Smart Setups

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Jamie

Keeping him busy and out of the way.

Having a puppy is a lot of work. I forgot how much work it is. LOL I like my adult dogs. The ones that already “get life” so I don’t have to monitor them all the time, worry about their bathroom needs, or deal with their frustration when they don’t get what they want RIGHT NOW. Also I hate puppy teeth–OUCH. However, it’s nice that I have not forgotten my dog trainer hat and have been able to recognize times when I can set us both up for success and build behaviors I want in my adult dog.

For example, sometimes I need to do dishes or cut up training treats in the kitchen. Kyber already spends a lot of time in his x-pen during the day and, eventually, he will get a chance to have more freedom in the house. I don’t want him “locked up” all the time! Sometimes I can’t watch him and do what I need to do but I don’t want him to cause mayhem in the kitchen either. When I need to focus on a task and keep a partial eye on my puppy, I give him something to do. Sometimes it’s a chewy or a food-stuffed toy. Something he will actively enjoy and focus on so I can split my focus and still keep him out of trouble. In addition, this teaches him to relax while I’m doing things in the kitchen AND keeps him out of my space and less interested in what I am doing. Win win.

But that’s not enough. Eventually, he is going to need to learn that he does not have access to things on the counter in the kitchen. This is hard for a puppy especially when I’m cutting up treats or preparing a meal. Right now, he cannot physically reach anything on the counter (but that will change!). Therefore, I’m starting now. If he is occupied with his chew or toy, I will toss him a treat. Double bonus for him. If he comes over and scrabbles on the counter interested in what I’m doing, I simply ignore him. He can’t get at it and I don’t want to reinforce the behavior in any way. If he gets down (or stays down in the first place), I will toss him a treat. When I treat him for having four on the floor in the kitchen, I toss the food away from where I am. I don’t want to encourage him to hover. I want him elsewhere. Eventually, I will reward him for laying on one of the kitchen rugs.

It’s amazing how well this works, too. I did a similar protocol with Kyu when he was a baby. Now, if I’m cutting up treats or food in the kitchen, I look over and find him laying on one of the rugs waiting for a goodie to be tossed his way.

Posted in Dog Toys, Puppy, Thoughts, Training | Leave a comment

Expectation versus Reality

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Jamie

My Awesome Dog herself, Risa.

Expectation:
– Go anywhere, do anything dog
– Walking buddy
– Agility dog
– Social and friendly with kids, dogs, and people
– I get to show off all I know about dog training
– Snuggly

Reality:
– Afraid of everything
– Great in the house; a behavioral mess outside
– Scared of kids and dog reactive
– Participating in dog sports requires a well-thought-out plan and additional stress
– GI problems throughout life
– Also IVDD, cancer, and allergies
– Project dog that required me to seriously rethink everything I knew about dogs. . .and a lot of what I thought about life
– Brilliant training partner
– Did not like to cuddle

Fuzzy Noodle boy, Kyu.

Expectation:
– Go anywhere, do anything dog
– Super amazing sport prospect
– So. Much. Potential.
– Bomb proof
– Playful
– Great training buddy
– Healthy
– Snuggly

Reality:
– Chronically ill with IBD
– Challenge to train; doesn’t learn like Risa plus he’s chronically ill
– Great hiking buddy
– Clingy (and not in a good way)
– Super dog-focused (I’ve moved to the opposite end of the scale here)
– Loves to cuddle

Young padawan, Kyber.

Expectation:
– Good combination of the traits I love about both Ri and Kyu
– A way to continue to grow and learn more about training
– Great sport dog
– Hiking buddy
– Fun and playful
– Social and confident
– HEALTHY PLEASE I CAN’T HANDLE ANOTHER CHRONICALLY ILL DOG

Reality:
TBD

Regardless of my hopes and dreams about my past dog, current dog, and future dogs; I will love them and do the best I can for them. The struggles are a chance to learn and grow. The relationship we share is the most important thing. <3

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Give Me A Break

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Jamie

I’m tired. I love my dogs but I’m tired.

Risa had several chronic illnesses and problems. IBS, food sensitivities/allergies, IVDD, and a chronic UTI at the end. Plus her slew of behavior problems. I spent her entire life managing problems. Don’t take this the wrong way; I love that dog. I love her more than words can say. But it’s tiring.

Kyu is not much better. He’s behaviorally normal but his IBD is far more stressing of a chronic illness than Risa’s IBS. His disease reared its ugly head and became a major problem about a month after I had to say “good bye” to Ri.

After trying to manage his GI troubles with diet, we attempted to treat with antibiotics. After 2 months, there was no improvement so I finally recognized I had no choice but to have an endoscopy/colonoscopy done so we could figure out what is truly going on. I received the results last weekend and it was as expected. White blood cells in his intestinal lining and some cells indicative of difficulty in processing fats. At least there were no overt signs of disease. He had some inflammation of his esophagus so we did a 10 day course of omeprazole and sucralfate. Now it’s on to tougher medicine for life-long management. He’s not even 5 years old.

I’m frustrated. I’m tired. I haven’t been able to catch a break. I spent 12+ years managing Risa’s issues only to spend another 2+ managing Kyu’s. And his breed is long-lived so I’m looking at another 10+ years of this. I love my dogs. I love them despite all the bullshit I have to deal with to keep them happy and healthy. But I’m tired. I’m really tired of having to deal with this. I just want to enjoy having a dog.

Along with his health issues, Kyu doesn’t give me a break in life either. He’s so sensitive to the smallest slight that half the time I have no idea what I did to mess things up. One day something is fine to do and the next time I try it he outright refuses. I have no idea why. It’s so damaging to our relationship and I don’t even realize I’ve done it. I know some things are obvious. He’s clearly not a fan of liquid medications (which is going to be a problem) and it was not exactly fun for either of us to try and get that taken care of. He did not want to go into the kitchen because he knew it was coming. One morning he ran away into the bedroom and wouldn’t come out. I can easily see why these moments are stressful for him and I could develop training plans to work through them. It’s the ones that come out of seemingly nowhere that leave me baffled and frustrated.

Like why do you no longer like to do the scratch board for your nails? I have absolutely no idea how I ruined that but now I get to fix it. Hopefully. Especially since nail trims are still his #1 most horrible thing Mom does to me ever.

With Risa, even if she didn’t like it, she’d let me do it. That’s not ideally how I want to build a relationship with my dogs but at least I knew I could do it if I had to. Kyu is not that forgiving and it adds further challenge to our lives together.

I’m frustrated. I’m tired. I just want to enjoy spending time with my dogs without so much emotional baggage.

Posted in GI Issues, IBD, IBS, Thoughts, Training | Leave a comment

Love/Hate Relationship

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Jamie

Handsomest Noodle.

I love my dog. I love the relationship we have and I love how ridiculous he is. Kyu is a lot of fun. But I also hate that he is chronically ill. I’ve been trying to manage his IBD for 2 years now. It’s a lot better than it was but he’s still not 100%. I can’t get him to stay stable and so he’s often not feeling his best. It’s been a long time since he felt great for any length of time. This makes him less fun to be around when he doesn’t have the desire to do anything. When he’s chronically underweight. When he refuses to eat food for weeks at a time.

He’s under the care of a great internal medicine doctor and I’ve been in contact with her about everything so that’s not the issue. We’re on the next option for treating his disease, antibiotics, but I worry that is bound for failure as well. And how long do I wait to determine if it’s working or not? It’s incredibly frustrating.

What’s most frustrating, however, is I feel cheated. Like I can’t have “my dog.” Kyu is doing well enough. He goes on walks and hikes. He chases squirrels. He plays with his dog friends. He does some training (mostly just PT work at this point). But he’s not himself. He doesn’t play much. He sleeps a lot. I’ve had times where I’ve caught glimpses of who he is but they’re infrequent and they don’t last. I feel robbed of this wonderful dog because of his disease. I don’t even care about his future in dog sports; I just want my buddy healthy.

It doesn’t help either that the world is still on lockdown. Moods are low. Anxiety and depression high. It makes it much easier to ruminate and feel disappointed about my dog’s current state. Why can’t he just be healthy? What did I do to deserve two chronically ill dogs back to back? If my next dog is chronically ill, will I give up on owning dogs altogether?

I’m hopeful I can get Kyu back to 100% again (or at least like 98%). I owe him that. He deserves to be happy. Even if life isn’t fair.

Posted in Decompression Walks, Dog Food, GI Issues, Homecooked, IBD, Thoughts | Leave a comment

Dog Training as Therapy

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Jamie

Dogs often find a way to change who we are. To force us to become better people.

For me, dog training has always been a bit therapeutic. A way to challenge my skills, learn new things, and connect with my dog. A way to work my brain and learn more about how brains work in general.

During this COVID craziness, in person dog training classes aren’t a thing for me. I’m not teaching nor am I taking. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to sign up for some online courses so that I can take the time to work on some of Kyu’s neglected skills while I help repair his injury and gut. It’s been nice to still have things to work on and that teacher/student connection. And sense of community. I’ve enjoyed having specific tasks to work on rather than just jumping around on various skills like I usually do.

The class I’m currently signed up for is new: Success with Sensitive Dogs. Risa was a sensitive dog but not nearly to the extreme Kyu is. I certainly feel some of his sensitivity is tied to his GI issues (which are improving) but it’s still something I wanted to work on with him.

What I hadn’t anticipated was how therapeutic the class would be for me. How cathartic it would be. I had to examine my own thoughts and psyche to dig down deep into the roots of our problem. Like, I know any training issue is always my fault. 🙂 But I really had to do some serious soul-searching to figure out why. I had to analyze myself, my thoughts, and my actions to really understand why I was doing what I was doing and how it was affecting our relationship. It was hard. I cried a few times. I was finally recognizing things about myself that had to change.

I learned a better way to cope with my thoughts (which affect my actions in dog training. . .and life). I came to understand that I needed to address aspects of myself that were only hurting our relationship (and, really, hurting myself). It wasn’t what I expected but it has been what I’ve needed. Never would have thought a dog training class would be actual therapy! But here I am learning how to be a better person all because I wanted to do better by my dog.

Posted in Dog Training Seminars, Fenzi Academy, GI Issues, Thoughts, Training | Leave a comment