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krlyr
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13-09-2010, 09:38 AM

The little/big achievements bragging thread

I spent ages hunting for this then realised it was on another forum so here's DP's own. Lots of us are dealing with dogs with issues, big or small, and sometimes you have a little milestone that may not seem worth a new thread, but you feel the need to tell someone - so go ahead, big achievement or little one, brag away!

I'll start off with my brag. Casper is dog-reactive, he's improved a lot from a big scary display to a calmer, more whiney reaction and he was greeting some strange doggies very nicely on our last group walk. However, when we popped to the vets on Sunday (that's another achievement - I was a bad mummy and let him get a little podgy as it's so hard to see how his weight is going visually as he has such a thick coat, he put a few kilos on when we'd been feeding supermarket raw when waiting for our regular deliver - but he's lost half of what he's put on and is almost back at ideal ) and I spotted a Golden Retriever sat in the waiting area. I was expecting a big fuss from Casper but other than a brief glance, he didn't even acknowledge it! I was very proud, especially as there were quite a few people waiting, I would've been quite red-faced if he'd kicked off! He even let a total stranger help squish him on to the scales (we were sent to a room with a smaller set than last time so he only just fit on ), they turned out to be a fellow GSD owner and made a big fuss of him. I really feel like I may actually have a pair of "normal" doggies in the near future - hopefully once I'm not living out in the sticks, he'll have a few more interactions with dogs and realise he doesn't need to kick off (not that I mind living in the sticks but it does mean a lack of other dogs to guage how he's progressing!)

Who's going next?
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wilbar
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13-09-2010, 10:14 AM
Good thread & well done for your progress with Caspar. Sometimes easy to focus on the "problem" rather than on the dog itself & then that's all you see. Just standing back & trying to observe & think about the dog's behaviour overall, not just the problem bits, can help get things into perspective.

Wilma's always been nervous about meeting new people but quickly adjusts if they are friendly to her (& especially if they throw her ball for her when we're out & about. We've overcome all the fearful behaviour on walks & I have no worries about her now & she's especially good with children ~ gentle & calm. But we've never totally solved the problem with strangers coming to my house. She barks & sometimes would jump up if allowed. Then she is hypervigilant & if the visitor moves, she's up & barking at them again.

I've done quite a bit of work on this, mostly using people that she's knows very well, then some she has met but doesn't know very well, & then some people she's never met but are knowledgeable dog people who understand her fears & can cope with her relapses.

But the other day, a friend that Wilma knows a bit, phoned to say that she & her new b/f were in the area & could they pop in for a cuppa? My friend realised this may upset Wilma but said she'd told her b/f about Wilma & he was happy to put up with her behaviour, if it was ok with me.

The initial bark was literally one or two barks, then they both sat on the sofa in the extension while I went to put the kettle on. When I came back, Wilma was sitting between them on the sofa, gazing at her new friend, who was laughing at the huge fluffy duck she was holding I was delighted but said that Wilma may still bark if he got up ~ but when they left, no barking, happy waggy tail, & a very calm & relaxed Wilma.

Maybe I'm not keeping up with Wilma's progress, or I'm guilty of falling into the habit of thinking that she's still got problems that are no longer there? I won't be complacent, but I'm very pleased that she's still improving.
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Kerryowner
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13-09-2010, 01:38 PM
I was really pleased yesterday at a dog show I went to with Parker. I had an upsetting incident at the last dog show we attended as the woman next to me with a Red Setter had glared at me in the ring and said "Don't bring that dog near me or my dog-Kerry Blues have nasty temperaments"!

Parker is a real sweet-heart of a Kerry-very mellow and well-trained. Totally unfair/unreasonable comment as I went and explained to her later. If she had a bad experience with a Kerry before and was concerned she should have asked me about my dog and not made assumptions.

Anyway we were at a dog show yesterday and one of the 3 judges came up and spoke to me as she had awarded me "Best in show" with Parker last month. She said to me what a nice dog I had and she had awarded me best in show as she liked his temperament and could see the bond we had. It made my day!
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Shani
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13-09-2010, 04:58 PM
Well done Krlyr, Wilbar & Kerryowner.
Remember: When acclompishing even a small milestone, keep in mind you've still had to walk the mile!

My/Muppets milestone was two days ago, after 3 months of me having to lift a terrified 17kg dog into my van, he finally got the idea...& jumped into the van. Just as well, the next day i pulled my back so lifting him would have been a problem.
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Helena54
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13-09-2010, 06:29 PM
Oh this is great, it does make you feel so good when you can actually see the progress being made with all the hard work you put in doesn't it.

I had issues with Zena being somewhat aggressive to some other dogs for no particular reason (only on initial greetings though), and I put it down to her constantly being attacked and launched at by either terriers or collies, they just don't seem to like her (maybe she's too pretty!!!). Anyhoo, of late, I've been putting her onlead or holding onto the rope of her ball when she's next to me coz I know she won't leave it when passing another dog and it's all worked fine. I've been asking other people if we can say hello if their dog is friendly, and all has been brilliant. Yesterday, on our return from holiday, we took her out mid-day and there were lots and lots of dogs she had never met before, some of which came over to her, but they always laid down, or approached her slowly, so although I called her back to me, I didn't actually put her onlead at all, and I think we must have met about 8 different dogs, she played nicely with all of them, or just greeted them beautifully, and this morning we did the same, she met a new lab and a bouncy puppy and no aggression whatsoever - brilliant! Now I don't know whether it's because I have actually GIVEN her this confidence BY putting her on that lead or holding that rope when meeting other dogs, or whether she's actually losing her fear of them because since her last attack by 3 labradors 2 months ago, everything we've met has been very friendly. Who knows, all I know is I'm liking seeing her like this, I would never want an aggressive gsd, but then again, I always felt guilty about stopping her from defending herself. I didn't want to stop her from meeting other dogs either, and I suppose I'll always be on the lookout and very aware, but hopefully, things might just continue in this new vein!

Another thing is the visitors, I seem to have the same as you Wilbar, purely because I don't get enough of them here, but she has surprised me with her calmness of late, after the initial manic barking at them, she gets her bit of sausage and is happy to go and fetch her football for them, and once they've thrown it, they're her friends for life and she's quiet and calm with them - onwards and upwards then!
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musky
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13-09-2010, 09:21 PM
great idea brilliant thread everyone

My Poppy {springer} came with so many issues, sometimes i feel like we take two step forward and three back, she has been quite out of sorts lately, and i couldn't work out why, I got some ideas from dogsey community , which was very helpful, and I got she checked out at our vet, he said she was fine, no problems as far as he could see, so i am putting her mood change down to being in season, But yesterday was a shock to me, someone let her out into the front garden {although she could not get out of the front garden} we have ducks and chickens there, normally i would have lost one, she would normally have gone immediately into hunt mode and killed something, but i went out to find her playing with a tennis ball as if this is was her normal behaviour, as a treat, we played in the garden for a while, it was great i even felt quite relaxed and on a roll i then took her off lead around through the back where we have more chickens and some turkeys, she walked by my side all away round and not once giving anything the evil eye.

when the OH returned i was so full of what had happened and he said that's nice dear
OK I'm not going to fling open all the gates just yet but i felt it was a big step forward I have been walking her round on her lead amongst the chucks for some time and although she has been off lead a couple of times, it always felt wrong she always had that scary excited {I'm going eat you mode} But today we did it again we walked around the garden amongst everyone and she pretty calm
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wilbar
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14-09-2010, 08:58 AM
It's lovely to hear about these successes ~ it renews my faith in the kind & caring dog owners that are out there.

Well done to all of you.

One thing I would add, & I was reminded of this by another thread, is that it does all of us no harm to be very aware of our dog's emotional state at the time of these successes (& when any relapses happen). Sometimes we think the successes & relapses seem to come out of the blue ~ but I bet if we could reliably gauge our dog's emotional state, we would find big differences in stress levels, in vigilance, in our dog's perception, confidence & trust in us. All these emotional states can make such huge differences to behaviour. So a confident, happy dog is far more likely to take notice of us & not to feel the need to react with aggression, hyperactivity or any of the behavioural states we want to eliminate.

Sometimes we are guilty of only seeing the "problem" that is presented, e.g. my dog starts lunging & barking at the sight of another dog. So all advice & behavioural therapy is directed solely at this problem. We are told to desensitise our dogs to the presence of other dogs & work through a counter-conditioning programme to solve the "problem". But this problem behaviour may just be the tip of the iceberg ~ & no way can it be solved whilst other more important & vital survival things are wrong in the dog's life.

So if you have a dog that feels unsafe, insecure, maybe remains unnaturally vigilant, finds it's owner's behavior unpredictable etc etc,you won't have a lot of success in sorting out the barking & lunging at other dogs. And with some rescue dogs you may have a lot of emotional baggage to resolve before you even think about other issues. First all the basic "survival" behaviours have to be addressed. Then once the dog is feeling calmer, more settled, less stressed & feels that life is predictable, very often the "tip of the iceberg" behaviours resolve themselves.
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krlyr
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14-09-2010, 09:11 AM
Originally Posted by wilbar View Post
So if you have a dog that feels unsafe, insecure, maybe remains unnaturally vigilant, finds it's owner's behavior unpredictable etc etc,you won't have a lot of success in sorting out the barking & lunging at other dogs. And with some rescue dogs you may have a lot of emotional baggage to resolve before you even think about other issues. First all the basic "survival" behaviours have to be addressed. Then once the dog is feeling calmer, more settled, less stressed & feels that life is predictable, very often the "tip of the iceberg" behaviours resolve themselves.
Definately - I would say that Casper's life is far more settled now than a year ago and I have noticed such a big difference in him in the last 6 months, he just seems a more chilled doggy all round. Not that you can blame him, having been in several homes before me, then back to his rescue, then to the rescue I adopted him from, plus one previous home apparently sent him off to one of those 'boarding schools' for dogs, so it seems like he was being carted all over the place - and all that before he reached age 3! A settled home, a calmer dog as a companion, a set routine and I think his raw diet has a big play in it too, and he's a much different dog. I think my confidence in him is growing too, which obviously he'll pick up and react accordingly - I'm still a bit overcautious but I've lost a lot of the worries I had which probably stemmed from my previous GSD being how she was. The more Casper proves to me that he's not the same way, the more confidence I get, and probably the more he gets too. His achievement of walking past the Golden Retreiver would seem quite out of the blue because we're not often put into that situation, but the reality may be that he would've behaved the exact same way a month ago if we'd made that vet trip then.
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wilbar
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14-09-2010, 09:47 AM
Originally Posted by krlyr View Post
Definately - I would say that Casper's life is far more settled now than a year ago and I have noticed such a big difference in him in the last 6 months, he just seems a more chilled doggy all round. Not that you can blame him, having been in several homes before me, then back to his rescue, then to the rescue I adopted him from, plus one previous home apparently sent him off to one of those 'boarding schools' for dogs, so it seems like he was being carted all over the place - and all that before he reached age 3! A settled home, a calmer dog as a companion, a set routine and I think his raw diet has a big play in it too, and he's a much different dog. I think my confidence in him is growing too, which obviously he'll pick up and react accordingly - I'm still a bit overcautious but I've lost a lot of the worries I had which probably stemmed from my previous GSD being how she was. The more Casper proves to me that he's not the same way, the more confidence I get, and probably the more he gets too. His achievement of walking past the Golden Retreiver would seem quite out of the blue because we're not often put into that situation, but the reality may be that he would've behaved the exact same way a month ago if we'd made that vet trip then.
I didn't realise what a lot Caspar had been through before you gave him a home ~ bless him. So it's not surprising that he had problems. But it sounds like you've done wonders for him.

Sometimes the initial progress does seem slow, & it can be months before any real, major changes are noticed ~ then they suddenly come on in leaps & bounds.

I think this is because the relaxing & destressing part takes a lot longer than we realise. As far as a dog's concerned, just because they've found a kind & loving forever home, they don't know this at first. Everything is new, unpredictable & sometimes a bit of a mystery to them. Sometimes they're not in the right physical & emotional state to learn about anything ~ it takes time for all the old feelings to fade. But once they become more settled, sleep properly, feel safe & secure & know that all their needs will be met, then we start to see the major & more noticeable changes ~ & this can takes months.

A very wise friend of mine once said that if in doubt, do nothing! Just leave the dog alone, feed it, provide water, company & interactions when it approaches, treat it kindly & consistently. And if you do nothing else ~ this often works with these sort of dogs.
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Vicki_Ann
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14-09-2010, 02:53 PM
My rescue boy, Bear, has made some brilliant progress since we've brought him home.

And I had a huge smile on my face the other day when I looked over to see him asleep with Shiloh lying/cuddling right next to him! He had a bit of a grumble, and then accepted it and went back to sleep

I was so pleased, my own confidence in Bear has been knocked time and time again it's felt and little things like that really make me realise that despite what is said about male PMDs, there is always the possibility, with understanding and time, to reverse the damage done!

I was so pleased, there's photos in the doggy pictures bit of them sleeping together

And just this second, Shiloh has laid down next to Bear in the same way, and Bear's given one grumble, been told 'no' and then just carried on snoozing

Fingers crossed !!!!
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