Athena, a five year old Douge de Bordeaux

Meet our new unexpected member of the family. Athena, a five year old Douge de Bordeaux. She doesn't come without her issues but I am certainly going to enjoy helping her get back on her feet.

30th January 2022

Quick update on Athena. Although her introduction into our home was a success and she is getting on well with Bear and the kids, she unfortunately has no outside social skills when meeting dogs which was very apparent today at the dog park. A custom measured muzzle is on order so that I can continue to work with her safely in public. She also has an extremely high prey drive that needs work not to mention the fact she is a nervous wreck with huge trust issues. All in all she will be keeping me very busy! I will be posting regular updates on her progress.

6th February 2022

She is doing great! Her social skills are improving along with her recall and lead work. Still a little ways to go but so far all the hard work is paying off. You really do get back what you put in.

15th February 2022

We are still using a muzzle at the dog park until her social skills and confidence pick up but her fetch and recall are going great! Work on her massive prey drive is improving and I will be sharing an update on that soon.

18th August 2022

Its been an extremely successful six months working with Athena. I had dog that was not sociable, would not walk on a lead, had no recall and absolutely wanted to kill the cat and our population of free running guinea pigs.

Over the months working with Athena I have had to be very mindful that she in particular would only respond to positive reinforcement techniques. The two main chosen methods were shaping her behaviour where rather than give her cues or direction with food or toys I would wait for her to figure out what it was in particular I wanted and when the reaction or behaviour was given she would be rewarded.

Although shaping behaviour is great for general obedience I chose to mix this with a method known as exposure when working with the cat and guinea pigs. It was extremely important that all animals in the house get along happily so the use of any negative consequences for unwanted behaviour was not an option. Athena learnt that being around other animals had a positive outcome each time her negative fixation was redirected in a positive way. For example, with the cat they would both be invited into the kitchen (in the beginning Athena would be in a muzzle).

Both would be given a high reward treat, for the cat a dried sprat and for the dog a cooked chicken foot. They both came to realise that good things happened when they were in each others company. This process took me three solid months three to four hours every single day without exception.

Athena no longer has to wear a muzzle at any time and is a much happier dog all round.