LJ: So glad to hear of the progress with Jazz on the loud noises. It is critical to improve her quality of life, and yours as well. Congrats on the progress to date, a great credit to your perseverance. I'm eager to hear how Jazz does through the summer thunderstorm season now.
I wish I had thought of this method with our former dog, Joe. He was so nervous and scared of those noises, and it seemed his reactions got worse instead of better over time. Definitely a damper on his enjoyment and everyone in the household, not to mention the "bolting" danger others have alluded to. In fact, Joe was apprehended and spent the night in "doggie-jail" (PUPS - Pets Under Police Protection --- isn't that clever?) due to his bolting late one summer evening when a firecracker went off. It was compounded by his having been home alone during an earlier thunderstorm. Luckily for us, when we finally thought to inquire with the police, they immediately knew of him and told us where to find him (next morning when PUPS was open for business with the hapless dog owners). The other silver lining was that the women who coaxed him to stop and calm down then called Animal Control, and also the woman who was the PUPS warden both said that if no one claimed Joe they would take him and keep him in their home. We were so glad he was not permanently lost to us, didn't get hit by a car...
Well, I slightly turned up the volume on the cd last night and Jazz was a bit restless, but now whimpering or shaking. We'll keep it at that volume until we get no response. Then we'll go a little louder in volume. Does anyone have any recordings of firecrackers? That'll be the next step after thunderstorms...
Thankfully, Jazz isn't a bolter (although my bulldog when I was little was) - I couldn't imagine the worry you would have. That was sweet of the ladies that found him.
So far, so good. We've had thunder on and off for the last 3+ hours & no trembling. Everytime it thunders, she gets a treat. I missed the last two and there was no trembling.
I love the thunder & lightening. Growing up, we'd sit on the porch and watch storms. I just took off recycling and left Jazz with my niece. Every time it thundered Jazz went to the treat box and barked at her.
The thunderstorms have passed us by with nary a tremble. By the end of them, we were only treating every three or four. I consider this a major success. Very, very happy.
LJ - your persistence and patience have paid off. I am so proud of both of you. :-D I would say Jazz now seems to enjoy thunderstorms, as they equal loads of treats!
Thanks! The next test will be what happens when I'm not here. My brother is fully aware of how to handle the thunderstorms, so my hope is that she'll be have the same with him.
Jen - The family loves her and wants her to be as happy as she can be. We've all seen her when she was trembling so hard and not to be able to do something was killing us all. My favorite thing is when somebody drops something and Jazz jumps, whoever dropped the item always says, "Sorry, Jazz." We were all doing happy dances on Saturday.
Brandon - it was with encouragement & ideas from here that give me inspiration, hope, and the drive to create what change I can. The next thing we are on to is other dogs - I know Jazz may never be the social butterfly, but I'd really like to get to the point that Jazz doesn't have to be held 90% of the time.
I will definitely keep playing the thunderstorms CD - it's the best way for me to get some deep & restful sleep. Since we get our fair share of thunderstorms, it'll be pretty easy to keep up the treat game, too.
Last night, we had a major storm system go through. We had a ton of thunder and a lot of lightning. Jazz did remarkably well through almost all of it. At the end of the storm, we had some extremely loud thunder which generated some small trembles, but they stopped as soon as the loud thunder was gone. She did not have any melatonin prior to the storm or during. I believe this process has been very helpful - we will continue to work on this.
Also, we went to the vet today for her yearly workup and everything was good - she weighs in now at 19 lbs and the vet was very pleased with how the fur is regrowing on her front paws. She pulled out the pics from when I first got her and it's amazing to see how much hair growth she has had on her paws.
YAY for Jazz! I bet a few more storms, and the thunder will not even phase her. LJ, congrats to you, your family, and Jazz for such great work and patience.
Comments
I wish I had thought of this method with our former dog, Joe. He was so nervous and scared of those noises, and it seemed his reactions got worse instead of better over time. Definitely a damper on his enjoyment and everyone in the household, not to mention the "bolting" danger others have alluded to. In fact, Joe was apprehended and spent the night in "doggie-jail" (PUPS - Pets Under Police Protection --- isn't that clever?) due to his bolting late one summer evening when a firecracker went off. It was compounded by his having been home alone during an earlier thunderstorm. Luckily for us, when we finally thought to inquire with the police, they immediately knew of him and told us where to find him (next morning when PUPS was open for business with the hapless dog owners). The other silver lining was that the women who coaxed him to stop and calm down then called Animal Control, and also the woman who was the PUPS warden both said that if no one claimed Joe they would take him and keep him in their home. We were so glad he was not permanently lost to us, didn't get hit by a car...
Thankfully, Jazz isn't a bolter (although my bulldog when I was little was) - I couldn't imagine the worry you would have. That was sweet of the ladies that found him.
Im glad she is doing so well. Keep up the great work.
LJ - your persistence and patience have paid off. I am so proud of both of you. :-D I would say Jazz now seems to enjoy thunderstorms, as they equal loads of treats!
Great job on handling Jazz's fears. It seems they have turned into something she might even begin to like :-)
Brandon - it was with encouragement & ideas from here that give me inspiration, hope, and the drive to create what change I can. The next thing we are on to is other dogs - I know Jazz may never be the social butterfly, but I'd really like to get to the point that Jazz doesn't have to be held 90% of the time.
Snf
Also, we went to the vet today for her yearly workup and everything was good - she weighs in now at 19 lbs and the vet was very pleased with how the fur is regrowing on her front paws. She pulled out the pics from when I first got her and it's amazing to see how much hair growth she has had on her paws.
A few trembles for extremely loud thunder seems like great progress!
YAY for Jazz! I bet a few more storms, and the thunder will not even phase her. LJ, congrats to you, your family, and Jazz for such great work and patience.