It snowed a LOT on Sunday, so we did not go to class. Maybe it’s the long winter. Maybe it’s because Tom was traveling last week, so I had a whole week of single puppy-mom-hood. But, truth be told, I’m a bit stuck.
After many months on the medications, Lilly does seem all around happier, a bit less skittish. What used to be her baseline anxiety does seem lower. She still, however, has odd times (many this week) where she bugs me to play outside, but after just a few throws or jumps loses interest. I had hoped it was a side-effect that would fade, but now I’m not sure.
I’ve gotten lax about tracking how much she snarks at other dogs (with my checkmark, X, tilda system). You could assume that means she’s doing it less, but it may also just mean I’m not as worried when she does. I’m pretty keen on her triggers now, so when/if it happens, I usually understand why … rather than it freaking me out or catching me off guard. These days, I guess, her reactions to a single trigger are smaller. And, it takes several triggers in a row to cause something requiring a recovery. When she does need to recover, it happens pretty quick.
That’s progress. Yes? Still … I’m tempted to ask for a small increase in her dose, just to see if we can stop the snark all together.
Now that our weekly class rotates through a bunch of locations around town, it’s a real challenge for Lilly. Both Gigi (our trainer) and I are actually quite surprised at how well Lilly has done is some of these locations. Only the natural pet store really freaked her out. Only the trifecta of bunny, duck, squirrel at the library park made me invisible.
So, that too is progress.
I guess my questions are these:
What next?
Is it time to push a little harder to challenge her more?
Or do I risk a major setback if I do?
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