Loving Touch, Part Two

The first time Cody wore a harness - a big milestone.

Cody was making progress with me, but I had to use a different technique for helping Cody learn that touch is enjoyable from other people. We started by doing all of our walks and potty breaks with treats on hand . My usual go-to for any dog is Ziwi Peak, a air-dried raw meat product that doesn't need to be refrigerated and keeps very well. It's pure meat and I've yet to meet a dog who won't devour it. Sometimes freeze-dried tripe is in another pouch as backup, since that is another fail-proof treat!

Working so hard can really tire a dog out!

I would ask folks who I knew - mainly the valets and concierges at the Bravern - if they could give Cody a treat and not touch him. These people are wonderful and helped me out immeasurably with Cody. Lots of people don't understand why they couldn't touch the dog, and are happy to give them a treat and reach out to touch them. This early in the game that could provoke a strong fear reaction from Cody and make him very anxious about new people. Instead, I didn't let anyone who I didn't know interact with Cody. I would tell them "he isn't friendly" or even "my dog bites!" if they tried to touch him. Of course I didn't mean it. Cody loves people, and of the rare times he has bit me I deserved it for doing something stupid, and never once has he even left a bruise. He has never tried to even snap at anyone else, in part because I remove him from any situation where he might. Folks frequently don't listen if I try to explain to them "Cody is nervous and is learning to love touch and and and...." By that point, they're trying to touch him and I have to react to interrupt before Cody has a bad experience. I experience the same issue with owners of strange dogs who wanted to walk up and meet Cody. Cody enjoys other dogs but gets nervous with face to face greetings, and since I don't know the other dog I avoid interactions to be safe. I would announce the same thing - "my dog isn't friendly!" or "my dog bites!" to interrupt the situation before it possibly turned into something negative for Cody.

Cody seeking some touch from a Bellevue foster parent.

 The concierges and valets knew to give Cody a couple treats and not try to touch him. Cody would even invite touch and rub up against them but I asked them to still not touch. Before any touch could happen we had to build up a strong base of "people = treats." If Cody had been fearful of humans I would have started with him checking a human out then taking the reward from me, but since Cody's issue was touch and not humans in general we started with strangers giving him the food.

Trying to relax in the papasan at home.

Soon Cody sought out these people to get treats from them. He would pull me over, impatient that I was slowing down his treat acquisition! After a few weeks of treats, I asked them to brush the underside of his neck or rub him with their arm as he rubbed along them. I stood by with treats, watching Cody for any sign I needed to interrupt. If I did see those signs I would call Cody to me, reward with treats, and thank the person petting him and move on. Sometimes he'd growl and I would do the same - call him to me and reward. Cody wasn't very good at interrupting himself once he started to get anxious and growly, so my calling him interrupted the cycle, and him recalling to me is a behavior I continue to reward even now.

Cody takes a huge leap of faith by asking for a belly rub.

From this point on the main change was in the duration of the touch. Several weeks were spent with them feeding and doing brief touches, with me calling him away if he started getting anxious. Soon though, we had to change our reward implementation. It is easy to pair 1 treat with 1 touch, but for Cody to progress we had to increase what earned that treat. I would still give the valets some food to give to Cody, but I started bringing the clicker with me, and each time he sought out attention I would click and reward. Quickly Cody caught on and would run towards the staff, do a quick wag and brush his body against their legs as he whipped around to stare at me for his treat!

Seeking out kisses. 

At the same time that I was achieving more touches individually with Cody, both longer in duration and over a wider part of his body, Cody received more and more touch from other individuals as well. We reached a milestone where certain strangers (who didn't have a dog, who looked like they would listen to me and not pet him roughly) could say hello, and Cody would run up to them, wagging with his ears back, and twist around knowing that as soon as they touched him I would start clicking!

Cody on one of his favorite activities.

We've been doing this for several weeks, and we are at the point where I rarely use the clicker. Not because it isn't still very effective (it is!), but because I often forget it but we can succeed without it. Cody knows the behavior, and the cue is "go say hi" to encourage him to greet the person. Once he greets them and is being petted, he gets rewarded.

Cody has come so far and is showing what a loving, intelligent, and funny guy he is. I cannot wait to see how much further he blossoms as he continues to learn how wonderful touch is.