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.