Shelby's progress
So, I decided to make my own thread about this and stop taking over Tjbart17's thread...
As many of you know, Shelby was having some serious issues regarding being afraid of everything on her walks. It had gotten to the point of her not even wanting to walk out the door. We tried everything else before making the decision to put her on a small daily dose of anxiety medication. Well, after a week, I am happy to announce that Ms. Shelby has made phenomenal progress! I no longer have to carry her out the door- she is actually excited to go on her walks and practically drags ME out the door. She still gets scared from time to time, but I am able to distract her before she gets frantic and she calms down so much quicker now. I still haven't gotten a doctor's appointment for myself, but am trying new stuff to help my anxiety (fleece blanket anyone?). Shelby and I take our meds at the same time and the little goober actually likes to swallow her pill!
I am working on helping her with what has scared her the most. The kids on the playground and swings really terrified her, so at night I am walking her around the swings and playground to get the smells from the kids. I even sat on a swing to show her that they aren't bad. It seems to be working. She didn't react at all to some kids swinging and making tons of racket earlier today!
I am so happy that she is doing better, even though we still have a long way to go. I don't want her to be on medicine for her entire life and we are working hard at teaching her that the world isn't as scary as she thought it was.
I want to give a special thank you to everyone who gave me advice and helped with this decision! I'll update on her progress occasionally and maybe figure out how to post a before and after video in a few weeks!!
As many of you know, Shelby was having some serious issues regarding being afraid of everything on her walks. It had gotten to the point of her not even wanting to walk out the door. We tried everything else before making the decision to put her on a small daily dose of anxiety medication. Well, after a week, I am happy to announce that Ms. Shelby has made phenomenal progress! I no longer have to carry her out the door- she is actually excited to go on her walks and practically drags ME out the door. She still gets scared from time to time, but I am able to distract her before she gets frantic and she calms down so much quicker now. I still haven't gotten a doctor's appointment for myself, but am trying new stuff to help my anxiety (fleece blanket anyone?). Shelby and I take our meds at the same time and the little goober actually likes to swallow her pill!
I am working on helping her with what has scared her the most. The kids on the playground and swings really terrified her, so at night I am walking her around the swings and playground to get the smells from the kids. I even sat on a swing to show her that they aren't bad. It seems to be working. She didn't react at all to some kids swinging and making tons of racket earlier today!
I am so happy that she is doing better, even though we still have a long way to go. I don't want her to be on medicine for her entire life and we are working hard at teaching her that the world isn't as scary as she thought it was.
I want to give a special thank you to everyone who gave me advice and helped with this decision! I'll update on her progress occasionally and maybe figure out how to post a before and after video in a few weeks!!
Comments
@mdokic thanks! If I'm not mistaken, she gave huge smooches back!!
Keep up the good work and I'd love to see videos of before and after. I think we don't get enough videos on the forum when it comes to behavior. It's the next best thing to actually seeing it in person and is often hard to accurately describe in words.
I'm so proud of my Shelby! She is such a sweet and loving girl!