React/recovery

[pitbullmamaliz]

A friend and I were discussing our dogs yesterday and got on the topic of time to reach threshold and time to recover afterwards. Inara is very much a zero to sixty girl, going over-threshold in a heartbeat, no ramping up. However, she recovers just as quickly - barking/lunging to, "so sorry, what were we doing?" in the space of a heartbeat. However my friend's dog, Henry, also an APBT, is also reactive but in a much slower fashion. He sloooowly starts reacting more and more until he goes over-threshold. But then he also recovers much more slowly, no instant bounce-back.

Is there often a correlation between reaction time and recovery time? I'm just curious what you guys have noticed.

[TheRedQueen]

I never really looked at it like that...I'll have to observe from now on...

I wonder if it's a training thing, instead of a true recovery thing. Would Inara recover as well if you weren't holding the leash, if a non-trainer were there instead? My Inara can react in both ways...she can explode in a matter of milliseconds, and she can ramp up pretty well too...though it's usually the former. But because of our intensive training, she chills out pretty quickly. However, she will continue to react if the person at the end of the leash freaks out (myself included). Emma handles her nicely now at flyball, because they both trust each other...so neither one freaks about anything.

How much intensive training has Henry had? That would be my next question... Has he been taught the skills needed for a good recovery.

[pitbullmamaliz]

Would Inara recover as well if you weren't holding the leash, if a non-trainer were there instead?

I honestly have no idea. I couldn't tell you the last time a non-trainer handled her. I'm pretty crazy about who gets to handle her.

How much intensive training has Henry had? That would be my next question... Has he been taught the skills needed for a good recovery.

Henry was rescued from a bad situation so she got him as an adult. She started with compulsion training (as so many of us do!) but has switched to positive now. He has taken the Relax class that Inara started with, and is about to finish a "regular dog" class (still with my trainer). So he's definitely newer to the training scene than Inara.

But is a recovery something that is taught or does it have to do with general temperament?

[TheRedQueen]

But is a recovery something that is taught or does it have to do with general temperament?

I think that there is something to both...there is an inherent "bounce-back" that they just naturally have...some can bounce back quickly, some don't. Just like some react/startle/etc to some things and not others. But I think there is a lot to be said for teaching coping skills. Inara used to be way worse in settling down after a reaction, but with time and training and treats, she settles very quickly now (for the most part). Just like everything, there's no black and white.

I do wonder too...just musing here, if there is a difference in recovery due to the speed of the reaction. I recover fairly quickly from things that startle me or make me jump in surprise...but things that really scare me...it takes me a bit longer to come "down" from that level of fear. So I wonder if it's a dog-by-dog thing...or just a "how startled/scared were they?" If that makes sense.

I try and do a good job of controlling Inara's environment, so she doesn't have time to really escalate her behaviors...so she can wind down pretty fast.