silkyraven | Connection training: coaching session 1 (Reply)

I’m acting as a case study for Judith for her Connection Training Instructor Training course which is super cool! We’d identified a couple of things to work on: his stamping/leg waving about grooming and his attitude to in hand work (or work in general really) as the biting and chomping has got a lot worse.

For this first session I’m looking at the grooming situation and I sent Judith these videos:

Watch on YouTube

The things we discussed during the call were:

This is a very ingrained behaviour and one of his favourite fall back behaviours so it’s going to take a lot of encouragement to change it! We could try and replace it with a new behaviour, that we want, such as standing on a a mat or touching a stationery target

Firstly I’m doing a lot of clicks for not enough reward. As this is a go to behaviour for him and he’s still learning not to do it I need to teach him that the best possible course of action is to do nothing: so the ratio of clicks to treats needs to change. Give him 3 treats for every click!

As he is particularly sensitive around his belly which may be due to past pain due to ulcers we could try introducing him to the grooming game, where he gets to choose which brush he’s brushed with, or if he’s brushed at all. Judith also suggested adopting a counter-conditioning approach and throwing treats into a bucket when he keeps his feet down and bypass the click. This is because this is a thing that needs to happen and not a choice he can make to demonstrate a behaviour. But the grooming game might help him feel more invested and happy about the process.

The grooming game involves offering him two brushes, and using the brush he selects by touching with his nose on his neck for a bit before offering the brushes again and repeating the process until he realises that he can choose which brush is used on him. Swap hands to prove he understands the concept.

This week I shall try and teach him the grooming game! Could be fun.

We discussed his not seeming very comfortable in work. Judith suggests getting a soft tissue person to look at him and see what they think; David is taking a look at some videos to see if he thinks he should see him again. I need to find a masseuse…