The slightest movement and he is ready to go. I am working on this.
Sitting at my desk this morning, going through emails, putting my grooming course on sale, cancelling my gym membership etc, etc, and Riggs is driving me nuts. He is driving me nuts because every slight movement of my chair sends him flying off of his bed and ready to head to the kitchen. You see he had a big run this morning and the next thing on “his” agenda is breakfast.
I know he wants his breakfast, he tells me every morning until he has eaten, that he hasn’t eaten yet. He is bossy, running ahead of me each time I head towards the kitchen. Often I will deek him out, turning on a dime and going the other way. I am not a fan of bossy behaviors and do not want him telling me when it’s time to eat. He is a guy that needs things not so much on schedule. Of course it’s not entirely possible as our life often revolves around routine. But when I can switch it up, switch it up I do.
Riggs is slowly desensitizing to my office chair movement but, when it is pre-meal time he is having a difficult time. So I need to work harder around that time to change the meaning of chair movement.
Desensitizing - to lessen the sensitiveness of; to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
As far as my chair movement goes, I have to change the meaning of it. When it is around mealtime it cannot mean that I am immediately going downstairs to make dinner. Easy peasy right? Not so much. As I always say, every dog is different and Riggs locks in on routine and it takes work to get him out of it. Each and every time I sit in my office chair, I’m working on the chair movement.
Move my chair, go in my drawer.
Move my chair, turn the fan on.
Move my chair, go to the closet and rustle around.
Move my chair, bend over and pick up something pretend on the floor.
You get the idea, I am doing something other than leaving the room. Riggs is one of those dogs that follows, and I mean follows. I often can’t find him because I look around and don’t see him; only to look down and see he is at my feet. He is a close follower so if I move, he’s coming with me wherever that is. But this means that his sleep is being disturbed constantly, and I hate that for him. This means I have to push my chair around a lot to lessen his sensitivity to it’s (my) movement.
Anything can be desensitized, it takes work and commitment to want to change it. Probably the number one item that my clients need desensitized is their dog’s leash. Lots of dogs become unglued at the sight of their leash, so we work on having the leash around for lots of “non-walk” times. It is a step by step process but it s all about changing the meaning of the leash so that it is not always followed by a walk.
There are many things in life that need to be desensitized for our dogs.
Does your dog need desensitizing?
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