While this is technically week 5 of the new plan, it is the first week with Lilly on the full therapeutic dose of clomipramine. So, she’s up to 60 mg twice a day, plus the .5 mg of alprazolam twice a day (that dose has been the same since we added it). So, we’re up to ramming speed in terms of brain chemistry. Like me, you might be wondering: Now what?
Adding Sound to SIT-STAY Work
Well, this week I also moved on from part 1a (very basic SIT-STAY program) and part 1b (some pretty simple WATCH ME work) to part 2, which is a more challenging version of the SIT-STAY program. In addition to the ceiling fan and window fear work that I’d already added at the end of our 30-day run with part 1a, we’re now working through additional sound challenges. And, for a sound sensitive dog like Lilly, that’s no simple matter.
Controlled sound exposures included things like:
- Making the microwave beep
- Turning on the dishwasher
- Banging pots and lids a bit
- Dropping items on the floor between us
- Slapping the wall with my palm
I was surprised when she popped up for the microwave since she’s in the kitchen a lot with me, when I’m defrosting things for dinner. But, after just a couple tries, she stayed still.
Considering that Lilly has always been terrified by paper noises, I’m shocked that she stayed put when I tossed a magazine and it slapped our tile floor. She also handled a tissue box, a metal writing pen, an egg carton, and a small metal tool OK.
Two things threw her:
- A bag of dog treats (dried duck breast)
- A plastic spice jar
The bag she eventually conquered, but the jar really bothered her, so after a couple tries, I backtracked to the metal writing pen, and when she got that OK, I moved on.
I’m also doing weird things like laying flat on the floor near her. She did fine when I got up immediately, but a few days later, when I had to lay there for 15-20 seconds, she had a very hard time sitting still. It took 3 tries, I believe, before she stayed put.
My guess is that it’s throwing her because I tend to get low when I invite her attention. Now that she’s not allowed to demand my attention, she knows that a lower body posture means it’s OK to come kiss me. So, I’m sure the mixed context is confusing.
The other thing I’m sure she finds odd is that I turn my back on her when she breaks the say. I turn away for 15 seconds or so, before trying again. Except … here’s the thing: Some of the SIT-STAY tasks require me to turn my back on her and wait for various periods of time.
A Two-Day Setback
I didn’t write about it last week because I was so bummed, but Lilly had a tough walk, just a regular exercise walk, and it took her 2 days to recover. Since I cannot control the environment in our neighborhood, we sometimes face stimuli that Lilly is NOT ready for and is NOT called for in the plan for quite some time. Tuesday, a week ago, she had 3 relatively negative encounters with dogs (one “stray,” two barking at her behind a fence, and two running by with their biking owner). Any one of them, I think she could have handled OK and moved on, but 3 bam-bam-bam was too much.
Sadly, it was a THREE SNARK morning.
And, if you’re wondering, I did use the spray for the first time on dog #1. It did NOT stop him. He kept coming. She snarked at him, then about 10 seconds later, he got a funny look on his face, sneezed, but continued to follow us … for about a mile. However, he did NOT ever again get within about 10 feet of Lilly. I’m hoping he’ll think again before approaching us in the future, but I’m not sure he’s that bright. Thankfully, we haven’t seen him at all this week, so maybe they finally fixed their fence or whatever that was allowing him out EVERY morning.
I thought Lilly recovered OK, but when she snarked that the barking dogs and then again at the ones running by as we got home, I knew she wasn’t.
Then, for 2 straight days, some of her fear behaviors in the house returned. And, those days in our SIT-STAY training sessions were T-O-U-G-H. She was completely freaked out by everything.
So, it seems, for now … even on the meds … an intense encounter (or series of them) can put her off for a couple days.
Are You Talking to Me?
The other thing of note is that Lilly seems to be slow to respond to WATCH ME or other simple requests I’m allowed to make now. Rather than the whiplash responses of the past, it takes her 3-5 seconds to comply with a cue … if she responds at all.
That’s a polite way of saying she’s ignoring me, blowing me off, etc.
It might be the meds are dulling her response. Or, maybe since we are not doing active-task training, she’s getting rusty.
I shared these insights with our behaviorist earlier this week, but I have not received her commentary on it yet. We’re having some email problems. She gets my notes. I don’t get hers.
Happy almost end-of-summer to all of you. Feel free to post any questions or comments if there’s anything about our journey that doesn’t make sense.
That’s a good idea. I’ll have to try that, and see if she picks up the difference.
RE: turning your back. Could you turn to the left when you’re giving negative feedback and to the right when it’s part of the task? I don’t know how cued in dogs are to our specific movements, but since Lilly is so observant, she may learn to differentiate.
Good on you for spraying the dog!
Maybe the slower response to your cues is simply the mellower Lilly showing through. It seems like lower levels of stress hormones might make her less rapid-fire in her responses. In that case, it’s a good sign. Just a thought.