Hey Strong Bond.
Christine here, with sweet Lumps.
Last night there was a bunny fiasco.
For those of you who don't know, Lumps LOVES bunnies. Small bunnies, big bunnies, fake bunnies... doesn't matter.
There is usually a handful of bunnies to be seen on our nightly missions/walks and Alex and I had been asking Lumps to NOT interact with them.
So what typically resulted when we stumbled upon one was a stand off between Lumps and the bunny, us asking Lumps to stay, then the bunny and Lumps taking off into the night. (most of our missions are off leash).
After redirects and asking her to come back over to us, Lumps would be riled up, distracted, and often times out right ignore us. She'd be snorting and darting, looking for another opportunity to... greet a new bunny friend.
We'd spend the next couple of minutes getting back in connection with her and back on course with our off leash training.
One night, I decided to try something new to see if I could reverse our nightly experience of mutual frustration.
I started implementing the skill of "go chase", which is quickly becoming one of Lumps' new favorite things.
I was amazed and delighted the first couple times we practiced "go chase", because Lumps' attitude changed dramatically and instantly.
When we see a bunny:
I ask her to "look" (make eye contact), which gives us an opportunity to check in and for her to ask if something is okay. This way I (the human who understands our environment) can determine whether or not this is a safe and appropriate time for a full-out focused sprint.
Then I can either say "go chase" or "leave it".
Even though Lumps is a well-oiled muscle machine, these bunnies are small and fast. So when we chase, it always ends up being a short run around a safe, grassy part of our neighborhood.
Acting as a contributing force to Lumps' bunny experience, rather than obstacles, has resulted in the chasing being slower (less manic), she stays close, and comes running right back to us when we ask her to "stop" and "come".
So... now... the part about the fiasco.
Last night we managed to sneak up on a bunny on our nightly mission, and decided to practice "go chase". It began well and controlled enough, until 3 other bunnies entered the picture.
It was like a game of pool - Lumps was the cue ball and the bunnies the colored balls. Lumps shot forward and suddenly there were bunnies running in every direction.
Lumps seemingly lost her mind.
It was very likely a cocktail of prey drive mixed with equal parts zoomies and mutli-bunny surprise.
Lumps ran farther away than what I felt was safe and continued darting after other rabbits even while I was asking her to come on back.
I began to feel mad and frustrated, partly because I was scared for Lumps' safety, partly because Lumps' was in a wild-state, partly because our training results weren't already perfect.
What I did next was not how I would have responded even 6 months ago.
After wrangling Lumps back in, rather than going straight into "correcting", because of my feelings of fear, I took a second to be with her and connect.
I put my hands on her trembling and over stimulated body and talked with her about how I realized that was super exciting and fun, but that going that far isn't safe, even though we said "go chase".
I also took a moment to take responsibility for my part. There were definitely some better ways we could train for this proactively.
We could start going to the park specifically to chase balls and frisbees. Lumps' prey drive isn't going away, so how could we help her meet that need in a safe collaborative way?
TL:DR - my dog loves chasing bunnies & rather than correct her for it, I chose to help her meet that need by giving her safe opportunities to chase things.
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