Not related to shyness

Except as how not being as shy may be influencing things.  

Katie seems to have dropped a noticeable amount of weight recently.  She is also seeming to be hungrier than normal (tonight she counter-surfed a soy sauce packet from last night's Chinese, something she generally never does.)  She had been getting 2 cups of Taste of the Wild a day, and keeping a fairly steady 54-58 pounds (sometimes up a bit sometimes down a bit, but mostly in the middle there).   She has been getting more exercise, going from staying at home pretty much all the time to actually going on walks several times a week (Pixie is a good influence!), which is the most likely cause of the weight loss.  The second most likely cause I can think of is hookworms (well, worms in general, but hookworm is the one that she has come down with before), but I am not seeing any of the other symptoms that I have in the past.  I am going to up the amount to 3 cups a day and see what happens in a week.  

Pictures for reference:

[IMG]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh51/philospher77/IMG_0630.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh51/philospher77/IMG_0631.jpg[/IMG]

We'll see how things go.

Pixie Notes

Took Pixie for a walk.  Things were going pretty good.  There were sprinklers going off by the school, out in the ball field and along the non-school side of the sidewalk.  Pixie did good walking by them, and taking treats, but did the "treats are poison!" thing when we were past them.  Would take treats dropped on the ground.  Tried different hand positions, across body/same side, left/right, no real differences seen.  Dropping treats on ground near hand with treats in it (done on accident) got her back to taking treats from hand.  Then walked past some people getting in car, and a few houses later Pixie started barking facing back where we had been.  At people in car?  Or possibly at a dog's yard?  It was dark, so not sure exactly what set her off.  Once again, treats are poison.  And then we walked past a car in driveway, and she was startled by a dog that was with some people sitting on the driveway on the other side of the car.  I don't know which started barking first, but she did come along and grumbled, but no real resistance.  Took a few treats on the ground, but then took from hand.

So, maybe it's an issue of stress stacking?

Side note:  when we were back home inside, she was bouncing off the walls!  Let her outside, thinking she needed to go potty, and she tore off doing zooms (granted, not greyhound zoomies, but the best she could do_.  And ten she spent quite some time hunting insects of some sort, I think beetles.  So whatever stress she was under was apparently not that severe.

Decided to go back to updating

Tried the car thing again this evening.  It seemed to go ok.  She was relaxed, the neighbors were either talking or watching something on TV, so I had something to DS/CC to.  And I had liver paste!  So did some of that for a bit, went back into the garage, and tonight she was willing to come out of the car with no fuss.  So I think it went well.

I also need to check on how long it took for Katie to get over the side-effects of the Prozac when we started.  She's been a bit "off"... more lethargic than normal, doesn't want to go outside, etc.  But I seem to recall she acted like this when I started this drug, so this may go away as she gets acclimated.

Quick update on the drug situation

Realized that I sort of left the issue hanging in the last post were I talked about adjusting the dose.  After meeting with the vet,  I decided to try the DAP collar.  Didn't see any changes with that, so we have now increased the Prozac to 30 mg from 20 mg.  (Side note:  20 mg caplets of Prozac run around $13.  Ask for the same amount, in tablets, so that you can give half-tablets to make 30 mgs, and the price goes up to $151!  Thankfully, the pharmacist agreed to give me 10 mg capsules, so that I could give 2 or 3, which was back to the 13 dollar price.)  I'm on week two of 30 mgs.  Not seeing a whole lot of changes yet, but not seeing the side effects that I did when I first started her on the drug either.  I've also eased up on counter-conditioning, since I am starting to think about getting a second dog to fulfill some of my dog needs (a friendly, out-going dog who LIKES walks and classes and going out in crowds of people) instead of trying to force Katie to meet those needs.

Tried something different today

I had to put Katie on leash to get her out for her final potty break, so I was thinking about taking her out for a short walk.  Of course, I thought that after I took the leash off, so in order to get her to position where I could leash her, I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride.  That got her into the garage, where I got the leash on.  But then she didn't want to move away from the car.  So fine, I decided to use take her out in the car.  Given that it was almost midnight by this point, I decided to just pull out onto the driveway and see what she did.  Opened up the tailgate, and tried to get her to take some treats, which she wouldn't.  Note to self:  bring higher value treats next time!  After her just lying there for a little bit, she got up and walked to the tailgate and stood there.  I'm not sure if she was being hyper-vigilant, or just interested in all the new sights and sounds, because she was definitely sniffing and scanning the area.  Tail was pretty neutral, ears were alert, but there wasn't a whole lot of tension in her body language.  After a bit, I went ahead and closed the tailgate, at which point she went and laid back down, and ate the treats I fed her, bit by bit.  Then I drove back inside the garage.  She was reluctant to get out of the car.  Had to go get the cheese to convince her to do that!  So I would say the entire situation was somewhat stressful, but not overwhelming.  If I had had the cheese while in the driveway, I think she would have been happier about the whole situation.  I think I may try this again.

Katie's startle reflexes are up

I'm going to be setting a follow-up appointment with the behaviorist.  I think we need to tweak the dosage a bit.  She doesn't seem to have the spark that she did on the Elavil, and she is showing stress signs that are unusual.  For example, when I did the first agility class the first time, Katie was perfectly happy to go out in the room and do the Touches and Targets and Get Readys.  That was the day before I started weaning her off the Elavil.  By the second class, a week later, she wouldn't leave her place.  Totally shut down, which is why I pulled her from the class.  Sunday, which would have been the start of the 7t week on the Prozac, when we were in class, she was somewhere between the two.  Wouldn't leave her place, but would do Touch at it, lying down.  Did some very nice Say Hellos (sitting and shaking).  And was willing to relax at her place, with her back against the wall.  Not stressed... her muscles were loose, no tension in the face, no panting, alert interest in some of the other dogs, especially the Irish wolfhound, and she was perfectly willing to eat her peanut butter bone.  Some potential differences between the two situations is that the first class was smaller (7 dogs total, instead of 10), and I had spent some time doing DS/CC at the class building prior to the class session (taking Katie there off-hours, and just hanging out with her and treats and doing the tricks that she knows, so that the place was more familiar to her and less stress).  The last experience she had before this session was when she was totally shut down.  I am going to see if I can try the off-hour thing again to see if that makes a difference.  And I had peanut butter balls the first class, and liver for this session, and it turns out that Katie much prefers peanut butter over liver.  Go figure!

At home, she doesn't come out to meet me like she used to.  She is generally in her safe place, sometimes in the other bed, and about 20% of the time she will come out to the hallway.  She is perfectly happy to see me when I go to her, and sniffs me all up and down the arms (which is a somewhat new behavior for her... she would sniff before, but not as intensely, and this generally winds up with her sniffing up the arm, back down, and then licking my palms).  Lets me pet her, and sometimes chatters, but not as much as when she was on the Xanax.  That had been happening at least once a day on the Xanax, now it's maybe 4 times a week.  She does quiver her jaw, which she would do before chattering, but doesn't seem to quite get to the chatter stage.

And she is startling pretty badly to sudden sounds, but recovers almost immediately.  But the startle seems out of proportion to the sound.  When I had her out on a walk, and someone dropped a water bottle right in front of her, she jumped but then kept on walking without any overt signs of stress.  I figured that was a pretty reasonable response.  I jumped at the noise, figure it's ok if she does.  But tonight, I offered her a handful of food, and she was more interested in sniffing the arm and hand, so I threw the food on her bed a foot away.  The sound of the food hitting the bed caused the same kind of jump, after which she went over and ate the food.  And this was only about 8 pieces of kibble hitting a dog bed, so just a little pattering sound.

At the same time, she is being responsive to doing tricks for dinner.  And she seems to be pretty comfortable out in the yard.  If I don't hover over her, and just putter around out there doing "outside stuff", she is a relaxed dog sniffing around and looking/listening to things.  On leash for DS/CC, she is being responsive, especially if there are no human noises.  Then she will go up to the gate to do it.  With the weather being nicer, the kids are staying out playing later, so it is making it more stressful for her.  On those days, we tend to be only maybe a foot or two off the front porch stoop.  She will do Touch, with the occasional stop and listen if she hears the kids out in the street, but will then turn to me and go back to the game after a second or two.  Possibly shorter time, since I am bad at guestimating.  I'd say that she seems alert, but not necessarily stressed.  I try to keep those episodes short... 3-5 touches, so that she gets good treats and learns to associate that with the kids and being outside, and then we go back inside.

I am not sure if we need to up the dose (the startling to food being thrown on a bed and unwillingness to leave her safe place makes me think her anxiety level may still be higher than we would like), or if we need to decrease it, since one of the side effects is lethargy, which may be why she is staying on her bed, being relaxed but unwilling to work in class, and just generally seeming to not have quite the same zest as before.  I am also down to the quarter-pill stage of weaning her off the Xanax, which may also be contributing to some of this.

First day of agility class

I re-enrolled Katie in agility class, and today was the first session.  She may not be ready for it yet.  She didn't want to stand up in class and do Touch, but would do it from a reclining position.  And she did Say Hello, so there was some progress there.  I am thinking about renting the place on Easter Sunday so that we can practice and get comfortable with being there without other people and dogs around.  And I will need to bring peanut butter balls.  Turns out that Katie prefers peanut butter to liver!

It's hard to read this girl sometimes.  She will be all bouncy and playful, but the minute I try and interact with her, she just lies down.  Like tonight, after not really doing much at class, she is full of high spirits at home, digging toys out of the toy box, pawing at me, throwing me play bows.  She definitely wants _something_!

First outside DS/CC session!

Well, you can tell Katie is doing much better, since I am writing less.  Somehow, "everything was good today" just gets a bit boring to keep putting down.  :)

But tonight, we actually did our first DS/CC outside on the front stoop.  This is a huge step for Katie, and she is feeling much more comfortable out there, as demonstrated by her absolutely refusing to come in when I thought she had had a good session!  I wound up going as far as the front feet on the walk, but didn't want to push it too far.

And she is learning how to work a new style of Kong.  Generally I give her frozen Kongs, so that she can spend a long time licking them.  I've been giving her single dog treats rattling around loose in them, so that she has to figure out a way to get them out.  It's more difficult, but she is getting the hang of it.

Bright and clever Katie

It's so good to see my "old" Katie coming back!  She's willing to be outside in the yard without me, doing her tricks for dinner, playing with toys, Kongs, me and the cats.  I'm looking forward to seeing how she does on the greyhound walk on Saturday (weather permitting), and have rolled the dice and signed us up for Intro to Agility, that I had to drop when I realized that she couldn't handle it without the drugs.  We will see how this goes!

Oh, and we did some DS/CC OUTSIDE today!  Not too long, because the entire idea is to make it a positive experience, and not by going out the front door, but it's a start.

Week 4

Katie's really making progress!  After my post-Solvang concerns, she has settled back into being more like her old self.  She's walking to the door after meals for potty breaks, back to eating eagerly (and playing with her treat toys, AND even showing some inclination to train... we worked on crossing paws today!)  She's being more social, coming in where I am and doing play bows, keeping me company while I am on the computer or watching tv.  And she is trying to play with the cat.  *sigh*  But she is getting to a point where I can start the DS/CC in earnest again.  Hopefully I will be able to take it outside!

Continued progress

I'm leaning towards what I am seeing in Katie being side-effects of the medicine.  The two most common are lack of appetite and lethargy/depression, and that seems to be exactly what I am seeing.  She perked up a bit at breakfast this morning, pretty much my normal girl.  Of course, I also was feeding her in her safe spot, so that may have contributed to it.  And she seemed pretty happy at dinner time today, which would be after today's dose took effect, so I could be wrong, and this could just be "one of those things".  We'll see what the vet says, just to rule out any physical causes, and discuss possibly tweaking the dosage with the behaviorist if there are no physical causes, and then I may just relax a bit, remind myself that this is a journey, and take it day by day.  Today we even felt like playing some hide and seek in the yard, yesterday we did mad zoomies.  Katie is such a joy to watch when she is playing!

And even more fun:  we played with our favorite treat toy, our new bunny stuffie, and ran zoomies out in the yard.  She is being way more energetic, so I think whatever it was may have resolved.

Notes for vet

Katie is "off" in her eating.  I have video, but wanted to jot this note down for the appointment on Saturday.  Didn't give her the Prozac this morning, and she did seem a bit more interested in the food.  Still stopped eating abruptly, which was followed by 2-3 swallows where she thrust her head out so that the neck was straight, with a bit of toss of the nose upwards, and the adams apple (or dog equivalent of) was very apparent, which was accompanied with a bit of a gulping sound.  After that she ate a few kibbles that she had dropped.

But other than that, she is doing well.  We actually went out in the yard and played chase (I run a few steps, and she goes crazy around the yard).  She is stealing clothes (you'd think that by now I would figure out "keep them out of the dog's reach", but no).  In general, she is seeming much happier.

Week 3, and as expected...

I am seeing Katie's confidence grow by leaps and bounds.  She is going out for potty breaks with less and less fuss.  I still need to walk out there, but I no longer need to leash her, and she is walking to the door on her own.  Saturday night she merrily stalked a possum out in the yard.  Today she is trying to play with the cat, and has voluntarily grabbed her squeaky snake to play with.  She is seeking me out and joining me in other rooms, instead of hanging out in her safe place.  We still have something weird going on with the food, but I am hopeful that that will resolve in the next few days.

Today she was even willing to work at the door on some DS/CC.  So life is looking up!

End of week 2

I am starting to see glimmers of my happy girl again!  It's not huge, but little things like being alert and engaged when I walk into the bed room, instead of just hunkered down on her safe spot.   She's even dashed out the door for a potty break once, which she hadn't done in ages.  The bad side is that the weather is getting nice, which means that the kids are starting to be out playing, and that is causing her some stress.  But still, it's nice to see the old Katie peeking through.

More of the same

She's slowly coming around, I think.  It's a bit of a guessing game on the amount of Xanax to give her.  I dropped the dose down today, and she was less willing to work for kibble, but still willing to work for cheese.  It is only week two of the new drug, so it's still early to see much change.  But she is getting more comfortable going outside.  Less hesitation in the door, doesn't need to be coaxed out of the bedroom, etc.  Morning is still a bit tricky, but I think that may be because she wants to sleep in!

Finally seeming to get back to baseline

Her appetite has picked up to the point that she was eagerly eating dinner out of my hand, until I asked her to so a spin, which shut her down entirely.  Note to self:  do not raise the criteria until she is successfully doing what I am currently asking her to do!  And she was playful, even down to the point where she charged out the door for her potty break instead of having to be lured out with cookies.  A few more days and I can probably be back to where I was before Solvang.

Yay! The routine is coming back!

Finally think that the worst of the Solvang fall-out is passing.  She has been off her food, which I think is at least partly from getting lots and lots of liver Kong-stuffing at Solvang to help keep her happy about the situation.  Now I think she is holding out a bit hoping for more good stuff and not just kibble.  But this morning she eventually decided to go eat breakfast, and then walked right over to the door out and went out to potty with no problems.  Did some happy prancing while out there too, not the anxious pacing she;d been displaying.  So either the drugs are kicking in, or the stress hormones are dissipating, or some combo of the two.  I'm just happy that we seem to be coming out of the rough patch.

She's continued to do well today.  Going in and out without fuss, actually playing with her new toy (and my shoes, and a shirt I left out...)  Still turning her nose up at kibble, but eager to work for good stuff (cheese, dried yams, etc).  She's also spending more time with me rather than in her safe spot.  Yay!

Recovering from Solvang still

Katie spent most of today hunkered down on her bed in her safe spot.  I'd been planning on taking her to the meet-and-greet today, but keeping in mind that stress hormones can stay in the body for many days, I decided to keep her at home and just let her decompress.  She was reluctant to eat breakfast and dinner (and I added warm water to both to make them more appetizing), she was reluctant to go out to potty, she would come into the computer room for treats and take them back to the bed.  I figured that more stress, however minor, was probably not a good idea.  It seems to have worked.  She finally joined me in the computer room, and went out pretty easily for her last potty break of the day.  Even did some zoomies out in the yard, so she's feeling better.  We'll see how the next few days go.

Back from Solvang

I decided to take Katie to Solvang for the annual greyhound gathering.  I debated this for a long time.  She is just starting the loading dose of the new drug, and hasn't been outside the house in the last month, so it would be a pretty intense shift for her.  On the other hand, she would be surrounded by greyhounds, and she does get a lot of confidence from other greys.  So at the end of the day, I decided to give it a try and monitor her behavior and manage as required.  She did "ok".  I debated getting her a red bandana (used to designate dogs that need space), but decided against that, since she does have a habit of throwing herself into the middle of a group of dogs, and I figured owners would freak if they say a red-bandana dog come charging up to theirs.  She did generally acclimate to the lectures and shopping hall, but I also gave her a lot of down time in our room while I did stuff on my own.  Surprisingly, she did not like being out in the Secret Garden with the other dogs that much.  I was hoping that she would actually play, but they did need to be muzzled, which I generally don't do with her, and it was outside, so maybe I shouldn't be as surprised.  Of course, in perfect Katie-fashion, she decided that she needed to go potty at 1:15 AM, and then to go explore the Garden.  Yep, she's perfectly willing to go sniff around and poke her head in bushes and stuff if it's the middle of the night!  And she didn't want to go back upstairs to the room, either.  Had to take her up the "other" set of stairs.  I think that she would have been perfectly happy to go for a walk, but I found it a bit cold and dark for that!  She's spent most of the afternoon sleeping, and of course the wind is blowing tonight, but she did go out in it for her last potty break.  (Trust me, the wind out here is enough to make a reasonable dog or person a little jumpy!)

I can't say that I am seeing huge changes in her behavior with the drug, but it does seem to be taking the edge off.  She's more relaxed, but not so much that you can really put a finger on it.

We did pick up some pretty new collars.  I'll post if I can get some good pictures.

Oh, and she handled the stairs like a trooper! Up and down them with no problems at all (except for the time that she really wanted to go explore instead!)

Day 3

Katie is doing good today, especially since I did not get home for lunch.

I've read through all the intro and history in CU (Control Unleashed), and gotten to the first set of exercises.  It's an interesting approach to training.  "Just be present" with your dog is a lot harder than you would think (essentially, meditate and focus entirely on your dog).  Did some more DS/CC with the leash.  She's getting to be pretty happy with it going on, and I am trying to make taking it off a non-event.  Seems to be working so far.

Day 2 - off to a rocky start

This morning did not start off so well.  Katie was definitely nervous, actually freezing up when asked to go down the hall and out for a potty break.  I hadn't seen her that bad in months!  It was like when I first got her... had to actually pick her up to get her off her bed.  But I gave her Xanax, and at lunch she was much better.  Gave her a second dose then, just in case.  She did well the rest of the day.  Did some leash desensitization:  put leash on, give cheese, take leash off, repeat.  After a bit of that, I went into the computer room, and she actually came in and asked to have the leash put on!  Generally, she runs off to her bed in the back (very happy and excited, not scared) and had me put the leash on there.  It will be a good thing if I can get her to come to me and let me leash her where I am instead!

I also got my copy of Control Unleashed.  It's a book intended to create a "focused and confident dog" (hey, it says so on the cover!), and is intended more towards reactive dogs, but a lot of the shy-k9 group really like it.  And I am always looking for new games to play with Katie, so we will see what we can get out of it.

Day 1 of the new drug

Ok, I'm technically cheating by a day, but I wanted to be sure to give it to Katie on a day when I was home to see any potential side effects.  No huge changes, not that I expect to really see any for several weeks, but she does seem a bit under the weather.  The two main side effects seen are loss of appetite and lethargy, so I will keep an eye out to see if this is just coincidence, something that resolves with time, or if we need to tweak the dosage.  But for now she seems to be fine.  It's going to be interesting waiting to see signs of my happy, confident dog reappear.

Day 10 of the washout

I can safely say that all of the residual drug has left Katie's body.  I am seeing behavior that I have not seen in months, and will be happy to never see again after I get her on the new drug.  She is back to being scared of going outside.  It takes lots of lures, and sometimes just leashing her up, to get her out for potty breaks.  And she is back to doing the "step outside, get scared, go back in, hesitantly go back out" routine.  And this is with the extra Xanax!  Sunday can not get here fast enough!

Day 9 of the washout

Katie continues to display nervous behavior.  She is becoming hesitant about eating, both out of hand and bowl.  Will pause briefly and then continue, and will stop if there is a sudden noise.  I am going to refill her Xanax prescription and up the amount I give her to help her over this patch.  It's hard watching her twitch at every noise from outside!  I hope that the new drug kicks in relatively quickly, even if does take the 4-6 weeks to take full effect.  Five more days to go!

With her being so twitchy, I have cut back on DS/CC.  I am trying to keep her life relatively stress-free right now, and trying to keep her engaged in play learning.  She's reluctant to do some of her tricks that she used to love, which may go along with the nervousness about eating.  I will keep an eye on that, in case it is a physical issue.  It's possible that a tooth is bothering her, but she has been happy to chew on the  Himalaya chew, so I am thinking it's all nerves.  She's also being very hesitant on going outside, and will wait until she absolutely needs a potty break before going out.  And even then, it's sometimes with a false start or two before she will rush out to the yard, go potty, and then rush right back in.

I had forgotten how much of a difference the drugs make!

Day 7 of the washout

Katie has been full of vim and vinegar today, so I think that yesterday was all related to the weather.  I debated taking her on a hike today, but decided against it.  I did decide that it was really time for her to have a bath, which would make it her second or third one since I got her.  She didn't love it.... trembled the entire time, but did eat lots of cheese during it (and yes, juggling squeeze cheese and washing a dog is rather interesting).  But after the bath, she was full of energy, and would go in the bathroom after treats, so I will try and do some CC there to make the next bath more pleasant.  I miss Trink... she just melted in the bath.  That dog loved warm water, and would just go all blissful!  But Katie is Katie, and she was fine the moment the bath was over.  I wonder if it's partly that they get washed at the track before a race, to remove any foreign materials, and the association with racing might be the issue, as opposed to the actual bath?  Hard to tell, and the answer is the same:  counter-condition!

Day 6 of the washout

Katie is definitely being spookier than normal today.  Very hesitant about eating, and mainly hunkering down in her safe spot.  I am going to hazard a guess that it's the weather that's causing this.  It's acting like it wants to rain, dark, cloudy, windy, and I think that outside sounds are carrying farther and clearer than normal.  They do slot-car racing not too far from where I live, and I can definitely hear the cars and the announcer, and the train and traffic noise from that direction.  Plus, if there are any barometric changes going on, it's quite possible that Katie is picking that up too.  I've given her a second Xanax, to hopefully help take the edge off, and did nothing more complex than the name game for dinner.  (At which, as I said, she was hesitant to eat, and that's so unlike Katie!)  I did try a teeny bit of DS/CC at the door, but stopped because she was so obviously stressed (nothing too bad, but did not want to be in the vicinity of the door, and I am willing to respect that on a day like today).  I'll keep an eye out tomorrow, in case this may be a medical issue, but I have a feeling it will blow over when the weather goes back to normal.

And for those who don't think weather can have that much of an impact... I know it can, from my own experience.  I moved out to California from Missouri.  My first year here, I would find myself just about crawling out of my skin when the Santa Anas would blow.  The spot I was living, they winds would start in the evening, and go all night until finally dying down around dawn.  I had a townhouse, with a patio between the building and garage, and I would go stand in the patio and see the trees blowing around me, and hear the wind, and yet not a breath of wind would touch me.  It was very eerie.  And I finally figured out that what was stressing me out so much about the situation was that in Missouri, winds like that come with a storm front.  They start blowing, and in an hour or four, there is a serious storm, thunder, lightening, sometimes hail.  So here, I would hear the winds start, and subconsciously I was waiting for the storm to hit.  But it never does.... the winds just blow all night.  Once I realized that, and got used to it, I don't have the issue to the same extent.  It does still get to me a little, but mostly I can distract myself and put it out of my mind.  But if it does that to me, the person with the opposable thumbs, I can easily see changes in weather affecting a dog like Katie!

It appears that the second Xanax has helped.  She's not puppy-playful, but the edge is off.  She's not twitching her ears at the windows every 5 minutes like she was before, and is actually relaxed and snoozing in the computer room.

Day 4 of washout

I decided today that the fact that Katie is not up to walks is not a good reason for ME to not take one!  So I did that this evening, and then decided to do some DS/CC with Katie at the front door.  She was doing so well with that that I decide to see if I could get her to work out on the front step.  Not a good idea!  Open the front door, and she gets anxious and moves away.  I did get her to go out the back door, and did some DS/CC out there.  She was reasonably responsive, maybe a little stressed, but willing to do nose touches, etc.  Then we moved to the front stoop, and did a few touches there, and then inside to remove leash.  She hung out inside for a bit, then we went outside for potty break and major zoomies!  I am not sure if it was my being out for the walk, or the fact that we did the DS/CC, or a combination, but she has been amped up tonight.  I think sometimes she does zoomies as a stress reliever, or just because it feels good.  Maybe both?  So it's hard to tell sometimes whether it's because she has been stressed and needs the adrenaline rush, or she is really pleased with herself and needs to let the good feelings out.  We'll see how things go.

Day 3 of washout

Only one Xanax today, and no lunch break (had to stay at work).  She wasn't as hyper when I got home, but still pretty close to normal.

I will say that I find myself in an interesting conundrum.  I know that she will do better when she is back on the meds.  So, do I try doing DS/CC with her now, or wait until she starts the new drug?  If I hadn't had her on the Elavil, I would be doing the DS/CC right now, trying to get her more confident and happy in new situations.  But I find myself more just managing the situation, not pushing her to try things, since I know that she is not at her peak performance right now.    And I know that the Xanax would get her to a level where I can do some DS/CC, as long as I manage the stress level, but it also tends to make her really puppy-playful, as my behaviorist put it, which is hard to handle some nights, especially when I am trying not to put her in stressful situations, which means not taking her out for walks, which would be my normal way of dealing with the excess energy.  So, it is just an interesting observation, to me, that knowing how she is when she is on meds makes me reluctant to treat her the way that I did when I didn't know that she would do better on meds, if that makes any sense at all.

Day 2 of washout

Gave Katie Xanax at breakfast and lunch.  She's been much more playful.  Did zoomies in the yard when I got home (although that may also be because I got home late today, around 7:30).  We did some training, she got part of dinner in the Leo, and we did much playing with stuffs.  I did have to distract her off of chewing on the cat tree (she seems to find the wood fascinating every so often) and she actually tried the nylabone (which she has generally ignored).  It's been a good day.

Day one of the wash out

Katie is definitely showing more signs of fear.  She hangs out less in the front room, is much more cautious going outside, and jumped when there was a sudden noise while doing DS/CC at the front door. I think trying this outside is going to have to wait until I have her back on drugs.  And I definitely need to keep her on the Xanax for the switch.

Last day of weaning

Haven't seen any huge changes in Katie the last few days.  I've been busy prepping for a dinner party I had last night, which had her a bit concerned since it threw the normal routines off.  She did reasonably well at the party.  Went to her safe spot, grabbed her bed like it a was a life boat in a sea of hungry sharks, and stayed there until everyone left.  I gave her some Kongs, and came back with super good treats a few times to check on her.  She would do some touches, as long as she could remain on her bed with no sits/stands, etc.  But she wasn't panting or shaking or anything like that, just perfectly happy to stay on her safe place.  She got to see the others on their way to use the bath room, since the door to that is close to her safe place, but they were good and left her alone, so it all worked out ok.  She actually seemed more concerned after everyone left.  Had to give the entire place a thorough check to make sure everyone was gone!

Day 10 of weaning

Nothing major to report.  I am a little stressed:  had my walking class, and am prepping for a dinner on Saturday.  Friday, last minute cleaning and cooking!

Day 9 of weaning

We're back to being scared of the pool guys.  The neighbor has a pool service that comes by on Wednesdays, at Katie's morning turn-out time, and today she put her front feet out, saw them, and turned around and went back inside.  They didn't use to bother her.  She did really have to go, so a few minutes later she came and got me to let her out, but went to the side yard instead of going in the back, which is where she normally relieves herself, but is also next to the pool.

This afternoon, she jumped when I closed a cabinet door in the kitchen.  And this evening, the wind both had her on edge (she needed a fair amount of coaxing to go out), and excited (once outside, lots of happy running!)  I'd forgotten how much she's improved while being on the drugs.  Five more days of weaning, then we start the wash-out, and then the new drug needs to build up.  I am curtailing most of Katie's experiences outside for now, based on how she is acting inside.  We are making progress at the front door.  I need to talk to my behaviorist about how to handle her when I open the door.  She is definitely curious about the outside, but then gets frightened and moves away from the door.

Day 8 of weaning

Pretty much normal today.  Did some DS/CC by the front door.  Actually got to open the door a little, but then ran into the problem that Katie sticks her nose out to look and sniff the outdoors.  But it's progress!  I will do that some more before trying to get her to actually go outside and work on the front porch.

And I think I am about to learn what a bad idea giving Xanax at 9:30 pm is!  I am used to the night dose being the TCA, and thus it not being as important on timing.  But Xanax has a much more immediate onset, and shorter duration, and if Katie stays true to form, I have just set myself up for having a pup that is going to be crazy energetic around 11:30.  We will see... she just came in from doing major zoomies in the yard, still panting like a bellows, so maybe she will decide to sleep through the happy times.

Day 7 of weaning.

Had to go buy a pill cutter for the next week's dosing.  Katie is doing as well as can be expected.  She is mostly ok in the house.  Does startle at neighbor-noises that she had been ignoring, and she is much more hesitant at going outside.  I am still doing some DS/CC inside, although not as much today.  It was a pretty hectic morning, having sliced my finger pretty badly last night making dinner.  I am pretty much resigned to keeping her inside for the next 5-6 weeks, as we wait for the new drug to build up.  I can say right now that the Xanax does not have as much effect as the amitriptillyne did, and it seems to give her the munchies!

Oh, and she seems to have developed a hoarding streak in the last few days.  Likes to get clothes from the bedroom and drag them somewhere else, at which point she just leaves them there.  Haven't seen that before, except with shoes.

Day 6 of weaning

And my first real indication of how much the drugs had been helping.  Today was pretty normal.  Took Katie to the meet and greet, where she did pretty ok, not quite as outgoing as normal, but not too bad.  Got her nails done with no problems.  But at class, that was a different matter.  Last week, she walked up the stairs to almost the top (stopped when some one came and looked at her), and was hesitant on the weave poles, but did the other exercises with minimal fuss.  This week, she would not go up the stairs, and would not leave her corner to go work in class.  Since I can only assume that things are going to get worse as the weaning and wash-out progress, I am going to pull her from class.  I want her to LIKE agility, not be terrified during it!

So, it's going to be a lot of managing the environment, doing what I can for DS/CC (keeping in mind that her stress levels are going to be higher with the drugs out of her system), and hope that the SSRI kicks in relatively fast once I start loading it.  It's going to be interesting to keep an eye on Katie and her signals during this time.  And I think that this blog is going to be invaluable for recording the changes!

Day 5 of weaning.

I am definitely seeing some regression as the drug level lowers.  She is much more anxious when she is outside these days.  Doesn't help that the Santa Anas are blowing, and that the world is actually a bit spooky around here when that happens.  Gusts up to 50 mph make my huge oak tree sway!

Since this might be read by people other than me, perhaps some background is in order.  Katie is a noise-phobic ex-racing greyhound.  A very pretty little girl, who started off very shy, does not like new situations, and really doesn't like the sound of kids playing.  I am working on rehabbing her, so that her quality of life is better, and hopefully she will be better able to handle being out in the world.  I'd had her on amitriptilyne (generic Elavil) with Xanax for known stressful situations.  I am now in the process of switching her to fluoxinene (not quite sure of the spelling... generic Prozac), which is a specific seritonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which basically keeps the happy chemicals in the brain around longer.  That is used as a tool, while I perform behavioral modification.  Desensitization (DS) is exposing the dog to the fear trigger at a level where the dog notices but does not react to the trigger, known as being "under threshold".  Counter-conditioning is associating the trigger with something good (in Katie's case, canned cheese stuff), so that you change the emotions associated with the trigger.  So, in practice, with kids, I start with just the sounds of the kids, at a level that Katie can tolerate without showing signs of stress, and give her something super good (kongs with frozen cheez whiz) so that the sound of kids stops being a predictor of scary things, and becomes a predictor of good things.  Since you can only feel one thing at a time, the idea is that the brain eventually automatically starts feeling good when Katie hears kids.  Now, this is not fast, because you have to start off at a very low level, and then slowly increase the strength of the trigger, while still staying under threshold.  So with the kids, I will slowly increase the noise level.  For being outside, it's starting inside the front door (stress levels were too high outside), then outside the front door, then a few feet away, until I get out of the yard.  Then start over at the front door for longer periods of time.  Today, I wouldn't even think of trying this outside, because the winds were strong enough to keep Katie on edge, especially with the lower drug level in her system.  But that's what DS/CC is, when I mention it in the blog.

The other thing is to teach Katie skills that she can do, since a dog that feels in control in a situation tends to be a calmer and more confident dog.  Yes, the scary thing may be over there, but my owner has things in control and wants me to do X, so I will do that and not think so much about the scary thing.  To that end, I am working on teaching Katie "watch me", and she already knows Touch, so I am working on Target (a variation of touch where the goal is to touch a specific item, not my hand) for agility class.  She's picked that one up super fast!  Watch me seems to be going well... it's a bit hard for me to see what exactly Katie is looking at, but I think we have the general idea down.  I need to start working on duration and fading the lure with that one.

Today's report:  It's been pretty calm.  Did some DS/CC by the front door.  Took Katie to the vet for a bordatella update and to pick up more heart worm meds.  Did a lot of CC there.  She was actually being pretty comfortable in the waiting room... wandered around a bit, sniffed some stuff while she was there.  The CC does seem to have made a difference in her opinion of vets.  She was skittish going to the car, and from the car to the vet, so I left her in the car when I stopped to pick up some more dog food.  Only gave her one Xanax this evening, and she hasn't shown the hyper behavior.  Happy to be with and rest quietly, and quite willing to work for her dinner, but not the extreme playfulness.  I am going to continue with testing what dose is appropriate.

Tomorrow is the meet and greet, and I am debating about whether I will take Katie.  She needs her nails trimmed, but she also has class that evening.  On the other hand, there will be greyhounds there, and Katie does love her peeps, as evidenced by coming out of her shell with the whippet last night.  It's something I will probably decide tomorrow right before the meet.

Day 4 of weaning.

Katie had a restless night, possibly due to the "planned power outage" which I forgot all about, until the power went out.  And then this morning was a rush, but I did manage to get a little work in at lunch.  This evening was Bark After Dark, a "controlled, off-leash playgroup" for dogs.  It was Katie's first time, and she did not do at all well at first.  Entirely shut-down, didn't want to do anything but get out of there.  So I put her in the car for the class, and then let her hang out with the instructors' dogs afterwards (a whippet, lab, and golden).  What a difference!  She was actually playful:  open mouth grin, tail in the happy U, running around with the other dogs.  And she would go explore, along the fence (which she made me be between her and it during the class), behind storage buildings, out in the parking lot...   She did stop by the car frequently, but it seemed to be more out of reassurance and finally tiredness than fear.  The instructors seem to think it was simply because of the different energy level of their dogs as opposed to class, and the fact that one was a whippet probably helped.  All things to keep in mind for the future.

Day 3 of weaning.

Yesterday was subdued, as is this morning.  I am going to up the Xanax to two pills this evening, especially since I intend to take her on the walk.  We will see how she is.

Didn't come home at lunch.

Katie was back in the bedroom this evening when I got home, around 5:40.  Gave her the higher dose of Xanax, preparing for the walk.  However, she was being resistant to the idea (rolling on side to give me her belly, didn't want to get off the bed, etc.)  So I revised my plan to just getting her to walk to the door on leash, so that I could turn her out before I went to the class.  After all, it's so that I get in shape, not really for Katie.  3.16 miles today, and the path went past where some kids were practicing soccer, so it's probably a good thing that Katie wasn't there.

Got back around 7:40, and Katie was an absolute wild thing!  Racing up and down the hallway, circling me, etc.  Grabbed some toys and let her out in the yard, where she promptly ignored the toys and did zoomies for quite some time.  Even with kids out playing basketball, which is normally enough to make her want to go inside.  She is currently panting like a bellows on her bed in the computer room.  I am going to have to let her cool down and recover some before I even think of feeding her.  Variables to consider:
A.  Didn't come home at lunch.  Katie will frequently do zoomies on the days that this happens.  Not sure if it's because of built-up energy, stress from the disrupted routine, just good spirits because I am finally home.  But it's something to consider.
B.  Increased Xanax dose.  The timing is right, just about 2 hours after giving it.  But I wasn't here earlier, so I do not know exactly what she was doing during that time.  There are some paper shreds around, so she may have been being active while I was out.
C.  The fact that I came home, and went out again.  Disrupted routine twice in one day, may have made her more anxious and thus full of energy when I got back?
D.  A combination of the above.

It will be interesting to see what the next few days show.  Right now she has somewhat recovered from the panting and chewing on a stuffy.

9 pm, and she seems to have calmed down some.  She had been throwing play bows at Rana, and barking at her, but I managed to distract her onto a toy, which works until she notices the cat again.  But she is being toy-oriented, so I gave her her dinner in the Tug-a-Jug, which kept her occupied while I ate.  She was almost frantic (frenetic?  hard to say exactly) in her activity levels.

Day 2 of weaning.

Katie went out at 10:30 last night, and still asked for a 1:30 (yes, A.M.!) potty break.  I may see if I can push the last turn-out to 11:30, and hopefully that will keep her for the night.

Much more energetic than normal this morning.  Toys were squeaked, some whining, attention solicited (paw on arm and leg, nose/head into chest), rolled on side so I could rub belly, lots of chattering.  Needed turn-out before breakfast, and breakfast before the pills.  Did some zoomies during the turn-out, which seldom happens at breakfast time.  Possible lingering effect of the Xanax?  Or just of a dog that REALLY needed to go out finally getting to go potty in an appropriate location?

Lunchtime:  Katie was back on her bed, but came out when I started making my lunch.  Did a little work on getting her comfortable on leash.  She really does like the canned cheese!  It's making it easier to get her from the bedroom to the front door, where we did some touches before turn-out.  I have a frozen cheese Kong prepped for this evening, and am going to hold off on the DS/CC until after the Xanax kicks in.

Home at 7 tonight.  Katie in the bedroom, possibly because of kid playing basketball?  Seemed happy to see me:  chattering, wanted petting.

Hmm.  Katie has been pretty quite tonight, not what I expected after yesterday.  She got her frozen Kong when she noticed the kids outside, and seemed happy to eat it and ignore what was going on.  And we did a little DS/CC inside by the front door.  She does like her Cheez-whiz!  She is currently resting on her bed while the vacuum goes its merry way.  She is doing surprisingly well with that.  It doesn't seem to bother her, as long as she doesn't have to walk by it, and even then she is cautious, but no more than I think most dogs would be.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.  I'm already seeing the good points of writing these kinds of notes... will tomorrow be like today, or yesterday?  Is it the Xanax, or something else, that causes those high-energy bursts?  Time will tell!

Day one of the weaning process.

I am halving the dose of amitriptillyne, and adding in Xanax to help control anxiety during the switchover.  Can't say that I see any changes right now, which is not too surprising.  Katie was on her bed at lunch, in the living room when I came home in the evening (around 6).  Left the computer room when the kids started playing outside.  I need to make up some frozen Kongs and use that to my advantage for CC.  Tried doing some DS/CC outside, and have learned a few things.  One, Katie is more stressed out there than I had been thinking.  Two, she is even more stressed when on leash.  So I am pondering working her inside on leash, so that she is more confident outside.  Or I might work her outside off-leash for a while, and then add the leash in.  Got a question in to Dr. Malamed on that one, to see what she thinks.

We are also working on Target for class, and Watch Me for the DS/CC.  Targeting is going well... it's just a variation of Touch, which Katie has down cold.  The only thing I need to remember on this one is to only reward a nose touch, since she does tend to try and use her paws when the target is on the ground.  Watch Me is being more difficult, since Katie has a habit of intently watching me when we do training, so trying to get her to do it on command is not that easy.  I am going to go see if Kikopup has any videos about it.

And, about 8 p, two hours after the Xanax, Katie has had a burst of playful energy.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on the timing of this, since it does seem to make her mouthy as well.  Anything that she can sneak, she will!  Wood, paper, batteries, plastic, doesn't really seem to matter.  I may try giving the second dose at lunch, to give her something to reduce stress during the day without it causing a ruckus in the evening.  And I have just been reminded that I am going to have to make sure that the shoes are all put away!

9:30, and the extreme energy level seems to have tapered off.  There's been a lot of toy-playing and being outside in the last 90 minutes.  It's a bit exhausting, trying to channel that energy and keep her away from things she shouldn't have!

10:30, and she finally seems to be ready for bed.  Yep, gonna have to play around with the timing on the Xanax.  Also need to remember this so that I can do the DS/CC when she is amped up!

Katie pic

And here is a picture of my Katie

Katie's journey starts

January 23rd.

Today Katie and I went to the behaviorist.  I now have a plan of attack to her issues.  And, knowing how easy it is to forget what things were like, I have decided to start this blog so that I can track her progress, what works, what doesn't, that sort of thing.  It's probably not going to be deathless prose, and not of much interest to anyone outside the world of shy dogs, but it will let me look back on where we were, and how far we have come.

Right now, the plan of attack is to work on focus exercises, DS/CC the yard and kid noises, and start weaning off the Elavil in preparation for switching the meds.  I will be keeping an eye on her behavior during this time.  Some regression is likely as she comes off the Elavil.