goal remains this one: creating more positive associations with the crate/pen. Should I make more and more crate / pen game ? I don't he has an issue with it... Sometimes before the heat spikes, he went in by himself when we were back from walks. But nowadays, outside is surely cooler than inside. Yes! Triple yes! It's always good to do this, even with pups who seem to like their crates, just to never give their willingness to get inside a crate for granted. Here's the thing: dogs are social animals, they want to be with us. They dread being left alone. With COVID19 there are thousands of owners struggling with pups who don't want to be left alone. Learning to be more independent is something they need to learn. With a puppy who isn't eager to be confined, it is even more important making those crates and pen wonderful places. They should be perceived as Doggy Disneyland! Every now and then, when the pen is open and your puppy is distracted, hide treats in there and in the crate and randomly place in there too a variety of toys your puppy doesn't see too often. This will help keep each visit positive so he'll want to visit it more and more. However, it would be important finding a way to make the pen area more appealing if he's dreading going in there because it's hot. You can try cooling mats for him to lay on to keep him cooler or maybe the pen could be placed on the kitchen tiles so he can be comfortable? Should I lure him in with high values treat or lick mat, and close behind ? he may associate going in the crate with having something nice, but this feels kind of a trap... could this backfire at some point? Or in such circumstances, we do what we can as we can ? (which is currently my way to go 🙂 everyday is a learning possibility as everyday there is something new :)) Using food as a lure to get your puppy to enter a crate/pen can also backfire in the long run. It may work once, it may work twice, or maybe even longer but a day may come when your puppy will hold back as if thinking: "Wait a minute, this is a trap! Every time food is tossed in the crate, the door is then closed behind me. " Of course, this is more likely to happen if your puppy doesn't like being in the crate to begin with. This is known as "lure trap" and the puppy or dog may even learn to not fully trust food that is offered because it predicts something unpleasant is going to happen. On top of this, using food to lure a puppy in the crate may lead to problems that day when you may need to close your puppy in an emergency and you don't have food readily handy. As suggested in the crate games, a lure is OK initially, but I Iike to fade food lures early on as explained in the crate article below under the section "a word about lures." https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Until you can work on fading the food lure, and getting a happy response to the "crate!" cue, rather than running after him or luring him in, it would be best if you could get him to voluntarily want to be crated/placed in the pen by building anticipation. This is covered as well in the love the crate section (article link above) under "build anticipation." You want your pup to plead you to be crated/placed in the pen because something in there is really tempting him! Of course, it also helps to coordinate your pup's nap times/crate time with your longer lasting errands so that you can make the most of that time and that way you can leave for briefer periods outside of his napping time. I would also encourage to get your pup used to you leaving with some fun hide and seek games, treasure hunts (where your pup holds a sit/ stay down stay/ while you scatter a few kibble/treats around and you release him by saying "go" and you leave briefly while he goes on the hunt), destination nowhere games, and calm departures and arrivals as explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ Hope this helps! I wish you best of luck with Loki in these days. Best, Adrienne

- usually the current schedule is that is in the pen while napping. As the naps are huge during the days, we avoid containing him while he's awake (maybe it's a mistake), and I'm picturing myself needing to contain him during the day, with big tantrum. It's not bad keeping them out more once they are better potty trained. Sure, the full run of the house may be too much at this time, but spending time in the same room (that is puppy-proofed, removing unsafe things) gives them the opportunity to learn how to behave in the home, settle down and we can encourage them independent play and also get them gradually used to us briefly leaving the room to grab something. If a puppy is too clingy, following me around all the time, I will start wandering around the room with no purpose until they tire out of following me. - I was thinking using chew to counter that. Usually I avoid giving too much edible chews on a day, because of calorie intake, and also consequences on poops : usually first times were followed by less solid stools. Is it less likely to happen as his stomach and immune system had time to build on it. There are alternatives to edible chews like their food dispensed in smaller amounts (like in a Kong Wobbler), frozen kibble in a Kong or Topple treat toy, or ice pops for dogs made of bland ingredients for dogs with sensitive tummies. Your vet may also sell special treats for puppies with sensitive stomachs that you can offer. - we have puppy school and rabies shot, and that means : car ride ! without my GF in the back to treat him when he's calm and relax... I fear a regression about the car, as I will have to lure / force him in and out, and nothing to give him during the rides (it would be short ones though) If the trip to puppy school is brief, so brief that he doesn't have time to get sick, that should help counteract the anxiety element, a little bit at least, as it's a fun place to go. The trip to the vet, would be ideal if your vet could have prescribed something prior to the appointment to counteract the motion sickness as, the more he gets sick, the more he may come to dread the car. Frequent stops may help. Letting fresh air in the car or keeping the A/C on can a bit help too. Some dog owners feed ginger cookies made for dogs for reducing nausea on car rides. Some companies sell these on Amazon but there have mixed reviews so they don't really work for everyone. Besides, the day didn't start well, I hope this is not a bad omen hahaha : during the morning walk, what I thought was a perfectly safe containing wire in the field, was actually an electric wire. He already touched it without anything happening (thats why it was safe to me), but I guess this time it was activated, and poor Loki had an electric shot... After that he went hiding in the bush... I try yawning to tell "no big issue here", giving him treats, even luring him with paste... It didn't do, I had to carry him... then after he was walking at the extreme limit of the line, like trying to escape from me... could it be he associated me with the shot ? How should I react in those case ? My reaction was instinctive, as I didn't really know what to do Should I redo some trust building ? like hand feeding ? or anything else Or it will just pass ? Poor Loki! It's sure unsettling, as he doesn't know where it came from so he's likely associating several things with it. Hopefully, he'll get over it quickly. I once spent a day by my in-laws and they have sheep with an electric fence and a baby lamb was just born and happened to stagger a bit and fell right on the fence. He cried but then went straight to nursing and forgot all about it. I hope that'll be the case with Loki too. I would keep an eye on how he does, once he's at home in familiar surroudings.

Is your pup spayed? If not, do you know if she has had a recent heat cycle?

First to say, I'm afraid as hell ! She usually provides some time off I need when it's a bit too overwhelming 🙂 and I fear sleep deprivation as doing both the morning session and the night session. But my biggest concern is : should I expect behavior trouble for this weekend ?Not seeing one of the member of the couple during several days can make weird ? perhaps even distressed ? or depressed ? If there anything special I must do ? How he reacts will depend on several factors such as his level of attachment to your girlfriend, how ingrained his routine with her is, how he copes with changes etc. You will discover this soon, but yes, it can turn into something constructive. It was a surprise for me how Einstein waited by the door when my husband went for overnight trips while Petra cared less. When I used to leave instead, both dogs seemed to not care much. Sure, they looked for me a bit but got fast over it. Initially, this hurt my feelings (gosh, I did almost 80 percent of the stuff and they didn't miss me?), but then I reasoned that I was lucky that they settled easily and I could go on my trip without much worry. At some point, though Petra started making the connection of my luggage and my trips, where she would start whining when she saw it out, so I started doing luggage in a closed room and would take the luggage out to the car when she was in a different area, just to spare her from the negative feelings. One thing that comes to mind is to act calm. If you are anxious, Loki may pick up on that, so try your best to be calm. Try to be proactive and not reactive. Ensuring all is in order and having backup plans can help you. For example, make sure you have everything you need handy, plan activities to keep him busy at certain times, have phone numbers handy, rotate his toys, etc. Maybe even plan to train him some cool stuff you can show off to your girlfriend once she comes back home!

But can this also serves as a training ? putting him with someone else in charge from time to time can make him use to that fact that sometimes we won't attend to him, and that's ok, we will be back soon Like a few hours with a pet sitter, then a day in the pension, then a night, then a weekend... It woud prepare the field for the time we want to go on a vacation that is not dog friendly instead of tossing him first time during a week with strangers Jennifer has a lovely place where she boards her dogs. My dogs went to a similar place where they were pampered, taken out to play a couple of times a day and walked when we were on short trips. First time I boarded my Rottweilers though, I made the mistake of boarding them at the vet. I thought this was the best since Einstein at that time had to take meds for his Valley Fever and I wanted to make sure he was in good hands. Well, they forgot to give him his meds (I sent him with 5 pills and the bottle was returned to me with 5 pills) and they both didn't eat for 2 days because they were too stressed (and who can blame them), because being at the vet was no fun place to be. Once we found the other kennel, they always ate and the owners reported they played so that told me they were emotionally OK. To answer your question I feel that creating a solid relationship with a pet sitter /kennel owner is a big plus. Taking him there for half a day every now and then can help. When boarded, dogs are in a more familiar place than a totally unfamiliar one and with a familiar face rather than a totally new face so this helps them settle. Rover.com's France website is: https://www.rover.com/fr/ I suggest to screen carefully and use pet sitters with a good amount of experience and glowing reviews. Some are even vets and dog trainers. A homey environment may work better for some dogs than a commercial kennel with cages, but there are also drawbacks, like pet sitters keeping the pets in their homes may have other doggy guests and not always they may be screened well or they may not have a perfectly puppy-proofed home etc. etc. Commercial kennels though may offer more safety and they have insurances etc. I know some have sophisticated features like 24/7 cameras where you can see what your dog is doing. Asking around and word of mouth from other locals can be a good place to start to get some ideas. Some Facebook groups can help too where you may get other people's opinions for places, but of course, opinions are opinions, so they may not always reflect the reality so I always take them with a grain of salt.

And I use the ultimate reinforcer : the LickMat with liver paste : I put a little nut of paste on the mat, give him the mat and put the harness on him. He's more docile than ever and it totally work 🙂I may be using a shortcut, but I still have the feeling that I create positive association with putting the harness on I still give treats here and there when showing the harness, or walking with the harnessIs this solution acceptable ? Or is this a "cheat" that can backfire at some point ? If he is licking the liver paste from the lickimat as you're putting in on, then, there may be chances you are using it mostly as a distraction. Sure, it is possible, if you make it a routine of providing the lickimat with the paste after grabbing the harness, that he can learn that "every time the harness arrives, I get to lick goodies from the lickmat, but we need to be careful in the way we present things as there may be chances he may also learn that "every time I get to lick goodies from the lickimat, my owner comes with that harness I hate so much." So it's important the order in which we do things and consider that if he really dislikes the harness it may impact how he feels with us around him while he's eating (sort of like people who still dread seeing the dentist even if he offers sweet tasting numbing gels before giving the shot or tasty pastes when polishing teeth), so we want to avoid the chances that one day he may feel somewhat unhappy being bothered with us fidgeting with putting a harness on him while he is busy licking. On top of this, there is likely less learning involved as he's busy licking and sort of passively being involved in having the harness put on. While this is an OK solution for now since you do need a starting point, I would aim to eventually switch things up a bit and rather than putting it on while he's licking it, I would provide a little more clarity by emphasizing that good things happen every time you put on the harness. So I would split the action of putting the harness on in several smaller steps making it clear that going through the steps is what earns him a little lick of liver paste. In other words, every small action becomes a predictor of good things. "Ever time that loop thingy goes over my head, I get something tasty, every time the strap is buckled I get another treat. The harness means good things are happening! We're after a positive CER: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ For example: (have a helper feed or put the harness on if you need help for some parts) Put some liver paste on your finger. Have the harness hidden behind your back and present it to your dog, let him lick a little liver paste from your finger for looking at it, then once your dog is done licking, put it behind your back. Rinse and repeat to make it clear that the appearance of the harness makes good things happen (liver paste!) Put some liver paste on your finger. Next, have the harness hidden behind your back and present it to your dog, let him lick a little liver paste for your dog sniffing it, then once your dog is done licking, put the harness behind your back. Rinse and repeat to make it clear that the appearance of the harness makes good things happen (liver paste!). Put some liver paste on your finger. Next, have the harness hidden behind your back and then present it to your dog this time holding it a bit over your dog's head and let him lick a little liver paste, then once your dog is done licking, put the harness behind your back. Rinse and repeat to make it clear that the appearance of the harness makes good things happen (liver paste!). Put some liver paste on your finger. Next, have the harness hidden behind your back and present it to your dog, this time placing it over the head and let him lick the liver paste from your finger for your dog wearing it, then once your dog is done licking, remove it from over the head, place the harness behind your back. Rinse and repeat to make it clear that wearing the harness' strap over the head makes good things happen (liver paste!). Put some liver paste in the middle of your hand, close your hand. Next, have the harness hidden behind your back and present it to your dog, this time placing it over the head and then buckling the strap behind the front legs, open your hand and let your dog lick the liver paste, then once your dog is done licking, praise and go on for your walk (or take it off and rinse and repeat if you are working on more positive associations and not going for a walk yet). Once you have the harness straps fitted properly, you no longer need to adjust it, you can just slide the harness on and off your dog easily, simply putting it over the head and buckling it behind the front legs. Make sure you are holding it the correct way identifying the part that goes over the head and keep the leash already snapped on so that you have a step less. Having the leash snapped on prior will also help you identify which part goes over the head. The quicker and with most confidence we place it on, the best our pups do. Often pups struggle when we are fidgeting putting it on and losing too much time so if we can be prepared as much as possible so we put it on with some quick steps we will help our pups accept it. Loki looks so cute with his new harness! Make sure it's not too loose that he can back out of it. Like with collars, you must be able to fit two fingers between the harness and your dog. Happy walks! Best, Adrienne