Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

I’ve censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/38861/uncensor

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Rather than write a single comprehensive dog product review of the ThunderShirt, I’m going to write a series of reports over time so that, together, we can work through the ups and downs for our fearful canine heroine.

After last Friday’s post, where I first raised the question of ThunderShirt expectations and results, a helpful discussion got underway both in the blog comments section and on our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page. Huge thanks to everyone who weighed in with how the ThunderShirt did (or did not) help their dog.

I alluded to the fact that our real-world test of the ThunderShirt wasn’t going as well as I had hoped. Here are some additional, early, details.

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The whole New Year thing bugs me. I’m not big on resolutions because the truth is that every day could be considered an important threshold — not just December 31. So, this little reflection takes root in one dramatic realization that came with the onset of truly cold temperatures.

Here’s how it went down.

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In spring 2011, I bought Tom 19 goldfish for our pond out front. Their numbers quickly dwindled to 6, maybe 8. Our best guess is that birds or maybe a raccoon got them since we never found floating bodies. Due to wild moss overgrowth in late summer, we haven’t seen the little sweeties since August. Then, the pond froze.

The valley experienced some early, sub-zero temperatures for about a week, and the ice blocked our chances of getting the fish out. Our plan had been either to (a) overwinter them at the humane society pond or (b) overwinter them in a tub in the house (as we did in the past, with our first batch of fish that lived 3 years).

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Lilly, our intrepid canine heroine,  is an avid hunter of small game. Mice and voles, mostly. In spring 2009, we posted an hunting instructional video — master class, if you will — of Lilly at work. Today, we share the winter edition of Lilly hunting. Her initial pounce alone is worth a chuckle. (Don’t worry. She doesn’t catch anything.)

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Longtime syndicated columnist and dog writer Steve Dale recently published a new eBook through Tribune Media Services — Good Dog. Since I don’t have a Kindle, I’ve not had the chance to read it. However, when I asked Dale about the history of dog training — going back to before I was born — he shared some interesting insights.

You see, I knew that the dominance / punishment style of dog training that I loathe really took hold back in the 1960s. What I did NOT know is that positive reinforcement practitioners were also on the scene back then.

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I could use some help establishing expectations about Lilly’s ongoing struggle with anxiety. Living with a fearful dog can be a day-to-day, minute-by-minute thing, and I’m used to that. However, I’m trying to get a grip on what I can and cannot expect going forward as well as what shifts in dog behavior matter at this point.

Come May, Lilly will be 8 years old. That means we’re 7 1/2 years into her fearful dog reality as a member of our family and a good 5 years since we saw a major shift in her fearful behavior as she reached social maturity (around age 2 – 2 1/2).

In summer 2008, 8ur dog behavior modification work (combined with dog anxiety medications) got underway in earnest (after a couple of years of trying herbal and other scent-based remedies). This includes the Dog Relaxation Protocol MP3 files for which we are now famous for recording and providing FREE downloads.

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Living in a relatively remote area and working from home (13 years now) means I enjoy the luxury of being with my dogs nearly 24/7. That doesn’t mean I’m mentally present for them all the time, but I am around for them. I do get to say, “Hey, buddy.” or “Who wants a snack?” throughout the day.

Granted, my questions could just as easily include:

• What’s that noise / smell / commotion?
• Do you really need to go out AGAIN?
• How do you expect me to think when you keep interrupting me?

Often, the dogs aren’t at all subtle when making their needs known.

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As Lilly and I began our holiday time off, we issued a challenge to our readers and fans via Facebook to spend one solid day (24 straight hours) with their dogs. Yes, in many cases, that means sleeping or cuddling a lot, but we’d love to know what else you did on your dog day.

Our dog days vary depending upon weather. For example, over the holidays a boatload of snow fell in our valley. The storms included cold temps and wind. We did indeed sled a lot one day, Alas, when the temps finally warmed up after xmas, the winds went wild with, seriously, 100 mile-per-hour gusts for several days.

We’re hearty girls around here, but not that hearty.

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Subtitle? How Lilly spent her holiday vacation. Being a crazy-smart girl, Lilly knows how to ride a snow sled while being pulled along, but she also sometimes rides down the hill with me. Over our holiday break, we enlisted Mr. Champion of My Heart to shoot some video.

I’m not keen on being immortalized in video bundled up in my bulky snow suit. We thought you might enjoy seeing what we did with all the snow that fell on the Winter Solstice.

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Doesn’t every media outlet release a list of some sort this time of year? We’re joining the fray with our top 5 news items for 2011.

The year didn’t go at all as we’d planned, which is disappointing in many ways, but you can only do what you can do when distractions and demands leave zero time for pursuing your bigger goals.

I suppose the biggest feelings at the end of 2011 are relief and gratitude that we survived relatively unscathed. C’mon 2012, we’re counting on you.

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Almost immediately after putting Lilly back on a full dose of her dog anxiety medications, we saw a dramatic change in her behavior.

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Thanks to my work, writing pet industry and pet consumer articles for magazines and online outlets, I interview lots of amazing people and pioneers. The latest one to catch my fancy? A cat named Bug, who hikes, canoes, and sometimes oversees events at her human companion’s veterinary practice (Westside Family Pet Clinic in Madison, Wisconsin).

OK, I might be a tad partial to Bug since that’s one of Lilly’s nicknames, but she is an awesome, awesome kitty. Observe. Continue Reading »

Rather than cutting down a great tree and bringing it indoors for the Yule season, we choose instead to decorate one on our land. We planted this tree many years ago. Boy, has it grown? I’ll need to buy more lights next year. Here are a few holiday decor pix from the girls of Champion of My Heart.

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To balance the posts lately about Lilly being less than great to Ginko, here is a dog video showing how much the dogs really do love each other. Our holiday message for 2011? Nibble on the ones you love. Ho ho ho!

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