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    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control: Behavior & Training
    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control: Behavior & Training
    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control: Behavior & Training
    Ebook166 pages1 hour

    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control: Behavior & Training

    By Laura VanArendonk Baugh

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    About this ebook

    "I'm loving it! Laura has managed not only to write a clear and incredibly important book, she's really funny too! Her way of writing, the images in her language, and the diagrams make this book really stand out; there's no way to misunderstand the concepts she's presenting."

    -- Emelie Johnson Vegh, co-author of Agility Right from the Start

     

    Some dogs need a little help.

     

    Some dogs are afraid, or excited, or reactive. Dogs that "don't listen" and "go crazy" don't live the lives we –- or they –- want.

     

    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out can change that. Simple steps and an accessible, conversational tone from award-winning, internationally-known trainer Laura VanArendonk Baugh CPDT-KA KPACTP make calming the agitated dog not only possible, but pleasant.

     

    Inside you'll learn how to

    • Achieve change in short, simple training sessions of a minute or less
    • Maximize the effects of natural brain chemistry
    • Know when to call in medical help
    • "Clean up" unreliable behaviors in both overexcited sport dogs and pets at home
    • Recognize how fear, aggression, and excitement are variants of the same root problem

    The conversational tone is both informative and fun — very accessible, and it feels like the reader has a consulting trainer standing at her shoulder! Bring your dog from emotional to thoughtful, and enjoy a calmer, more enriched life with your best friend.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherÆclipse Press
    Release dateJan 7, 2013
    ISBN9780985934934
    Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control: Behavior & Training
    Author

    Laura VanArendonk Baugh

    Laura was born at a very early age and never looked back. She overcame childhood deficiencies of having been born without teeth or developed motor skills, and by the time she matured into a recognizable adult she had become a behavior analyst, an internationally-recognized and award-winning animal trainer, a popular costumer/cosplayer, a chocolate addict, and of course a writer. Find her at www.LauraVanArendonkBaugh.com  

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      Book preview

      Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out - Laura VanArendonk Baugh

      Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out

      Training Crazy Dogs From Over-The-Top To Under Control

      Laura VanArendonk Baugh

      image-placeholder

      Æclipse Press

      Copyright 2013 by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

      Revised 2023

      Cover design by Laura VanArendonk Baugh and Alena Van Arendonk

      Author portrait by Elemental Photography

      Technical editing by Casey Lomonaco

      Interior photos pages 27, 69, 80 by Alena Van Arendonk

      Cover photos and interior photos pages 15, 49, 61, 95, 103, 121, 127, 137 by Fotolia

      Interior photos pages iii, 113, 153 by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

      Interior illustrations by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

      ISBN 978-0-9859349-2-7

      Library of Congress Control Number 2012922445

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      All service marks, product names, and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

      Although every effort has been made to ensure the information in this book was correct and best practice at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Especially with aggression or anxiety, please consult a qualified professional.

      image-placeholder

      Chaucer was the first dog I ever clicked. Without her brilliance, I might not have gone further.

      1999-2003

      Contents

      About this (revised) book

      Acknowledgments

      1.Help, My Dog Is Crazy!

      What Is an Agitated Dog, Anyway?

      Changing Behavior to Change Emotion

      "But He

      What Do You Mean By That?

      So How Do We Fix It?

      Why This Won’t Work

      Let’s Get Started

      2.Where Do We Start?

      Teach the Skills First

      Get Organized

      3.Foundation Training

      Clicker Training In A Nutshell

      Splitting

      Targeting

      Settling on a Mat

      On Poisoned Cues

      4.Reactive & Proactive

      The Too-Friendly Dog

      The Continuum

      Predictability and a Sense of Control

      5.Adding a Trigger

      Trigger, meet Mat; Mat, meet Trigger

      Introducing a Trigger to the Mat

      6.The Trigger—Phase Two

      Expanding the Trigger

      Adding

      What About Mistakes?

      Bringing It All Together

      A Two-Way Conversation

      Inertia and Momentum

      7.Off the Mat

      Action!

      The Illusion of Protective

      Power is Nothing Without Control

      All Dogs Can Be Reliable

      8.Adding a Mat to the Trigger

      Preparation

      Getting Started

      What Just Happened?

      9.Adding the Mat—Phase Two

      Split It Fine

      Keep It Short. No, Really.

      No Mistakes

      A Sidebar for Science

      Where Do We Go From Here?

      10.Making the Trigger a Target

      How is it done?

      Decoy Dog

      Make It Better

      11.Why It Goes Wrong

      Progressing Too Quickly

      Sessions Too Long

      12.Medication and the Agitated Dog

      13.Preventative Measures

      Socialization

      Genetics

      14.In The End

      15.Appendix

      Stress Indicators

      Resouces

      Simple Record Sheet

      Glossary

      About the Author

      More training books by Laura:

      About this (revised) book

      As I wrote in the first iteration, when people used to ask when I would write a book, I would often answer, I don’t have to. There are so many good training books out there already.

      But gradually I began to realize several things:

      I see a lot of referrals for dogs which are basically over-aroused for one reason or another—aggression, fear, fear-aggression, joy, or just plain over-stimulation.

      I was spending a good two-thirds or more of my training career using a similar protocol with all these dogs, with success.

      Many clients would have benefitted from a more-detailed follow-along guide.

      As it turned out, I did know a fair bit about arousal in dogs, in no small part due to my excellent instructor Laevatein, a hair-trigger Doberman bitch who had to learn stationary behaviors in mere eighths of a second. It would be good to share what she taught me. And so I wrote this book, and its success was beyond anything I’d dreamed. I have received many messages of how it has helped dogs in many places from both pet owners and instructors, and I am so very grateful to those who have shared such messages and who have shared this book with others.

      In the ten years(!) since first publication, the training and behavior community has grown and changed. New understanding of behavior, new ways of talking about behavior, and new techniques or refinements have emerged. This revision will reflect some of those shifts, though there are no major changes in the foundational ideas. The primary updates will be in pointing readers toward recommended resources; many of the original links or references have moved or otherwise become unavailable since first publication, for example, and a recommended software app is no longer available. With this revision I am attempting to make this text more stable for the long term, with different links I can update as needed without the need for reprinting.

      I emphasized in the first iteration’s introduction that, while I absolutely love intricately discussing the science of behavior with other nerds, this book was intended primarily as a guideline for practical application, a follow-along-at-home resource, and its purpose for any sort of academic discussion was secondary. That is still true! One criticism I received repeatedly was that the book was far too simple, more useful for a layman reader than a professional. I took that criticism as an accidental compliment, because this book was always intended for the non-professional. In these pages I will use scientific terms properly, but I’ll also use a number of other phrases for easy layman reference or for explanation.

      Thank you again. I appreciate you and our community.

      Acknowledgments

      I most certainly did not come up with all this myself; the proverbial giants on whose shoulders this dwarf stands form a long line stretching back through Karen Pryor, Bob Bailey & Marian Breland Bailey, B.F. Skinner, Premack, Pavlov… More recently we have many brilliant trainers whom I am both pleased to know and honored to call colleagues, who have brought out new research and applications. I daren’t try to list them all, lest I miss one!

      Many, though, you will find mentioned here. And sometimes a brilliant mind and a semi-gloss mind might discover an idea at the same time, working at similar concepts in parallel tracks. I once learned the inimitable Helix Fairweather and I were, on opposite sides of the country, both using the phrase get out of Dodge for very similar management techniques, though we had never discussed it. And what I do with matwork is very like what Leslie McDevitt recommends in her hugely helpful book Control Unleashed. No usurpation of ideas in intended!

      While talking with clients I often find myself quoting Kathy Sdao, or I may use a catchphrase popularized by Alexandra Kurland. I think it’s imperative to give credit where credit is due, and I will try to cite these influences where appropriate.

      And I owe an enormous thanks to Casey Lomonaco, who edited this with an eye to both science and accessibility. You’re fabulous.

      Chapter 1

      Help, My Dog Is Crazy!

      Laev is eager for her turn!

      Laev is eager for her turn!

      So, your dog is nuts.

      Well, not nuts, really. Just, well, over the top. In certain situations. But he’s a really good dog normally.

      Or someone has said he’s troubled in some way, fearful or reactive or hyper or generally not always coping well with his environment. Is this book for you?

      What Is an Agitated Dog, Anyway?

      Good question!

      An agitated dog is any dog so caught up in his emotions or innate responses that he cannot think rationally, respond to cues, or control his reactions. There are many examples regularly seen on our sidewalks, homes, parks, and dog sport venues:

      A dog barks excitedly at the front door, so eager to greet his visiting friends that he doesn’t respond to his owner trying to get him to sit or move back from the door.

      A dog barks worriedly at the front door, ignoring his owner’s reassurances. He doesn’t quiet or relax, moving alternately toward and away from the door in conflict.

      A dog is so stimulated by his favorite sport—agility, protection, lure coursing, etc.—that he misses important cues or can’t control himself, resulting in broken start line stays, poor or incorrect responses, etc.

      On the surface, these look like very different issues—the dog is distracted, the dog is afraid, the dog is excited. But fundamentally, the dog is in a limbic, reactive state of mind instead of being in a cognitive, proactive state of mind, and that means he can’t—sometimes physically can’t—respond to known cues.

      Changing Behavior to Change Emotion

      So it appears we have to change the dog’s emotions, yes? There are a number of training protocols out there to do just that, based on desensitization and classical counter-conditioning. But while these do work, they typically take much longer than we are often willing or able to grant.

      Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, Associate Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas, points out

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