January 31, 2014

Five Things I've Learned About the Relaxation Protocol

dog laying on mat during relaxation protocol

If you've been following along you know that Ruby and I have been working through Dr. Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol.  The Relaxation Protocol is a series of increasingly difficult tasks that you and your dog complete. More correctly, you complete the tasks while your dog sits or lays on the mat. The idea is that the dog will a) gain impulse control in a variety of situations and b) associate the mat with a place for calm, relaxed behavior. In Ruby's case, this is very much an example of "fake it until you make it," since relaxation does not come naturally to her. The tasks range from walking around the dog to ringing the doorbell. A more detailed post about it is here, and today I thought I'd share a few things that I've learned so far:

It takes more than fifteen days.  
Unless your dog is not the anxious, hyper-vigilant type that benefits most from this kind of work, don't be fooled by the "Fifteen Day" protocol.  The exercises are broken down into days, and each day into tasks.  Ruby and I have been on Day 3 for thirteen attempts now.  Last night we would have finally completed it except that I dropped a piece of food on the floor midway through and wasn't quick enough with my 'leave it." Bring on attempt fourteen!

Don't be intimidated.  
The tasks look tedious and daunting.  You might read ahead and think "no way could my dog sit still while I ring the doorbell..." That's exactly why the Relaxation Protocol is set up the way it is.  Baby steps.  If you need even smaller baby steps, make them.  If 10 seconds is too long, do 7 seconds. Break the days in half and do mini-sessions.  I do think that different terminology would help the work seem more appealing.  I would like it if the 'Days' were called 'Phases' instead.  

Sometimes doing nothing is harder than doing something.   
Ruby seems to have the most trouble with the long stays where I am not utilizing a distraction. The longest so far is 20 seconds, and that was often the breaking point.  She is perfectly fine with me jogging backward, jogging left, jogging right, clapping, walking around her, but stay in place while I stand there and stare at her? Not so much. (I don't actually stare at her, and I've been experimenting with eye contact and calming signals such as deep breaths, blinking and yawning to encourage her to relax).  

Set your dog up for success. 
I've learned when to bust out the pink mat and when to work on something else. Ruby needs to have at least some exercise beforehand.  She needs to be interested in food but not overly hungry. I close the dog gate between the kitchen and living room since we haven't arrived at "Stay while the cat runs by" in the tasks yet. Certainly, eventually the goal is to add external distraction, but on the first time through the environment should be as controlled as possible while you are both learning how to navigate the protocol. 

Don't give up.   
As I said, we're a month into Day 3, and for a while I dreaded our sessions because Ruby was having such a hard time with the seemingly simplest things. Then I decided to buckle down and work on it at least every other day, and it got better. Ruby stopped demand-barking at me, she started putting her head down, and last night for most of the session she was laying in her little 'S-curve' where she has one front leg and the opposite hind leg stretched out and the other two legs tucked under.  Even though we'll be revisiting it in different parts of the house and eventually outside, I think we're going to turn the page to Day 4 very soon.     

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11 comments:

  1. I'm giving the steps in Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out a go. It's the same type of mat work and using distractions and triggers. It's much hard to train with all three dogs, because I have to separate the ones I'm not working with into a different room. I'm not really sure if hearing the clicker, but receiving no treat, will diminish the response. I guess only time will tell!

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    1. I have that book in my giant stack of dog books to read!

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  2. Yes, yes, yes. Don't stare, and don't over-praise. Also, put cookies on the mat, instead of handing them to the dog. Handing can encourage the dog to get up to meet your hand. I'll also add, don't be afraid to work just on one thing that's really hard. You don't have to do the whole routine every time.

    I thought of you yesterday--we're redoing the protocol in a new area, and did day three. Where we did it before I didn't have room to jog very far, so it actually tripped him up into a sit. I guess we'll repeat day three, too.

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    1. Great tip! I've tried the doorbell a few times, knowing that's coming up. Ruby does okay with handing the treats, if I put it on the mat she tends to get distracted by sniffing and will sometimes get up to see if there might be something else on the ground! It's such a fine balance of focus and disinterest. I could just kick myself for screwing up last time - I know it is only going to get harder but we have been stuck on that page for SO LONG!

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  3. We haven't done these since Felix was a new rescue and man, do I ever think it's time to give it another go. Like you, we were DAYS on one step and I thought I was going to go absolutely insane, but I'me glad we stuck it out. I really did help, even if we've totally back slid the last few years.

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    1. I'm likely getting a foster dog this month and will be interested to try it with someone else. I think it is a great tool.

      How long have you had Felix?

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  4. I love your blog; you've been introducing me to so many new things. I've never heard of this. Thank you. Looking forward to reading about your progress.

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    1. We finally conquered Day 3 last night! This has been an excellent tool for us, I just have to remind myself to stick with it. Thanks so much for reading!

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  5. I'm SO grateful you wrote this post. I've been feeling frustrated with our progress (lack of, I guess) but this is really reassuring. Out of curiosity, what do you consider a successful attempt to move on to the next day? No reactions at all? Or 100% success on each task?

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    1. You know, I was tempted to "call it good" a few attempts early on Day 3, and Jessica from My Imperfect Dog reminded me that it is only going to get harder. That really struck a chord with me and I decided to be quite stringent on what I'd consider a pass. No breaks, no barking. I ask Ruby to lay down as it's more comfortable that way, and I think the eventual goal is to have them lay on their mat, so if she pops up into a sit or barks at me, I mark the task it happened on and plan to repeat the day. We tried Day 4 last night and it went really well! Only three small breaks, even with several 20 second stays which are hard for her. I think she's starting to really get it - increasing the frequency we work on it has definitely helped.

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  6. The Relaxation Protocols are very hard to get through and you're right it's very tedious but it eventually pays off! :D Great job in making the steps easy for her! I sometimes have a hard time breaking things down more. I'm a bad lumper. Lol!

    Anyways, I'm also re-reading Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out. It's such a great book.

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