The amazing gift of being alive is that no matter what, we can always begin again. Sharon Salzberg
And so we are.
Beginning again, that is.
The new year certainly begs for new beginnings, though I’ve been wanting to restart the Relaxation Protocol for quite some time. Somewhere along the way, though, I completely forgot about it.
I first learned about the Relaxation Protocol years ago on Champion of My Heart, who kindly organized each day (more on that in a minute) into downloadable MP3 files. I downloaded all the files and started in on it with Lucas, but – honestly, shamefully – it’s tedious and time-consuming and I just petered out. But, I left it on my “to do someday” list.
It wasn’t until Jessica at My Imperfect Dog (who I adore…) wrote about her progress with Silas, who is similar to Lucas in many ways even if their fears differ. She had a huge success. After I read about her victory, then clicked back and read through her experiences with the protocol, the “let’s try this again” seed was planted.
So, here we are. I downloaded this version of the whole shebang.
Here’s the gist: It’s a 15-day program that takes your dog through a series of ever-so-slightly increasing challenges. The 15-day thing is misleading though. You start in the easiest location for your fearful dog. In Lucas’ case, that’s the kitchen/living room. Then, you repeat the 15 days over and over (and over and over…) in increasingly more difficult locations. For example, you could do the whole thing in your living room, then move to your backyard, then to your front porch, and so on. The idea is to teach your pup to relax in potentially overwhelming situations. So, even though it’s a 15-day protocol, theoretically you could be working on this for years…
That’s a grossly oversimplified version, but I hope you get the idea.
Even though it doesn’t say to in the official protocol, I’m combining it with the “safe mat” idea from numerous other reactive dog training resources (most recently, I read and loved Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training the Crazy Dog from Over the Top to Under Control*, which strongly advocates mat training). So, I’m running through the entire protocol with Lucas executing all the behaviors on his mat.
As an aside, I’m also starting to do the whole thing with Cooper. He’s not reactive in the way that Lucas is in that he doesn’t lunge/snap/snarl/etc. Rather, Cooper is just scared. Of pretty much everything. His coping mechanism is to cower behind me in scary situations like the vet. I’m hoping that going through this with the mat will enable me to take the mat and help him stay calm and relaxed… and, ideally someday, confident.
Thanks, Jessica, for inspiring me to tackle this whole deal all over again! I’m committed to sticking it out with my guys this time around, so I’ll be sure to check back in and share our progress.
Have you tried the relaxation protocol? Any luck or successes? Tips or tricks to share? Or have you considered it if you haven’t before?
*Amazon Affiliate link. Purchasing through that link won’t make the product more expensive. It just kicks a few cents back to support OMD!
I blogged about the RP, too – in fact it was my most popular post so far!
http://myrubicondays.blogspot.com/2013/12/mat-matters.html
We do the tasks on Ruby’s mat as well, and we are slowly, very slowly, working our way through it. I haven’t kept up with it regularly, as I know some days neither of us are up for it or her focus is nonexistent. We are on attempt #5 of Day 3 currently.
Last night Ruby started an amusing behavior of laying flat on her mat during tasks (which is a trick that I’ve taught on the cue of “relax”.) It’s almost like she’s saying “All right, already, I’m relaxed, can we move on to something more fun?”
I do think it is really beneficial, and I’m going to try to work on it more in the new year.
I don’t know how I missed that post, but I’m heading over to check it out right now! I’m thrilled to hear you’re seeing results. I can be so impatient, and I get frustrated if I’m not seeing progress right away – that’s something I need to work on! The laying flat is pretty cute, but it sounds like victory to me if she’s relaxed! I’ll be interested to follow your progress with it this year.
Good for you! I have tried and failed this thing so many times I should apply to Guinness at this point. I don’t know why I find it all so stressful. That seems to be a habit with me, the things that are supposed to help with relaxation – RP, yoga- end up freaking me out even more. I will be greedily watching your progress and maybe it will give me the inspiration to try again. Goodness knows my dog needs the work!
Can I just say how freaking happy I am to read that yoga stresses you out?! It totally stresses me out, too, and everyone seems to think I’m insane because of that! I WANT to be a calm, happy yogi, but I just don’t have it in me…
Anyway, please let us know if you decide to tackle it. I’m praying I see some progress in the beginning because that’s the only thing that (sadly) keeps me motivated! But… I’m committed. It’s in writing. So… guess I better get started!
I’m not methodical enough to do the RP exactly as directed. But my half-assed variation on them was very helpful when we had our extremely fearful foster dog, Cherie.
We also used mat training extensively. Our mat was a hand towel which was convenient to bring along on walks as we progressed.
I look forward to seeing your results.
A hand towel is a great idea! I was determined to find something portable because it HAS to go to the vet with us… assuming (praying… hoping… fingers crossed) that it works! Thanks, as always, for the encouragement, Pamela! I’ll definitely share our results!
Aww.
I had actually forgotten that the mat wasn’t an official part of the protocol. Our behaviorist modified the instructions, although she left the tasks the same. (Even she, by the way, agreed that it’s super tedious.) We did weeks of just plain mat work before we started the protocol.
The thing that helped me the most was letting go of doing it EVERY DAY. The dog doesn’t forget if you skip one. I still *try* to do it every day, but letting go of that extra layer of perfectionism made a big difference.
The “Days” thing kills me. If a dog can get through that whole protocol in 15 days, she didn’t need it to start with. I think the worst “day” took us a week or more.
That actually makes me feel a lot better because I worried that if I didn’t do it every day, it wouldn’t stick? Or something? I’ll let up a bit… or, at least, I’ll try!
And good point about the 15 days. I read ahead to the parts we never reached when we started it in the past, and I just know we’re going to be repeating many of the days many times… Perhaps a good glass of wine goes with RP to ease the tedium!? 🙂
Sip of wine as treat for human after each task? I’m liking this more and more…
The terminology could be changed to make it less daunting – perhaps ‘Phases’ instead of ‘Days’?
You are so right about a dog not needing it if they can complete the full cycle in fifteen days!
BRILLIANT! You’re absolutely right – it’s the terminology! Phases would totally help me!
Oh, I first saw this on Roxanne’s blog as well – waaay back when. I started trying it with Rita and then also petered out. I should really give it a try again. I popped over and read Jessica’s post about Silas not reacting to the doorbell. Wow. That would be awesome.
Now… if I can just be good about doing it and not be lazy and poop out!
Will be looking forward to reading how you’re doing!
I KNOW! If the doorbell rang without utter chaos ensuing?! My life would be complete! Please let me know if you decide to try it again. I’m so fascinated by other people’s progress!