And we get another review! This time, about behaviour therapy.
I am particularly proud of Melanie’s words, because it we ((Melanie and I) have worked hard on this case. This was absolutely no quick fix.
Gryneth had gotten into the habit of barking on many situations: when she was a little confused, when she was wound up, when she was bored, when she wanted attention, when she demanded food, when she felt threatened and when she was feeling under de weather.
Melanie had rescued Gryneth from a less-than-ideal situation in which Gryneth never got to learn to cope with frustration and the many stimuli of city life.
Gryneth also suffers from several health problems which means that she constantly feels a little uncomfortable (e.g. itching, not seeing well, not hearing well, etc.)
So Gryneth had many motivations for barking, and we had to treat each separately: each reason had its own behavioural intervention.
It was all going much better when she developed a new habit (since the birth of Melanie’s baby): now Gryneth took it upon herself to ‘protect’ the baby against passersby.
For this latest problem, we ‘simply’ taught her that a passerby meant a cue to jump into the undercarriage of the pram – and stay there – to score treats.
We have had to teach this in several stages, and I am so proud of Melanie for all her hard work!!! It took a lot of effort and time, but they did it!
More info about behaviour therapy here.
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