Lilly and I apologize for the sudden, unexplained absence from blogging these last two weeks. Due to a new and difficult stage in our eldercare responsibilities, we cannot promise it won’t happen again, but we’ll do our best to keep afloat and provide some entertainment.
If you’ve not yet LIKE’d our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page, where we sometimes report on such life events, we’ll catch you up on the backstory behind our absence:
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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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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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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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After our one and only dog training class in public this year (over Thanksgiving), Amy from GoPetFriendly.com, pet travel made easy, asked an important question: “As long as we can navigate our daily lives without outbursts, I don’t really need to push [Buster's] boundaries. Have I just lost my motivation or gotten lazy? Have you ever felt the same way about Lilly?”
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For about 6 weeks now, Lilly’s chlomipramine dose has been just 75 mg ONCE a day (in the morning). We’ve dropped the nighttime dose. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but some new behaviors have cropped up. Now, I’m having doubts about the dog behavior meds decision.
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As a special Thanksgiving week event, we’ll be posting a few of our favorite videos of Lilly, our canine heroine, each day. Whether you’re seeing them for the first time (welcome, new readers) or get the chance to enjoy these reruns, we send our best holiday wishes. Today, Lilly on her home agility course.
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Maybe letting Lilly sleep in “the big bed” with us Tuesday night telegraphed that something was up. Maybe my ability to keep my worries to myself failed … because Lilly shook so hard with fear that the dog scale at the veterinary hospital sounded like an 18-wheeler going over a cattle grate.
It broke my heart, causing big, rolling tears to pour off my face and into Lilly’s fur as I tried to tell her that everything was going to be OK.
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My absence and recent spike in stress wreaks havoc on Lilly. It’s a terrible feeling to know my actions and emotions impact her well-being. Lilly is hiding … a lot. Read the rest of this entry »
Remember my rant about the viral “guilty dog” video? Well, I promised then to try and teach Lilly to look “guilty” without feeling bad about it, including a wiggly-wag, dropping her ears, squinting, and curling her lips.
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This is Bjorn ... the "baby"
A friend is facing a truly life-and-death medical emergency, so we’ve been pitching in with dog care around dinnertime while she is hospitalized and her family runs up and down the mountain. I am not a “Golden Retriever Person,” but after a few days with her three … I can see the appeal.
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In summers past, I lamented the resurgence of Lilly’s inexplicable fear flare-ups. It happens only in the summer and only in the evening. Trust me, we’ve run through all the possible scenarios. But, I have a new theory.
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Over the Independence Day Weekend, Lilly and I squeezed in some girl time for a hike. No trouble with mountain bikes on the hike-only day, but we did come face-to-face with two off-leash dogs. Not great, but it could have been worse.
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As I mentioned in Tuesday’s report about our recent hike with the girls from Cowgirl by Proxy, Lilly suffered a major fearful dog freakout on our short hike. I have several theories on why she melted down in the most unlikely place.
Fearful Dog Freakout Background
Lilly is somewhat famous for throwing herself to the ground in dramatic fashion (as if gravity suddenly got stronger right there). She curls one arm under, drops her head, tucks her tail, and flat out refuses to move.
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After more than four years blogging about real life with a fearful dog, I’ve learned a lot and made oodles of mistakes. When Caring 4 Creatures, a rescue group based in Atlanta, Georgia, asked me to write a guest post, I summed up several important lessons for anyone who adopts a fearful dog.
I hope you’ll pop on over there today to see what I have to say in the guest post called “Adopting a Fearful Dog,” including:
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