Well, summer got away from me and I thought I did a post, but it seems I am not a consistent blogger. Pooh has been simply AMAZING this summer. We put her through numerous tests and those who knew her before simply can’t believe she is the same dog. In July we took her on a road trip to my Gran’s house in Idaho. Yep, the dog that once feared everything, only went potty in the field by our house, and could barely make a loop around the block because strangers were so scary went on a tri-state road trip! Honestly, I had my doubts, but my husband was sure it wouldn’t be a big deal.
To prepare for the big journey I started considering what the challenges might be and how to train for them. I knew she liked water because she gets in every pond we walk near, but I hadn’t actually seen her swim. Going potty in new places seemed to be resolved. Thank heavens! One time we took her on a weekend trip to the Seattle area I think she only went potty twice! The next area of concern I had was open backed stairs, catwalks, and docks because stairs had been an issue in the past and I hadn’t seen her on docks. Gran has two long flights of very steep open backed stairs that lead to the dock. So, I took Pooh down to the riverfront park and she walked a big long metal catwalk with quite a bit of convincing. She did freeze several times along the way, but in her defense I wasn’t thrilled with that catwalk either! Once she got down to the dock she pranced around, looked curiously at the water, and even sniffed a few strangers. After a few minutes we went back up the catwalk and I took her to another riverfront dock to repeat the process. It just had a short little catwalk and all was well. She waited until I walked her to the shore so she could lay down in the water. That’s Pooh’s version of swimming. The following week my friend and I took her to EVERY park on Devil’s Lake. It’s not an especially big lake, but there are lots of parks with a variety of strangers, boats, walkways, and docks. It was a perfect training day…and she was fabulous! She decided that laying around on a dock in the sunshine is a pretty good way to spend a day…that’s my girl!
The time came and we headed north and the journey was easy. As we pulled up to Gran’s house my husband casually reminded me that Pooh would read anxiety off of me, so play it cool. We decided I would leash Pooh up and walk away from the car just like a casual visit, not grab any bags or dink around. Pooh gets anxious with uncertainty so being leashed up and walking gives her a calm reassurance that because we have a plan. We walked a few yards and her body language was so calm I unleashed her. She walked across the deck as though she had done it a million times. She, of course, needed extensive convincing to walk through the front door into the house (still??), but once she was in the house all was well. Gran has wood floors so I thought that would be an issue, nope! Within an hour Pooh was settled in. I set out her bedding in our room and she was happily wandering around checking things out, not curled up on her bed, worried as has happened during visits to other places.
Pooh spent five days climbing the hillside, following the shoreline to the neighbors dock, sniffing critters, and just being a dog! Friends and family joined us while we were there and that didn’t even seem to cause much of a change. Years ago Gran had a cyclone fence put up around the property and it never seemed that useful to me, but Pooh followed the boundary of that fence and looked for ways to escape. I was very thankful for that fence! She would wander off to check out the woods and we would have to call her back now and then. (Our dog...wander off??) She did fall in the lake once while walking on a log and that gave us a scare. She’s pretty smart though, didn’t try that again. We had thunder storms (brought the Thundershirt) and all sorts of crazy weather, but she was a trooper.
The trip was such a success that we didn’t have the setback I expected when we returned. We just transitioned back into daily life and all was well. We wanted to stop her anxiety medication, but didn’t want to make that change before the trip. Things went so well we transitioned her off her medication after we had only been back about a week. It’s been a month, she’s medication free and doing great. Some have commented, “She’s cured!” and while I appreciate the optimism I remain apprehensive. She did destroy a collar this summer, but she may have been under the impression that if she pulled it hard enough she could open the gate it was hooked to. I’m not going to give her free roam of my house when I’m gone, but I do love seeing her prance around happily. If she doesn’t run up to greet you and wag her tail as though she is the happiest dog in the world, it's okay…she does that for ME now. :-)
To prepare for the big journey I started considering what the challenges might be and how to train for them. I knew she liked water because she gets in every pond we walk near, but I hadn’t actually seen her swim. Going potty in new places seemed to be resolved. Thank heavens! One time we took her on a weekend trip to the Seattle area I think she only went potty twice! The next area of concern I had was open backed stairs, catwalks, and docks because stairs had been an issue in the past and I hadn’t seen her on docks. Gran has two long flights of very steep open backed stairs that lead to the dock. So, I took Pooh down to the riverfront park and she walked a big long metal catwalk with quite a bit of convincing. She did freeze several times along the way, but in her defense I wasn’t thrilled with that catwalk either! Once she got down to the dock she pranced around, looked curiously at the water, and even sniffed a few strangers. After a few minutes we went back up the catwalk and I took her to another riverfront dock to repeat the process. It just had a short little catwalk and all was well. She waited until I walked her to the shore so she could lay down in the water. That’s Pooh’s version of swimming. The following week my friend and I took her to EVERY park on Devil’s Lake. It’s not an especially big lake, but there are lots of parks with a variety of strangers, boats, walkways, and docks. It was a perfect training day…and she was fabulous! She decided that laying around on a dock in the sunshine is a pretty good way to spend a day…that’s my girl!
The time came and we headed north and the journey was easy. As we pulled up to Gran’s house my husband casually reminded me that Pooh would read anxiety off of me, so play it cool. We decided I would leash Pooh up and walk away from the car just like a casual visit, not grab any bags or dink around. Pooh gets anxious with uncertainty so being leashed up and walking gives her a calm reassurance that because we have a plan. We walked a few yards and her body language was so calm I unleashed her. She walked across the deck as though she had done it a million times. She, of course, needed extensive convincing to walk through the front door into the house (still??), but once she was in the house all was well. Gran has wood floors so I thought that would be an issue, nope! Within an hour Pooh was settled in. I set out her bedding in our room and she was happily wandering around checking things out, not curled up on her bed, worried as has happened during visits to other places.
Pooh spent five days climbing the hillside, following the shoreline to the neighbors dock, sniffing critters, and just being a dog! Friends and family joined us while we were there and that didn’t even seem to cause much of a change. Years ago Gran had a cyclone fence put up around the property and it never seemed that useful to me, but Pooh followed the boundary of that fence and looked for ways to escape. I was very thankful for that fence! She would wander off to check out the woods and we would have to call her back now and then. (Our dog...wander off??) She did fall in the lake once while walking on a log and that gave us a scare. She’s pretty smart though, didn’t try that again. We had thunder storms (brought the Thundershirt) and all sorts of crazy weather, but she was a trooper.
The trip was such a success that we didn’t have the setback I expected when we returned. We just transitioned back into daily life and all was well. We wanted to stop her anxiety medication, but didn’t want to make that change before the trip. Things went so well we transitioned her off her medication after we had only been back about a week. It’s been a month, she’s medication free and doing great. Some have commented, “She’s cured!” and while I appreciate the optimism I remain apprehensive. She did destroy a collar this summer, but she may have been under the impression that if she pulled it hard enough she could open the gate it was hooked to. I’m not going to give her free roam of my house when I’m gone, but I do love seeing her prance around happily. If she doesn’t run up to greet you and wag her tail as though she is the happiest dog in the world, it's okay…she does that for ME now. :-)