Last Saturday Delilah and I got to spend the afternoon with my friend Jo-Anne and her dog Achilles. Achilles is (to the best of my knowledge) a White German Shepherd/Husky mix.
I’ve always found Achilles to be friendly and affectionate, in fact sometimes he freaks me out a little because he will just stare into your eyes. I often wonder if he’s trying to tell me something.
Something like, I’m really a prince stuck in this body, kiss me and I’ll make all your dreams come true.
It’s a good thing I can’t read his mind because he’s probably really thinking, move a little closer I want to hump your leg.
Jo-Anne rescued Achilles just before we rescued Delilah, in fact Jo-Anne’s rescue of Achilles is what inspired me to rescue Delilah.
Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know if I should thank her or curse her.
Anyhoo…Jo-Anne sent me an e-mail about 10 days ago asking if Delilah and I could help her with a little problem Achilles was having. Apparently while Lily and Achilles get along just fine, Achilles is having some confusion about the proper way to react and play with other dogs.
Jo-Anne’s new trainer, Marcus asked her if she could find someone with a female dog, that was either a husky mix or a lab.
Enter Delilah.
Marcus asked us to find a neutral place that was fenced in. I knew of a baseball field at one of the elementary schools that would be perfect. When we got to the designated spot, there was a young man walking a German Shepherd back and forth. I was a little anxious because Delilah can sometimes go a bit ballistic when she’s in the car and sees another dog outside.
Great first impression right? You pull up and your dog loses her stuff.
But it didn’t happen like that.
Turns out the guy walking the dog was Marcus’ brother Thomas, walking Marcus’ dog Tye. Marcus has been using Tye (who has some dog aggression issues) to help Achilles with his issues.
The first thing we did was take the dogs out of the car. Marcus came over to introduce himself to Delilah and she turned her back on him and sat down.
Marcus was tickled.
He asked me if he could introduce Delilah to Achilles, I said, “Yes, as long as you don’t hurt my dog.”
Ballsy, I know.
He introduced them and after a second or so, Achilles got a little snarky and Delilah set him straight.
Listen here mister, don’t take that tone with me!
I told Marcus, “Don’t worry, she can handle him.”
Once all the dogs had been introduced we started some walking exercises.
Marcus wanted Achilles to get used to walking without reacting to other dogs.
Thomas and Tye, Jo-Anne and Achilles, Marcus and Delilah.
We realized there was a lot of glass in the parking area, so we moved the dogs onto one of the side streets.
We were probably about 5 to 6 feet apart.
Tye went home and Marcus had Jo-Anne have Achilles sit in the parking lot while Delilah and I walked around them. The goal was to get Achilles to focus on Jo-Anne and not on Delilah.
Every time Achilles looked at Jo-Anne, he got a treat.
That’s right Achilles, look at your mama.
After this we went back to Jo-Anne’s house. Marcus and Tye, Delilah and I sat on the patio while Jo-Anne worked Achilles in the yard. The reasoning for this was to help Achilles learn to focus while there were distractions.
After about 15 minutes or so, Marcus said Delilah and I could leave. He asked me if I could put Delilah in the car before I said good-bye to Jo-Anne.
When I got back to the yard he said he was going to have Jo-Anne hand me a treat for Achilles and I could give it to him when he was sitting properly.
I took the treat and then approached Jo-Anne and Achilles, with my hand out like a stop sign. Just as I got up to him, Achilles got up, so I turned around and walked away, waited a few seconds and approached Achilles again. This time he stayed sitting.
Success!!
Marcus said Delilah was the perfect dog to work with Achilles because she is calm and exhibits the proper signals to other dogs.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she can hold her own. 🙂
I know many of you have used or trained therapy dogs, but have you ever heard of a dog working with other dogs? What would you call that? Would you do it with your own pup?
I would be hesitant to do it with my boy, because like you said, I don’t want him to get hurt.
Sam
I would never allow her to get hurt. I am very protective of my dogs. 🙂 If I thought she was at risk I wouldn’t have done it.
Jodi, I “use” my own dogs to help each other CONSTANTLY. My oldest one, Callie, has the perfect temperament for helping me with the other two…she would have been a great mother if I had wanted to add to the Golden Retriever population. That aside though, I call her my “Chief Pack Assistant”. Dogs like Callie — and your Delilah — are perfect helpers for working with other dogs. You witnessed it yourself with Achilles. Dogs like our girls know instinctively how to help another dog, much better than you or I or even a trainer with years of experience. Of course a human needs to be there to supervise; but if we humans would just put our egos aside for a while, we could learn A LOT by watching a calm, balanced dog teach another dog how to behave. I don’t agree with everything Cesar Millan says/does, but in this respect, I have learned he knows what he’s talking about. As for what you would call it, why not just “Dogs Helping Dogs” since that’s exactly what it is?
Thanks Sue, I appreciate that. Delilah is a very calm and confident dog (for the most part) it is these traits that will help Achilles figure out how to approach and interact with another dog. 🙂
I wish certain traits of Sampson would rub off on Delilah, for instance his calmness when he knows food is coming, there is no way Delilah can be calm when food is coming!
It’s nice that they can learn different traits from each other.
PS Let me add that there is NO WAY I would put either of my 2 older dogs in a situation where they could get hurt. If I don’t know the dog that needs help, I would not allow my girls to interact with him/her without an experienced trainer helping me. (My youngest is an 8-month-old shelter puppy who spends her days at doggie day care socializing with other dogs and working off all that excess energy.)
Oh neither would I! If I thought there was any chance she wouldn’t have been safe, I wouldn’t have done it. For this first meeting they only greeted each other for a few seconds, the rest of the training was walking near each other but not close enough where they could really interact.
I imagine a little puppy needs that kind of energy release and I’m sure the older two appreciate the break as well. 🙂
I am glad it is working for Achilles, but I have real questions about that method of training. I do not think that it is a good idea to use other dogs as training tools generally.
It was really no different than being in a classroom/training session, except it was outside. We really weren’t doing anything different then what Delilah and I do when we go to an obedience class. It is also helping her focus on me, when we there are distractions around. 🙂
That is good. Maybe I misunderstood. It just seemed like the trainer had you bring your dog as a distraction to the other dog. That is really not the focus of group training I have participated in. But I see what you are saying. I guess he was working with the other dog and you were doing your thing?
Yes, she was training him and Delilah and I were working our thing. 🙂
That’s a great story. I love that it’s all rescues and rescues encouraging other rescues and then helping rescues – what a wonderful circle.
Litchi often gets used with problem dogs I deal with. Poor child gets used with problem dogs, problem people, well, basically, all problems. She loves it and thinks it’s all part of her general fun activity schedule. I would never put her in any harms way, though. We’ve come such a long way since I rescued her that I’d hate for anything to put her back into her previous aggressive mode. I am pretty careful with it.
Great job guys – well done!
Litchi’s a great dog, I think it’s great that she has a job that she loves. I would never put Delilah is harm’s way either, if I thought it was detrimental I wouldn’t do it.
Welcome back!
Glad Delilah was able to help. You must be so proud of her.
I’d also feel nervous handing my dog off to a stranger. Glad to hear you put Marcus on notice. 🙂
I’d be happy to have Honey as a distraction knowing how important it is to keep the dog below their arousal threshold. If there are any signs of tension, I’d increase the distance which should prevent any accidents.
Our trainer, Russ, brought his dog to some of our training sessions. He called Toby his “bombproof” dog. But he also found the training tough. It only works when everyone is more interested in keeping every dog comfortable than in making through a specific training protocol.
BTW, as long as I’m typing, can I suggest a question for follow up Friday? I was wondering how Delilah was doing with taking treats gently from you. I don’t remember seeing you address her progress.
I absolutely agree with you Pamela, I’m not sure if you could tell in the pictures but the dogs had some distance between them, we were also keeping them moving so as not to focus on each other.
Thanks for asking for a follow-up, I did answer it in tomorrow’s post. 🙂
Yes, there are a few dogowners here who use Georgia for training because she’s the only dog their (little)dogs will approach or play with. It’s quite amazing to me as she was a reactive dog when we first got her, so she’s come a long way. I think the other dogowners LIKE that Georgia puts their dogs in their place when they over step.
On a side note, please do kiss Achilles. You never know.
Ah ha! That would be funny if I kissed him and he turned into a prince!! That’s great that you helped Georgia through her issues, may I ask what you did?
You go, Delilah!
She’s a good girl Al!
One of our few really positive dog park experiences was with an older female dog. Silas did puppy play group, but all the dogs were, you know, puppies, and played like it. He started getting a little rowdy with his female playmate in the park. She was a rescue, and she’d had puppies several times before that. I was just about to intervene, when she picked up her paw and popped him on the nose. He was all “Oh, you don’t want to play like that? Okay. Will you chase me some more?” It would have taken me forever to teach him the same thing.
LOL Delilah’s correction would not be that gentle with Achilles, I’m not sure how it would be with a puppy. With my grandchildren she gives them a little growl, I think she likens them to puppies. 🙂
Delilah may be ready to get a teaching license. 🙂
🙂
My peoples know two trainers that have a really good dog to help other dogs with issues. It sure sounds like Delilah has the right stuff for the job.
She certainly remains calm until she doesn’t. LOL
You are a really good friend (I’m not at all surprised). I have heard of super calm and confident dogs working with other dogs to help them through their issues. Particularly with leash manners, leash aggression and proper dog greetings. Mazzie is to high strung to assist other dogs in that manner, but sounds like Delilah was more than up for the challenge.
Mazzie can still get there Tanya, don’t give up hope! Five years ago I would have never thought Delilah could do it!
Hey Sampson, Hey Delilah, Jetty here. Hi Miss Jodi.
Great work Delilah, you rocked that training session.
Yes, Mom would use us to help anyone we could… and …. hmmm… we’d call ourselves… training assistants!!!
You have a really great mom Jetty, I just want you to know that. 🙂
My friends used one of their dogs to assist in helping Cheyenne to retrieve ducks. As long as it’s in a well supervised situation I think sometimes that’s the only way a dog is going to learn is from another dog. By the looks of your photos I’d say that’s just how it was and it was successful.
It was well supervised and no dogs were harmed in the taking of the photos. 🙂
Hi Y’all!
I love other dogs and usually ignore them.
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
You’re a good boy Hawk.
Like Tina said we have used dogs to help other dogs to retrieve and also learn how to swim. It can be very beneficial. You do need to know your dogs and work in a supervised environment. Another way that it helps is if you have a dog that is confident and are working with a dog that needs to over come things.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting, I do think Delilah is a very confident dog, which will be beneficial to a dog who may be unsure.
How does a dog teach another to retrieve?
Jodi Sorry I did not respond sooner. There are a couple of different ways we use the dogs to help retrieve one is we take an experienced dog and let them retrieve with a young or inexperienced dog. We would have the older experienced dog sitting in a sit stay beside us and the young dog with a handler watch the bird we would then throw the bumper and let the young dog go as soon as it was in the air they usually chase after the bumper when it hits the ground but sometimes the young dog does not pick up the bumper we would then let the older dog go and of course they will go and grab up the bumper and bring it back and the young dog is like hey wait a minute I should have had that and they run with the other dog back it usually only takes a couple of tries before the young dog is running out there and picking up the bumper because they do not want the other dog to come and get it. the second way is to just let the dogs watch each other I know if sounds funny but sometimes all they have to do is see the other dog doing it and then they want to chime in. You really have to know your dogs to do these exercises. I hope you understand what I am talking about. I think we used both with Cheyenne (Misty Shores Chesapeake) and she loves to retrieve now.
I’ve seen guide dogs for blind dogs, Doggy would eat the helping dog if the dog were white, he doesn’t like white dogs, he thinks white dogs are sheep and tries to heard them.
Really? So Doggy’s racist? Or just doesn’t know the difference between dogs and sheep? 🙂 Just kidding Leo!
That is very cool! Now that I have another dog I’m hoping Gracie will teach her a few things!