What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[Erica]

Opal wouldn't touch the water for love nor hot dog, but as soon as we pulled a ratty old frisbee out of the toy bin she perked up and was immediately 100x more confident! It was really funny to see that switch from cowering at the edge of the pool to pulling me to the water Now she is worn out! Delta continues to pick the chicken out of his chicken and rice, but that's fine I guess

He seems to be *feeling* less miserable. Still not his usual peppy self but not moping, just resting. If he's still dragging me out of bed multiple times tonight, I'll bring him to the vet tomorrow...because this has gone on for a few days without significant improvement.

[MPbandmom]

Best wishes for Delta to feel better soon.

OH has been taking the dogs out for a morning walk most days recently while I am at work. Then Sky gets a second walk in the evening. Sirius really seems to have been traumatized by Independence Day fireworks this year. She doesn't seem to be getting over it as well as in past years and it has been much more quiet this year than it was last year. If I take her outside in the evening, she will head straight to the van. Because of the heat, by the time we get out, it is too late to be driving anywhere, arrive and have any kind of a walk before a park would close. OH even reported on a recent daytime walk that something made a pop sound while they were out walking through the woods, and she immediately started trying to search for someplace to hide.

I am trying another herbal calming product. This one combines allergy relieving properties with calming ingredients. Then I got a second one by the same manufacturer which is just a calming product to be used situationally. I have been giving her the allergy one nightly and we gave the situational one to her the other day when we had a thunderstorm. We have only had these since the third, so it is still too early to tell if it is working.

I am starting to wonder if it is time to seek prescription relief for her. She seems fine as long as things are quiet. There are just so many doors slamming and things that go boom and pop around here.

[Nettle]

I have enormous empathy with that, MPB - Babydog is noise phobic, and once there has been even one "bang" she is trembling and hiding in case there is another.

Research hard before you go the drug route, as some drugs just suppress the fear reaction and not the fear. We use a herbal remedy but of course ideally it should be used before bangs start - and who knows when there are going to be some?

I wish people would just make fireworks without noise.

[Suzette]

I wish people would just make fireworks without noise.

Apparently, they do. I read this year about a town in Italy that passed a law that for the sake of the dogs, only silent fireworks would be allowed. A little research shows there are companies who make silent fireworks. They are probably not as spectacular as some of the 'chrysanthemum' type fireworks that make those loud bangs, but small price to pay for our furry friends who are terrified of the noise.

Of course, it won't cut down on the folks in our neighborhoods who set off the loud ones in their own backyards, but it's a start.

[Erica]

I'm just ready for fireworks to be outright done, permanently. They're so polluting and scare not only pets but wildlife as well.

Delta's got meds from the vet to hopefully help his stomach settle back down again. He was so good in the waiting room; as we were checking out, someone brought in a very forward boxer and couldn't/wouldn't hold him back...Delta, feeling miserable, did not want to say hello. I stepped between them and towards the boxer to give Delta some more room and he just waited where he was.

Yesterday at swim class, there was a young friendly border collie who was the only dog to actually swim. But he had a habit of leaping out of side of the pool right where Opal was, to give her very enthusiastic face kisses and basically be all up in her business. Opal got complimented on her tolerance many times by the instructor and got chicken as a reward she cared about for her chill behavior. (She also showed interest in wanting to interact with said BC, or I would've done more body blocking etc.) Contrast to when I joined this board and she couldn't see another dog without exploding into reactivity...she's come a long way Such a good dog!

[MPbandmom]

Yay Opal

I think the biggest dilemma I have with the calming drugs is that most of them seem to make the dog drowsy and are things that one should give to the dog about 30 minutes before the noise starts. Not something that would be given on a daily basis to help the dog generally feel more at ease. Where what I need is something that will help the dog be able to get out of the house and be comfortable with taking a walk.

Fortunately OH has started taking the dogs out in the morning for a walk at the battlefield, otherwise Sirius wasn't getting out for a walk at all. She would walk out of the house and head for the van. We used to take family walks together in the late evening, after the heat subsided, to the park behind the house, she now wants no parts of walking in that direction.

There is also the matter that after I said things had been much quieter around here this year, shortly after I hit submit, someone set off a volley of 6 fireworks that were very close to the house. Sirius does seem to recover more quickly after trauma on the herbals, and perhaps I should be content with that as long as OH is able to get her out during the daytime.

It is just so annoying and sad to not be able to take the dog out for a nice evening walk to a local park.

[Erica]

One of the dogs in our classes had been prescribed an anti-anxiety medication for just continual daily use...maybe something like that rather than specifically focused on calming or noise phobia? It's gotta be difficult to see your dog like that. I'm just astounded that you have fireworks going off so often still! I guess we're lucky that our area only gets them for about the first week of July.

Del's meds got to work quickly and he seemed to be energized and happy again, so we went to agility today. Had tons of fun, as the instructor had us design part of the course each. (Here is a map of it, if anyone's interested. I did 9-12. ) It was dizzying and tricky and had a lot for the handler to remember, but lots of fun!

Delta and I hang out in a hallway on the edge of the course, as one of the other dogs doesn't like Delta (barks at the sight of him, but is fine with the female dogs in the class ). I don't mind as this gives us more room to stretch and keep limber while we wait between turns. Today someone from flyball class wanted to walk through the hallway while we were waiting. It reminded me how nice it is to be around people who know dogs well - the person asked, with a quiet calm voice, if they could walk through while I had Delta there. When they were coming back the other way, they made sure he and I knew they were there, rather than surprising us. Very considerate!

[JudyN]

Just to lower the tone a bit: Jasper was nicely settled on his bed on top of a wooden chest this morning. There was a sudden strange noise from his vicinity, he looked up, looked about anxiously, got off the chest and went to his bed in the other room. I can't be sure, but I think I have a dog who is scared of his own farts

[MPbandmom]

Just to lower the tone a bit: Jasper was nicely settled on his bed on top of a wooden chest this morning. There was a sudden strange noise from his vicinity, he looked up, looked about anxiously, got off the chest and went to his bed in the other room. I can't be sure, but I think I have a dog who is scared of his own farts

Hahaha Judy, maybe he was beating feet away from the smell.

Thank you for the information Erica. That medication does sound more along the lines of what I am looking for.

Sky met an off leash staffy on our around the block portion of our walk last night. We had a rather long walk (for us) as the weather was very nice, and I let Sky take the lead. We zig zagged all over the park behind the house before taking the long way around the block to get back home. We have encountered an off leash dog at this particular house before, but not the same dog. She was a small brindle staffy who was very timid. Very low body language and exposing her stomach when greeting Sky. Sky tends to only get grumpy with dogs that she feels are not showing her proper respect, so I wasn't worried about her taking issue with this little girl. I was worried about Sky totally overwhelming the little staffy as Sky tends to be very in your face and other parts when allowed to greet in her own manner. So I kept her greeting as short as possible and encouraged her to move along.

Staffy followed us jumping up on my back and legs. Sky stopped to exchange brief greetings again and then I encouraged her to move along again. Staffy continued to follow, jumping up on me. The third time I was a little concerned that Sky was getting annoyed as she stopped rather suddenly. It was at about this same time that it dawned on me why the staffy was jumping at me. I believe she was after the yummies in my treat pouch. I stopped and spoke to her briefly telling her that I realized she wanted a treat, but that she couldn't have one. At the same time, I was debating the treat bomb tactic. It didn't get to that point, because as soon as I finished saying that she couldn't have a treat, she tucked tail and beat feet back to her yard. I don't know if I scared her off by talking to her or if she realized she had gone past her property, or she heard something back at her house. I felt kind of sad for her though because she was so timid to the face, but jumpy at the back. I guess she felt more safe when behind then when being faced.

[Nettle]

I think you handled that very thoughtfully. I'm not keen on the treat bomb idea as I think it might encourage random dogs to intercept us again, or not go away in the first place. Nor do I feel comfortable with how my own dogs would react, given that treats are for specific responses for them. I know others use it with success, but I am wary of it.

Young staffords are often very submissive. The switch goes over round about eighteen months on average.

[MPbandmom]

Thank you Nettle. The encouraging the little staffy to greet and follow again for more treats did enter my mind in my mental debate.

Crazy hot around here again. Thursday we did some shopping in the evening and then I was done with being outside in the heat. No walk for Sky and she was none too pleased. She essentially pestered me non-stop until I climbed into bed. I felt rather guilty, but I just couldn't do more heat. Friday I had spent more time indoors and took her out for a short walk after 9:00. According to our outdoor thermometer, the temperature at that time was 86.6 F. It asn't too horrible as there was a breeze. We went to the far corner and back. I offered Sky water at one point, she drank a little while I was pouring but that was it. Usually she drinks while I pour and then laps up the overspill into the dog dish. We only went a half mile though, so not too long of a distance or time to be out in the heat. Sky discovered a mostly black cat lounging in the center of one yard. She really wanted to go check it out more closely, but that didn't happen. The cat was gone on our trip back past the house, but that didn't stop Sky from taking a good look around to see if she could spot the cat again

This morning I woke up at 5:30 for some reason and couldn't get back to sleep. I put the early awakening time to use and fed the dogs, cat, and myself and then took each dog out for a short walk trying to beat the heat.

Little Miss Sirius who flat out refuses to walk towards the park in the evenings, practically drug me around the corner in her haste to go in that direction this morning. There may have been some additional motivation for her to go that direction as a dog had passed by shortly before we headed out and it had been walking in that direction, so she was essentially following his/her scent trail.

we went down to the corner and I had her turn around, thinking I didn't want to push her too far (and that I didn't want to have to walk back up the hill from the park ) and headed back to the house. Our morning paper was on the curb and I had planned on picking it up when we got back to the house, but a walker was coming our way so I ducked into the driveway and went back to the trash can to deposit a poo bag instead. After walker passed by, I went back out to the curb to collect the paper and Sirius eagerly set off upp the sidewalk in the other direction. We ended up walking to the far corner and back, so little miss got in a little over a half mile walk and didn't freak out about anything Perhaps morning is just a better time for her. Unfortunately school starts around here on Monday, so she will have to wait for a morning walk until OH can take her out.

Then I took Sky for essentially the same walk except the shade was vanishing off of the sidewalk and she turned around before we reached the far corner. Both dogs have been very settled so far today.

[Shalista]

Bax earning his keep again. I wish i knew how i ended up with such an empathetic dog that worked so well as a therapy dog... with zero training.

Last night i was having stomach troubles and Bax just curled up right next to my belly and pressed himself against me and laid his head on my hip. he felt like a little hot water bottle heater and it was exactly what i needed. he never lays there when i dont feel sick. i felt so much better and i fell right asleep.

this morning i was getting super emotional and crying about something and he came from halfway across the house, jumped up on the chair and started giving me wuffly kisses until i laughed and started petting him and then he lay in my lap until i calmed down properly.

I cannot fathom how i got so lucky to end up with Bax. i dont even know where you would start to try to train him for all the good he does.

[JudyN]

Oh, the joys of a guardy dog....

Walking round the heath by the golf course, Jasper spotted a deer which was fine as he's always on lead there: he just stared, transfixed, and eventually turned his attention back to me and after walking a bit further, we headed for home. He laid down under the trees just before we got back to the road, which is his normal routine when it's a bit warm, so I settled down with him, & took his muzzle off to offer him a drink. Then he noticed, before I did, a golf ball right next to him. He chewed on it for ooh, 20 mins and it was clearly THE BEST THING EVER. I was really worried he might swallow it but he wasn't going to give it up willingly. I didn't want to haul him off in case he had a go at me (the trouble is that we hit these problems so rarely I don't know how he'll react). Eventually I just walked off and left him, with his lead still attached, back the way we'd come. He followed, and I was hoping to get him one side of the kissing gate next to the cattle grid and me on the other, from where we could negotiate safely.... But he just walked round the edge of the cattle grid.... So on we went further, me praying he wouldn't spot another deer. The risk from barbed wire is bad enough, but add on the risk of him chasing a deer with his lead on.......

At the next gate, we were caught up by a little Westie who really wanted to say hello to J - 'What you got? Can I have a look? Can we be friends?' as J growled at it and I was really worried he would attack it. But eventually the Westie followed its owner (who was round a corner so thankfully didn't see J's body language) and I managed to get hold of J's lead with me on one side of the gate and him on the other. He dropped the ball close to the gate & couldn't get it again as I had his lead through a gap higher up, I managed to pull it towards me under the gate with my foot as he growled at me, and then I pocketed it. I offered him a drink (it's thirsty work all this guarding ) and then was able to get his muzzle on. He was fine - once he's lost his prized possession, he's back to his normal self.

Trouble was, I'd only wanted a quick walk as I had loads to do, this had taken a lot of time, and it was getting too hot for J, so on the way back he kept lying down and telling me he needed to nap for another 20 minutes before moving on..... It took ages to get home

Still, it could have been worse - if it had been a 'live' ball and a golfer realised what had happened we'd probably have been taken off to the club house and be hung, drawn and quartered

It's a good job I cope well with stress

[Erica]

Not my dog, but one of the dogs in our current classes is very, very timid. First class he was just super shut down. Past couple of weeks, he's been doing better, but still doesn't really feel safe unless he's on his mat and/or near his people. But today, near the end of class, he got up off his mat and started walking towards the instructor and me! We tossed him some hot dogs, and he kept coming, and even ate a treat out of my hand! It was a magical moment. It's really awesome to have a class where the dogs change so much in such a short time! Whether it's an excited dog learning to take a breath and relax, or a timid dog wanting to greet a stranger, or a hound learning to be quiet for a few moments...

Delta also continues to impress me. He's just so reliable and focused on me - even in a room with three puppies and two adults dogs, where everyone's moving and there are occasionally barks and "oops I let my leash get too long" greetings and play times, I don't even need a leash on him. (I have a traffic handle on him, for safety's sake, because the leash gets all tangled up when I drop it completely.) We're trying a Rally-O class tomorrow, to see if it's fun. We need more things to train

[Nettle]

Yours sounds such a lovely class, Erica.

JudyN, that was brilliant - well done - few would have had your patience and management skills.

Today I had an email (my email is on a professional list) from a dog accessories company that thinks I'd like to hand their advertising material to my clients.