Baby Steps

Our girl Shasta had a big morning.  On our walk, Shasta was able to pass 4 groups of strangers without reacting.  Woohoo!!!!

Again, WOO!!!! HOOOOOO!!!!!

This doesn't mean her training is finished, not even close.  We simply tried something different this morning as people passed.  We stopped, and I got her attention on me.  Then, we did tricks.  Sit.  Shake.  Down.  Sit.  High Five.  Repeat.  It also helped that I had some Natural Balance Treat Roll - also known as puppy crack.

While I don't think she's ready to routinely walk by people yet, I know she's able to focus and work while people pass us.  This is a step in the right direction, and now I know a method that works with her.  We'll do this more, at least 4-6 times as a training standard.  Then, we'll change the location 4-6 times.  There's the Canine Center and the Petco parking lot, just to name two.  After Shasta proves she can do this consistently, we'll advance the work to add movement, and we'll work and walk past people.

We've still got work to do on her toy play in the front yard, and I've got time to start on this today.  We did fudge the toy holding this week...giving her pets for being cute.  However, I'm going to 86 that tactic anyway and train the toy hold like a sitstay.  She's just too darned adorable, and I don't see that withholding affection from a her when she's relaxed will really accomplish anything.  I want to reward that calm state, not ignore it.

Concerning her diet, the addition of chamomile, banana, fish oil and OptaGest seems to be working.  Since making this change, she hasn't vomited.  There's been the occasional belch, but no pukes.

Also this coming week, we'll begin working on integration with Nola.  They walk nicely together outside, even being playful (I do NOT let them have physical contact though).  Next, they get to hang out in the house...on leashes or tethered on opposite sides of the room.  All so they can get used to each other and know that I'm in charge.  If this goes well, the chances of adopting Shasta skyrocket.  Sean told me there are three things that need to happen first:

1. We need to be able to trust her in the house with the cats.  CHECK
2. Nola and Shasta need to be able to live together.  Sean doesn't want to run two households permanently, which is understandable.
3. Shasta needs to be able to meet new people.  We don't want to chance her biting family if they come to visit.

We've got one of those things done.  So, it's onto the rest of the list.  Baby steps.

For what it's worth, I think she really wants to stay.  :-)

Oh, that Shasta

Like I've written, Shasta needs lots of training.  We went for a walk this morning, and I'll give the good news first -- she was able to walk calmly past two cyclists.  The bad news, she wasn't able to walk past a even one pedestrian without yelling at them.

But cyclists!  Yay!!

I'll keep at the walks, doing pull-to's as soon as she starts to lock her eyes on someone, and this will be a learning experience for me also.  The trick is getting her into a pull-to before her excitement is too high, and she's so quick to react that it's difficult to find that point.

The changes in her diet need time to have any impact also.  I just made those changes with banana, chamomile, and fish oil yesterday.  My mentor also recommends OptaGest.  This is a probiotic for dogs and cats, and with her nervous stomach, it definitely can't hurt.  I added this to her yogurt yesterday as well, and she didn't vomit today after the walk this morning.  I call that a win.

We also need to work on play and toy holding in the front yard.  Shasta loves to play, and her toy hold is getting better.  However, once we're out the front door, she looses all interest.  Why?  One of the earliest things I learned in my dog trainer internship is that play is the first behavior to fall away when dogs are nervous.  While she loves walks, she's still nervous outside her comfort zones of the house and backyard.  So, we'll start playing outside the front door and gradually advance it to the driveway, then the side walk, and on.  We'll need to have a good play session in the house first to get her revved up and excited about the toy, but I feel this will work.

Eventually, she'll walk with a toy in her mouth, and if her mouth is already occupied, she's less likely to bark at strangers.  The toy hold will have some calming effects, too.

We're still working on all this, and it's good that our neighbors are understanding.  One lady was very nice about it when I told her that we were training, and maybe she'll even work with us as Shasta improves.

Shasta - Coming to understand a misunderstood pooch

Shasta is an interesting dog, and that's an understatement for a lack of better words. The opportunity to learn from her is continually unfolding with new levels.  I'm fond of her, VERY fond of her.  It's difficult to not love her, and she's teaching me a great deal about training, behavior issues, diet and biochemical imbalances, too.  As time passes and our relationship strengthens, I'm coming to understand her more and more.

One of my first steps in her training was writing a full training program for her.  It starts with remedial steps for anxiety, leading to our goal which will take time.  What is that goal?  For her to show the world what a sweet girl she can be! ...and to pass the AKC Canine Good Citizen test.  I won't feel comfortable adopting her to someone else until she can pass that test.  Yes, yes, she may stay with us forever, but I want her to get the CGC either way.  For now, we're focusing on the remedial training.  She's comfortable with me and Sean, and with that trust, we can continue to work on her relaxation, basics and build to the advanced training later.  Notice the key word there is "trust."  To be able to train a dog, you need their trust, especially nervous pups like my Shasta.

Now, for a progress report.  :-)

When Shasta first came to my house, she was reactive to Sean and the cats, and I couldn't trust her loose in the house because she might have hurt one of our kitties.  Today, she's madly in love with Sean, and as I type, she's sitting at my feet, untethered and with cats lounging a few feet away.  It took several passbys, pull-to's, tTouch, relaxation exercises with cats nearby and time outs for inappropriate behavior, but she did it.  She learned.  Shasta still explosively reacts to strangers, but there's hope.  Her change in behavior around the cats tells me that she can learn -- one day, she'll be able to walk past a stranger without yelling at them.

It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take time, likely months.  Shasta is a special case, and after reading her history, I'm beginning to understand her a little better.

Here's a brief back ground.

Shasta was rescued from Bastrop in the spring of 2011 and was sickly.  Her health began improving, but APA quickly realized that she was pregnant.  They did the usual care for her, which was great, but they spayed her only seven weeks after she had her puppies.  That was too soon.  After a dog has a litter or a heat, the wait time for spaying is THREE MONTHS, and some behaviorists even recommend six months.  This allows the uterus to return to a normal size and for the hormones to level out. Because of the early spay, her progesterone levels weren't allowed to normalize, and progesterone affects the brain's ability to produce serotonin.  Of course, spaying later also removes estrogen and progesterone from the system, but her body should have been given a chance for those hormones to return to a normal level before they yanked them out.

Moving forward.

As frustrating as it may be, nothing can be done about it now.  All we can do is press on and use this knowledge.  After some research and brain picking of some helpful trainers, I'm going to supplement her diet with anti-anxiety and serotonin boosting foods.  There's Rescue Remedy, which has calming herbs.  I'll also give her fish oil daily since fatty acids help with brain health and mood regulation.  In addition to this, I'm adding chamomile for her stomach upset.  She still vomits after getting overly excited or nervous.  As a good friend put it, she really feels it, not just mentally but physically also.  I'll add bananas to her yogurt-peanut butter-kibble kong, too, because bananas contain high levels of tryptophan which the body converts to serotonin.  So, she'll be eating like The King!  Minus the fried bread part.

Adding these to her diet won't fix her behavior, but it'll make her more susceptible to the training.  Shasta can learn, as she proved with the cats, and I'm going to give her every advantage possible.  Like Lee Mannix would say, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough."

Shasta relaxing in the backyard. As lovely and sweet as she is, Shasta isn't the dog for a casual dog lover.  She needs a dog enthusiast who will take her training seriously and keep up with it for her entire life.  It's a tall order, and it's also a reason for her to stay with me.  Unless I can find an adopter who has experience with special dogs like Shasta, I'll continue the campaign for her adoption at my home.  I'll keep telling myself that, too.  My love for her and not wanting to let her go has nothing to do with it.  Right?