Yesterday afternoon after being dogless for the longest six weeks of my life I finally went to collect Princess Pei Face and Gwylim the Conqueror from Robbie and Anika's (Gwylim's breeder) who've been looking after them whilst I recovered from a broken wrist. As I was walking up the drive, thinking I was a stranger, this little black dog ran up to me, barking furiously, then suddenly stop when he realised who I was and literally threw himself into my arms, overjoyed to see his mum again! The Princess Pei Face was in deep conversation with Anika at the top of the garden and didn't take any notice of my arrival until I called her name and she couldn't get down the garden fast enough .... her body wriggling and tail wagging in delight, smothering me in sloppy kisses. It was nearly 6 pm when we arrived home. After exploring the garden, Gwylim came inside and inspected the house, then fully satisfied, parked his body on the sofa and went to sleep. Georgina went on a search for Sashicat who's had the run of the house whilst she's been away. Naturally Sashi was no where to be found which caused Georgie great anxiety. Determined to find her, she refused to come in for the next two hours by which time mum was exhausted! This morning thankfully she's more relaxed and has spent most her time sun bathing. Gwylim is making sure I don't leave him again by sticking to me like glue. I dare say though they'll both settle down within the next few days, but at the moment its hard going! On Sunday we start school again, a new one as Kinga decided to give up training to go back to university. Our new trainer, recommended by Robbie, specialises in training dogs (mostly GSD's) for the military and police but he also does individual training for "problem" dogs and I'm hoping he'll be able to help Georgie with her anxiety issues. I'd also like Gwylim to do either agility or maybe field trials but my main objective is to have two well behaved dogs I can take anywhere with me. Some photos taken this morning .... Gwylim in the living room Playing with his toys Claiming the sofa .. Georgina enjoying the sunshine
I am so happy for you Barbara, and for Princess Pei Face and Gwylim the Conqueror! Please take it easy now as I would hate for you to do a "nasty" and have to be without those two gorgeous characters again! (((hugs))) to you and two their Royal Highnesses! xxx [I would curtsey but I do not think I would then be able to get up from the floor where I had collapsed! ]
I'm glad you are reunited again. I bet there were moist eyes at the welcome you got. Don't try to do too much too quickly though. I hope you will post about the anxiety training advice - I'd be very interested, as Eddie had a panic attack at his obed. show yesterday, (at a plastic bag, would you believe!), and I had to abandon his round.
Tina .... I think they both enjoyed themselves, although the Princess did complain that the hotel wasn't quite up to her 5 star standard and she missed not having her personal chef to cater to her expensive taste in food. Malka .... Their Highnesses say that as you and Pereg are such special friends there's no need for you to curtsey .... you have their permission to kiss a Royal paw instead! Poor Eddie ... it's hard to see them in such distress and difficult to know how to help them. With Georgina it's strange noises that send her into a panic. Before she went on "holiday" she was getting much better and the number of times she panicked were getting fewer and shorter, but since she's come home they've definitely increased. Much of the problem is that she reacts to Gwylim's barking. He spent most of his life in an environment with none of the noises you hear in a village so all the noises and things he sees are new to him and he spends a lot of time barking which agitates the life out of Georgina! I started working with his barking at the TV when I first had him by standing with him in front of it and pointing at the screen and saying "television" which seemed to work as he no longer barks at it. This morning he kept rushing up to the washing machine and barking every time the cycle changed which distressed Georgie who paced around the kitchen whining. I ended up sitting with both dogs for half an hour, in front of the darned thing giving them treats and repeating the word "washing machine" until Georgie settled down. A little while later my neighbour Geza kept going backwards and forwards across the village green with a squeaky wheelbarrow and Gwylim ran to the gate barking furiously which set off Georgina who went rushing round the garden like a maniac. Fortunately Georgie knows Geza well and as soon as I told her who it was she calmed down and pottered back into the house. I'll be very interested to hear what the new trainer says because none of the manuals I've read or online searches I've made, tell you how to deal with a dog that suffers from panic attacks and the only thing I've had to go by is my own common sense which tells me to work through each fear systematically and with a great deal of patience. I'll keep you posted about the advice and training.
Dogs are very clever & this might sound very strange but is Gwylin barking just because he know you will sit with him & Georgie & knows you will give them both treats.
glad you have them home you must have missed them. Phoebe is a panickier and always has been. After 2 very miserable years trying to "fix" her i decided she is who she is and we just live with it. Same walks every day and same kennel block each visit and just doing things that fit such as late night walks. Some stuff she has had to get over such as walking past the wheelie bins on bin day and if a new sign/banner/flag appears on our walk i completely ignore her and just walk past what ever it is like its not there and give her a little good girl once past. Its helped as i found the more i fussed the more of a state she got in. It works with fireworks and thunder to i just ignore her to deal with it and shes learnt coping methods.
Yes I agree Katy, this always used to be the advice - that by giving the 'thing' attention, you reinforce the dog's belief that there really is something to worry about. The problem is, it doesn't seem to work in all situations. Once the dog has put up the shutters he's not listening anymore, so the only option is to remove him from the situation - and retreating can also become a habit. Desensitisation is the best way - finding a safe distance, and then gradually reducing it, but this doesn't work for noise, or those one off things that happen suddenly. Dogs, and humans, just seem to get stressed more easily these days.
Oh i know we have had some very bad times with Phoebe. Got caught out with fireworks last year i waited till after 11pm but some idiot decided to set his fireworks off anyway and it was a few weeks before she was back to normal. for days she didnt want to go out but we would make her but she wouldnt go potty so was doing it all in the house (nightmare) and each time we were out she would freak out when we got to where we were when the fireworks went off. Had it with an england flag on a house for the world cup aswell. There have been times mainly on walks when i have given up and come home as shes so upset then gone back out half hour later once she calmed down. We have one point in our night walk that we have to go to a safe distance as a house we go past has dogs in garden that bark at us when we pass but we cant actually see them and it really freaks phoebe out so have to cross over the road and on a friday the football club has a disco or something on and thats quite funny as she creeps up to it then just peeps through a gap in bushes staring at it. Not sure whats going on with that one, then when we walk back home she looks back it constantly till its out of site
Katy .... Georgina has no problem with things she sees, just sounds she hears and strangely enough thunder has never bothered her nor has the sound of the hunters shooting in the middle of the night. She was a confident puppy until she developed entropion at 4 months old and for the next 5 months her eye sight was so poor she panicked at anything and everything. After her last but one eye operation at 9 months old she's been much calmer until last week when she came home from her "holidays". Since then she's been the dog from hell! Last Wednesday afternoon I was so fed up with her (and Gwylim's barking) I shoved them in the house and went of to town without them. Not a very nice thing to do but at least it gave me some much needed thinking space to make some decisions. For the 6 weeks she been away she was fed on grain free kibble, not her usual home cooked and for the previous few days to avoid any tummy upsets I'd been giving her a mix of kibble and home cooked which I decided to stop that evening. I've started adding a stress supplement and Kalm Aid to her food and instead of giving her one meal a day she now has a small breakfast as well as her evening meal. That evening I ordered a thundershirt which should arrive next week and on Thursday morning I began tackling the problem of Gwylim's constant barking which I know is contributing to Georgie's anxiety. It would be nice to say all the changes have made a major difference in Georgie's behaviour, which has got better but not as much as I'd like. But ... there is hope as I found out yesterday when the two G's had their first session with their new trainer .... but I'll put that in a separate thread.
