The story of a reluctant agility dog...
 Holly
was three years old when Clive Bayliss adopted her from The Border Collie Trust in August 2010.
He only had limited information about her early years, except that she had spent her first two
years on a farm in Wales, and was presumably a failed working farm dog. She was rehomed and
then rehomed again seven months later. It was clear from the start that this little lass had a
few issues. With the help of the trainers at Dog Learning Zone and a lot of patience, Clive has
helped to progress Holly towards a happier doggie life.
There was a six
month 'honeymoon period' while Holly settled in. Then her true personality began to
appear but that's not surprising in a rescue dog. During those first few months, I picked
up on signs that Holly had not have been treated very well during her early
life. I can remember once when I got her a tennis ball launcher as part of my
attempts to get her to play. The moment she saw it, she cowered as if she
expected to be hit. The launcher has not been out of the cupboard since. She also used to wake
up squealing from what I can only assume were nightmares. I am very pleased to say that this
does not happen anymore!
Early problems...
Holly was not very
keen to go on walks but with a little gentle persuasion we did manage. On one of
those early walks, she simply froze right in the middle of the road. It wasn't until later that I made the connection
between the sounds of gunfire / bird scarers and realised that her shut down was a response to
the sound. Unfortunately for Holly, we live quite close to arable farmland so the sound of
gunshots is a fact of life. I have also learned to dread thunderstorms and even more so the
arrival of 'Bonfire Fortnight!'
After that first
incident, Holly was even less willing to go for walks. She would lie down at the end of the drive as soon as she realised we were going
out for a walk
and not for a ride in the car. Both her dog sitter and I had some success by carrying her for a
little way and then putting her down to get her started. She would then pull on her lead all
the way round her walk in order to end the ordeal as soon as possible.
 Early
on, I also noticed that Holly did really not engage with people. Initially she liked meeting
them but, as soon as she recognised them as authority figures, she became more reserved and
stand-offish. After six months, I realised that she was spending more and more time
on her own. Any attempt to work with her on any training exercise was way too stressful for
her, and she would either shut down or leave the room. Just occasionally I would catch glimpses
of a fun loving dog that wanted to play. Then she would remember herself and the defences would
go back up.
It became all too
obvious that Holly was not getting the best out of her life and so, I contacted Elaine Brown at Dog Learning Zone (DLZ) to see what - if anything - could be
done. Dogs don't get the biggest allotment of life so all the more important to
make it a fun filled, full life.
Along with a change of
diet, we tried a few
different training / desensitisation techniques with her including TTouch. Unfortunately the
peace and calm of our first session
at the Redgrave training field was shattered by the sound of nearby shotgun fire. Holly
would not get out of the car! Eventually I did get to learn some TTouch techniques that have
proved helpful which I
still use to this day.
Starting
agility...
During these early
training sessions in 2011, the idea of
that Holly might enjoy agility came up so we sat in on a training session to see how she
would react to all the noise and excited dogs. She seemed to handle it all quite well so we
decided to give it a try. We had to wait for a
new Beginners group to start and so it was not until summer 2011 that we
started the 8pm Beginner class at World Horse Welfare indoor arena. This was not a
special group - just your typical bunch of rowdy young dogs. We were also training alongside a
second more advanced group, a tough environment for Holly to cope with but she about
managed.
 Typically after
about 15 minutes of the session, however, Holly would decide she had had enough. Her tail would go
between her legs and it would be difficult - if not impossible - to get her to re-engage. On some
occasions, we went home rather than to pressure her into continuing, Later on, we realised that
we
had effectively let her control the pace of the lesson.
Despite it being
hard work, it was clear that Holly was getting something from the agility. She just loved the
tunnels and quite enjoyed the jumps as well. Sometimes she even forgot herself and
allowed her tail to wag! We did have to remember not to have her jumping towards the
exit as she would invariably end up camped by the door and would have to be carried back into
the arena. We had no success at all with any of the contact equipment even at
very low heights. She would just freeze up. It was just too scary! We persevered
for six months and did make progress, although not with the contact equipment.
TACT
Course...
At this point,
Holly was identified as an ideal candidate for a pilot Touch Associated Clicker Training
(TACT) programme. In order for the pilot
to work properly, it needed to be the only training Holly was subject to for the duration of the
course so we put agility on hold.
The purpose of TACT is to
de-sensitive dogs and provide them with coping techniques. It
also teaches their owners how to recognise when the dog is
stressed and act accordingly. One of the big
things I took away from this course was dog body
language. I would say this is essential for every responsible dog owner, and I believe it is now
one of the earliest - and most important - lessons taught at the Dog Learning Zone.
The course is
designed to go at a certain pace but it quickly became evident that you could not rush
Holly. When she decided it was enough, you could not get any useful work from her without a rest
period. The penny finally dropped. Holly would only go at her pace! The
training was interspersed with periods of de-stressing using non-training based activity,
either relaxing in her travel crate or by giving her big rewards, For Holly the biggest reward
was running through an agility tunnel and tackling a couple of low jumps!
The TACT course was
very successful in a number of ways. For example, one of Holly's 'safe' places was in the built-in wardrobe in
my bedroom. She would spend much of her day in there and very little time with me. As a result
of the TACT course, we managed to get her out of the cupboard and into a more appropriate dog crate
which could also be used as a safe place when travelling and training. More significant was the
fact that she now chose to spend much more time with me and less time on her own - a great
outcome.
 Back
to agility...
We were put on the waiting list for the much quieter early evening class run
by Sue Smith that Elaine had suggested. It was only one small group, not the usual two groups.
It
would be much easier, at least in theory, on Holly.
We finally re-started
agility early in January 2013. It was apparent
that Holly was much happier in this quieter class. She was not being wound up by other dogs, and
she really started to progress quite well though still no contacts despite best efforts.
After much
perseverance, we did get her to do little bits of the dog walk using the ramps and a low table.
She did also occasionally go over the A-frame with it propped up at a very low level (around
50 centimetres to the apex). Very occasionally we could coax her over the full dog walk albeit
set to around 40 centimetres in height, but she still
did not like it. It really was a case of two steps forwards and one step back. Holly would not
be rushed.
A lot of this work required the contact equipment being set up to one side just for
Holly to practice on. This was not practical every week which meant that every now and again
she would be tried on various pieces of contact equipment at working height. We kept on
resolutely trying the contact equipment, sometimes set especially low and sometimes at a normal
height, never forcing her and going at her pace once again).
What had
changed was that Holly was really enjoying the whole session. No longer did she want to go home
after 15 minutes. She loved bounding around while all the equipment was being set
up. After a few months, the focus of the training had switched from basic activities intended to
minimise Holly's stress levels to much more complex training work that would previously
have caused her to panic and close down. We were achieving results that we simply never
thought possible when we started down the agility path. Given that the motivation was to help
Holly have a bit of fun, bless her. It really did not matter that the contact equipment was too
much for her. From time to time, her tail still goes between her legs but much less often these
days. She is generally a much happier dog both when training and at home.
 Early in March of
2014 we had an equipment set-up which had the dog walk up on trestles at half full working
height and, as usual, we gave Holly a quick try on it to see if she had changed her mind
about how scary it was. Much to everyone's amazement, she trotted over the walk, tail wagging
all the way. She went over it a further two times after which we decided not to push our luck.
The very next week, exactly the same thing happened with the A-frame. This was definitely a
different, much more confident dog compared to the one that started agility back in 2011!
Bringing things up to date...
Holly is almost to the point of weaving without guides and is progressing well on
the see saw (teeter.) She is now also doing the dog walk at full working height. In fact, she
made the transition to the new height with no hesitation at all. Everyone comments on how much
more affectionate she is and she has become a little less clingy. I
may soon be able to get her to stay in a wait position and move away from her. I have observed
recently that whilst we are at training, she often does not even notice when
a bird scarer has gone off nearby. Two years ago that would have been the training session
over!
The plan is to stick with agility.
Over the next few months hopefully I will be
able to get her doing more exercise to bring her weight down and her
fitness levels up. She is still not keen
on walks but you can't have everything!
Working with Holly
has been difficult at times but always very rewarding. Because of her lack of confidence, I've
had to break a number of what would normally be regarded as 'golden rules' with her training.
It was too hard gaining
confidence to take any risks with and, if that means letting her get away with a little jumping
up when she greets people, so be it. She remains, of course, loved to bits and
spoilt rotten!
 I don’t think Holly
and I could have achieved anything like as much success without the tireless help, support and
ideas of Sue and Elaine at the Dog Learning Zone for which they have my grateful thanks -
Holly's too I'm sure. Aunties Elaine and Sue are certainly now honorary members of her pack!
On the
Dog Learning Zone web site
Sue Smith said, 'Holly was our first TAg dog. She was lucky in that we found her a place in our first session on
a Wednesday night which runs as just one group rather than two so only one dog is ever off
lead at a time. In addition, the other dogs and owners in that particular class are very
understanding and accommodating. Holly used to growl at me but now she runs into the Arena
wagging her tail and chooses to come and greet me. I can't tell you how much that means to me.'
Insight / hindsight
Holly is, of course, a
rescue dog, but behavioural problems with a number of breeds much like Border Collies are not
uncommon, even with the most stable and loving upbringing. Border Collies have big brains and
along with that big brain, comes an equally big imagination. There really are monsters under
that bed, dad!
Smart dogs can be amongst the most difficult to train as they definitely have
minds of their own and they know how to use them. The question who is training whom often
arises. With effort, however, what you can achieve is amazing and it is vital for a smart dog
that it receives a good diet of mental as well as physical stimulation.
In summary, for any dog
either smart or scatter brained, agility is just plain good fun. With time and patience, it will
help even the most nervous or shy dog to come out of their shell. I can certainly recommend it
from my own experience with Holly.
 About the author...
Clive Bayliss has always loved dogs but have really never been in a position
to provide the right environment for one. Ironically it was ill health - the end stage renal failure
and dialysis - that meant he could work from home three days a week which put him in a position
to adopt a dog.
He had spent much of his formative
years on farms where there were Border Collies so the Border Collie Trust was his first port of
call. When he went there, he met and fell in love with Holly. She just tugged on his heart strings, so she went
home with him.
In November last year, he had a transplant.
Both he and Holly are appreciating
his newfound energy levels. Doing agility with Holly has proved a great way for him to
de-stress from his job as an engineer in Aerospace. His company provides safety critical
equipment to most of the major manufacturers, so if you have travelled by air, at some point
you have had your life in the hands of equipment they
supply.
Clive is currently debating about getting a friend
for Holly from BCT (outgoing young male) but with her insecurity, she still doesnt know what is for the best.
First published 5 November 2014
| 