u/Queenanthropocene

I adopted my now 3.5yo border-aussie when he was 1.5yo. at that time he had never been on leash and knew nothing outside of his home, empty crate, and back yard. He had been in the car to go to the vet and get fixed and that was all. He has now been on Prozac for about a year and a half, and his dosage has redently been increased about 40 days ago.

We have come a long way on leash but he is still incredibly reactive to people, bikes, and especially other dogs. He has learned to check in, heel (when actively enforced) and the pulling has reduced a lot. He no longer barks at things like parked motorcycles and people across the street. He can respond to command cues while on walks and rebounds from triggers pretty quickly.

All that being said-- he is still insanely alert at all times. I have lately been trying to implement sniff walks and I am realizing that he has pretty much no interest in sniffing. He will sniff to follow a squirrel trail, which is quick and leads him to jump up a tree trunk and bite at the tree, a behavior I have been disallowing for obvious safety reasons. He has a couple sewers he likes to check in with. Other than that he has no interest in sniffing the ground unless he's about to poop.

Otherwise he is locked in on the distance/scanning and watching for something to bark at. He doesn't seem to understand the idea of relaxed walking/sniffing around.

I am trying to teach the command "go sniff" to let him know it's okay to just explore but I am struggling.

He knows "find it" in response to finding a toy or a treat, so lately I will scatter kibble in the grass and tell him to find it to encourage sniffing the ground, but once he's found the kibble he's back focused on me waiting for more.

I've also been doing what I call "the porch game" where after a walk I will sit on the stoop with him and reward him for calm behavior. (Basically just anytime he sits, lays down, isn't scanning, or when he sees a trigger and focuses on me). I think it's going well, because after the first 5-6 sessions he started to lay down and act more calm more quickly. I've started scattering kibble in the grass during this time too to encourage him to sniff around. It's tough though because we live in a town house so sometimes a neighbor will open their door and he starts barking and I have to just bring him inside, so I don't know how to deal with that gap in threshold/unpredictable too-big-to-train-on trigger appearance when I'm trying to teach that it's chill to be outside... But that's a different problem (open to suggestions for that too tho).

Anyway-

What can I do differently/what can I add to walks/porch game to help encourage calm behavior?

Moana has been a favorite Disney movie of mine since it came out, and now my 3yo niece is also obsessed with Moana which makes me so happy. Themes like female empowerment and the relationship with her grandmother always touched me and got me to tears, but I think I understand one of the other deep reasons Moana makes me so emotional-

At the end, when Moana realizes that Te Ka is actually an enraged Te Fiti, and calms her by giving back the heart of the ocean- I always cry. Just that song makes me cry thinking about it. 

But ok here is the analogy that never quite materialized with me until just now: 

Maui represents human technology and industrialization: He brought fire, he “pulled islands from the sea” for them (an association with Polynesian colonization of the Pacific Islands, which did bring a lot of ecological change to the islands as they were newly inhabited by humans), he gave them coconuts (maybe farming, or at least an extraction of a natural resource). None of this angered Te Fiti, perhaps at this point the Polynesians are a representation of a balanced and mindful relationship with natural resources. 

But then Maui takes the heart. 

I think this is an example of over-exploitation of nature. He tried to dominate nature, take life into his own hands, and upend the give-and-take relationship that had been established between man and the gods (nature). This is when Te Fiti becomes Te Ka, and is consumed with rage and anger. He betrayed her by exploiting her. 

I am seeing the whole story as an allegory for the wider exploitation of nature that we humans are now engaged in globally. Climate change is the new Te Ka. Global mass extinctions of species and climate disasters are the black blight disease that is destroying the islands, due to our over-use of natural resources and attempt to dominate our world that we had for thousands of years lived in relative balance with. 

Moana returning the heart was the only way to save everything. Interesting that it was her, a thousand years later, and not Maui, the one who truly committed the original betrayal. He had to help her, he had to be on board (pun intended!) but ultimately it was in her hands. Just like it was not us who started this climate and ecological disaster we now live in, it was our ancestors decades ago. It was industries and countries and institutions with demi-god like power bigger than any individual. But it will be us and our children who have to take on that power to restore balance if we want to survive and restore the world that was gifted to us. 

Anyway I'm probably late to this realization but I think it's one of the most important themes in this day and age and I love how it is represented in Moana.

Edit: Thank you for the encouragement and perspective. I was really frustrated last night when I wrote this. I feel better about it this morning. Hopefully Wolfy does too. I appreciate this sub for so much and I've learned a lot here, and I continue to do so.

I did tell my neighbor "it's ok, things happen" when he apologized, I wasn't a total jerk about it, because I DO understand. Sorry if I made anyone with an escape artist on their hands feel bad. We're all doing our best!

Original post:

I have been working with my reactive rescue bc/Aussie mix for two years. We have made tons of progress. He is especially dog reactive, but we have recently made it to a point where I can get him to not completely lose his mind about another dog from a reasonable distance. He can see a dog across the street and I don't have to pick him up, barking and snarling, and walk us away anymore. Some cases I can even get him to lay down and eat handfuls of treats as the other dog goes by (some barking in between treat handfuls, sure, but huge progress!)

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Tonight on our walk, all of a sudden an offleash small Aussie just comes tearing at us out of nowhere, barking and snarling and they're at each other's faces before I even know what's going on. I stepped between them just as the neighbor comes running apologizing that the dog just ran out the door. I yelled "what the hell man" but otherwise kept my cool and remained calm, just as he is getting the first dog, his second dog, a small terrier comes running at us. I picked my dog up as this little fucker is barking at my feet (my dog is also of course barking and growling and absolutely freaking out), neighbor is halfheartedly apologizing, and he collects his dogs and goes back inside.

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I was really just stunned. I stood there with Wolfy for another minute until he stopped barking, and then just stayed in the same place and just petted him and hugged him and tried to help calm him down. It had been thunderstorming earlier so he was already on edge (and on a full dose of gabapentin for his storm anxiety). I gave him a trazadone when we got home to try to help with the stress hormone rush I'm sure he was feeling after that. He's pretty stupefied now (the vet said it's okay to give him both), and I'm hoping he just forgets this even happened... Fat chance though.

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I am so disappointed because I know this is going to set us way back. He was doing SO WELL, I even took him to a popular hiking trail earlier this week (on a weekday when I knew it wouldn't be busy) and he did so well and I was so proud.

I'm not looking forward to the regression this is going to cause. I'm really mad at my neighbor. People suck.

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Tell me about your setbacks and how your dogs rebounded to give me some hope?