Jewlieee
Posted : 7/5/2010 8:44:54 PM
We talked about lily and neikos personalities and how the dogs all interact together. The vet got to see the competitive nature between abbie and lily. However, we really didn't go in to that much, which I intended to but forgot!
I watch a few videos on dog-dog reactivity by ian dunbar and jean donaldson while the vet tech and student worked with abbie on some desensitation to the head halter.
We went outside and they used a well mannered dog on leash to see how abbie reacted, what we usually do when we see other dogs etc. The vet wanted to see if abbie would repond to commands while in that over the top state. Abbie did really good. She reacted of course, but we were able to get a critical distance for when she would start to react vs when she was ok. Abbie also was able to go through all of her tricks and obediance commands. So the vet was happy with the progress we have made already but mentioned that any other dog would be "cured" by now with what we have done, but abbie really does need medication for us to be successful.
We talked about all the early body signals that go on prior to the actual barking and lunging. Abbie showed some of these too (freeze, cheek puffing, disengage, looke away) with the tech when they were working with the head halter. They are very subtle and you'd hardly know it if you weren't really watching.
We spent a lot of time going over some modifications that she wants us to do with our training. For example, when ever we see another dog abbie gets treats while the dog is present and no treats when the dog isn't. Up until now, I have been doing that but abbie also had to do something for the reward. Like look at that, sit, etc. So we will take all of that out for now and just do rewards without having to actually do anything except for being seeing another dog.
however, for the next month we are supposed to avoid high anxiety situations while we wait for the meds to kick in. We can still go to our control unleashed class but she wants us to stay in our box and add no pressure of doing anything but being there.
Other than that, we are to work on making the heald halter a good thing (this is a tough one as she hates that thing).
For meds, she's back on prozac, but at a higher dose than before, plus the dap collar and some supplement I don't remember the name of, that has shown in studies to reduce anxiety. The supplement and dap collar will prob be maintained for 2 months then we will prob drop them (depending on results).
The vet normally has a follow up in 4 weeks but because we are already doing what she would have most do she thinks we can go 8 weeks. Thankfully!
I got the impression we were one of her easier patients because she doesn't have to modify my behavior that much along with abbies lol. Oh and she did say that she originally thought my goals for abbie were too lofty (sar) but after seeing us, she thinks it is attainable. She did make a crack that not everyone she sees wants their dogs to be the next president of the us. (Kinda funny and true).
She thinks that abbie will always be an anxious dog but that we will be able to train away the leash reactivity and teach her that the world around her is not always a threat. That made me feel like the appt was worth it right there. That and validating her severe anxiety tendacies. I was almost thinking that I somehow caused the anxiety or that I was making more of it than it is. So it felt good to hear from a professional that I am not delusional. (At least not with this)
Anyway, we went through some exercises and they gave me a bunch of reading material and websites to visit. There's probably a lot I'm forgetting but this is the gist of it.