January brought new challenges, but still great progress. I kept a journal of notes almost daily and there was good progress with staying home alone and taking longer to open her gate when I returned. She even began to take interest in food toys and her Himalayan chew, which had all been sitting around untouched for quite some time. When her anxiety is high she is not at all food motivated, but as anxiety decreased she began to use some of the toys/chew treats I had purchased over the months. One note reads "first ever quick turnaround, dropped Pooh off in her room and went out to dinner to meet a friend for dinner." Another says, "pees in backyard with me inside!" which is pretty exciting news in the January when it's cold.
Pooh also showed progress in going to work with me, even laying quietly on the floor during meetings. Taking her to work was sometimes stressful for me, but Dr. Erion said it was great training for her because of the exposure to people and all the little times I would go in and out of my office during the day. In theory, teaching Pooh to wait patiently by herself until I return (still working on that one).
Notes throughout the month reference bit of destructive behavior, such as a fluffy blanket left in her room.
Then, we went away for our anniversary weekend and took Pooh with us to small pet-friendly inn. The weekend as a whole went pretty well. We had a ground floor room with grass right outside, which made standing around waiting for her to go potty a bit more convenient. It was pouring down rain though and we had to pretend we had all the time in the world to get her to pee in a new place. We played cards in the common area while Pooh laid under our table. She was on leash at all times to avoid panic incidents and also to help guide her from room to room with less work on our part. (She is better about following instructions on leash. We don't pull it, but she just "hears" better.) She was with us every minute except when we ate in restaurants and stayed in the back seat of my car. While I was nervous the whole time, she seemed do fine in my car. We stayed two nights and she was a bit "off" the morning we packed our stuff to check out. We took her to dining hall to eat breakfast and returned to our room to gather up our belongs. When we walked into the room it was a bit stuffy so I opened the sliding glass door, not 5 minutes later there was a sound that spooked Pooh and she BOLTED through the screen door out across the grass toward a huge parking lot down below. My heart stopped as I chased after her in the rain thinking...this is what Dr. Erion is always warning us about... "we lose these dogs"...when he says it I think it's his nice way of saying they get hit by cars or we have to put them down because their behavior often causes them harm. Part of me in that split second thought I might not actually FIND her though. We got her back quickly and all in one piece, but I learned many things in that moment. Also, the inn was truly pet friendly and only charged us a minimal fee for screen door repair. As I write this in October 2011 that was still the last destructive day we had, which is what I tell myself whenever we have a "tough day" so that I remember how far we've come.
Pooh also showed progress in going to work with me, even laying quietly on the floor during meetings. Taking her to work was sometimes stressful for me, but Dr. Erion said it was great training for her because of the exposure to people and all the little times I would go in and out of my office during the day. In theory, teaching Pooh to wait patiently by herself until I return (still working on that one).
Notes throughout the month reference bit of destructive behavior, such as a fluffy blanket left in her room.
Then, we went away for our anniversary weekend and took Pooh with us to small pet-friendly inn. The weekend as a whole went pretty well. We had a ground floor room with grass right outside, which made standing around waiting for her to go potty a bit more convenient. It was pouring down rain though and we had to pretend we had all the time in the world to get her to pee in a new place. We played cards in the common area while Pooh laid under our table. She was on leash at all times to avoid panic incidents and also to help guide her from room to room with less work on our part. (She is better about following instructions on leash. We don't pull it, but she just "hears" better.) She was with us every minute except when we ate in restaurants and stayed in the back seat of my car. While I was nervous the whole time, she seemed do fine in my car. We stayed two nights and she was a bit "off" the morning we packed our stuff to check out. We took her to dining hall to eat breakfast and returned to our room to gather up our belongs. When we walked into the room it was a bit stuffy so I opened the sliding glass door, not 5 minutes later there was a sound that spooked Pooh and she BOLTED through the screen door out across the grass toward a huge parking lot down below. My heart stopped as I chased after her in the rain thinking...this is what Dr. Erion is always warning us about... "we lose these dogs"...when he says it I think it's his nice way of saying they get hit by cars or we have to put them down because their behavior often causes them harm. Part of me in that split second thought I might not actually FIND her though. We got her back quickly and all in one piece, but I learned many things in that moment. Also, the inn was truly pet friendly and only charged us a minimal fee for screen door repair. As I write this in October 2011 that was still the last destructive day we had, which is what I tell myself whenever we have a "tough day" so that I remember how far we've come.