Sorry for the delay in the write up! It's going to be a long post!
We had a good chat about Bella's past, where she has come from and what we have been doing over the last 18 months. I explained that we had done a bit of join up, but that she hadn't really done anything over the last 6 months and that when I then started doing some loose schooling this is where the problems have arisen. I 100% put my hands up to the fact that I have caused these issues, some poorly timed loose schooling without really taking into account she was desperate for her grub and also not thinking through the fact that she very much likes to be with me, so sending her away is very stressful for her. Bridget (RA) agreed that this sounded like a fair basis for the issues that we were having now, she also mentioned at this stage that given her history and some aspects of her current behaviour (food aggression/obsession and kicking at her stomach when having to stand still when she doesn't want to), it was a possibility that she may have an ulcer or two, so this could be worth talking to the vet about.
So we started off with Bridget watching me doing some leading work with Bella....who was on fine form and reared up as soon as she was asked to move from the school gate. So she got to see what was causing the behaviour and how I was addressing it, within what felt like a few minutes she had worked out where the lines of communication were breaking down.
In short, Bella is incredibly sensitive so I have to be very careful that when I ask her to do something, I ask subtly but more clearly and also I need to make sure I give her time to respond. At the moment I get on top of her a little too quickly and this is one of the reasons for the explosive behaviour, just as she starts to think about responding to my request I chase her up so she is getting confused and angry. I also have to make sure that my corrections are proportionate to what she has done, so only send her back the steps that she came forward. My tendency is to send her back two or three steps when she only took one forward.
I also have to get much better at responding to the little questions, such as shoving her head into my space and gawking at other things when we're walking about. The staring off at something else is usually a precursor to a leap or a rear, so I need to get better at correcting her attention and this in turn diffuses any explosive outbursts.
What was fab about having someone so understanding to come and help, was that she thoroughly understood when I explained that I had lost a lot of confidence in myself, I know that I have caused these problems but have now lost so much conviction in my own actions that I don't think anything I do is right anymore. This in turn affects my whole ability to respond effectively to her behaviour. So, once Bridget worked out what I needed to change, we brought Inca out and I practised with her instead! Once I had got my responses back onto the right track (and Bella had a break and some hay to think about what she had learnt) we brough B back out again and I worked a bit with her with a much better success rate than previously! We still had a few outbursts, but I felt much better equipped to deal with this and once or twice managed to diffuse her.
We have lots of homework to do and once we have leading cracked we will be moving on to de-sensitising, walking over scary surfaces and eventually long lining.
Bridget agreed that loose work doesn't seem to be the way forward with Bella as she needs structure and to be able to "see the point" of why she's being asked to do something. So during our next session (post successful leading and work over tarpaulins etc) we will see if we can move onto some long lining.
In short, it was a very productive session, I have learnt tonnes about Bella and been reminded of all the bad habits that I'm still working hard to kick.
Worth every penny and every minute!!!!!
We had a good chat about Bella's past, where she has come from and what we have been doing over the last 18 months. I explained that we had done a bit of join up, but that she hadn't really done anything over the last 6 months and that when I then started doing some loose schooling this is where the problems have arisen. I 100% put my hands up to the fact that I have caused these issues, some poorly timed loose schooling without really taking into account she was desperate for her grub and also not thinking through the fact that she very much likes to be with me, so sending her away is very stressful for her. Bridget (RA) agreed that this sounded like a fair basis for the issues that we were having now, she also mentioned at this stage that given her history and some aspects of her current behaviour (food aggression/obsession and kicking at her stomach when having to stand still when she doesn't want to), it was a possibility that she may have an ulcer or two, so this could be worth talking to the vet about.
So we started off with Bridget watching me doing some leading work with Bella....who was on fine form and reared up as soon as she was asked to move from the school gate. So she got to see what was causing the behaviour and how I was addressing it, within what felt like a few minutes she had worked out where the lines of communication were breaking down.
In short, Bella is incredibly sensitive so I have to be very careful that when I ask her to do something, I ask subtly but more clearly and also I need to make sure I give her time to respond. At the moment I get on top of her a little too quickly and this is one of the reasons for the explosive behaviour, just as she starts to think about responding to my request I chase her up so she is getting confused and angry. I also have to make sure that my corrections are proportionate to what she has done, so only send her back the steps that she came forward. My tendency is to send her back two or three steps when she only took one forward.
I also have to get much better at responding to the little questions, such as shoving her head into my space and gawking at other things when we're walking about. The staring off at something else is usually a precursor to a leap or a rear, so I need to get better at correcting her attention and this in turn diffuses any explosive outbursts.
What was fab about having someone so understanding to come and help, was that she thoroughly understood when I explained that I had lost a lot of confidence in myself, I know that I have caused these problems but have now lost so much conviction in my own actions that I don't think anything I do is right anymore. This in turn affects my whole ability to respond effectively to her behaviour. So, once Bridget worked out what I needed to change, we brought Inca out and I practised with her instead! Once I had got my responses back onto the right track (and Bella had a break and some hay to think about what she had learnt) we brough B back out again and I worked a bit with her with a much better success rate than previously! We still had a few outbursts, but I felt much better equipped to deal with this and once or twice managed to diffuse her.
We have lots of homework to do and once we have leading cracked we will be moving on to de-sensitising, walking over scary surfaces and eventually long lining.
Bridget agreed that loose work doesn't seem to be the way forward with Bella as she needs structure and to be able to "see the point" of why she's being asked to do something. So during our next session (post successful leading and work over tarpaulins etc) we will see if we can move onto some long lining.
In short, it was a very productive session, I have learnt tonnes about Bella and been reminded of all the bad habits that I'm still working hard to kick.
Worth every penny and every minute!!!!!
