Closer and closer and closer...

Getting close is never an issue with Salinas. She loves being next to you, or on top of you if she can manage that. But as you have read, Chima really takes her time when it comes to actually touching a person. She'll sniff you all over but to lay her head on your lap or curl up beside you, well she's just not there yet.

One of the very best (and easiest) training strategies with dogs like Chima is to become a human treat machine. Chima is super food motivated and the more I toss out the treats, the more she has decided it pays to stick close to me and to check in on occasion, just in case the treats are flying. The more treats I give throughout the day, the quicker her she's letting go of her skittishness around me.

There is a method to my madness - a reason behind the rewards... Now, I'm new to all this behavior/learning theory stuff so be gentle with me if I get it wrong but here's why I'm pretty sure it's working. I want to increase her interest in interacting with people.  In the past interactions with people have been negative so she's not likely to choose this behavior on her own. But something that is powerfully rewarding to Chima is eating. Her waistline when she first arrived here is proof of that. So now she's performing a behavior that she didn't previously find rewarding - approaching/interacting with a human and that behavior is rewarded with food, something she finds very rewarding. And the great thing is the emotions that she's feeling about getting the food are getting linked to me since every time she approaches me she gets a dopamine surge in her brain from anticipating that choosing to be close to me will be rewarded.

Eventually the food gets faded out or becomes more intermittent but we're still in a stage where it's important that I have a very high rate of rewards for Chima when she chooses to interact with people. Do I care that she's only paying attention to me because she wants food? No, I'm ecstatic that she's paying attention to me so I could care less why.

So why am I telling you this? Well check this out. While she likes to sniff at me all the time she's never chosen to sit close enough that she's touching me, even when she knows I have food in my hand. Typically she sits 12 inches back and leans forward to sniff at me.

In this series of photos you see Ms. Cheems after she's gotten bored playing in the yard and she really, really wants some treats that she knows are in my pocket. She isn't annoying or pushy about getting the treats, but look! She is touching me while she waited! Of course this earned her the mother lode in hopes that I'll start to see this behavior more often. Good girl, Chima!!!

Not touching my knee, but hovering there

Resting her head on the hammock and touching the side of my leg while she stares longingly at my left pocket - the sacred  vessel of kibble

Getting a treat for being such a good girl - and Salinas joining the fray since she's a smart girl and smart girls never miss a chance at extra kibble.

Check it out! Head resting in my lap!! (Chima is on the right in this photo) I had to contain my excitement by taking deep breaths and control my urge to reach out an scritch her ears for being such a good girl. Ear scritches are definitely not on Chima's list of things that are rewarding yet so even though I love to give them, I respect her and control myself by giving the ear rubs to Sal instead, who is always welcoming of more touch.

The great thing about training dogs is that the same reason that the dogs' preferred behaviors are increasing (because they are being rewarded) will work on the human as well. When I work with the girls and we are successful, it is rewarding to me. That feeling of being rewarded is great and I want more of it, so I focus on learning ways I can be even more successful in helping rehabilitate dogs. Try it! Pretty soon you'll craving your next training seminar, just like me.