Walk the Walk!

Before Rhiya came into my life I had a wonderful, perfectly peaceful, German shepherd mix named Reina. She definitely spoiled me in the walking department, and heck, every other aspect of dog ownership as well. Reina was always easy to walk, and she could be off leash pretty much any time. I remember countless summer days where she would just lay in the front yard while I detailed my car.

...Then along came Rhiya, with all of her complexities, and she has helped me grow and become a better dog parent. I've learned so many things from her that I couldn't possibly list them all. One major new perspective is the importance of respect to and from other dogs and their owners. Since Rhiya has reactivity issues, it can be very stressful for her, and myself, when we come into contact with an off leash dog. This has opened my eyes to the possible issues caused by allowing a dog off leash. My main goal is to ALWAYS keep the dogs safe, and this includes Rhiya! It makes our training process more productive when other dog parents don't allow their dogs to run freely, so I now fully understand the impact of what a dog at large could mean to other people and dogs.

There have been numerous times we've encountered an off leash dog who has come rushing up to us while the owner yells, "Don't worry. She's friendly!".... all I can think is, "yeah... well that's great for your dog.... but mine isn't so comfortable making new friends."  Then my mind drifts away and remembers how I use to be THAT owner, the one that yelled "oh no worries, Reina just wants to make friends."  I never realized how dangerous that simple sentence could turn out.  Being on the flip side of things now has allowed me to really understand why proper walking etiquette and leash manners are so important for everyone to follow, whether you're walking your own dogs or using dog walking services. Just as there are people who prefer calm, minimal social interactions, there are dogs that aren't necessarily keen to the idea of having a ton of doggy friends. Your dog may be an extrovert, but that doesn't mean my dog is. ha ha :-)  

Rhiya and I use to, flat out, avoid areas that had the potential for dogs off leash because I didn't want to stress her out... or deal with the looks other people would give us. It frustrated me that people were so quick to judge Rhiya based on her outbursts, and what they always failed to see was an owner refusing to give up on a smart, loving, caring dog.  But part of Rhiya's counter-conditioning training was to find a way for her to be in the presence of other dogs and keep her under threshold, the point at which she reacts, so we couldn't avoid dogs for long.  This is where the importance of dog walking etiquette from other dog parents really comes into play because it's very hard to keep my dog under threshold, to train and benefit from each encounter, when another dog is charging toward us. 

As a responsible, and probably somewhat over protective, dog parent, I am always focused on how to ensure the safety and well being of my dogs. Rhiya is ALWAYS leashed anytime we are outside of our home or backyard. My other two, Dallas and Samantha, are only allowed off leash when we walk out to the mail box, go to get in the car, or go on a mountain hike. Even then, I am always carrying their leashes so I can give them a recall command for leashing up if needed. It is my duty to be responsible and respectful when walking my dogs so I don't hinder another dog's training progress.

A simple leash could help save your dog from so many dangerous circumstances. It can prevent them from walking off to follow their nose if they catch a good scent, running into the street and possibly getting hit, encountering a nervous dog, or even being taken by a stranger. Whether you have a new puppy, or a sweet old soul, the leash should be your friend as well as the dog. It shows that your priority is to keep your dog safe and also respect other dogs out walking with their humans.

One last, but also very IMPORTANT, tip... If you have human children, please teach them the importance of ALWAYS asking to approach and pet a dog BEFORE actually doing so. Since some dogs are nervous around new people or children, this simple question could prevent your child from having a bad experience, while also helping the dog to not create another negative association with the trigger object, in this case precious, tiny humans. I will say I have been impressed with the amount of kids Rhiya and I have encountered, while out walking, who have been taught this. I always make sure to thank them enthusiastically for asking first, but then let them know that Rhiya doesn't always do well with strangers. They usually smile and say okay, and I've even had a few parents who have thanked me for knowing my dog so well. You know the saying, "It takes a village... (to raise a child)"? Well I believe this can apply to many aspects in life including dogs. Together, we can all play an important role in helping all dogs become the best dogs they can be. 

Pupdate! Pupdate! Read all about it!

Life never seems to slow down, and with me working 45-50+ hours each week, blog posts have taken a back seat unfortunately.  I never did forget to stop for a picture on each walk though, so I've put them in the slide show above for anyone who enjoys Rhiya's smiling face as much as I do.  Well it's June 20th which is the first official day of the summer season, and that also means the "100 by Summer Dog Walking Challenge" has drawn to a close. So...Did we do it?? Did we hit the 100 miles?

(-: YES WE DID! :-) 

I have a total of 174.61 dog walking miles, 101.18 miles with Rhiya, 61.99 miles with Dallas, and 20.89 miles with Samantha. I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed this challenge since I have always loved to go walking with my dogs, but it has been really neat to accurately track and see how many miles we have actually walked. It has helped me stay focused and dedicated to training time with Rhiya so that she can make progress in the CARE Protocol Process. 

There have been NUMEROUS times that Rhiya and I have been walking, where we've had dogs barking and charging their fences on both sides of the street. A year ago she would have absolutely lost it and started lunging and barking back.  Now she is able to walk with me and stay focused on her commands. While her breathing does still increase, and I can tell she gets anxious when we are in theses types of situations, very rarely will she bark back.  I couldn't even tell you the last time she lunged toward any barking dogs, and I'm in absolute awe of her progress. At the beginning of this, it was difficult at times since there wasn't an instant noticeable amount of progress... But I told myself I was going to trust in the process and give it time because Rhiya is worth it, and it definitely couldn't hurt anything.... I'm so proud of her and how far she has come. We still have a ways to go and Rhiya might always be a work in progress, but she seems to be less nervous on walks which is all I wanted for her. 

100 By Summer motivator

On march 20th we started a challenge with a group on Facebook, and our goal is to walk 100 miles (or more) between the first day of spring, march 20th, and the first day of summer, June 20th. I have always loved walking my dog, but I will admit that after working 9-10 hours 5 days a week I have come home numerous times and just played ball with the dogs to get out some of their energy. While this is great to tire them out a bit physically, it hasn't helped Rhiya's reactivity. So with the help of the challenge, the warmer weather, and my new fitbit that my fiance got me for my birthday in mid march, our number of walks have increased significantly. Getting Rhiya out and exposed to other unknown noises, objects, and dogs is the key to helping her overcome her fear and anxiety. 

So its Time to play catch up with the posting. We have had so many successful walks over the past week that I haven't had time to update this. It has been absolutely amazing to watch Rhiya's progress, and to see her not be as stressed when we're out and about. Don't get me wrong, its definitely not time for her to have a romp at the dog park anytime soon, but we have made significant progress. 

March 31st, 2016

We walked around our neighborhood and encountered several dogs, ones we had seen before and ones we had not. there were times, again that we were walking down the middle of the road and dogs on each side were barking/charging the fences.... no outbursts. 

3/31/2016 - walked around our neighborhood

April 2nd, 2016

this day/walk/picture says more and means more to me than probably anyone will ever know. I remember 8 or so months ago when I first made the decision to put Rhiya on doggy Prozac... We spent several days/evenings out sitting in the car and dog watching. she would freak out in the car sometimes, and then pretty soon she settled down a bit and got the hang of "Trigger" watching. We did this a few times up at the Portneuf Wellness Complex since there were always different dogs there. NEVER would I have thought that Rhiya and I would be able to walk on the same path as these dogs less than a year later. I'm absolutely amazed. I almost didn't take her there because i didn't know if i could keep her under threshold with the possibility of seeing a lot of dogs, but on the way home from visiting "Grandma" i thought i would at least try it and see how far we could get, and then i would at least know if this place was a possibility for future walks or not. 

On this walk we encountered a black pug and a corgi. When she would see them, her ears would perk up a bit and then I would give her the "watch me" command. We would always swing out wide a bit to give enough cushion space so that Rhiya would stay under threshold. She didn't react at all. she would look at them and look back at me, resulting in lots of treats and praise. 

4/2/2016 - Walking at the Portneuf Wellness Complex

April 3rd, 2016

Since Rhiya did SO WELL at the PWC the day before, I decided to take her up there again... this time the fiance joined us and was able to take this pic of her laying down and waiting for this dog to pass. on this walk we encountered several dogs including 3 labs, a chihuahua, a spaniel, and an Irish Wolfhound. She didn't show any reaction to any of them until the very last one we passed, and then she huffed a bit and had a short low throat growl. but with a pick up of our pace, "Watch me" command, and a treat i was able to get her focus back on me as we finished passing the dog.  In her defense we were on a part of the path that has giant rocks on either side of the embankments going down so we couldn't really give her much cushion space between her and the other dog. There was no lunging towards the other dog though, which is a huge improvement!! I'm so proud of her. 

pictured here is one of the dogs we passed a couple times. This was the 2nd time we had passed this furry four legged "friend", and both times she noticed the dog and didn't have any outbursts. we are about 15 feet away from the dog in this picture, which is saying a lot for Rhiya's progress. 

4/3/2016 - walking at the Portneuf Wellness Complex again.

April 5th, 2016

Continuing on with the amazing progress she is showing, we went up to PWC for a third time.... and it wont be our last visit either. This walking path seems to tire hiya out a bit more than just our neighborhood stroll because there's a long portion where its up hill.  Between the training on no reactivity towards other dogs and the 'terrain' of this location, the physical and mental stimulation is covered. 

4/5/2016 - walking at the Portneuf Wellness Complex a third time. 

April 7th, 2016

We walked around our neighborhood again for a change of scenery and she did just beautifully. Consistency is key... and i realize now that i had lacked in this sometimes; 

4/7/2016 - walking around our neighborhood.

well those are our updates. we are going to try some other walking paths/parks in the coming week. :-) thank you for all your continued support and encouragement. check back for more updates.

Rhiya brought a puppy home...

Well... yesterday was an eventful day after work. I got off work late, checked my phone, and saw a text that Ben (the fiance) had sent me an hour earlier. It read, "I was going to take Rhiya on a walk, but did you want me to wait til you get home?"

... so I reply back, "Yeah I was planning to walk with her tonight. I'm just leaving work."

To which he replies to me with, "Ok well we are actually almost done."

... and i respond with, "Okay. then no worries."

So I'm almost home when I get a phone call from Ben asking where I'm at and telling me that I might pass him and Rhiya on our street.  Then he says, "You'll never guess what we picked up!' ... I think of everything possible and still can't figure out what he's talking about. Rhiya isn't really the type of dog to pick up sticks, or other items along the way. She is too anxious scanning the path for possible "Threats".

Finally, Ben says, "We picked up a little yellow lab puppy..."

I'M SPEECHLESS at that point, wondering if he's lost his mind. Contemplating HOW in the hell they are near another dog on their walk... and more importantly WHAT is Rhiya doing while in the presence of this dog. Is she safe?  Is the other dog safe?  ... and if she isn't reacting, am I the one that is causing her to be reactive???

So as I turn onto our street, sure enough, I see Ben walking with Rhiya on his left, and the yellow lab "Puppy", who is probably about 6-8 months old, so not really "little puppy" sized, wandering in the front yards of houses on our street to the right of Ben. Ben and Rhiya were walking on the sidewalk, Rhiya looking at the yellow lab, then back to the front, then back at Ben, and back to the yellow lab.... not thrashing around on the leash or lunging towards the dog, NOTHING!

I WAS STUNNED!!!

So I drive ahead a bit and pull into our driveway, with Ben and Rhiya close behind... followed by the yellow lab. Ben takes Rhiya inside, still no freak outs from her, AMAZING. I kneel down,  the yellow lab comes over, and I notice she has a city pet license. So I grab the spare leash out of my car, and Ben and I rush to the city offices, only to get there 4 minutes late and then realize it was a Pocatello license, not Chubbuck license. So we rush to my vet who is 5 minutes away, and open until 5:30 pm, with the hopes that maybe this sweet girl has a microchip... no luck. :-(

So I snap some pics, post them on "social media"... also known as Facebook... and we head back to our neighborhood so that Ben can show me where the dog first "picked them up". After about 45 minutes of slowly driving through the neighborhood and asking random people if they may know who the pup belongs to, we finally found her dad! It turns out the sweet young girl was named Maggie, and her dad, Johnathan, was happy to have her back. Johnathan is part of the construction crew building a house in our neighborhood. I kindly suggested to him that he get her chipped so that if Maggie goes exploring again, she will always get back to him!

So it was a happy ending to an encounter that could have had many different outcomes! Ben said when Maggie first came up behind Rhiya, that it did startle Rhiya, but instead of Rhiya lunging toward Maggie Rhiya tried to pull away while huffing a puffing slightly. Still this is a HUGE improvement over her reactions/outbursts a year ago.

I'M ONE PROUD MAMA!!!

I'm even more proud to have a wonderful fiance willing to take my "Trouble Child" out and work with her!!! He's a keeper ladies... and he's off the market LOL :-)


ps... There's NOTHING sexier than a man wearing a treat pouch on his hip!!!

Mondays aren't always bad!

Rhiya and I went walking again Monday night since Sunday had gone SOOO well. Again, I loaded up the treat bag, put on her halti head collar and we headed out. She is getting more focused on me since I have tried to switch things up a bit by turning around without much, if any, warning, stopping to make her sit and do some tricks, and constantly talking to her while we walk. I'm sure others who are out can hear us and they may think I'm crazy... Good, I am! :-)

Again we passed by several houses and yards with dogs barking. She would look at the dog, while panting heavily, and then look back at me. I'm so proud of her I can hardly contain my excitement. We only had one Bark for the entire 2.15 mile walk on Monday night. It occurred while we were walking past a house and a schnauzer was barking and charging at his fence. Rhiya and I were on the other side of the street from this dog, and the minute she saw him charge the fence she Barked pretty loudly. I quickly responded with a "Leave It" command and we turned around to head the other way. She was still looking at the dog and then looking back at me, but she didn't make any other noise at all. we were able to re-approach and pass by the house with the schnauzer.

I'm still continuing to work on the C.A.R.E. protocol in that whenever she looks at a dog and doesn't bark she gets a treat and a "GOOD GIRL!!!" we are keeping our distance right now to make sure she can stay under threshold, but we will slowly move closer to the triggers in hopes of making more progress. She is such a smart dog, and I am so lucky shes in my life.  That may not make much sense to some of you, but she has taught me so much.

Here are a few pictures from our Monday evening walk.

sitting pretty, waiting to cross the road.

Looking at the Horses... last time she saw them she freaked out. 

all great walks end with a visit to the watering hole.

After 5 months of Winter...

... We headed out yesterday for a nice walk. I was worried that 5 months of minimal exposure to triggers would have set Rhiya back, but I was oh so wrong.  My 2.5 mile walk with Rhiya was actually MORE peaceful and relaxing than the walk with Dallas, Ben (the fiance) and Samantha. I was completely shocked, and SO VERY proud of my girl.

We set out with an OVERFLOWING treat bag on my right hip and Rhiya walking calmly on my left. At the end of the 2nd block, we were walking down the middle of the street because there were dogs barking behind fences on both sides of us... I put her in a Sit-Stay and gave her the watch me command. She would look at me, and look back towards the barking dogs. she was panting pretty heavily, so I knew she was nervous. I decided to try to get her to do some tricks (wave, shake, etc.) to get her focus on something other than the dogs. To my surprise she did all of them! there were only TWO instances where she barked at a dog... but she only barked once each time and then I was able to get her to sit and focus on me and do some more tricks before we passed by the dogs with no outbursts. 

I'm so happy the weather is turning nice again. I have missed being out with my girl and working with her to overcome her fears. Stay tuned for more updates to come. Sorry we've been absent for the last few months. 

Lots of dogs... ZERO outbursts!!!

Well Rhiya and I went to petco for a bit... But there weren't many dogs going in and out of the store. So, we headed back up to the Portneuf wellness complex again and parked in a different location. We saw about 10-12 dogs... All of which she noticed and seemed alert about, but NONE OF WHICH she made a peep over! She didn't huff with her breath, low growl in her throat, bark, or any other noise!  :-) I'm one proud mama!! We're gonna keep working from within our vehicle for the remainder of this week. Then we'll find somewhere to test her outside of the vehicle to get a feel for the distance needed to keep her under threshold when noticing a dog when we're outside of our car. I love my girl so much!!! 

T. R. I. double "Guh" Errr

TRIGGER WATCHING:

Rhiya and I went up to the new Portneuf Wellness Complex area. It's a big outdoor park with walking paths, a fishing pond, an amphitheater, picnic tables, and much more. I made sure I had a FULL treat bag before we left the house because I had a feeling we would see a good amount of dogs. I felt good about it though so we scoped it out, parked the car and watched for doggies.

We first saw a little pug. Rhiya's ears perked up the minute the pug came into view, and started rapidly feeding her treats and saying good girl. She didn't react at all, and the second the dog left her sight, I stopped the treats. (This is to hopefully help her associate the sight of other dogs with yummy treats, which are good things.)

Next we saw a golden retriever who walked RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR CAR on the sidewalk. Eeeeeek! But I stayed calm and started the continuous flow of treats to her as she watched the pup pass... WITH ZERO REACTIVITY! Wow I was blown away, but I know Rhiya is a SMART girl so I was thrilled to see her progress. 

Next came a little Yorkie walking with her "Paw-rents". Rhiya noticed it right away again, and so the treats started flowing once again. Still no reaction other than the alert noticing of the dog. Again I was overjoyed to see her make some progress.

Next came a husky-shepherd cross, who seemed pretty enthusiastic to be out walking. Rhiya noticed the dog from afar, and I begin treating her and saying good girl. But as the dog got closer to our car, Rhiya was huffing with her breath and as the dog got right in front of our car she did a low throat growl. I gave her a "no no. Watch me!" command, in which she IMMEDIATELY looked at me and stopped making her noises. I said good girl and treated her lots. Then she continued to watch the husky-shepherd as he/she walked away, and Rhiya didn't make any more noises.

We saw several other small dogs and we repeated the process, having success each time with no reaction. I'm so proud of my girl! Small progress is better than no progress. I think our issues may arise when we try to transition from inside the car to outside the car. I think we may try that at the end of this week, or beginning of next week. It's all about consistency and baby steps along the way. 

Rhiya has been on the increased dosage of 60mg of fluoxetine for 18 days now. I notice her being able to relax more often at home now, but she is in NO WAY loopy/drowsy or "zonked" out on the meds... So that's good. The meds are not a fix all, and I would never want to just drug my dog to fix the problem. Our hopes are that the anti anxiety meds will help her reduce her nervousness enough so that she learn and benefit from the training along the way. I feel we are moving in the right direction! :-) thanks for following us on this journey. Check back for more updates! 

Back At It!

Well tonight Rhiya and I set out to find a another place to go "trigger watching". On our way we saw a minature pincher running loose in the road. She reacted before I could even do anything about it. :-/ but we kept going in hopes we could end on a good note.

We ended up at Bartz field where we parked the car across the street so dogs wouldn't walk right next to her side of the vehicle. We were there for 30 seconds when A black lab walked right by the passenger side of the car ... And Rhiya didn't bark or anything!!!! The second she noticed the dog, I treated her and kept treating her until the dog was out of view. I was so proud. 

Next we saw about 3-4 big dogs in the distance, and she noticed them and would look away. I tried to treat her while she was looking at them in hopes of her associating the treats with the dogs. She didn't bark at all. Then we saw two little dogs (maybe chihuahuas) and she seemed to get a bit more alert when she saw them... So I started feeding her The treats while she was looking at them, and talking softly to her saying "Good girl!"  A lot. She didn't bark or anything. We were there about 20 min and then I ran out of treats so we ended on a good note and headed for home!

I'm so proud of my girl! It's a long process but we'll get there. The goal is to at least get her to not feel so nervous and threatened about other dogs we may see. She doesn't ever have to be the dog that loves going to the dog park, but she does need to know how to act polite if we come a crosse a dog on our walks! Tomorrow we'll go looking for a 3rd spot to trigger watch. We need to find 3-4 spots and randomly rotate them and the time of day we visit them so that she doesn't associate the place with the treats, just the dogs that we see with the treats. Well that's all for tonight. Check back later for more updates now that things have started to settle down at our house again. 

BUSY BUSY BUSY

SOOOO SORRY for the lack of post over the last 2 weeks. In addition to Rhiya, Samantha, and Dallas, I've also been taking care of my parents 3 dogs since October 1st, while my parents are on vacation. The first week of October we went to Petco parking lot one additional time. It was kind of late and we only saw 2 little dogs. Rhiya didn't react and I treated her when she noticed the dogs. I see little improvements in lots of areas of her behavior, so I'm very hopeful that we're on the right track. In contrast though, while we were driving,. she saw a dog in a yard on the street we live on, and she completely freaked out in the car. So I'm not sure what that was about, but I guess i'll file it in the "things to analyze later" corner of my brain. This is a long process, and a complicated road we are traveling on, but I know if we keep at it with training and the help of the anti anxiety medications, Rhiya can only improve.

On October 8th, Rhiya went to the vet and had her yearly vaccines done along with follow up conversations on how the Fluoxetine was doing for her.  Dr Hemenway and I decided to try increasing the dose from 40 mg once a day to 60 mg once a day. She had been on the 40 mg dose for exactly one month on October 8th, and this is usually enough time for the medication at any specific dose to reach its full saturation levels in the dog's system, meaning its unlikely you'll see any more effects than what you're already seeing. Today makes 8 days that she has been on the 60 mg dose, and she seems about the same as when it was just the 40 mg dose. I think we might see some more slightly noticeable changes within the next week or two though. The one little concern we have is her weight. On September 8th she weighed 81 lbs... on October 8th she weighed 73 lbs. One of the side effects of Fluoxetine is decreased appetite. Rhiya is still eating, but sometimes she'll skip a meal, so we are going to just keep an eye on her weight and go from there.

The last 2 weeks have been busy with six dogs, 3 photo shoots (I dabble in photography on the side), Dallas's 2nd Birthday on October 10th, and watching my 2 year old nephew for my sister while my parents are on vacation. Because of this we haven't been as diligent with training, but the parents' dogs go home on Monday and we can re-focus. I feel guilty that I've not managed to get it all done every day... there should be no excuse, but I cant seem to find a way to add extra hours to my days/weeks. Rhiya has enjoyed having Preston, the boxer, at our house though. They run and play in the back yard like maniacs, including Dallas as well. Its been really fun to watch. Here's Dallas's and Rhiya's Birthday Photos:

Rhiya (left) 3rd birthday on 8/5/15, Dallas (right) 2nd birthday on 10/10/15

Doggy Group Photo, and Ben and Jaxsen.

The one correction I am going to make is to change up the location and time of day that we go out to look for triggers (sightings of other dogs) for Rhiya. I've read and re-read the CARE protocol and still it managed to get caught in my train of thought that we would just start out visiting the Petco parking lot routinely... but this wrong because then Rhiya might learn to associate just the place with positive outcomes (the treats) instead of associating the dogs themselves with positiveness (treats).  So we will fix that before it hinders her learning, and we will visit numerous places randomly so she will hopefully associate the dogs with positive rewards. Thanks for reading and following, and i'll do better at posts.