17 Jan Training successfully during winter
Keeping up with our SA training is generally challenging but it can get even more so during winter. The cold and longer hours of dark can make training not only less pleasant but also harder for the dog.
Some dogs might find it more difficult to tolerate training sessions (also called missions) when it’s dark out. On the other hand, some dogs might be challenged by the change itself, feeling confused when routines and sounds outside that used to happen during daylight now continue to happen when it’s winding down time. It’s common to see that dogs with separation anxiety are affected by change, and have a harder time (or takes them longer) springing back and adapting to their new set up. Predictability helps them navigate life feeling somewhat safer, and there is nothing predictable about ending daylight saving time schedule!
The human side of the equation can also suffer the consequences of winter and the motivation to keep going can get hurt. If you live in a very cold area and you have achieved only a couple of minutes waiting outside the door, not having added the shoes yet, that can become a very rough, if not impossible scenario to keep going at the pace that you were before winter. The pace that your dog is setting.
How do we reconcile the need to honor the dog’s pace, while keeping the human end of the relationship safe, warm, and motivated at the same time? Here are a few ideas and strategies that you could try to tweak things around in a way that serves both.
Missions after dark
While some dogs don’t care if it’s dark outside, or at what time training is dine, others do care. A LOT! Some dogs have an easier time doing training during a specific time frame of the day, in which case, more so on early stages, we try our best to stick to that time frame to set the dog up for success and to work on building a solid foundation. As we teach the dog to feel comfortable with what we are doing and as they get stronger, there is a point when it gets easier to introduce absences at other times of the day. To answer the questions you might be asking right now, doing missions or training sessions only at a certain time of the day isn’t cheating! It will pay off eventually, and it will keep the dog comfortable enough to then be ready to push the edges of their discomfort and bring growth.
If a dog struggles with training after dark and the schedule allows for the guardian to only train during daytime hours that is perfect! It will get easier to fit in as the hours of light increase. Then hopefully, by next fall the dog will have a stronger foundation to potentially start dealing with some training after dark.
However, if that’s not a possibility due to the work schedule of the guardian, and training has to be done after dark, if not everyday at least a few times a week in order to keep a consistent training schedule, then designing a different set of criteria for daytime and nighttime missions can be helpful. You may design training sessions that are harder when done earlier in the day, and design easier missions to be done after dark. This will build strength in both schedules, at a level that the dog can handle, be successful at, and learn something. As they become more used to being exposed to this after dark, the routine may start feeling “more normal” for them, which eventually will lead to being able to increase your criteria at that time of the day.
A tip to keep things safe and avoid a negative response to daytime training is to avoid only doing long, hard training sessions during the day (since you are doing the easy ones at night). Otherwise, the dog might start learning the daytime training isn’t something to look forward to. You will still want to vary the criteria of your daytime missions from day to day, from easy to medium and hard (not necessarily in that order).
If no matter how easy the evening training criteria is, the dog keeps struggling, and this is one of those cases in which nighttime training can’t be avoid, seeking behavior medication to support this extra challenge can be of great help. This will give the dog a support cushion to face more challenging environments.
Tweaking the incorporation of pre-departure cues
Perhaps the dog is just starting this healing journey and guardians are still going in and out without shoes and/or a jacket. If they live in an apartment building this might not be an issue. However, if there is snow outside and the person has to stand at their porch barefoot and on a sweatshirt while is snowing, that can be a deal breaker.
How do we honor the dog’s needs to not go too far too soon and at the same time keep the human side of things comfortable and safe? Here are a few ideas:
- Shoes: Although every dog is different and may benefit from a unique approach, with the passing of the years I have become more and more a fan of adding the shoes before the missions starts, while we are setting up, and then leave them on until the end of the training session, rather than putting them on and off throughout the mission. Even though I used to work on putting them on at some point during the training steps and then leave them on (and I might still do it once in a while), I find that having them on from the start allows the dog to settle before the session starts and it takes away the alertness the shoes elicit when put on during a training step. If needed, the person can wait a few minutes between putting them on and starting the session, to allow the dog to wind down and settle. Once the guardian has the shoes on from the start, they can wait outside more comfortably during training! Not only that, you already have one pre-departure cue fully incorporated and one less to worry about adding in! If guardians already wear shoes inside the house and don’t put them on only to leave, you might not even have to worry about this step since they will already have them on before the session starts and they may not mean much for the dog at all.
- Jacket: Adding a jacket or coat to mission steps can be very triggering for some dogs, not only because it has a very clear meaning (you or “we” are going out) but also because it might be noisy and get the dog out of their snoozing state, at least at the beginning. Having to add it to the equation before the dog is ready can be a challenge. A few ways to tweak this can be putting it on before the mission starts, at the same time as the shoes, and then give a dog a good amount of minutes to reset while the person hangs out somewhere in the house before getting started. Another option would be to add the jacket half way through the mission, in one of the easier steps. In both of these examples, after the jacket is put on, it stays on until the end of the session. Since the jacket is not being handled and put on and off throughout, it’s not a constant cue or trigger, and can be gradually normalized by the dog with the passing of the steps. If this is the approach you take, overtime, as you get rid of training steps there will be a point in which everything will be put on and they will leave for good in only one step. Since this fading out is gradual, it often gives the dog time to get used to the idea of us setting up, grabbing everything and then leaving.
Adding extras while setting up
Shoes and jacket may not be enough if they have to stay outside the door for a while longer, but still haven’t reached a point in which they can wait in the car or walk away and go somewhere else where it’s warmer. Little adds that can be a game changer are leaving a blanket, hat, gloves, or perhaps a mug with a hot beverage outside the door a few minutes before starting training. The person won’t be leaving the dog alone to set those things outside (remember that the dog can’t be left alone aside from training for this to work!), they will just open the door for a moment to leave those extras outside and get back in.
The beauty of this is that you have choices. Gloves and hat could also be added as the shoes and jacket were mentioned above (putting them on a few minutes before starting training and leaving them on until the end), instead of leaving them outside. Same, the jacket could be left outside prior to get started, to be put on while waiting outside during the final step only, instead of having it on during the whole mission if the dog doesn’t handle this option well or if it gets too hot for the person to wear the jacket while inside for an extended period of time.
Normalizing cues as a plan B
If the family lives at a place where waiting outside isn’t an option during winter, and they haven’t yet achieved a duration that allows them to go somewhere, being that place the car, a garage, the house next door, you name it. Or if the dog isn’t ok with the car engine being on so the person can have the car heated while waiting in it during absences, there are a few options that can be explored.
Personally, I would first try all of the suggestions above before jumping into trying the following options, so there is a fair balance between comfort and discomfort. This, to not force to dog too far from that edge of discomfort that they can tolerate at each given time in order to grow stronger. However, if none of the above are an option, or if it isn’t enough, using a predictable approach of sorts to normalize something by repeating it over and over at the same criteria, could potentially allow the dog to get used to it and eventually be fine with it.
A practical example would be adding the car and the engine or exiting the door and walking to the garage to get inside and wait there. If you try it in one step and the dog responds becoming more alert, and doesn’t seem to be ready for it, in a perfect universe you might eliminate it from your missions for a while to try it again later on when you think the dog is ready. However, if you need to use it, keeping it in that one step for several days, without increasing, nor decreasing the criteria might allow some habituation, to a point in which the dog is able to tolerate it more comfortably.
This takes time, and we are not seeking to skip steps to go faster with the purpose of reaching our SA goals, or “cheating the system”. That mindset would bring us more headaches than wins in the long run. Your priority is to honor the dog’s pace. This is just a compromise, a way for dog and guardian to find themselves somewhere in the middle, to make it work when the environment is against them. As dogs learn about how our routines are safe because they are repetitive and predictable (we go to the bathroom, take a shower and are out of their reach for a fairly similar duration everyday. This bathroom time follows a similar and repetitive routine every morning which allows them to understand what to expect of it) they can learn the same when our missions become repetitive and predictable, even if they aren’t super excited about the cue we are adding at first.
Set heartwarming short term goals
No matter at what stage of the journey you are, setting short term goals that are heartwarming and help the family feel successful is a game changer. Getting creative here is key! If the person has reached the point in which they can leave the area for a short period of time, maybe ordering a coffee online that they can go pick up during the final step of the mission can be a huge reward to keep them going! Or if they are pulling out of the driveway but not yet able to drive away, getting the mail from the mailbox during the absence can be super helpful for someone who normally has to bring their dog with them to do that. If garbage disposal is far from the house, putting the garbage bags outside the door earlier on and grabbing them on the final step to walk (or drive) to throw them out in the garbage bin can be more exciting than it sounds!
If they are friends with the neighbors, going to visit them or drop something off at their house even if it’s for just a couple of minutes, sharing the success with them if they know about and are on board with the process can make people feel less lonely on this journey. Even visiting them for a quick cup of tea on the final step (if they have gained a bit of duration to do that safely) can be a super fun short term goal, and I promise you, it makes the process feels real and AMAZING!
Instead of letting the prospect of our current short absence duration stage bruising our motivation, we can make a great experience out of it. Little goals that can allow us to celebrate the different stages of the process and keep us wanting more.
Exploring medication support
Medication can be of great help on separation anxiety cases and it doesn’t need to be (nor should be) the last resource. Finding a medication that helps the dog thrive can provide crucial support in setting them up for success and it can allow them to make steady and meaningful progress. More so when the environment around them isn’t exactly perfect. Although I would still resource to medication support when the environment can be adjusted exactly as the dog needs, doing so when the dog might need to tolerate cues and adjustments that they aren’t completely ready for and comfortably with becomes a must.
Also, when dogs show that change in their life comes as a great challenge, even when that change isn’t necessarily negative, medication can provide help to go through those changes more smoothly, preventing or lessening potential regressions along the way.
As you can read, there isn’t one fit all recipe, and out of context each of these recommendations might feel wrong or too much. However, it is in the SA training dance that all is woven in a way that works for each dog. Being creative, gathering data every time you make changes, ruling out what works and what doesn’t by observing the trend, and creating a combination that allows everybody to keep on going is what’s going to make a difference and allow you to succeed. Stay open, watch the dog closely and be as objective as possible when gathering information about their behavior, and everything else will align.