@lindsayt oh cool! Thank you, and everyone else! There are lots of good ideas to try out here! Right now I just did a few days of getting Hana to "sit" and "paw" (won't do down outside yet) and it has worked in distracting whatever is spooking her. But it ONLY works when she's not TOO spooked. Spooked enough to not really listen to me, but remembers who I am, but not too spooked where she still takes treats but is beginning to forget who I am. (Very subtle levels).
It seems that she's gained confidence through some of the basic training at home, but after a Sit and Paw, she was able to go beyond the courtyard! Hurray! So happy that she is improving!
I want to try the Its Your Choice for getting into the car as well. She poops in the car even though she's already pooped. (all over me and my bag and the seat... fun...)
I am also learning to act more "professional" when Hana has a breakdown. Sometimes I feel like having one myself, but so far, I've been able to just take it, and deal with it. It really has made a difference, and I like to think that she has an easier time recovering and trusting me when I can act like her "rock".
Also, I'd just like to say, that this forum has also been the rock in my relationship with Hana. I know it hasn't been that long, and that there will be MANY more challenges to overcome and learn from, but her happy face, zoomies and wagging tail really make it worthwhile
Its normal for the tricks to only work when she is under threshold. You seem to be finding her threshold there, which is good, because, knowing THAT, you can set your expectations of what she can and cant do (yet!). We all want to advance and move that threshold up, BUT we have to work a LOT *below* the threshold and let the *dog* move the threshold up.
It could be something as seemingly ridiculous (to us, but not to the dog, which is what matters) as asking the dog to look at something, or to take one more step, treat and turn for home. I will illustrate with Sage:
Part of my problem with Sage is that (historically) his threshold is SO low with regards to some stimuli that it seems like we cant do ANYTHING, or barely anything, go very far at all. I want to take a WALK, dammit, but he only will go 100 yards. Once I stopped saying "Whats wrong with him? Whats wrong with ME? I wanted a dog, not a project- we cant do anything fun. Dogs need exercise and socialization! everyone says so! and I cant even give it to him." (Poor me!) and just said, "Well, THIS dog doesnt need or even WANT all that stuff. Sage only walks 100 yards, and this is where he always turns around, good I still have lots of time to do X before work and we can curl up on the couch and watch tv later (Sage is super good at the art of spooning and kissing, etc) "
THEN I just expected the short boring "walk" for months, and THEN he would say one day "Can we go sniff that? its only a little further..." and I say "but of course!" and we'd do that, then I'd see how far I coudl get him to go. (Wrong- because this way eveyr walk brushes that threshold.) I had to learn to say, yeah, sniff that then we go home, dont we? and turn my body around, so there's no threshold bumping- we're going home like always, right?
Return to the short boring walk, and then him asking to go a little further would increase in frequency- once a week! woo hoo! then not for a while, then 2 or 3 x a week, and then customarily we always have to check that stump that was a little farther and we're walking 120 yards regularly. Then I take him with Juno, who has no reservations, and she wants to go check out a culvert, and he'll just go along sniffing with her. Now we've lived here three years and he will walk to the top of the hill and occasionally asks to go 30 yards around the corner, just to check something, but only occasionally. I always expect to turn around at 100 yards, and see what he shows me. The 'walk' is not physical exercise, its curiosity and relationship building, comfort building and awareness. Physical exercise happens with play in the house, and in the yard and with the other dogs.
I am telling this story to present perspective because I know how frustrating it is to feel like you arent making progress, that you must not be doing this right, or other depressing interesting-dog owner thoughts. And I hope you can stave those thougths off knowing how it was for us. when people say it takes a long time, they arent kidding and its veyr humbling.
@WrylyBrindle - I think I can say this for a lot of us that we really appreciate you sharing your stories of Sage. How wonderful that you work with and love him for who he is
SNOW DAY! (actually she was a little unhappy around this time - couldn't go past the courtyard, but she liked to stick her entire head in the deep snow to smell stuff - SO cute...)
Hard day at the office, so must take a nap.
Just wanted to post some happy photos of Hana since ALL I do is worry here and ask a billion questions about her. Wanted to thank everyone so far for all your advice, and yes @WrylyBrindle thank you also for sharing your stories! I'm confident Hana will improve as life is slows down for her.
I m so happy to see the photos of Hana! It really rounds her out for us! She's wonderful!! Once again congratulations and how lucky you are to have each other!
Aww she is so sweet looking, especially wrapped up in the blanket haha. Was she actually sleeping in that pic and did she do the wrapping upping?
@WrylyBrindle I agree with @CarabooA. I was really beating myself up over Tsune first, and then Ren, until reading about your endeavor with Sage. It's too easy to get into a fixed expectation of what the stereotypical dog "should" be, instead of who they are and what they themselves really enjoy. Something as simple as going 150 yards instead of 100 yards away from the house isn't extreme to us, but it could be significant to our dog. Thank you
@StaticNFuzz Thank you for the link! I'm definitely going to be using this more with Ren (I was somewhat using it without knowing it).
@WrylyBrindle Thank you! Your stories are a good reminder that it's not always about what I want, but what makes my dog comfortable and happy. It really puts my relationship with her in perspective, and it's sort of a reality check to realize how 50 yards can affect our dog.
@cezieg ahha yes, she was actually sleeping, but I decided to drape a blanket over her. She stirred a bit, then went right on back to napping. Heavy napper.
youre welcome all. I hope that by telling Sage's stories, others will feel less isolated, more supported and will take less time to work thru it than we did/are, not having to reinvent the wheel as much as we have. I know how depressing and frustrating it can be at times, but also - and thegela knows it too!- how rewarding and wonderful!
Hana is so cute and petite! Keep up your spirits and good work- she's a gem!
@hudsong Hana isn't home alone that much for the past few weeks. My husband's work schedule is irregular, and since it's winter, business is slow, so he's mostly at home. When no one is home during the day, my husband usually goes home early after work, or I will leave work early to be with her, so she's home maybe 6-7 hours.
@brada1878 Yes, thank you so much for all of the information. It will take me a little time to digest everything, but I'm excited to see where this takes us. I appreciate it so much!
@tjbart17 Thank you for asking! Hana is doing well inside the house, but we are still working on her confidence when going outside. There isn't much change, and she is still extremely skittish and afraid when going out, but otherwise, she is doing well. We changed her food and her poop has started to harden up again (Orijen just goes straight through her system...)
hahahaha @tjbart17 your response made me laugh! Hana's farts were pretty toxic too while she was on Orijen. It was pretty disgusting. Like I was gagging.
Is it normal for her to poop less? It's not just a little less, it's significantly less.. so I"m just curious if that's a normal thing to happen when they eat food that's better suited for their system.
Hana has 1 dog friend, Mia, who's a yorkie, but Mia does nothing for Hana's confidence when they're outside. Once outside, Hana herself becomes kind of a different dog.
@cdenney Yes, that's exactly it. Except, it's a little more dramatic I think. It's almost impossible to get her to calm down when she's outside. It's like the most dreadful thing for her to be outside. (I have a much easier time cutting her nails.)
Shakko was like this outside. When we walked him with Koda he was confident and had fun, but his owners said he had a horrible time alone.
Yes it's normal for them to poop more or less on different food. Just as long as it has a good consistency you're fine. Koda poops more on Earthborn than he did on Great Life, but it's a nice poop and I think it's better for him.
@thegela try the treat road again but high value treats in itty pieces. Every time she checks in or is brave she gets one. Even if you say her name and an ear twitched back she gets a scratch. Maybe it will build her confidence either in general or in you to know safety?
Did you try Bach Flowers on her? It's unexpetedly good for lack of confidence ! I used it for my sheperd once in dog school because of a bad habit, by lack of confidence and it help him a lot !
@cdenney well the problem is, she will take treats, but she quickly loses focus. I have started the relaxation protocol Jen suggested and taking baby steps with conditioning Hana to go outside, with treats, so hopefully she will improve.
@Eiden Bach flowers? I've never heard! I'll look into it~ Thanks
Comments
It seems that she's gained confidence through some of the basic training at home, but after a Sit and Paw, she was able to go beyond the courtyard! Hurray! So happy that she is improving!
I want to try the Its Your Choice for getting into the car as well. She poops in the car even though she's already pooped.
I am also learning to act more "professional" when Hana has a breakdown. Sometimes I feel like having one myself, but so far, I've been able to just take it, and deal with it. It really has made a difference, and I like to think that she has an easier time recovering and trusting me when I can act like her "rock".
Also, I'd just like to say, that this forum has also been the rock in my relationship with Hana. I know it hasn't been that long, and that there will be MANY more challenges to overcome and learn from, but her happy face, zoomies and wagging tail really make it worthwhile
It could be something as seemingly ridiculous (to us, but not to the dog, which is what matters) as asking the dog to look at something, or to take one more step, treat and turn for home. I will illustrate with Sage:
Part of my problem with Sage is that (historically) his threshold is SO low with regards to some stimuli that it seems like we cant do ANYTHING, or barely anything, go very far at all. I want to take a WALK, dammit, but he only will go 100 yards. Once I stopped saying "Whats wrong with him? Whats wrong with ME? I wanted a dog, not a project- we cant do anything fun. Dogs need exercise and socialization! everyone says so! and I cant even give it to him." (Poor me!) and just said, "Well, THIS dog doesnt need or even WANT all that stuff. Sage only walks 100 yards, and this is where he always turns around, good I still have lots of time to do X before work and we can curl up on the couch and watch tv later (Sage is super good at the art of spooning and kissing, etc) "
THEN I just expected the short boring "walk" for months, and THEN he would say one day "Can we go sniff that? its only a little further..." and I say "but of course!" and we'd do that, then I'd see how far I coudl get him to go. (Wrong- because this way eveyr walk brushes that threshold.) I had to learn to say, yeah, sniff that then we go home, dont we? and turn my body around, so there's no threshold bumping- we're going home like always, right?
Return to the short boring walk, and then him asking to go a little further would increase in frequency- once a week! woo hoo! then not for a while, then 2 or 3 x a week, and then customarily we always have to check that stump that was a little farther and we're walking 120 yards regularly. Then I take him with Juno, who has no reservations, and she wants to go check out a culvert, and he'll just go along sniffing with her. Now we've lived here three years and he will walk to the top of the hill and occasionally asks to go 30 yards around the corner, just to check something, but only occasionally. I always expect to turn around at 100 yards, and see what he shows me. The 'walk' is not physical exercise, its curiosity and relationship building, comfort building and awareness. Physical exercise happens with play in the house, and in the yard and with the other dogs.
I am telling this story to present perspective because I know how frustrating it is to feel like you arent making progress, that you must not be doing this right, or other depressing interesting-dog owner thoughts. And I hope you can stave those thougths off knowing how it was for us.
She loves crossing her legs, cause she's a lady.
Watching me, watching her
Disguised as a giant cat
SNOW DAY!
(actually she was a little unhappy around this time - couldn't go past the courtyard, but she liked to stick her entire head in the deep snow to smell stuff - SO cute...)
Hard day at the office, so must take a nap.
Just wanted to post some happy photos of Hana since ALL I do is worry here and ask a billion questions about her. Wanted to thank everyone so far for all your advice, and yes @WrylyBrindle thank you also for sharing your stories! I'm confident Hana will improve as life is slows down for her.
@WrylyBrindle I agree with @CarabooA. I was really beating myself up over Tsune first, and then Ren, until reading about your endeavor with Sage. It's too easy to get into a fixed expectation of what the stereotypical dog "should" be, instead of who they are and what they themselves really enjoy. Something as simple as going 150 yards instead of 100 yards away from the house isn't extreme to us, but it could be significant to our dog. Thank you
@StaticNFuzz Thank you for the link! I'm definitely going to be using this more with Ren (I was somewhat using it without knowing it).
@WrylyBrindle Thank you! Your stories are a good reminder that it's not always about what I want, but what makes my dog comfortable and happy. It really puts my relationship with her in perspective, and it's sort of a reality check to realize how 50 yards can affect our dog.
@cezieg ahha yes, she was actually sleeping, but I decided to drape a blanket over her. She stirred a bit, then went right on back to napping. Heavy napper.
Hana is so cute and petite!
@tjbart17 Thank you for asking! Hana is doing well inside the house, but we are still working on her confidence when going outside. There isn't much change, and she is still extremely skittish and afraid when going out, but otherwise, she is doing well. We changed her food and her poop has started to harden up again (Orijen just goes straight through her system...)
I'm glad to hear that she's settling in at the house. Does she have any dog friends you could walk with?
Is it normal for her to poop less? It's not just a little less, it's significantly less.. so I"m just curious if that's a normal thing to happen when they eat food that's better suited for their system.
Hana has 1 dog friend, Mia, who's a yorkie, but Mia does nothing for Hana's confidence when they're outside. Once outside, Hana herself becomes kind of a different dog.
(I have a much easier time cutting her nails.)
Yes it's normal for them to poop more or less on different food. Just as long as it has a good consistency you're fine. Koda poops more on Earthborn than he did on Great Life, but it's a nice poop and I think it's better for him.
@Eiden Bach flowers? I've never heard! I'll look into it~ Thanks