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!
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