As we moved into the new house there were a few factors that I expected to be significant problems. I thought the hardwood floors would be a big issue, but we purchased a patchwork of rugs after Pooh’s first crash. I expected Pooh to have significant issues with the loss of safety of “In your Room” during the move. I invested in a bag of what trainers call “high value” treats. Any time that I left she went in her new room and I gave her a tendon or meat stick. There were a lot of errands that first week so she settled into her new room quite quickly.
Many issues that I thought had been resolved resurfaced all at the same time and I didn't respond as fully as I should have. Pooh is afraid of the dark, seriously, maybe she doesn’t see well, maybe she is just plain scared, but either way darkness makes her whine. I thought she was over it, but it became an issue in the new house. There is a street light across from her bedroom so it wasn’t apparent at first. One night I was home alone, it was chilly, and it seemed logical to shut the shades. She was whiny at bedtime and then woke me up in the night whining. I experimented with her shades and night lights a bit, but now I know that if her shades are shut she is going to wake me up whining.
She’s shown similar setbacks in all areas of her independence. She doesn’t want to be alone in the back yard, whines if we are out of sight in the house, and, in general, is higher maintenance and louder. Last weekend my husband was out of town and it seemed to send Pooh over the threshold so she regressed to a level I had forgotten existed. She was whiny!!! She whined at the park. She whined sitting with me on the front porch. She whined when I left the room to get tea. She whined when she went in the back yard. She woke me up many times in the night whining (even though her shades were open). She whined the whole entire weekend. By the time my husband came home I was ready run away from home…and the whining continued even after my husband returned.
One of the many times she whined this week I heard my husband respond reassuringly. And it hit me!!!!! I had a flashback to a time when Dr. Erion scolded me for responding when Pooh whined and got a bit amped up for no reason, though I hadn’t said anything to her while she relaxed calmly on the floor for several minutes before that. He explained to me that I should be praising her when she was relaxed, because that was the behavior I want to reinforce. He said not to make eye contact or respond in any way when she whines, but talk sweet to her regularly if she is relaxed and quite. So I tried it…and it worked. I used it at home, travelling in the car, at strange locations, always at the vet, and it went great for years. Then, I moved to a new house and I forgot to start at the beginning and reassure her when she was relaxed. Duh! (No other word truly captures how I felt at that moment.)
Pooh may have all the same stuff in her room, but she knows her original foundation is gone and she can’t seem to get things right. One of the basic concepts in dog training is that if you increase the difficulty of a task then the training needs to start at an earlier, less difficult, stage with lower expectation and/or more rewards. Essentially, if you move an anxiety dog to a new house, you should start at the beginning and praise or reward her every moment she isn’t whining. PERIOD. So, with the words of our wise vet as a reminder, we’ve been practicing what we already knew and there seems to be less whining. We’ve also started at the beginning on quite a few other things with her so she has more structure, which helps lower her anxiety. I’m not saying that everything is fixed, but I think we seem to be rebuilding the foundation.
Many issues that I thought had been resolved resurfaced all at the same time and I didn't respond as fully as I should have. Pooh is afraid of the dark, seriously, maybe she doesn’t see well, maybe she is just plain scared, but either way darkness makes her whine. I thought she was over it, but it became an issue in the new house. There is a street light across from her bedroom so it wasn’t apparent at first. One night I was home alone, it was chilly, and it seemed logical to shut the shades. She was whiny at bedtime and then woke me up in the night whining. I experimented with her shades and night lights a bit, but now I know that if her shades are shut she is going to wake me up whining.
She’s shown similar setbacks in all areas of her independence. She doesn’t want to be alone in the back yard, whines if we are out of sight in the house, and, in general, is higher maintenance and louder. Last weekend my husband was out of town and it seemed to send Pooh over the threshold so she regressed to a level I had forgotten existed. She was whiny!!! She whined at the park. She whined sitting with me on the front porch. She whined when I left the room to get tea. She whined when she went in the back yard. She woke me up many times in the night whining (even though her shades were open). She whined the whole entire weekend. By the time my husband came home I was ready run away from home…and the whining continued even after my husband returned.
One of the many times she whined this week I heard my husband respond reassuringly. And it hit me!!!!! I had a flashback to a time when Dr. Erion scolded me for responding when Pooh whined and got a bit amped up for no reason, though I hadn’t said anything to her while she relaxed calmly on the floor for several minutes before that. He explained to me that I should be praising her when she was relaxed, because that was the behavior I want to reinforce. He said not to make eye contact or respond in any way when she whines, but talk sweet to her regularly if she is relaxed and quite. So I tried it…and it worked. I used it at home, travelling in the car, at strange locations, always at the vet, and it went great for years. Then, I moved to a new house and I forgot to start at the beginning and reassure her when she was relaxed. Duh! (No other word truly captures how I felt at that moment.)
Pooh may have all the same stuff in her room, but she knows her original foundation is gone and she can’t seem to get things right. One of the basic concepts in dog training is that if you increase the difficulty of a task then the training needs to start at an earlier, less difficult, stage with lower expectation and/or more rewards. Essentially, if you move an anxiety dog to a new house, you should start at the beginning and praise or reward her every moment she isn’t whining. PERIOD. So, with the words of our wise vet as a reminder, we’ve been practicing what we already knew and there seems to be less whining. We’ve also started at the beginning on quite a few other things with her so she has more structure, which helps lower her anxiety. I’m not saying that everything is fixed, but I think we seem to be rebuilding the foundation.