Finding steady

It's been too long since my last post. We are finding a new steady and day in and out isn't the same kind of challenge that it used to be.  Chopper is becoming more and more settled into the home. Sure, not the same as a dog without his past, but pretty darn good by Chopper standards.  Here are things that have changed:

• I no longer have to bribe Chops with canned cheese to get him out of bed in the morning.  I just give him his little morsel of cream cheese with his meds hidden inside and he gets the picture.
• Occasionally he'll even come to wake me up on his own.
• Occasionally he'll come up from the den (his safe place) with just a little cajoling.  Occasionally he needs a bread crumb trail of treats. But rarely do we have to force him up now.
• Strangers in the house don't put him in Chop-town.  Sure they make him uneasy, but he settles in.

I'd like to expand on the last bullet some.  In October I had a friend from out of town stay with me. It was the first time one of my friends had stayed over since we first got Chopper.  Luckily she is a dog person and totally understood my requests on how to handle him.  I instructed her to ignore Chopper, that pretending he isn't there is the least stressful thing for him.  Then we went for a walk together. The friend took Kolohe (ever the attention monger) and I took Chopper.  Later, we all settled in the den together to relax.  At this point I had my friend throw treats to Chopper.  She'd throw some closer to her, and some further away.  The point of this was to reward Chopper for both moving toward and moving away--a tip I got from a trainer I consulted named Debbie Jacobs.  Not long after, Chopper tentatively approached my friend for chin scratches. A victory!

This month Greg had a friend stayed over. Same instruction. No walk.  Chops settled down enough to completely sprawl out and sleep. 

Here's a photo of me with my friend Kathy who was the first "stranger" to tame the anxiety:

She was in town to run the Army 10 Miler with me.  Was a great race, and a great time!  Chops agrees :)

And, of course, what blog post would be complete without a picture of the main star.  Here's Chopper with Kolohe vying for my attention.

How could you not smile with those two faces staring at you?  Well, three faces if you count the stuffed Chopper-like toy in the background :).

a real family unit

The posts about Chopper are getting further and further apart.  I think that is mostly because we have fewer and fewer frustrations to share.  He's settling in nicely, though there are things we would change if we could.  For example, he still won't go into our backyard to relieve himself like Kolohe does.  We now take him for multiple walks a day, which is a change from our old way of just opening the door to let the dogs take care of things.  I don't mind the walks most of the time, but I wonder how tricky things will get with snow and ice in the winter--we live at the bottom of quite a hill!

We've adjusted his medication some, and moved him from Valium to Xanax.  I know, a dog on Xanax--as Greg says we're now officially yuppies. To which I reminded him that ship sailed with our last dog Otto and the fact I cooked more food for him, than for us as part of his cancer treatment.  The things we do for our four legged family! In any case, the xanax seems to last longer and have more of a calming affect on Chopper.  In the evenings when we are all settled into the den he explores the world around him, plays with different toys, asks for pettings, and occasionally chews on things he shouldn't. In a lot of ways he is like a puppy now.  An 80 pound puppy, but still the innocence he goes at life is very puppy like.

I think he has settled into the family unit and found real security in it. In the beginning he clung to the family unit more out of what felt desperation--it was a known entity and he didn't have any other options. Well he still doesn't have options, but I think he enjoys being a part of the family.  He will come over for pettings and lean up against us. When he sees Kolohe getting pettings he doesn't just watch from afar anymore, but comes wagging over like a regular dog saying "oh goodie, it's petting time, I want in on petting time!"

Walks, while a better alternative then the back yard, sometimes pose a problem for Chopper.  He can get freaked out by a strange sound or person.  However, the sight of other dogs instill excitement, play bows and lunges to go play. When we are able to go for what we call a "family walk" he isn't fearful, but wags the whole time.  Something about having both his people and Kolohe with him just makes the world right.

Some pictures from last night's love fest:

 

Chops leans up against Greg for some pettings. Kolohe gets chest scratches and looks up adoringly.

When more attention goes to Chopper then her, Kolohe crawls under Greg and starts her flirty flirt.

 Unusual for this submissive dog to look up at one of us.  We thought he might go for a chin kiss, but he lost his nerve :). Still, it makes for a cute shot!

A Chop-date

Since my last post we had the opportunity to take Chopper in to see a veterinary behaviorist.  There aren't many of those around, and most vets aren't taught behavior in school. Also, behavior is much more time consuming to diagnose and treat that typical physical veterinary services.  It takes a person with a true calling to embrace this specialty, and boy are we grateful one exists close enough for us to visit.

This vet is not in our neighborhood, in fact she is an hour drive away. Now when you live in the metropolitan DC area you get spoiled.  There are restaurants on every corner, banks, malls, grocery stores, etc, basically any service you desire, minutes away.  So while those of you in rural areas might think nothing of it, to us it is like driving to the end of the earth. Not to mention Chopper isn't used to being in a car that long.  Well we set out as we always do, one of us driving, the other in the backseat to watch Chopper in case of potential freak out.  I brought treats to reward when he laid down and off we went.

We arrive at the vet's and are shown to a room to settle in.  Chopper is nervous, he paces around and then comes back to Greg and I, repeatedly.  At one point we take him out of the room for the veterinarian to enter and get settled in.  When we come back, she is seated in a chair. There are treats all around the room, and when he dares to wander by her, she averts her eyes and drops treats for him. The next hour or so is spent observing how long it takes for him to adjust to her, and talk with us on his history.  Chopper eventually does settle in, he sits, or lays down, and even goes around for the treats.  She tries a little training with him using Easy-Cheese.  I should be horrified, given I started out with an all organic real-food only plan for Chopper.  But I'm willing to try anything now.  As it turns out He. Loves. Canned. Cheese.  I mean loves it more then life itself, would probably tolerate a circus running by as long as he had canned cheese.

After another hour or so she gives us a diagnosis: generalized anxiety (yep!), and neophobia (neo--wha? fear of new things as it turns out).  We adjust his medication so that he starts to taper onto a new SSRI, and add in a sedative.  I have to say, I was skeptical, he already lies around much of the time, why would we want to drug him.  She explained that what it really does is calm the nervous system, which may make him more likely to engage in his environment.  He is a 9 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of anxiety, according to our new vet.  Holy smokes! I had no idea he was that bad, I'm willing to relieve his pain, let's do it.

Before we left the office, Chopper started noticing a stuff toy in a display case. It looked a little like him, and was right at eye level.  The vet got curious and took it out, and oh did Chops get excited:

I wonder what he thought when he smelled this pup's nether-regions LOL. He was so entranced we bought one online for home. It's been known to get his attention enough to snap him out of an anxious state.  It's also caused a few heart attacks on the part of Greg or I when we come around a corner and see a strange animal in our house.

So in the weeks that have passed since Chopper's visit, quite a few things have changed.  The sedative has made a HUGE difference.  It really does allow him to enjoy his environment, he plays more, eats more (which means can train some), and asks for pettings a LOT.  We still can't get him into the backyard most days so we are walking him, which he loves.  Especially when we take him for a sprint or two.  Also he's still fearful, spending a lot of the walk scanning the area for possible dangers.  But, things have improved, and I'm eternally grateful for the help of Dr. Katherine Meyer of the Veterinary Behavior Clinic. I have hope that things are coming around for him!

This is the smartest dog alive

So this weekend (I forget which day) we had trouble getting Chopper out of the bedroom. He likes it up there, it's one of his safe places, and if the timing isn't right then he won't budge.  He curls up into a tight ball on the dog bed, keeps his head low, and I swear grows roots. So this was another one of those times when he wouldn't budge and the morning was rapidly coming to a close.  I needed to give him his medication not to mention he hadn't been outside to relieve himself in far too long.  I went for a secret weapon--real meat.  Greg had roasted pork loin on the grill so I cut up a few pieces and tried first lure him out of the room, and then to hide his pills in something tasty.  It didn't fly.  He ate the meat and spit out the pills.

Back downstairs I went, this time getting every yummy thing I could find: more pork, canned dog food, cod liver oil, smelly goat cheese.  I combined it all around his cut up pills and made an Ultra Dog Treat.  This one he gladly ate, after which he got up and came over to the bed poised for pettings.  We pet and pet him, rubbing his ears and chin, at which point Greg leans over and says: we have the smartest dog ever, he convinced us to let him sleep in, feed him pork in bed and tied it all together with a two person massage.

Touche Chopper, touche.

Safe places and walks

So the last time I wrote I posted about how great it was that Chopper felt safe in the basement.  Well I have good news and bad news.  Good news: he still feels safe in the basement.  Bad news: he never wants to leave it.  This can pose problems when we need to say, get him to where he's gated during the day so we can go to work, or get him outside to relieve himself, or feed him.  In an effort to not man handle him I've learned he can be coaxed with high value food.  Roast beef is a favorite, as is smelly goat cheese.  The first time I had to use roast beef to get him upstairs he insisted on it in the future.  Kept peaking around the corner up the stairs licking his lips and trying to play coy.  I was onto that smart boy though, his eyes were clear and he was in a good psychic space.  So I turned off the lights and walked away and a few minutes later he gave him.  However, there are many more times when the prospect of leaving a safe place sets him into Chop-town.  He'll curl into a ball and shake and the lights go off in his eyes. 

He does this more and more in our bedroom now, too.  I have a very short window when I wake up to get him off his dog bed or I lose him. My mornings start off like this, alarm goes off, I look at Chopper. If he is still sleeping I am safe, if he starts to move I have to hold my own bladder and get him downstairs immediately or he gives up right away and goes to Chop-town.  If he is still sleeping I can get up, use the bathroom, brush my teeth and wash my face.  Then when I come back he usually turns his sleepy head towards me.  At this point it is intervention time.  He is considering whether or not to psychically go or stay.  I say "good morning Chopper, good morning good boy" in a sweet voice. I go over to him, scratch his ears, and rub his chin. Then I say, let's go downstairs and 99% of the time he gets up with me. 


The other thing we are dealing with now is his new fear of going outside to the backyard.  I should actually say resurrected fear because he started off that way, but it went away after a few weeks.  Sure we'd have some slips where he'd go outside but want to come back in right away.  Or there would be neighbor's kids playing out back and he'd go into Chop-town and sleep off his fear (seriously, he sleeps off his fear, I call it "rebooting").  But mostly he was ok. Well now there is no way to get him to go out back.  Why is that a problem? Well, we have for the past 11 years that we've lived in this house with dogs arranged our lives around the fact our dogs relieve themselves in the backyard.  Of course we'd take them for walks or to the dog parks for fun and exercise, but the act of emptying one's bladder and bowels takes place at a great convenience.  Until now. 

Now the only way to get Chopper to do so is to take him for walks.  Trying to rearrange our lives to fit in walks is a whole new occurrence.  I've been working on trying to fit in meditation in the morning, but now it's dog walking.  Catching up on email at home, nope, dog walking.  Putting out my clothes and packing lunch for the next day, better get that walk in first.  He loves the walks for the most part; he gives me the "let's run" head twirl and I dare any of you to defy a sweet faced hound dog who does that.  When I can get Greg to come with me Kolohe comes too, and that's when Chops is happiest. His tail goes up and his smile shows up. I don't mind the walks themselves, but it is one more thing to try to fit into my day that I wasn't prepared for.

Chops digs the basement, and hugs!

Chopper continues to progress, slowly. It's funny how humans can be taught. With our first dog, Otto, we were spoiled. He was very eager to please us, above all else.  That big oaf could be taught with very little effort.  He learned verbal commands and hand signals with a few liver treats and lots of head pats.  When we got Kolohe we didn't have to train her at all. She learned by observing Otto, though motivated mostly by food and not at all by head pats. With Chopper we've had to learn a whole new language and way of doing things. His progress is slower then I could've imagined, but when he moves even an inch forward the cause for celebration takes over.  Otto learned to ring bells to tell us when he had to go outside in a day.  A day! Kolohe learned right away, too, although she unlearned the first time they came flying off the wall and crashed.  Then she learned to go get Otto to ring the bells for her.  It was actually pretty easy.  We are still trying to figure out how to get Chopper outside.

Chopper's favorite time to go outside is 2-3AM.  I'm not kidding. At that hour he'll wake us up, eyes sparkling and tail wagging.  One morning he even put his paws up on my bed and stood over me willing me up.  Granted his legs were shaking the whole time, but even my confident dogs never did that!  The world is quiet at 3AM, no scary noises or sights, I can see why he feels so comfortable then.  Of course our lives would be easier if we could get him into a non-fearful state during normal hours.  

Other things have come easier (though not easy). One of the places we hang out in our house is in the basement. It's where our tv is, our recliners, our fishtank.  It would be Greg's mancave if it weren't for our wedding pictures and my hula dancing elephants decorating it.  In any case, we used to spend a lot of time down there, but since we got Chopper it's been less and less due to his lack of stair skills.  When we would go downstairs Chops would stand at the top and look down longingly.  Well one night Greg decided enough was enough, and coaxed and led him downstairs.  Within a minute Chopper had settled down on a blanket and curled comfortably up.  The next night he came down with just a suggestion. And that's how it's been ever since! Even with the television on.  In fact, the basement has rapidly become one of his two favorite places in the house.  To us, this is a huge cause for celebration.  Here he is settled in with Kolohe in our basement.

We've learned how important chin rubs are  to Chopper.  They can pull him out of an anxious state and give him confidence.  It doesn't work when he's gone total disassociation (aka Chop-town), but anything less then that can really be affected by the gesture.  Before bed he now comes to my side of the bed and asks for them.  We call it "night-time-petting-time," and it's a regular ritual.  He even likes hugs from time to time!  Yes, hugs!  I can't explain how I get the signal, I just do.  I always watch his reaction in case I'm misreading, but so far so good. Here's photographic proof of said hug, along with one jealous Kolohe.

A Pupdate

I totally stole "pupdate" from someone else--it's adorable isn't it?

Anyways, it was an interesting day yesterday. When I got home from work I let the dogs outside first thing.  A neighbor was in his backyard on the phone, which made Kolohe bark. Normally if Kolohe barks and/or if someone is talking near by Chopper runs back inside.  This time he got scared, moved low to the ground, but still went outside to pee!  It was an interesting and positive change.  When he came back inside he was still thrown off.  He didn't want to be in the back of the house, and when he was, he was staring out the kitchen window towards the direction of the sound. Never mind the fact he never actually saw anyone, he was looking for them!  But he didn't go into completely Chop-down.  Usually he gets on his blanket, goes internal and won't interact.  He just got scared this time, though he did lie on his Spongebob blanket :).  I had to feed him from there, but by the end of the night he had stopped looking out the window.

Here he is on the blanket with his eyes clear and body relaxed:

This morning he was in a great mood--a spring in his step with everything he did.  Eating, going outside, even when he came to tell me he had to go back outside (which he isn't too confident at yet typically).  When I went to put the dogs back in the bedroom to go back to sleep with Greg, his tail was doing a small but quick excited wag at the door. 

Life is good

I have been traveling for work again, just returning home last night.  I was away for work, and then later at an annual conference I attend for a health community I am a part of.  The work went well, as did the conference. And as you can see from the pictures, I fit in time for puppies, too :). A girl has to have her priorities.

The puppies are rescues, and as I write this the one closest to me is on her way to her new home, but the curly haired one closest to the camera is still looking for a home. If you are interested, contact me privately and I'll pass on the information of the rescue agency she is at. She is just darling, would do with a quieter home, and some company during the day--people or animal. She is very perceptive, watched me quite a bit for clues, I think she'd do great at training.

Anyways, me being gone means Greg was left by himself with Chopper. Just like last time, Greg made incredible progress with Chopper while I was gone.  I'd be upset by that except I'm just happy Chops is improving.  While  I was gone Chopper was able to progress going down our wooden stairs unassisted. In the beginning he tried  to run down them as fast as possible and with wooden stairs that's pretty dangerous! Now he takes it really slowly and deliberately, which is the behavior we were waiting for before letting him off on his own. 

Another improvement Greg made was figuring out a way to bring Chopper out of his fugue state (aka Chop-town).  He discovered that if he crouched down next to Chopper, reached underneath his chin and rubbed his neck and chin soothingly it would bring Chopper back to the present with a pretty good success rate.  I had been operating under the principle that you never touch him unless he asks, but clearly there is an exception. 

Chopper has also taken to the dog bed in our bedroom. At first he only slept on his blanket, but then one day Kolohe usurped it in the middle of the night and Chopper returned the favor by taking her bed. Greg got photographic proof:

Now Chopper sleeps there almost exclusively.I may leave town more just so I can see the progress when I return :).

Speaking of returning, Chopper was so excited when I came home from the airport I got play bows, dancing, and I even heard a tiny excited whimper!  It's the most animated I've seen him in a long time.  Also his eyes were so clear and present for the longest time. I think between the work I've been doing, Greg's been doing, and the higher dose of his medicine we are starting to see some real change.

walks are the new prozac

Today Chopper was in Chop-town a bit more again.  It all started this morning right when he was about to eat--I dropped something on the ground. (Nothing informs you about your real level of klutziness like having an anxious dog).  It was a small cookie cutter I used to make bite sized sandwiches at a party this weekend. It didn't make a lot of noise, but it had a lasting effect.  He was on his way to his food bowl when it happened, and stopped and went to the bottom of the stairs to our bedroom instead of eating. I've learned that you shouldn't force him, and him having a say in what he does can be helpful. So I put his food up for Greg to try when he woke and helped Chopper upstairs.

Well Chopper didn't eat breakfast. And when I came home from work, he wouldn't eat dinner either.  He would eat his favorite dog biscuit though. An interesting change. Normally when he is in Chop-town he won't eat anything.

Chopper finally ate something this evening but went right back to his blanket. He wouldn't go outside. Knowing what that means for our hardwood floors we got our secret weapon--the leash.  The second I said the word walk he perked up. When we pulled out the leash he jumped up and started wagging, even did play bows and a few hops.  Suddenly, we have a different dog! Outside it was tail wags right away. And here is where the progress kicked in: he wasn't bothered by cars driving by, not even the loud ones!  A stranger walked by and he tried to run to her!  The whole walk he was feeling the joy.  I love seeing this side of him. I wish I knew how to bring it inside.

One thing a trainer suggested was to do some of his training outside when he is happy.  I thought that was a great idea. We could do some basic obedience training outside--sit, stay, etc. And then hopefully create some new neural pathways that could work inside.  I'd need one of those running leashes that hook onto my waist first, though, I'd want both hands free.

Picture time! When we got home from our walk and Chops got spooked again he looked up at Greg with big pleading eyes.  I told Greg, he wants you to comfort him.  So Greg did, and look at how Chops reacted:

I don't think I've seen a more relaxed dog. 


Oh wait, maybe I have:

Couldn't you just snuggle up to him?  One day, maybe :).

Small changes

We are seeing some small changes with Chopper.  Less time spent in total Chop-down is a big one.   He still has a few a day, but maybe only two spells for example. 

I've been continuing my protocol.  This morning he wasn't that into the hand targeting/clicker training, but he gave it a shot.  I did the anxiety wrap twice today. He doesn't seem to like it, and I hate having to touch him so much to put it on, but it makes a huge difference.  When he has it on his eyes are normal and clear. He relaxes and lays down. When I take it off he comes over right away for scratches, often wanting to go outside. 

The walks are making a huge difference, too.  It seems that the ones at night are when he's most relaxed.  Less people and sounds are probably the reason there. Fine by me!  His tail goes up immediately, and he gives the "let's run" move earlier and earlier.  Greg happily obliges. And Chopper cracks me up when he runs, he's just so innocently joyful. I know the feeling, being a runner myself.  

Kolohe loves the walks, too. I'm starting to think about enrolling her in an agility class. Not that she's a natural athlete--she's not--but she'd love it.  She certainly loved climbing up the jungle gym with me at the park the other day:

She was less enthused with going down the slide, but she gave it her all. I also think she could use a little special attention.  Chopper gets a lot because he's special needs, but Kolohe is confident and settled and goes with the flow. Still, it isn't fair to her and I've love to do something special with her.

Anyways, I'm feeling more positive with the changes in Chopper, even if they are small. I remember reading about fearful dogs that that's the way it is--but they do add up. 

Back to Basics

So in an effort to stay focused on a few small basic steps I started off the day with the anxiety wrap on Chopper. It did not go well. He was lieing on his blanket in Chop-town (our name for when the lights turn off in his eyes). I tried to put him in it as he was laying down but it required a lot more handling then he normally gets. He shook while I was putting it on, and right after I took it off. Ok, so lesson learned, not appropriate at this point in time.

This evening we attempted our focus #2: walks.  The second we pulled out the leashes Chopper transformed. He was happy and playful--that dog I knew in our 3 week video again! He was just so cute running around and doing play bows.  When we took him outside his tail went up and he was trotting along. He even did this little head jerk motion that I've learned means: I just gotta run!  So we did. Ok, so Greg ran with the hound dog and me and the golden mutt did our best to not be left in their dust.

When we got home Chopper was smiling and in a great mood. I took this time to do focus #3, the hand targetting clicker training. He knows this game so it doesn't require the stress of figuring out what I want, and since he was already in a good mood I though maybe it could do some help.  Our neighbors were moving out at the same time and he was distracted from time to time, but overall, he did great.

Finally, to cap the night off, I went back to the anxiety wrap.  The protocol is to put it on him twice a day for 20 minutes at a time. He was standing up this time. In fact he was pacing the house, going from his safe place in the dining room to the landing at the bottom of the stairs up to our bedroom. I put on the anxiety wrap and he settled right down.  First he stopped pacing and started smiling again from his walk. Ignore the eyes, the angle makes them look creepy LOL.

Then he settled down on his blanket.  Look at how relaxed he is. And cute.  Not that I'm biased or anything.

So my focuses are: 1) Anxiety wrap, 2) walks, and 3) easy clicker stuff.  I'd like to add 4) post on this blog regularly, it really helps me stay focused and think about his rehabilitation in a more wholistic way then when I don't post. 

And, just for fun is a picture of us on our walk in a local park on Sunday. It's so pretty this time of year.

Starting over

We've been struggling quite a bit with Chopper still. It seems like we never really make progress on certain things.  The worst of it has been him eliminating in the house. For the first 3 weeks we had him he was completely house trained.  Then, he started peeing and pooping in the house at night.  Greg figured outt he way around that was to put Chopper in our room at night.  That required teaching him stairs, which Greg did when I was away for a conference.  Turns out Chopper settles down ok in our room. Often times when he gets super spooked he'll run up the stairs on his own to go where it's usually quiet.  But, there are still times Chopper is left alone in the house and he eliminates. 

Take today for example.  He got pretty spooked by something. We couldn't figure out what had happened to set him off, but he was definitely having a hard time.  Once he goes down that path every little thing makes him jump.  Well, we finally got him downstairs and into the dining room where he is gated when we leave.  Off we went to a party and when we came back the dining room was covered in pee, and the kitchen had two piles of poop in it. Not really sure why--he went out not long before we left.  We have hardwood floors, however, and the pee has started to soak through into our basement. This is a big problem.  I really wish we had a solution.

I've reread a lot of the things that the trainers I've consulted with suggested.  I'm going to try backing up and starting at the beginning.  That means simple games, do hand targeting from the start, and get him used to the anxiety wrap once and for all. I hope it makes a difference.

Hey, that living room may not be so bad after all!

Today has shown some unexpected progress.  I say unexpected because Chopper was having some stress today.  Our neighbor was using power tools in the backyard and Chopper was scared.  His favorite room is the dining room, which is in the back of our house and closest to the sound.  I thought, how can I mitigate this.  So I grabbed my lap top and put in a cd for Animal Healing. I put it in front of the window where most of the noise was coming in.  Then I grabbed a blanket and put it in the hallway, which is the furthest away he usually goes.  He went to the blanket and thankfully the outside noise stopped.  I'm not sure what Chopper thought of the cd.

The rest of the day he was sensitive.  Sounds and sights would make him pause.  He was especially freaked out by Greg's drill that was set on the dining room table (I moved it after that for a variety of reasons LOL).  Well later in the day Chopper was still sensitive, shaking and scared.  He wouldn't eat dinner though he kept looking at it longingly and would eat what I put directly between his two paws.  Ok, time to pull out the big guns, the anxiety wrap.  He always gives me the saddest eyes when I put it on him, like he's incredibly disappointed in me, but it never fails to give him confidence. 10 minutes in the wrap and he was up and eating.  After that he went outside and spent a good amount of time exploring the yard. Score 1 for the anxiety wrap!  I took it off him at that point as we haven't gone through the protocol to get him used to wearing it for long periods of time yet.  He was grateful and itchy. A few shots of him with the anxiety wrap:

Kolohe (with a new haircut) on the other side of the gate so Chopper can eat in peace. He's relieved he doesn't have to worry about her, but still seems to miss her :).

Beautiful boy!

Felt safe enough to get up and eat, yay!

I went into the living room after that and sat down with my computer. Chopper kept coming to the edge of the room and looking in. So I figured we'd see what happens if I sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Well wouldn't you know he came up to me.  He'd leave after 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and then kept returning.  Remembering the advice of my most recent dog consultation I didn't try to entice him. I didn't try to keep him, but I did give him lovely scratches when he asked.  Now remember, this room is very scary to Chopper. It is outside his "safe zone."  But here he is entering and exiting on his own, building confidence that he has a say and can return to his safe zone whenever he needs. Next thing I know he is sitting when he comes in.  And then he sits but starts looking around at the surroundings. After awhile I returned to sitting on the couch, and Chopper came in and laid down on the floor relaxing.  Now that is amazing progress. And I have photographic evidence:

Holy moly he's in the living room, AND lieing down relaxing. 

We brought in his blanket to help make him feel safer, but it has been commandeered.  Kolohe has a knack for finding the most comfortable place to relax.  You should see her around laundry.

Next time Imma gonna lie and say he bites!

I had a consult this Monday with an amazing trainer, Debbie Jacobs.  She specializes in fearful dogs, having one herself.  Her blogs and ebook have provided me with a lot of hope.  One of the key things I learned is not to mistake Chopper's curiosity for wanting attention.  I think I just assumed that when a dog approaches me or smells me they are asking for pettings.  To think of all those times I've reach out and potentially traumatized Chopper!  I have been pretty good about not going over to him and forcing attention on him, but I have assumed that him coming up to me and smelling was a request.  We do have one sure way to see if he wants attention: we crouch down.  When we crouch down he'll come over and lean against us. Then he wants to be rubbed, usually around his shoulders.

I've started some other activities with him, hopeful they'll bring him out of his fear more.  One is increasing his opportunities to be a scent hound and instead of feeding him in a bowl, putting handfuls of food around the room.  He *loves* it.  You can hear his hound nose working from the next room.

Today we took Chopper in the car again.  This time it was to take him to a local park another wonderful dog trainer had suggested in an appointment last month.  He was pretty excited in the car, and pooped again.  Luckily we were prepared and covered the back with rubber sheets :). At the park we discovered wide clear trails, with very little foot traffic.  That meant Chopper could explore and smell without much stress. We even ran together a bunch!  In fact, we were enjoying our time together so much I got complacent and dropped his leash.  Well he was sooo excited he took off.  I think my heart stopped, I literally think it stopped.  I at least lost a few years off my life. I went running after him, but I'm no competition for a coonhound. He got 50 yards away then turned and looked at me.  I waved treats, crouched down and pleaded, but it wasn't until he saw Kolohe with Greg behind me that he came running back. Whew.  I need a back up leash.

On our way back to the car a friendly elderly couple got out of their car and saw us with the dogs.  Greg was in front of me with Kolohe.  She was all too happy to wag adorably and let them pet her.  When I walked by with Chopper I said "he's scared of people, I'm just going to keep him over here" and put myself between the people and him.  Well damned if they didn't move closer, baby talk him saying "oooooh he's scared of dogs" and try to touch and pet him anyways.  Would it be bad form if I lied and said he bites next time?

 Two curious dogs:

 Me with the happy dog.

 Smiley boy.

 Found a giant quartz rock and had to take a break there.

 Happy boy on the way home.

Is that a smile?

Chopper was up and down today, as has been the pattern lately. He was mopey and shaking when Greg got up to feed him.  He was better when I got up, but still not the full happy self we've seen.  Well we have a secret weapon that cures what ails him: walks in the woods.  We leashed up the dogs and headed up our favorite path.  It's a gorgeous early Spring day here;:, some sunshine, 50 degree weather and birds chirping.  Chopper seemed to enjoy himself extra today, because we saw huge smiles!  And luckily for us here in the cyber world Greg brought his phone so I could prove it.

It is my goal to help bring out that smile as much as possible.  What a beautiful boy.  I've been looking into other paths in our area, ones that require a short drive. One was suggested by a local dog trainer, and it apparently doesn't have too much traffic along it.  Hopefully we'll get out there this week.

Medication

When we first got Chopper we were warned that he may need medication to help him with his anxiety. We noted it, but thought we'd wait and see. Greg and I subscribe to the theory that drugs should be used only if necessary. We aren't anti-drug, but we do believe we should be thoughtful about what we put into our, and our pets, bodies. Well since Chopper has been backsliding and less resilient we figured now may be time to give it a try. Plus a trainer I am consulting with made a good point--he may be far more miserable then we realize, he just can't tell us exactly.

I made an appointment to take Chopper to the vet. This would be his third car ride with us. The first was when I brought him home, which was very traumatic for Chopper. He jumped around the car manically, not understand what was going on. The second trip was his initial check up at the vet, which he handled beautifully. The third time, this time, he relieved himself in our car. Poor dear. I am guessing that because the car ride wasn't a regular thing it was too traumatic for him. I also wonder if not having Kolohe with him was stressful. Needless to say we were late to the vet because we had to clean the car and put down blankets etc. Thankfully they still fit us in. Greg just wanted to reschedule my exact response: "Are you kidding?? We need medication more then ever now!"

At the vet we met a new doctor. She was filling in for one who called out sick. Well things often work out the way they are supposed to, because she has a fearful dog too! So did the tech who was shadowing her! I felt like we were in very capable hands. She examined Chopper, drew some blood, and walked us through what to expect with the anxiety medicine. We learned that it can take about a month to really work into his system. At that time we'll revisit how he is doing to see if any adjustments need to be made. I also learned that the first few weeks he can seem almost sedated, and that is normal. There is a chance he may be weaned off the medicine at some point to see if he doesn't need it anymore. I'm not counting on that, but it's nice to know it's an option--the medicine isn't cheap. Still, if it helps, it's worth it!! I want this pup to experience how wonderful life can be, and right now he can't.

On the drive home from the vet it started to rain. Greg was driving and he turned on the rear windshield wiper on our SUV. Well that turned out to be a mistake, Chopper freaked out. He jumped over the backseat and into the front seat where he stood in my lap shaking. I hugged him close, rubbing him gently. I think perhaps I was a human anxiety wrap at that point. We drove along until we could find a safe place to pull over and got him out of the car and into the very back where it was safer for him. I switched to the back seat to both keep him from jumping over, and to comfort him. I fed him cheese and gave him rubs on his shoulders and shank. While I'm not happy he was scared, I am happy to see that he sees me as a place of safety and comfort. Also happy that he didn't try to jump in the drivers lap.

Here's a photo Greg took of me acting as human Anxiety Wrap for Chopper.  It's early on, he got further and further in my lap until you almost couldn't see me anymore.

If I had a tail, it'd be up now too

Chopper has had some backsliding. I had gotten complacent some with the clicker training, and it coincided with some environmental stuff we couldn't control. Our neighbors are selling their house and have people in it at all sorts of hours he isn't used to with a working family. During the day you can hear them pretty clearly, and it had been scaring Chopper. Combined with the people in the house behind (and above) us having kids playing on their deck, Chopper was just going internal. I think if I had been diligent with his enrichment those things wouldn't have taken their toll. Lesson learned (bad Mommy!)

I was out of town last week and enlisted Greg's help to start up clicker training as well. I came back to way more treats then expected. I don't think he's quite as generous with them LOL. There's always one parent who's more giving, right? Well despite that, Greg's clicker training did make a difference. When I came home Chopper was improved. I went back into the routine and now a few days later he's almost back to his high point again. In fact, some stuff is better. For example, he took a break in the middle of breakfast yesterday to play with his toys, which he'd been ignoring for a few weeks. When I thought he was done and started to take his food up he got really cute and did a play bow by his bowl as if to say: "I was just taking a break!" Back it went, and he went back to eating.

Today we took Chopper and Kolohe for another walk in the woods. Kolohe was smiling, Chopper was full high tail, wagging away. I'd had a long and full day at work and as we were walking I realized I'd was grinning. It was the first time I recalled doing that all day. I turned to Greg, who had Chopper and said: "If I had a tail, it'd be up now too." Those walks in the woods are so much more then just for Chopper. What a gift he's brought us.

Crumbzilla Shark Attack

Widening the gap the good times are winning!

Well the big news for this post is that I got a nose touch from Chopper today.  That's complete his nose to my nose "hey how you doing I missed you and I care about you" nose touch.  I get them all the time from my golden mix Kolohe, but let's be honest, Goldens are made for them :).  Chopper, well, being a barely socialized hunting dog probably only ever touched noses with dogs before.  It felt like a victory.

Other then that we've had some ups and downs this week.  I learned I need to be more vigilant in my timing of clicker training to give bathroom breaks first, or else he won't go to the bathroom until I've long gone to work.  Yep, inside.  He gets so focused on the treats that he forgets about the bodily needs, so I need to pay attention for him.

Kolohe has started to try to steal Choppers treats more and more, so now I've got to watch her on it. Once she starts going for the treat, there's no going back. No amount of "no, leave it, or drop it" will work.  I must admit I was unfairly angry with her for taking advantage of his gentle nature. She is just a dog, after all, and dogs are opportunists.  The funny thing is she won't try to steal any toy that he is playing with, just chews and treats. Still I gave her a time out, gated in another room until I could forgive her.  She laid on my feet in the way only dogs can to say "I'm sorry."

Chopper is becoming more and more resilient.  It isn't constant, but I feel like the spurts of good times are widening the gap over the bad times.  For example, there was maybe half a day where Chopper was on guard.  The toaster popped and he left his blanket and hid in the hallway.  Went outside and kept his tail tucked.  But most of the days he bounces back more. For example, as he was coming up the deck steps yesterday a loud bus went by, he stopped, ducked, and looked, but in half a second was back to going up the stairs happily.  Another victory!

Here's a video of Chopper playing with a "Busy Buddy" toy. It was recommended by the dog trainer who came to our house from Opportunity barks.  It's another "enrichment" activity.  I was really surprised at how well he took to it.  He figured it out right away and followed it around, even when it went under a chair and table!

More and more playful

So last weekend I went away for a meditation retreat.  Greg stayed home, which meant that Chopper had some consistency.  Of course things aren't exactly the same when I'm not around.  I'm teaching Greg how to do the things I'm teaching Chopper so there are bound to be some discrepancies.  Also, I'd heard from a trainer that Chopper may not be "elastic" which means he may not retain things he learns. It was a "may" not a "definitely" but it still made me wonder what he would be like after I was gone all weekend. I know he bounced back quickly after Greg and I both went away, but I figured that could be due to relief when his people came back.  How would he be when just one person went away.

Well I got all sorts of wiggles when I came home, yay!!  He was genuinely happy to see me, and it a really good state of mind.  I took him outside and then brought him back in for some clicker training. I know Greg said he did some when I was gone, but his schedule is different then mine and I've rearranged more to get in training both before and after work.


Chopper always lights up with the clicker training. So far I've worked on calling him to me where he puts his nose to my right hand, and now I add in another phase called "go find it" where after he comes to me I throw a small handful of cheese around for him to sniff and find.  It's part of his enrichment plan from the dog trainer who came to our house last weekend (she was the second dog trainer I consulted, I actually paid her for a 2 hour visit, where the first one we just talked on the phone).


In the mornings when I get up for work I let Kolohe out of the bedroom and then go to the bathroom to start my morning routine.  She usually stays with me until I'm just about to go downstairs.  This morning she heard Chopper stirring and ran downstairs.  I could hear him crunching on the raccoon toy (it has a water bottle inside), and I think they two dogs were wrestling a bit! What a great way to start the day.  When I went downstairs he was so excited he did laps around our little house, kitchen-dining room-living room and back again and again.  I let him outside and he ran full out around our yard too. I love seeing him happy.


Here's a picture I took of him after work where he went into the yard still feeling playful:

Don't you love the tail blurring?

Chopper at 3 weeks

A hound dog in his natural element

We took Chopper for a nice walk in the woods on Sunday.  Not a long walk, but it was nice nonetheless.  He spent time alternating between putting his nose to the ground and up to the breeze.  Tail was up and he was content!

Nose down.

Nose up.

The best part of the walk for me, though, was when we decided to turn around. See, I had Kolohe and I went first on the narrow path. Greg and Chopper followed. When it was time to go back we turned around and Greg and Chopper were in the front.  Well Chopper wouldn't move! He kept turning around and looking at my face for direction.  It was an important indicated that he trusts me as a leader.  A fearful dog with a trusted leader becomes a more settled and peaceful dog.  Yay us!  Hopefully Chopper will start to look at Greg that way soon, too, so he has two people to help him feel safe.

Here's a few more pictures.  No wait, Mom is supposed to lead, you're going the wrong way!

 

Right Mom?

Two happy dogs. I think he was actually smiling though I couldn't get a picture of it. You can easily see Kolohe's happy face though!

Progress is progress, no matter how small

Progress with a dog like Chopper is small. If you aren't careful you can miss it.  Lucky for us all I have a bit of a neurotic streak and it comes into good use here.

We have been trucking along with the hand targeting, where I call him and he touches his nose to my right hand. I click this behavior and treat.  He loves doing this game, and will stay outside looking at me when he wants to play it and I haven't initiated instead of following me inside. I always oblige, I mean, who am I to deny a dog of fun?  He doesn't always want to play it, sometimes he'll go outside, run a lap or two around the yard with his tail wagging, then bound up the short set of stairs with enthusiasm to the back door.

Today we met with a local dog trainer.  She had a lot of really great suggestions, more then I can remember (thank goodness she's sending me things in writing), but one thing I think we'll be making a regular game is a scent game.  Since Chopper is a scent hound he is wired for smelling things out.  The implications of this are he is both very skilled at it, and enjoys it.  So one thing we do is toss a small handful of treats out where they can fall to the ground and let him smell them out. When he comes back click and treat.  I hadn't been marking and rewarding  (with food, I'd been ear scratching) when he'd come back to me without me calling, but as it turns out I should be rewarding it *more*.  I am glad for the extra assistance, and I feel good about learning more things to try.

In other news, Chopper has gotten enough confidence to play with his toys more.  The racoon toy we got him has a water bottle inside of it, which means it can be loud and scary.  But after a brief moment of fear with the first crunch he sat down and starting gnawing it like crazy.  Then later he got up and grabbed another toy and took it to his blanket and was playing with the two toys at once. So cute.

I took advantage of the good mood he was in and clicker treated him into the living room. I want him to start being comfortable in other rooms of the house that we use more.  I got him all the way in the middle of the room before he decided he'd had enough and went back to his blanket.  Progress is progress, no matter how small.

Here's a video of Chopper the coonhound enjoying his 'coon toy:

Back from vacation

Hey all! Well the hubby and I had a much needed vacation while the dogs were home with a sitter.  I was wondering how things would be when we came home.  Chopper warmed back up to us quite quickly!  First he was shaking and on his blanket, but after about an hour I took him outside and he was playing and wagging in the yard.  Did a little bit of clicker training and then went off to bed. 

Today he is feeling really good.  Greg got full wags when he got home. I spent time outside clicker training a lot, but clearly it wasn't enough.  Poor Chopper wanted to keep going LOL. It was so sweet. 

Inside and after dinner we spent more time together. I did some dog massage on his back legs, which he was enjoying.  Afterward he came up to me for pettings, he especially likes chin scratches:

Meanwhile Kolohe was getting scratches from my other hand. She was clearly pleased with the arrangement:

 

Saturday we have a consult scheduled with a local dog trainer who will hopefully give us some additional ideas on how we can bring him out of his shell.

It's playtime!

Today I witnessed my two dogs playing together for the first time.  Kolohe tried to initiate play inside, but Chopper wasn't comfortable, so I took them outside.  Woweee did they play.  Mostly wrestling and a little chasing.  Kolohe of course growled and grunted like a bear, so Chopper tried making a few small barks too.  It was sooo cute!  They bounced around all over the place.  I really wanted to capture it on video, but I knew if I went inside it would break their concentration on the play so I just watched and smiled.  When they started ignoring one another I ran in for my phone, and for a toy. I did get a few pictures of the dogs playing together when I came back outside. They are blurry but still function as photographic evidence:

I bought Spiffy Penguin on a business trip to Colorado years ago for Otto.  It's made by Fat Cat toys, the same ones that make "Mean Kitty".  They are whimsical and fun, and they don't make the penguin anymore so it's my own personal collectors item.  I probably should've warned it of its fate... Because now Spiffy Penguin is an outside toy:

 Here's a short video of him playing with his new (now outside only) toy:

That, my dear friends, is dog joy. 

After the dogs settled back in I decided to go for a run myself.  When I was suited up and ready to go I saw Chopper looking at me hopefully.  One day, Chop-dog, one day we will go running together. I promise! We just gotta build that confidence up some more!

Got back from my run and Chris Isaak's "Dancing" was playing on my ipod. Well you can't just stop a good tune half way through, so I took out the earphones and let it play and invited Kolohe to do as the song suggests.  Kolohe loves to dance, so we finished off the song dancing together.  Chopper sat on his blanket watching us warily.  Not with fear, but more like I don't know what that is, let me keep watching.  I figured it was good modeling for him to see our interactions and happy play time.

We have full on dog joy!

Today was a good day for Chopper.  Greg got home first and took him outside for a bit.  Chopper was in a good mood, listening well, frolicking.  Excited about Greg's dinner LOL.  Now, we don't feed our dogs food from the table, never have, never will... but the point is Chopper was engaging with his environment instead of shutting down to it.  Nevermind the fact that Greg's dinner was irresistible.  An aside: I bought a cookbook on "Hot Dishes" when I was in Minneapolis a few months back.  Hot Dishes are basically casseroles, and a popular meal there.  They are often put together with easy ingredients, like canned soup.  This dish had: ground beef, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, and tater tots on top, just to name a few ingredients.  See, irresistible!  Ok, aside over.

When I got home I spent some time with the dogs outside and witnessed full on dog joy with Chopper.  He must've run a dozen laps around my yard full force, coming right by Kolohe and I on each round.  I clicked for him, but he never stopped for a treat, too busy being in the moment.  I was just beaming, but not nearly as brightly as him. He wasn't full open mouth smiling, but his whole face was definitely in bliss mode.

In the house I did some clicker training. Choppers favorite treat seems to change periodically. Now he loves these organic dog biscuits that we already had lying around.  I've been sticking with the same ole, "Come here Chopper" and having him touch my right hand with his nose. Click, treat, move a little bit, then repeat.  I kept close to him today, didn't try to push him at all.  After the full on dog joy in the back yard I just wanted to extend his good mood and keep things easy.  Afterward  I gave him some space, left him to his SpongeBob blanket, which is his safe place. I may try some massage tonight, and see if he is receptive to that.

Bookending my day with the dogs

My work day is bookended with my dogs.  I wake up at 5:30 and go downstairs where I take them outside, feed them, and take them outside again.  Somewhere in there I try to do some clicker training with Chopper.  He was pretty sleepy when I got up this morning.  Sometimes he gets up when he sees me, today he sat there blinking his sleepy eyes as if to say "not without my coffee, Lady."  I roused him up and stayed outside a little extra with him in the morning.  He was in a pretty good mood so we did a little clicker training, I let him settle in, and then I cleaned his ears. If you've ever owned a dog you know they hate having their ears cleaned. It's probably the only time I've ever had a dog try to hide from me.  As much as I plead, comfort and treat, it's just no fun for them.  Well Chopper didn't hide, but he clearly wasn't enjoying himself, despite my treating.  So when Greg got up Chopper had hunkered down on his blanket and wouldn't move. Sorry Greg! No morning greeting for you.

The second half of my bookending is when I come home from work.  It's much of the same as the morning, only I have more time to spend with the dogs.  I spent extra time outside with Chopper again today, and watched him as he actually frolicked.  I started off with just a few clicker rounds and he just got so excited he started running around the yard, darting a bit.  I wish I could've captured it. I did capture him with his tail up outside at least:

When we went inside again and I did more clicker training, staying pretty close to Chopper to build up confidence and then I went into the next room. I read that the bigger the challenge the more you should treat, so instead of just a little nibble of treat, he got four or so pieces. He did such a great job!

The cutest part of the night was when I brought up his SpongeBob blanket from the laundry. You'd think he was being reunited with a long lost friend!  He immediately started playing with the blanket, and then laid down on it and went to sleep.  I have been careful to watch Chopper for signs that he is nervous, reading him for when he wants attention and doesn't. Well on the security of his favorite blanket he said he wanted his ears scratched.  So I did, gently while he fell back asleep.  Oh the simple joys of a dog!