Stay at Home Dog

Since Netta has arrived the dogs and I have had our schedule drastically changed.  No longer are we all going to work every day.  Work involved many stressers for the Toller.  Two long car rides.  Staying in the cubicle area while Mom abandoned him to train the service dogs.  Seeing favorite coworkers come in for the day and not always being able to hang out with them.  Then seeing coworkers pack up to head home and thinking he may be left all alone..forever!  Really most of Vito's anxieties at work boiled down to me not being able to be with him the majority of the day.  He would have been a very relaxed dog if he could just sleep at my feet all day.  Drugs helped.  And helped with the car rides too.  Really Vito was doing pretty well with the situation and his current drugs.  But still daily stress.

And now Vito is a stay at home dog.  A very relaxed stay at home dog. Mom is always there.  Car rides are way less frequent and usually very short.  Happy Toller.

So relaxed that I've weaned Vito off of both his "situational" drugs that were given twice every day. No more Clonidine, his favoritest drug that you could always tell when 2:30 rolled around at work and it was time for another dose.  Vito would definitely tell you he needed his Clonidine!  And no more Clonazepam, the latest of numerous drugs rotating in and out of his life.  Of course if Vito does have to go on a car ride for some reason I'm keeping the drugs around to well actually use situationally.  How novel.

And at this point I'm still keeping Vito on his base drug, which currently is Sertraline.  I'm not sure if I should keep him on it or not.  A part of me hopes that maybe Vito could get used to being left alone again for short periods of time.  Perhaps without the daily stressers in the other areas he will be able to handle it.  His separation anxiety has always been his biggest issue.  But at one point, several years ago, Vito was able to be left alone for a few hours.  With the help of drugs of course.

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The Long Car Trip Verdict

Did anyone make a guess from a few weeks ago on how Vito's car ride to Missouri went?  My guess before the start of the trip was that Vito would be calm, on extra drugs for 3.5hrs, and then would panic. About a month after we increased Vito's Clorazepate again he started doing better in the car.  So about October to our trip over Christmas Vito had very few anxiety attacks.

It was supposed to be about 8hrs of driving but due to a horrible snow storm, we were stuck in insane traffic for an hour and a half.  I think we counted 19 cars in the ditch?  Vito did phenomenal for 7hrs.  Ate lots of treats, some french fries, even pretended to sleep for a little bit.  And then it started to go downhill.  Never worked up to full panic attack on the ride down, but did get up to some light trembling and moderate panting that last 2.5hrs.

The ride back was the disaster.  Started panicking before we even fully left the driveway.  Major trembling, heavy panting, and looking like he was going to have a heart attack.  Since he already had lots of extra drugs in his system we couldn't do anything until at least several more hours passed and we could give him more drugs.  Also found out that his fancy Sleepy Pod seatbelt harness is no match for a panicking dog.  Vito was able to do terrifying somersaults and needed saving twice before we gave up.
At the 2.5hr mark Adam climbed in the backseat and made Vito sit on his lap, which doesn't really help but made us feel better.  It must have helped a little as at the 3.5hr mark Vito was still trembling and panting but remarkably less.  No longer looked like an imminent heart attack.  We pulled off to get gas and lunch at 4hrs and decided we could pretend 6hrs between dosings was enough to give him more drugs.  It helped.  Vito calmed down quite a bit and was really good for 3hrs, and light anxiety for the last hour.

Since then though his panic attacks have been a regular basis again.  Not every ride at least.  We're at about 50%.  At least things are still going pretty well at work.  Fingers are crossed that things start to die down again and we can get rid of the daily, or twice daily, panic attacks.

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Car Rides

Vito's car rides have been going pretty well ever since we fully put him back on his old drug schedule, with slightly increased Sertraline.  He resumed the regiment in August and starting in early October he  has been calm every day with only occasional mild anxiety attacks.  Yay Toller!!!

Recently I also overhauled our transportation system for the dogs.  After a friend had a horrible car accident but all dogs walked away unharmed due to their Variocage, I wanted something that at least wouldn't completely collapse in an mild accident.  I just can't afford the Variocage but the Ruff Tough kennels are very sturdy themselves, just with a weak door.  The Corgi and Duck got new crates.

Vito has been riding tethered to the floor in a normal harness so he got an upgrade too.  I put back in one of the middle row seats to both help support the crates and prevent Vito from being crushed if the crates get slammed.  He got an official crash tested harness as well.

And shockingly he has handled the change very well.  For the first few days I let him ride on the floor next to the seat to help ease the change.  But Vito had no problem being upgraded to the seat.  Thank you Neurotic Dog!

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Vito Update

I suppose Vito is back to "normal" from our scrambling in July.  He resumed going to work with me and after some initial worked up days Vito seems to have settled back into the routine.  Overall fairly calm at work again minus his usual difficult times and difficult events of the day.

As expected, Vito's car anxiety has also started to creep back up.  Initially going back on Clorazepate was helpful, but now Vito thinks morning car rides are panic worthy and evening car rides are ok.  So this week I've decided to increase his Clorazepate to his old dose, up to 11mg.

Interestingly his separation anxiety seems to have lessened a bit.  Not so much that he can actually be left home alone of course.  But I have actually been able to leave him inside the house while I go outside with Zumi to train.  Small victories.

Sadly Vito is back one exercise restriction, again.  It's been 2 months since he was doing some yelping and light limping at an agility/obedience trial.  For 3 weeks he was on restriction although he was only sore for 3 days.  Then lifted after a rehab appointment.  Fine for 2 weeks, then 1 more little yelp at home.  More restriction and started Vito on Doxy since he was positive for a tick diseases this spring.  Hadn't show any signs so didn't do treatment earlier.  But thought it was worth ruling out a tick disease.  Almost 2 weeks of lifted restriction and Vito yelped again last week, one time.  Seems absolutely fine since. 

But now I'll likely have to do some laser therapy and go from there.  It sucks that Vito really hasn't been allowed to do much almost all summer, minus a few weekends of fun visiting parks.  Certainly no trials and agility practice all summer.  Fingers are crossed we are able to figure out his issue and just a longer period of simple rest is all that is needed.

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Back to Normal

Well tomorrow ends (*fingers still crossed*) THREE weeks of Vito and the other pet dogs not being allowed at work.  Two weeks was bad enough and then the unexpected third week did me in.  The longest and seriously most desperate 3 weeks of my life trying to manage Vito's schedule and get to work myself at the same time.  A HUGE thanks the amazing dog community as people stepped up that I barely know.  And I was at that grasping at straws level to accept.  It meant lots of driving all across the metro but we made it.

And with the decision made to put Vito back on Clorazepate he actually handled the drives really well.  For the first time in a month he has stopped panicking in cars again.

Vito did pretty well on his adventures, at least so I'm told.   While he's not a fan of change to his routines, Vito does relax pretty well as long as he's not alone.  He doesn't even need to know the person.    Which is good, as Vito only knew 2 of his baby sitters!  Was even good with a no furniture rule at one house!

Discovering doggy beds can be ok after all if a couch is off limits.

I am so looking forward to life resuming back to our "normal" highly managed life.  De-stress me.

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The Ugly Part of Living with a SA Dog

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse with Vito it did.  This time not really his "fault" but due to a change at work.  It's kennel cough time at work like it happens every year around this time. Once one dog brings it into the kennel, everyone gets it.  Unfortunately this time it was decided that no pet dogs are allowed in the building for at least two weeks.  In years past risk of coming is always to the pet dogs as of course we can't make the kennel more sick than it already is.  I've crossed fingers and toes every year in hopes that my crew never got sick so that I wouldn't have to figure out what to do with them.  And we luckily survived each time.  But now that wasn't even an option.  Pet dogs are a privilege, not a right.

So we're trapped.  Let Vito panic for hours and hours on end and likely have an actual heart attack, or stop coming to work.  My dog or my job.

Thankfully I do have some PTO, not that I wanted to use it for the next 2 weeks.  Technically a lot of it is supposed to be saved for my "forced" vacation time that happens for 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays when the kennel is closed and all service dog trainees go to foster homes.
And thankfully Adam was able to get someone to switch shifts with him so that he doesn't have to work until 3-11pm.  So Vito and the other 2 get to spend time at home while I work half shifts at work all this week and next, and race home so that the longest Vito is left is 15min.  

And of course it rears depressing thoughts on living with a dog with separation anxiety.  You're always trapped.  Never able to go out with the husband to see a movie or even go grocery shopping.  Someone is ALWAYS with the dog.  Summers are the best as at least there are a few dog friendly places you can go.  If you want to deal with the car anxiety which you've already decided is the lesser of the 2 evils.  Shorter in duration at least.

I know that if Vito weren't MY dog that the most humane thing would be to let him go.  Nobody should have to deal with a dog with severe separation anxiety.  It's not healthy for the people to work so hard to prevent it for a decade or so of their lives and it's not healthy for the dog to be in so much panic.  Medication and behavioral modification can do wonders for many dogs with SA.  But not Vito.  If I were to die I've already told Adam that he has my permission, and my urging, to let Vito go.  A person on their own can't help Vito feel safe all the time.  And finding a home that can would be impossible and I would say unethical.

But although my thoughts keep drifting to the day that a decision might be necessary, we're not there.  I have never loved another dog as much as I love Vito.  And we can make it work.

Post note:  

The reason I wrote this serious post is I want to make sure dog trainers, rescues, and pet people are aware of how serious of a disease separation anxiety is.  It is not to be taken lightly due to how incredibly difficult it is to manage it and prevent panic attacks and even possible injury to the dog in their panicking.   I would not hesitate to immediately put a dog on medication and immediately start a training protocol to try and help a dog as fast a possible.  But not everybody has the means to make living with such a dog work.  And then you have to consider the ethics of having a dog in the world who is having full blown panic attacks for hours every. single. day.  And that decision is serious, sad, and very real.  

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Rock Bottom

Well the Toller has not been doing so great recently with life.  We were on a roll there, having reached a 2 month streak of panic free car rides and less anxiety in general at work and out and about. It crashed a bit in April and then became kinda better in May.  And now we've crashed again.  This time all the way back to the bottom.  Car rides have trembling and panting so hard it's like he's going to have a heart attack.  Doesn't look much difference than 2011 did.  And we're about 100% of the rides now being in a panic.

More of a freak at work.  Whining at being left.  Getting easily worked up and frantic. Continuing stress at the obedience club with doing some whining in his crate and crazily frantic when let out of his crate.  Even being panting and having this neurotic energy at home.  It's almost like if he's not sleeping he's neurotic.  

I increased his Sertraline to 1.5 pills in the morning last week.  Will see if it helps.  Other option is putting Vito back on Clorazepate and spending way too much money.  But I don't know if that would help anymore either as when we weaned him off it over several months I noticed almost no difference in his behavior.  It did seem to help him on our car ride to Rochester this past weekend.  Although it also seemed to sedate him.

I alternate being wanting so badly to strangle him and slap him out of his panic attacks and wanting to burst into tears as I can't imagine what it's like to be so worked up you tremble uncontrollably.  And I think how he's having at least 2 panic attacks a day right now if not more most days.

And before you comment I'm going to stop you and warn you that if you are thinking about asking if I've tried this supplement or that plant or something I'm going to feel like reaching through the screen and punching you.  Please hold back your helpful suggestion.

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Stressy Dogs: To Trial or Not

Another dog agility blog action day, this time on the topic of stress.  A topic near and dear to my heart with the Toller.  I have written extensively on the work I have done and continue to do with Vito to relieve his stress in the ring and increase his motivation for working.  From ring entrances, to jackpot training, to tons of work on building value for behaviors I can use on the startline (in agility) and in between exercises (in obedience).

But now I'm going to talk a little bit on what it's like on the handler side of training a dog who stresses easily.  All the ups and downs.   That extreme high when your dog looks happy and confident and the crushing hopelessness when your dog fixates on a scary barsetter.  So much time spent wondering if you're doing the right thing by continue to train for the sport you love and maybe even trial.   Weighing pros and cons and assessing how determined you are.  And trying to ignore anybody who tries to steal your joy in the little, but huge, successes.  There's just so many helpful people out there!

There was only one period with Vito where I seriously considered retiring him from trialing in agility, although in obedience he has been in a semi-retired state for years.  In that lowest time I went through a lot of checklists and tried to assess where we were at and if trialing or even training was worth it or if I was being selfish in my want to play agility with my dog.  If you are wondering the same things, there is no right or wrong answer but I wrote some of my thoughts below.

Vito relaxing at the trial this last weekend.

- Is my dog comfortable in the trial environment itself?  In other words is just spending time on the grounds stressful?  In Vito's case the answer was no, he was always super relaxed hanging around at trials.  But if your dog is stressed, is there ways to minimize that?  Crating out of the car?  Outdoors vs indoors?  Really short days?  Being in the ring is less than a minute, but if they're super stressed all day at the trial then you have more to consider and weigh.

- What's the most likely "bad" case scenario if my dog is stressed in the ring?  Vito's Sad Toller runs are mainly a big decrease in speed now and in the past also included quite a bit of pulling off obstacles and occasionally some reactivity towards ring workers.

- Do you have reasonable hope towards improvement?  Is the dog being highly successful in practice at home?  Does the success rate continue if in a group class?  At fun matches or new places?  UKI trials where you can reward in the ring?  At one point I realized that while Vito was doing amazing when I practiced with no one around, he was showing some small signs of our trial issues in his group class.  I was having to work very hard to get him UP and running fast at the start line before each sequence, although once the on switch was turned on he was fine.  Switching to a smaller group class and a different setup helped work through that issue, along with all the other work I put in and continue to do.

Zumi can't wait to trial!

- Why do I want to trial?  My personal answer is that trialing helps me to set (super small) goals and honestly assess progress.  I know that without trials I become lazier in training and that spending one on one time with each dog training for a goal is very important to me.  With a retired dog this can still be accomplished through trick goals, or training for a different sport, but I really want to share my love of agility with my dogs for as long as they are physically and mentally able to.  And of course the other main reason I like trialing is the pride aspect.  I love my dogs and I know they are amazing and I want the world to see how amazing they are too.  Celebrate with me the first time Vito screamed at the startline without being asked to bark!

Depending on your answers to the questions above, and to other questions you likely ask yourself, taking a break from trialing might be the best answer.  Or maybe continuing to battle through issues and fully supporting your special dog each and every run is OK to.  Don't beat yourself up over your decision and don't bow to the pressure of others.  Agility is such a small part of our time with the dogs.

At this time Vito continues to trial in agility and is mostly on an upswing for the past year!  Obedience and rally trials are done on a much more limited basis and usually restricted to organizations where I can reward in the ring.  But we continue to practice and work towards our goals of eventually being the Happy Toller at both agility and obedience trials!

For more posts on the topic of stress from other agility bloggers, visit the event page!

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Fingers Crossed

Vito has been doing well in the car again so fingers are crossed it continues.  I don't bother asking Vito for logical explanations to his behaviors anymore.  Just roll with whatever he gives me.

So since we made it to the 2wk mark again of calm car rides, I resumed the plan of getting rid of drug #3- Clorazepate.  Lowered his morning dose this past Sunday and so far no ill effects noticed.  More hoping.

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The Streak is Over

And just like that Vito is back to where he was.  We made it past the 2 month mark of zero car anxiety trips and almost 5 whole months of very few panic attacks.

All came crashing back this last week. Just as quickly as his decision those 5 months ago to suddenly be OK.  I can't say that I'm surprised as it's not like his recent calmness was explainable by any medication change or training change.  Unfortunately even before his nice change this last November Vito was mainly only panicking on morning car rides and was OK on afternoon car rides.  Currently Vito is stressing out on both.

And sadly along with the return of car anxiety Vito is also getting worse at work again.  More "nutty" and more whining when left.  Not horrible yet and not all the time, but it had been so long since Vito has had a bad day at work.  In some respects Vito is even continuing his nuttiness at home with more frequent stress zooming and panting episodes in the evening.

Now we're left at the decision of what to do.  Since Christmas I have been very, very slowly lowering Vito's 3rd (most expensive) drug Clorazepate.  He's gone from 1.5pills x2/day to getting only 1/2 a pill in the morning and 1/4tha  pill in the afternoon.  Lowered afternoon dose first as usually afternoons are better than mornings, wait 3-4wks, and then lowered morning, wait 3-4wks, repeat.  For the most part the lowering went super smooth without me noticing any change in his behavior until he got to 1/2 a pill in the morning on March 1st.  That first week was hard on Vito.  Car anxiety didn't return, but reactivity was greatly increased.  And then he got better.  March 27th was my last change which brought the afternoon dose to our current 1/4th pill.  No change was seen the last two weeks until April 9th.

I could try increasing back the dose of his Clorazepate despite the fact that lowering it didn't seem to make much of a difference.  And it sucks how much more expensive it is.

I could try increasing his Sertraline slightly as Vito's not at his maximum dose yet.

We could just wait and see how he progresses over the next week or two.

Want my Happy Toller back.

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Vito's 1 Month Chip- take 2

For the second time in the past several years, Vito earned a one month chip of zero car anxiety.  Sadly it wasn't a two month chip as after his wonderful 30 days reached in December, Vito reverted to old ways a week shy of the would be celebration.  For about two weeks in mid January Vito started having some small panic attacks in the car and then he suddenly stopped again.

To celebrate his new 1 month chip and overall 3 months of goodness (since November 17th!) I even stopped on the way home from work, left Vito in the car, and sprinted in and out of Little Caesars to grab pizza.  Considering that Vito used to freak out if I even filled the car with gas, this was a huge accomplishment!  Something I hadn't dared to try in many years.  I held my breath as I ordered and prayed there was a cheese pizza all ready to go.  I'm pretty sure I was in and out of the building in less than 2 minutes!  And then I returned to a very calm and relaxed Toller.

Due to his (unexplained) decrease in anxiety these last few months I also have been slowly decreasing his 3rd drug, Clorazepate.  My goal is to get rid of his most expensive drug as was the original plan when we weaned him off Prozac and put him on Zoloft back in June this past year.  Vito's been on Clorazepate since December 2013 when we decided to get rid of Diazepam (Valium).  At one point he was on 11.25mg /x2day and now he is on 3.75mg x2/day.

However with the decreased dosing has come some side effects.  Overall Vito has handled the gradual lowering quite well with no changes noticed until this past week when he went from 1 pill in the morning to half a pill in the morning (and was already lowered to half a pill in the evening 4 weeks earlier).  Vito was lowered on Sunday and at work this week he has been extra reactive to people walking by the cubicle or talking at a distance.  I made a chart today to keep better track of his reactivity and allow me to see if he improves as his body gets used to the adjustment in drugs or not.  I would really like to not spend the $50+  a month on Clorazepate any more!

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Vito in 2014

2014 was the year of The Toller!

Anxiety
This past year was the year of starting over.  After being on Prozac since early 2011 and it slowly losing it's effectiveness even with the help of various "quick acting" drugs, I decided to risk everything and begin again with a new base drug.  Amitriptyline was our first try and after several months of that experiment we weaned him off that too.  Vito was not doing well with of any many areas of anxiety.  So we started Zoloft in June.  Vito showed some improvement in his general anxiety but just minimal improvement with car rides, separation anxiety, and changes in routine.  Until mid November.  Out of the blue Vito decided the car was ok.  Situations that used to get Vito frantic and anxious he could now clam down in.  Short departures of 20min were now OK (but no longer).  So right now we're both enjoying this new hope for however long it lasts.  I'm even being brave and attempting to lower his dose of Clorazepate as I would love to get rid of that super expensive drug.

Agility
Vito started out the year with a few slower and sadder runs.  But there were no incidents of barking or visiting ring crew.  And then in the spring Vito started having a few faster runs every now and then.  Only a few runs throughout the year were Sad Making and a handful were actually pretty close to Practice Speed.  Pulling off jumps seemed to be a thing of the past except for on a handful of sadder runs.  Overall this year I was a peace with Trial Toller and Practice Toller.

My main "new thing" this year was doing quite a bit of of running Vito in practice without a toy on me.  Showing Vito where his reward is, and then walking to the first obstacle to set him up and run.  Often stopping mid sequence and asking him to sit while I go get it for him.  I don't know if it helped but my thought was to try and bridge the gap between practice and trials for him.

The other thing I had to focus on this year was 1 jump work for knocking bars.  With the accumulation of speed in practice and insane craziness that went along with finally being able to do agility at home, I discovered Vito
was a horrible bar knocker when aroused.  It's like he didn't know he was supposed to keep the bar up.  We're still struggling, but are improving.  Bar knocking at trials has happened a few times, but since his speed and arousal isn't quite as high mostly Vito is doing well at keeping them up at shows.

And then in October was the discovery of Chuck-It Agility Toller.  For the last 4 trials Vito screamed his head off and ran full speed in a trial.  Not every run has been full speed, but I believe every single run since the use of the Launcher has had moments of sprinting in it.  Fingers are crossed that the magicalness of the Chuck It launcher continues in 2015.

Vito did mainly USDAA this year and did earn his MAD (general masters title).  I was even brave enough to try the Masters Challenger Standard classes 2 times and Vito rocked both courses with no problem making time.  In NADAC he finished up a few elite titles but needs chances Q's to actually get his elite versatility title.  Zero for 5 this year in that class, although the October trial he did actually complete the challenge, minus the knocked bar, and the last trial he did the distance components, just not quite in the right order.  Going away from Momma is not so easy for the Toller.

Obedience
Vito and I did quite a bit more obedience this year.  We actually did a handful of AKC obedience trials for the first time since 2010!  The Pre-Open class (Open, but no stays) was attempted 3 times this year, and the non titling classes of Wildcard Open and the  Advanced teamwork class were each done once as well.

The CDSP trials done this year in Open all went extremely well in terms of attitude.  And several of them were done without any treats given during the run.  The first AKC trial went fantastic and I had a very pushy dog.  Sadly the September trials at a different location had a lot more worry.  Vito was nervous about the crowd, steward, and judges,  The October AKC trial went better.  Vito still showed some worry in between exercises but got better as we went and mostly had nice attitude.  The Advanced Teamwork on day #2 was wildly entertaining as Vito failed every exercises other than heeling. But happiest Toller ever!

This past year I did quite a bit more actual training of the exercises than I have in years past.  I've been so focused on ring prep confidence work that there wasn't time to devote to anything else.  This year I continued our ring confidence work but actually did some training as well.  The main thing Vito needs now is to take the show on the road.

Goals for 2015
1.  Try Vito in AKC Open B.  I don't think the dogs will be an issue for group stay
s as Vito hardly acknowledges the presence of other dogs.  But I do need to practice his sit stay.  And of course general confidence.

2.  Accumulate as many Standard Q's in NADAC and USDAA as possible.  A NATCH and a ADCH might not be possible with the Toller, but he loves standard!  Especially focus on the Master Challengers class in USDAA.

3. Bar knocking criteria in practice.  Continued teaching Vito the importance of not knocking a bar when over aroused.  Practice will likely have to wait until spring when we can work on it at home when he's the most excited.

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Vito's 1 Month Chip

Yesterday marked 1 month since's Vito's last car ride with anxiety.  I don't think he has ever gone so long before without a panic attack in the car!  That's approximately 56 calm and relaxed rides.

Vito started Sertraline (Zoloft) in June when we stopped Amitriptyline and started his current dose in July.  He also is still getting Clonidine and Clorazepate twice daily.  It seems odd that for 5 months on the new drug he was pretty set on about 50% morning car rides panic inducing, especially if the car was facing the wrong way, or he had to get in the "wrong" side of the car since the sliding door wasn't working or...  and then suddenly the anxiety stopped.  This past month Vito has also been notably calmer in other situations.  No frantic pacing and insane arousal when visiting relatives.   Calm at the vet's office (although not his appointment, but still usually panic inducing).  Relaxed and seeking attention at his chiropractic appointment.  Able to be crated in a soft crate that wasn't his when I panicked and couldn't find Vito's at the club.  Many good things

We've certainly had other anxiety provoking events in this past month but I will enjoy the calmer Vito while I can.  If past experience provides any insight than this new hope won't last too long.

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Obedience trial and Pyra goes swimming

AKC obedience trial this weekend.  They were offering pre-open (same as open, but no group stays!) and I've been really wanting to show Vito in this class again since his re-debut back to AKC obedience this spring.  That was a fantastic day of showing for him so I had high hopes.

Vito in Pre- Open
Warmed up great.  Then could not get him to drive into the ring with me and even re-started twice. We had a tiny delay at the start so I tried to get a few hand touches and got nothing as he kept looking around.  Continued to have his eyes riveted on the judge during the leash hand off.  Lagging on the heeling to the point where he even went behind me and ended up on my right side for a small portion but overall he held it together.  Worse lagging on the figure 8 and had to sniff a steward.

Much improvement for the drop on recall and both retrieves. But very hard to get him to jump up for a hand touch or on me.  Setting up for the broad jump Vito's eyes were riveted on the judge and as I sent him he jumped and ran straight to him.  Possibly because he had the dumbbell?

Not a brave Toller.  Back again on Sunday to see if just a little bit of work I've put in the last 3 years can show up.

Lance in Utility
Fabulous job and attitude.  And then he decided to run towards me when I gave him the sit signal.  Curses.  Other than that he was really working his heeling, fronts and finishes.  Naughtyness only appeared on the first go out where he hovered his butt to the point where the judge had to walk to get a better angle to make sure that he wasn't actually sitting.

Lance in Open
Not as great of attitude.  Walked right up to the first board of the broad jump on the first exercise before jumping it nicely.  Tiny lag on the fast time of heeling and another tiny leg on the figure 8.  Corgi should not lag!

But held his long sit!!!!  And managed to get a 198 and 3rd place, but no points.
Lance is entered only in Utility on Sunday as I didn't want to do another group sit.

To make myself feel better about the Toller's mess I took the dogs on a walk across the street to the lake.  Didn't want to go to the nice park with the great trails and lake as I want to wait until Pyra is a bit older.  So we braved the long grass, burrs, and ticks!

Py's first time walking in non-training mode (as in not walking around the office at work, obedience club, or outside a store!).  It went great.

And then we made it to the water.

Thankfully she appears to be a natural swimmer!  The Duck found herself without ground under her a few times and didn't look like she was drowning!  Thank goodness as while Vito volunteered to teach her, I don't think any of us want that!

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Arousal Issues at the Park

That lovely little park I shared about earlier this week?  Yeah, it's already becoming too much for Vito.  Due to the lack of funding for trials, I've had the time to go visit the park quite a few times now.  And the Toller is getting worse and worse.  First visit he was calm and had a grand old time.  Second visit he was excited but able to think.  Third+ visit he has started Toller Screaming the second he sees another dog or if a person says hi to us.  He doesn't even care about other dogs or people, it's just an excuse to get excited.  On the way out of the park a few visits ago we passed a nice couple carrying some chuck its for their labs.  And that's when his brain completely fell out, I had the opportunity to educate about Toller Screams as I tried my hardest to haul the thrashing dog away, and now the spiraling to screaming on subsequent visits.

Training plan I'm making up as we go.  I don't want to lose this opportunity for Vito.  Normal dog plan might include hanging in the parking lot and doing mat work.  There's no way that would work for the neurotic dog.  Vito knows he has to swallow a treat when offered, but there's he doesn't want it.  And time doing nothing seems to amp him up more and more until he gets himself in a complete frenzy.  He's fine doing nothing after given a chance to blow some steam, but in the beginning he's like a tea kettle just waiting to explode.

So far my plan includes heading away from the path to the lake.  Keeping all dogs on leash for several minutes and then letting Vito the be the first one off leash for several more minutes.  If Vito is last he immediately starts screaming.  If all go at the same time, then more screaming.  If he's first, tiny scream but then there's less excitement when no one else is free.

Part two includes lots and lots of recalls.  I'm not worried about losing Vito (unless he sees a chuck it), but he gets so excited that he tends to just want to keep running and doesn't have any concept of checking back.  So lots of calling, making him swallow a cookie, and then his real reward of being released to run again.  If he doesn't come right away he goes back on leash for a minute.  Slowly might be starting to work.  At least at the end of our recent visit he started stopping on his own when he saw me stop and then I praised him and didn't make him come all the way back for the treat.  We were also able to pass some people and dogs towards the end without needing to put him on leash!

And finally no more toys.  Sorry Vito.  And sorry Gracie.

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Vito on Zoloft

4 good morning car rides in a row!!!  Lots of praying to Robot!

Vito has been taking Sertraline (Zoloft)z for 1 month now and has had two weeks at his current dose.  Because Vito is Vito, my breath continues to be held that it will last.

Vito is also doing better at work.  Much less reactive episodes to people walking by!  Hard to tell if this good change is due to the new drug or due to our cubicle move.  We just moved 3 cubes down but in the same little hallway so he has access to the exact same areas as before.  He can even lie under the desk of our old cube if he wants.  I thought the move farther away would be hard for Vito because he still needs to hear people to know he's not alone.  But I think having his bed at the far end helps to muffle the noises of approaching people.  The downside is that if he's having a bad day then he's really having a bad day; as his home base is now far away when he stands at the edge of the hallway by the gate to whine for momma.

He is experiencing a bit of a sedation effect still on his new drug.  I think it may be starting to wear off as he gets used to it though.  Always hard to tell with Vito if a flatter training session is because of drugs or because of his low "work ethic."

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Vito Behaviorist Recheck- Plan H?

Vito had another 6 month checkup with the veterinary behaviorist.  I can't believe he's been going to see her for 2.5 years now!

Overall picture- Well I think we are long past plan B or even plan C.  Yes, Vito is somehow even worse than he was at our last meeting.  That's a steady decline over the last year.  Which actually is pretty rare for my rollercoaster dog of ups, downs, and complete reversals.
Trials and training for dog sports is still going great.  General life not so much.  The hope I had for our long plan of weaning Vito off of Prozac and onto Amitryryptiline didn't pan out to much.  Zero improvement in any of Vito's anxiety areas.  Some worsening of reactivity and ability to relax at worse, but I don't think it's enough to attribute to the drug vs that's Vito.

Where we're at now:

Praying to Robot

- Car anxiety: Complete panic attacks every 1st car ride of the day.  Usually very calm on subsequent car rides.  Polar opposite dog.  I brought out his Robot a few weeks ago to see if that would help him take treats in the morning.  It did not.  But he loves to pray to it in the afternoon!

- Separation Anxiety: Same as where we were at in December.  Vito will start whining, panting, and howling if left for anything more than 15 minutes now.  It's safe to say we only do this in emergencies now.  It's not like I had a social life any way!

- At work: Continues to be very reactive to people walking by.  Reacts multiple times a day and has a hard time turning off.  In general he is also having 1 or 2 "Bad Days" a week where he just can't calm down.  Major panting and to a non dog savy person he looks "very happy" as the slightest touch will cause him to tuck his butt and start trying to sprint around the room.  Luckily I have some nice co workers who are willing to take him to their cubicle and let him pass out in his exhaustion.  Otherwise he has even started to do some howling when I leave him on those days.  Thankfully not every day is a Bad Day and he will often curl up under my desk and sleep when I'm gone.

New plan includes:
1. Wean off Amitriptyline.  Start Zoloft (Sertraline).  Back to the SSRI family.  Thankfully this is going to be a fairly fast wean and switcheroo.  Weeks instead of months.

2. DAP diffuser at work.  Yes we tried a DAP spray awhile ago for car rides and no it didn't have any effect then.  Hopes are not high for this, but I already have the plug in from our early behavioral work as a puppy.

Toller on a Needy Day at work

3. Give Vito a 3rd dosing of Clonidine before bedtime.  He gets the drug at 6am and 2:30pm now, so it's out of his system at bedtime.  Since he is the perfect bed partner I've found no need to do this before.  But we're hoping that just maybe the AM car ride will be better if his levels stay consistent.

4. Consider putting a signup and having coworkers chuck food at Vito during the day.  A potential concern of mine is that Vito is...special.  He already has a favorite coworker at work that he goes absolutely nuts when she arrives (only x1-2 a week she comes to the office).  Major panting and whining until she lets him go visit her cubicle.  She doesn't actually say Hi to him until he calms down, but it takes a good 10 minutes minimum.  And then he passes out underneath her desk and is a happy calm Toller.  But if he can't go visit because she's in a hurry then his arousal levels stay high and he's more anxious the rest of the day.

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The Stigma of Doggy Drugs

When people hear that Vito is on drugs they're usually pretty shocked.  Mainly because Vito's worse anxieties are typically hidden from public view, unless you're lucky enough to work with me!  But secondly because most people either aren't aware that dog's can benefit from the same drugs as people or worse they think drugs are an easy way out.  Almost always our conversation includes questions on whether or not I've tried this or that natural remedy or healing technique.  While people are well meaning, regardless of my answers to their questions it means I'm on the defensive side of my choice.

Happy?  Or stressing up into a frantic nutcase?

Natural and holistic treatments can help many dogs.  They can help take the edge off for both people and dogs in certain circumstances.  Vito has complete panic attacks at least once a day, if not more, on the average week day.  I often have to choose between the lesser of his anxieties when it comes to leaving him alone, taking him with, or changing a routine.  For dogs like Vito, flower essences, DAP, chiropractic, and thunder shirts are usually not going to do a thing to correct a chemical imbalance in the brain.  Exercise is great, but increasing it is also not a magical answer and in Vito's case the adrenaline can actually make his anxieties worse.  Turning to drugs is not an easy decision but I don't think it even has to be a last resort.  If my dogs get sick I'm going to try and treat them with all of the resources available.  Let's have the same respect towards the brain as we would for a broken foot or a diabetes.

So please, stop with the helpful advice on what supplement your friend should try unless you're asked.  Chances are she's already exhausted a long list of things and has for too long seen drugs as a last resort.  I know that I saw it that way and still hate that I feel defensive about my choice even without the help from others.  Hopefully someday we will get that magical combination of drugs that will restore balance to Vito's brain and stop his panic attacks.

Better posts on this topic:
Myth: Anxiety Medication Should Only Be Used as a Last Resort
Meds and Your Dogs, Part 1

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Vito Drug Update- Starting Amitriptyline

We started weaning Vito off is Prozac shortly after our move to the new house in December.  At 40mg, we had a long way to get down to nothing.  Finally after 2 months we had a new fake baseline.  "Fake" since Vito is still on twice daily doses of Clonidine and Clorazepate.

The process showed that Prozac was pretty much doing nothing for Vito anymore.  There was very little difference between Vito on 40mg and Vito on 0mg.  That was great news for me!  We  never had the falling out that I was dreading.  Of course in some respects that was because he was already so much worse that he was a year ago.

Differences I saw were as follows:

- Reactivity to people didn't get any worse, but he's still reacting several times a day at work to people talking and/or approaching my cubicle.  Does so with or without me there.

- Car rides were mixed bags between complete panic attacks with severe trembling and panting, to rides where he wants to eagerly stare at me waiting for cookies.  Mornings are currently worse than evenings.  A trend that seems to reverse itself every few months.

- Recovery from car rides or other stressful events are a big longer.  Most days he still has a quick recovery, but there are days where he has really bad mornings at work now.

- Leaving at home was initially OK for 90min.  But now he's howling and panting at 20min.  I don't dare leave him alone ever anymore.

- Higher energy.  Wanting to play a bit more than before and more eager to train.  Things that I desperately want to hold onto with drug changes.

So now Vito started Amitriptyline 3 weeks ago.  So far there's been no difference but he's only been on 25mg x2/day.  I increased it to 25g in the AM and 50mg in the evening this week.  

Vito will be staying with a wonderful friend who volunteered (yes, really!) to take care of him while I'm in Pennsylvania next week.  

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Vito's Re-Debut into AKC Obedience

Today Vito and I are celebrating.  After more than a 3 year hiatus from AKC obedience we stepped foot inside the Pre-Open ring together this morning.  Long time readers will recognize what a long journey it's been for us, and will continue to be for us, to get to this point where I finally felt ready to give the AKC ring a try again.

Pre Open is one of AKC's new optional titling classes.  It is essentially the exact same as Open, but without the group stays and the option for lower jump heights.  Since I've essentially spent the last 2 years working solely on Vito choosing to play with me without bribes, and a billion and one ring entrances, I haven't exactly done any group stay work with him in ages.  At this point while I think he would be OK in a lineup, it's not really something I wanted to gamble on with his confidence and certainly not something that was relevant to my goal for this trial.  So Pre- Open it was.  While Vito has done CDSP obedience a handful of times over the past 3 years, the experience is not quite the same as that of an AKC trial.  CDSP offers the ability to praise during exercises, treat in between exercises, offer simultneous hand signals and verbal commands, and a generally more relaxed atmosphere.  AKC is the gold standard of obedience for a reason.

I felt brave enough to enter, finally, because I knew we had a good chance getting the attitude I wanted and at last only a small chance of having a meltdown.  I figured even if he wasn't quite ON the way I was hoping for that we could finish the run without having had any real damage done to the work I've put in.  I only entered one day and chose Sunday because the judge is awesome and I knew he wouldn't give me a hard time if I chose to support Vito with extra praise if he needed it.
The greatest video ever:


Vito blew me away.  He had a few moments of disconnects after entering the ring and through the first leg of heeling.  But from then onward he was ON.  Heeling was bordering on forging and we definitely had some crowding!!!!  We had a no sit on the last halt but it didn't seem to deflate Vito at all as he happily jumped on me afterwards.  Actually on every single transition between exercises Vito was happy to jump on me and he even did a few high hand touches on the last transition.  I think this was one of the only times in a trial that Vito didn't just jump on me because I was asking him to, but did so out of joy.

On the retrieves and recall he didn't just trot but actually ran!  On the figure 8 a post was a child!  Wearing a hat!  We did a bonus figure 8 loop because the judge apparently wasn't quite ready for daylight savings and I threw him by going right.  So our halt was right before the inside post, something that can make it hard for Vito to regain momentum and negated my wanting to go right to drive, drive, drive the Toller.  Vito was still amazing!  At the very end he needed to go check out the judge.  But Phil is awesome and just gave Vito his dumbbell, turning the experience into judges=awesome.

Ok, things to work on.  Unsurprisingly, all are skills.
- Fronts :)  Vito is improving greatly at home with his fronts while holding an object but we're no where near being ready
- Drop on recall.  Vito had a slow response to my hand signal.  Actually, I'm blown away that he did it at all.  Vito is not a fan of downs and I wasn't sure if he would do it in a trial.  In CDSP I give both verbal and hand signal and I think he has needed it.  At home I've been doing a lot of drops, followed by backing up in a down (after that seminar).  Vito still doesn't like the initial drop, but LOVES his down-backs!
- Broad jump.  Another neglected exercise and one I can't practice at home.  He pretty much cut the corner and I expected to NQ.  The judge disagreed on the cutting part, but agreed that it was funky and deducted 2 points for the exercise.

Unfortunately neither of the 2 upcoming local AKC trials offer the Pre classes.  I am currently debating about doing 1 day of AKC rally but we will see.  Otherwise we will soon be entering the lull of obedience trials until late summer.  There is another CDSP trial in April that I will likely enter him in just for more fun ring=awesome experience.

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