Shyla's training

I haven't written in a little while about my training with Shyla. Her progress has been nothing short of astounding. I don't have photos of Shyla training in town so I'll pepper this post with photos from our hikes when we were doing training "games".

Shyla does a "stay" while standing on a stump

I have two components to Shyla's training. During the routine of each day, I do formal training of cues like come, sit, stand, down, heel, touch, leave it, touch my shoe, and many more (Shyla has a big vocabulary now). For example, I ask her for different behaviors like "come" or "down" lots of times during our daily hikes. I always work a "stay" into our hikes or daily chores. For example, I had our two dogs do a long down-stay while I folded laundry the other day. Shyla is super smart and seems to love our training. It's all based on positive reinforcement so there's nothing onerous about it for her.

Shyla did a sit-stay by an aspen

The harder part, for both of us, is the socialization component, which includes learning to meet strangers and learning to cope with the bustle of town life. Since we live in a somewhat secluded spot in the mountains, I've been driving to town frequently to expose Shyla to lots of people and bustle. One key to this is not to overwhelm Shyla - to keep lots of relaxed days at home in her schedule and to choose suitable sites for training in town (i.e., just bustling enough for Shyla to learn but not get scared).

With people, she's learning her own style of meeting strangers. She does not like it when strangers approach her or even kneel down to her level. She shies away when they do that. However, if a stranger ignores her, she stealthfully inches toward the person and soon gently touches their hands with her nose. That seems to be her way of saying "hello". So, when an adult asks if they can pet her, my reply is they can meet her but they need to follow a certain routine. I ask them to ignore Shyla while talking to me for a minute... to give Shyla time to get the courage to approach them. It works 99% of the time - with Shyla enjoying being petted by the stranger within a minute or two.

Shyla doing a recall

As for the bustle of town, Shyla is slowly getting used to it. We've entered and browsed in about five different shops together now, and Shyla is getting more relaxed each time. All the shops have dogs in them, which is a hugely relaxing factor for Shyla. She adores other dogs, which helps her to cope with other new aspects of a situation.

One type of thing that totally throws Shyla for a loop is objects that suddenly move on their own, like automatic doors or gates at entrances to parking lots. We've spent a lot of time standing at long distances from doors and gates, letting Shyla observe them move and giving her treats when they move (a form of counter-conditioning).

We still have a world of new things to navigate - but our slow but steady approach seems to be working so that each new thing is getting a little easier. Skateboards are very scary right now, and I'm simply avoiding them. Children are also still very scary (Shyla would flee from every boisterous child if she weren't on a leash - but quiet older children are okay with her). My trainer and I plan to start working on Shyla's reaction to playing children in the very near future.

This is my first experience with an older puppy like Shyla who had little life experience when I met her. I must say that it's been one of the most rewarding journeys that I've undertaken. Shyla looks to me as her guide and protector, and I love playing that role for her. I also have loved learning so much about dog body language and dealing with a dog's natural wariness as she encounters new things.

The biggest thing that I've learned is that, as the guide, I need to avoid putting Shyla into situations that make her very scared because she gets too scared to be capable of learning anything. It's called keeping Shyla "sub-threshold" in behavior lingo. For example, with automatic doors, we started out observing them from a very long distance where Shyla stood tall and confidently while the doors opened and closed. We've gradually moved closer, and I click/treat her whenever they open or close. Someday soon, I predict that we'll walk through a set of automatic doors but it will only be when Shyla can do it with confidence.

In our training, everything is done at Shyla's pace and when she wants to do it. Fortunately, she's naturally curious and outgoing so she actually wants to explore all these new things, even if they scare her at first. My trainer keeps saying that Shyla obviously has awesome genes for a friendly disposition and is not naturally fearful, just inexperienced.

Shyla did a sit-stay high in the mountains

Life brings so many twists and turns. If I look at them in an optimistic way, they are opportunities to learn about life and to build bonds. In this case, Shyla and I have built a strong bond very rapidly due to the unexpected journey we're on. I adore her, and I think that she feels the same way about me. I couldn't ask for anything more, especially only 6 weeks after we met each other.