New Rescue Dog - 1 week later - have we been doing it all wrong?

[Hemlock]

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I'd just like to add that for some shy dogs the clicker is too loud. It's okay to make a click in your mouth, or click with a biro, or make a completely different mouth sound. Dogs have incredible hearing, so the sound you make can be very soft.

 

[RGC]

Yes i think slowly slowly is the way, and i enjoy talking to him about the things going on and include him in conversations - not expecting an answer of course! but i will definitely talk in lower, calmer voice from now on and only use excitable voice when he seems playful.
I have a week off next week so will try to start getting him used to lead and outside world again, but very very slowly. I so want to get back out onto our walks as he really enjoyed them when we were out, it was just getting out the house and past the scary road and all things that come with it, but i know that the best thing is to be patience and take baby steps.

I'd just like to add that for some shy dogs the clicker is too loud. It's okay to make a click in your mouth, or click with a biro, or make a completely different mouth sound. Dogs have incredible hearing, so the sound you make can be very soft.

For what it’s worth, I use a small plastic pill jar to contain M’s treats. Makes a click when opened or closed - gets her attention.

 

[CoCo2014]

Karen Pryor's I Clicks aren't loud & can be used in your palm, under foot. She also has a ring clicker that fits on your finger, useful as you don't have to hold them. I hate box clickers & other loud clickers.

 

[RGC]

Thank you so so much everyone for your comments and support - i am so grateful for them, and wasn't even expecting a reply let alone the great ones i have received so thank you again for your time.
We had a bit of a break through over the weekend i feel, i think holding off on the 'scary' walks and just letting him get used to the house, garden and us has really built his confidence - and he's starting to show his cheeky side He played with a tennis ball for the first time with me in the garden, only for about a minute but i was so so pleased. He's also for the first time today ventured off the sofa and has come for a day visit upstairs, all by himself. He's been snoozing on the bed for most of the day, whilst me and my partner work from our offices. So it feels like he wants to be closer to us, but not that close!
He's also getting very very curious around the house, before he just went from sofa to bowl to outdoors to bed and didn't really venture anywhere else. Now he's getting curious about all the corners, and what we are up to in a room and what we are dealing with. I was telling him how the dishwasher works and what we put in there and he was looking at me as if i was mental! He barked for the first time last night as well - reflection in the window! I'm getting a glimpse of the type of behaviour we'll have to work with eventually - pretty sure he's going to want to 'play' with everything, last night he pulled my hot water bottle out from under the bed!
So, thank you for letting me know that patience really is key here, and i've started to see that even over the course of a couple of days so it clearly works - it's baby steps, but i'm keeping a diary of all his little milestones and things he's overcoming.
The night time heavy breathing almost floppiness - someone previously asked what i think that is and i do still get the feeling that he's anxious come the evening because before he would be alone for god knows how many hours and he's getting worked up thinking it's going to happen again. I may be completely wrong, but it comes on when darkness hits and all i can think of is that when he was at the rescue place, the workers would probably go home and then he wouldn't see them until the next morning, and he'd be all alone. I do feel, thankfully, that it's not the anxiety of him sooner having to go sleep in our bedroom because he never seems anxious or reluctant when we all go up, and the reaction to this would be so over the top. I know i can never say for sure what the cause is, but given it happens at the same time in the evening when darkness closes in - i feel like it must be something from his past.

now he's building confidence around the home, when do you think it would be a good idea to slowly introduce him back into the outdoors? I thought i'd start with just letting him explore the front garden, lots of praise/rewards, and then back in the house, and build this up to just outside the gate and back, just a few metres up the road and back, etc. Does this sound ok?

Thank you again everyone

Sounds like some event and/or routine in his past is triggering this. We’ve just had a similar experience. Drove down to the beach carpark. Thought it was a bit wind chilly so decided to put her into a light coat which meant taking off her harness. She wasn’t happy - once the harness came off and I tried to get her into her coat she slipped away and it was a job to get her back. She was shivering and anxious - an experience we had when we were handed her on our very first meeting. A throwback from her past. Once she was in her coat and harness AND on the beach the world was a lovely place and she was back to her ‘normal’ self.

 

[Flobo]

i enjoy talking to him about the things going on and include him in conversations - not expecting an answer of course!

I have to agree re the chatting to your dog, it's something I've always done. Though my daughter voiced her concerns once when she was out with me, saying she got that I talked to my dogs but was worried that I also answered for them and they all had different voices! feels perfectly natural to me
It sounds like you are doing a great job, slowly slowly, one lucky rescue dog to have found a patient, understanding home, lovely!

 

[JoanneF]

I also answered for them and they all had different voices

That's normal though, right?

 

[JudyN]

I often speak for Jasper: 'Daddy, why are you stupid, Daddy?' and 'Muuum, Daddy's wandered off again - you need to keep him on lead till you've trained him properly.' Mr N can't complain to me, as it's not me saying it but Jasper, and he can't complain to Jasper because - well - he's Jasper

I also do the voice-over for Jasper doing his Michael Caine impersonation.

Are we getting a bit close to weird yet?

 

[JacksDad]

I often speak for Jasper: 'Daddy, why are you stupid, Daddy?' and 'Muuum, Daddy's wandered off again - you need to keep him on lead till you've trained him properly.' Mr N can't complain to me, as it's not me saying it but Jasper, and he can't complain to Jasper because - well - he's Jasper

I also do the voice-over for Jasper doing his Michael Caine impersonation.

Are we getting a bit close to weird yet?

seems perfectly normal to me

 

[JacksDad]

Karen Pryor's I Clicks aren't loud & can be used in your palm, under foot. She also has a ring clicker that fits on your finger, useful as you don't have to hold them. I hate box clickers & other loud clickers.

nice tip.

though we should keep in mind, even soft clicks can be too much for a dog that is easily started or find sounds startling or aversive.

If the use of a clicker is not possible, we can still train effectively. because fear is what I work with a lot, I can't remember the last time I did use a clicker.

Bottom line, work the dog in front of you. Do not get tunnel vision on what the training protocols say...focus on the underlying principles, apply them in the way the dog in front of you needs in order to not trigger escape and avoidance behaviors.

 

[Shay]

I have loved reading this all the advice is great
I have rescued 7 greyhounds all are different
i do have a crate for them its there place No one is allowed to
mess with them in there space grand kids are banned if they
Wont accept that dogs first,kids after.
reading this has made me feel I'm not the
only one talks to the dog its been great
as for your fur baby you are doing just great