Spay surgery

 Terra had one last heat cycle at the beginning of July, then had a spay, gastropexy, and dental done on August 14th. She didn't fuss with the incision at all and it healed quickly. She developed a vaginal infection immediately after, but antibiotics took care of that. I've already noticed male dogs paying a little less attention to her.

Growth/size update.

Showing her teeth in sleep.

Licking her puppy friend.

Recovering post-spay.

Updates from past few months: nose work, heat, Christmas, cats

Terra is moving along in nose work. We make the exercises easier for her if it involves going into tight spaces, but she constantly impresses me with her dedication and endurance when searching.

She had her third heat cycle just before Christmas. It made her a little more clingy toward the end. I'm thinking of having her spayed around the time she turns 3 this summer.

We spent a week at my parents' house. She was on Trazadone and Gabapentin the whole time. Initially she was doing better than usual. After my sister and her husband arrived, she was overwhelmed by the number of people, even though she usually likes them. She spent a lot of time in the back yard or closed into my bedroom. She barely ate and lost about eight pounds. Her biggest stressor was still my dad, whom she's always been scared of.

The last bit of news is that Terra has caught and killed two feral cats. One was in the dog yard already when I let them out, and for some reason was caught by surprise. The second was spooked by something outside the yard and jumped the wire fence, practically right into Terra's mouth. Both times it was a challenge to get the dead cat away from her afterwards. She is now obsessed with them. Peggy, who knows that she is safe as long as there is a fence between them, often sleeps right on the other side of the wire. Terra will stare at her, then bash her face into the fence as she pounces forward. I'm working on discouraging the staring, but I will never ever trust her around small animals other than dogs. I'm muzzling her when we go for off leash hikes just in case.

White and scary Christmas

We spent Christmas break up in Truckee with my family. Terra is still scared of my dad, even though he did everything right and I tried to do counter-conditioning. That didn't go great because it was hard to keep her under threshold while in the same room with him. She did best when she was on the far side of the room, with her back to a wall or piece of furniture for security. She even spent a little time hiding behind the curtains that close off the entryway, with just her face peeking through to see if it was safe.

On the first night, she woke me up with all the symptoms of bloat except for a swollen and hard abdomen: pacing, panting, drinking water, and unproductive efforts to vomit. I was so sleepy that I didn't think of it, and fortunately she was already improving by the time I thought of bloat 30 minutes later. It seems to just have been bad indigestion. She had diarrhea later that day and the next. She didn't eat until two days later.

Outside in the snow, she was a different dog. She ran in circles in joy at being off leash. I took her for a long hike every day.

First heat cycle

Terra started spotting on August 18th. She quickly learned to clean herself, and the blood was only a problem when she got up from a nap, during which it would apparently pool near the opening to her vagina. That was when big drops would end up on the floor - or splattered all over if she was vigorously wagging her tail to welcome me home.

I didn't notice any behavioral changes while she was home. Unfortunately her heat coincided with me having an intact adolescent male boarding with me. I sent her off to stay with my parents during the second half of his board, as he was getting worse in his behavior. Terra has always been wary of my dad, but this time she started barking at him when he would make noise from his office or enter the room she was in. She likes my mom, who provided all her care.

The spotting had stopped by the time she returned on September 3rd. On September 13th she had gooey discharge but that cleared up after just two or three days. All seems back to normal now.

I put a note in my calendar for February 18, 2019: "Terra heat sometime around now." I hope she's regular.

I made her these adorable panties for the most part they weren't needed.

Switching crate to x-pen

Terra's crate has been tight for a few weeks. I was finally able to retrieve her large, heavy duty x-pen from where I'd left it on the agility field. She's confused about the change, but she has room to stretch out now.

Here's the most recent picture of her growth. She weighed 96 pounds last week.

And a couple bonus pictures of her sleeping:

 

01/03/18: feeling better

Terra still slept through most of the day, but she had short bouts of bored energy.

We did two super short nose work sessions. She did some good problem solving with containers 8-12" off the floor.

12/26/17-01/02/18: pneumonia and ICU

In the week before Christmas, one of my regular boarding dogs arrived with a cough that had just started that morning. Terra developed nasal congestion on 12/25 and a mild cough on 12/27. On the evening of 12/30, she became lethargic and unresponsive to me talking to her and cajoling her to eat her dinner or go outside to potty. I took her to UC Davis. We had to take the scary elevator because she didn't have enough energy to climb the stairs. (Side note: who the fuck decided to put the emergency clinic on the second floor?) They found that she had a fever of 104.8 and pneumonia, and was not getting enough oxygen on her own. They started her on antibiotics. She spent the 31st on supplemental oxygen and an IV in the ICU. When I visited, she gave me a little tail wag but mostly kept her head down on the floor.

On the morning of January 1st, after 24 hours on antibiotics, she was doing much better. The supplemental oxygen was removed. She started eating the meatballs, cottage cheese, and rice that the staff offered her. (Though she did lose a little weight during her stay.) I was able to take her for a walk when I visited. She was moved from the ICU to an intermediate care ward.

They re-ran blood tests on the morning of January 2nd and confirmed that she was well enough to come home. She will be on antibiotics for at least 2 weeks and has an appointment to get a chest x-ray at our regular vet's on 1/12. No physical exertion (including running or playing) for 2 weeks. I guess we'll be doing a lot more nose work practice.

She ate her dinner with gusto but has spent all day sleeping, with a few half-hearted attempts at squeaking a toy or chewing on an old bone. Chimera was happy to see her and tried to get her to play, but she turned him down. She welcomed a thorough brushing and cuddle instead.

They told me that she had a fan club, which was no surprise. She's so mild mannered and cuddly that she makes friends everywhere she goes (note that all the staff, techs, and vets were women).

12/22/17: Recent pictures, CVS

Terra weighs 91 pounds today. After getting her weight at the vet's, we went next door to CVS. Terra walked down the aisles with me to pick up a new toothbrush, then waited in line to pick up medication. We've been in this CVS twice before, and she was relaxed the entire time. She was still impatient while we waited and while I paid, but she repeatedly offered a sit. I was happy with her demeanor.

Resting with her Malinois friend.

Raw food prepped for Christmas vacation.

If Cai is in the crate first, he won't let Terra in. But if she's there first, he feels free to join her.

Growth update

Day 100 (12/15/17): chiropractic appointment

It's a milestone day; Terra has been with me for 100 days! And a few days ago, she turned six months old. She weighs 88 lbs. Her fur has lightened considerably since puppyhood and she's big and strong and beautiful.

I made an appointment for Terra right after Chimera's monthly chiropractic appointment. Dr Wallace is amazing and I knew that having her feel Terra over would help her stay healthy as she goes through her enormous growth spurts. Dr Wallace could see that yes, Terra was slightly favoring her back right leg; the stride was shorter on that side. (We had recently gone to our regular vet about this.) It was subtle enough at this point that I hadn't been seeing it at home. She felt her up and found that her pelvis was slightly tilted, which could be causing the problem. She noted that Terra was uncomfortable having her back toes handled, and found a fungal overgrowth there. She told me to soak the feet in a strong green tea for 5-10 minutes, for 1-2 weeks. The tea is astringent and will get rid of the fungus.

I was skeptical about being able to do the soak for so long, but once again Terra has proven to be amazingly mellow and tolerant. Of course, I do it when she's sleepy and less likely to fidget.

We still sometimes made a mess.

Day 90 (12/05/17): vet visit

Terra stopped favoring her back right leg by Sunday morning, but I kept our Tuesday afternoon appointment. She shied away from the ear thermometer but allowed Dr Diedrich to bend her back legs this way and that. The doctor couldn't feel anything wrong with her back right leg. Surprisingly, her back left leg was more tight and she didn't want to stretch it as far back, but no sign of pain per se. So at this point, we're assuming that the problem was probably just normal boisterous puppy play.

I wish I had taken a photo of the tech trying to listen to Terra's heartbeat and getting licked all over her face and hair.

Her weight was 83.5 lbs. She's continuing to grow but is a bit slimmer since she's been having diarrhea for multiple days again. I think it was set off by eating a bunch of cat poop in the yard, and it seems to always take her a long time to normalize once her GI tract is inflamed.

Day 88 (12/03/17): older puppy class, Office Max, bath

We attended our last week of the adolescent dog class at Thinking Dogs. Nancy welcomed us to continue the class but I'm going to look around for conformation classes next. Either way, I will be using the class to practice being relaxed and hanging out around other dogs, with small bursts of training or play time. It will benefit me to learn more about conformation, though.

We skipped play time at the end of class due to Terra's previously mentioned injury, which I was able to narrow down to pain in her back right leg. She was favoring it intermittently during the day. (We have an appointment with the vet tomorrow.)

We participated in an exercise involving leash walking close to other dogs. We also practiced IYC, stand-stay, chin target, and nose target. We played tug a lot and walked around.

After class we went to Office Max to buy printer paper. Terra was initially frightened by my swinging a shopping basket around. By the end she didn't mind it moving closer to her face when I would move in to treat her. She needs more practice just standing around when I am looking at products, paying the cashier, etc.

She was acquiring a funk again from rolling around and playing outside, plus she got a little diarrhea on a back leg after we got home. So it was time for another bath. This time she didn't fuss as much and we didn't have any near-accidents with me being pushed out of the tub. She did try to nose past the shower curtain and I had to reprimand her sternly. I wish that there were a way to tether her into the tub. When I have my dream house, it will include a large walk-in shower with a dog tether.

Days 81-87 (11/26/17-12/02/17): visiting friends, CVS, trial, mystery injury

11/27/17:
Terra's weight was 82 pounds.

I took her into the CVS next door to the vet's. She did very well walking around and showed only minimal interest in sniffing merchandise. We even went down a junk food aisle, with me holding the leash very short just in case, but she followed me lead and just walked straight ahead. We worked particularly on "wait," which is difficult for her because she has a lot of momentum to stop! I sat down by the pharmacy to practice settling in public. I cued her to sit and then lured her down. At first she fussed but, as usual for her, she then gave up and just watched the world go by.

On our way out we stopped to let a couple of ladies pass by. They stopped in front of us and one asked if Terra was "friendly." I put my hand out in a "stop" signal and replied, "She's in training and I need her to focus right now." The lady nodded by stared at Terra and then started to make kissy noises. I quelled my rage - I HATE it when people call out to my dog or otherwise try to get its attention without permission - and stuffed a treat into Terra's face. I then side-stepped to my right and gave a leash cue, Terra did a beautiful side-step to join me, and we walked out with the treats continuing.

A friend commented that in the future I should directly address the person's behavior rather than the dog's needs, ie, "don't interact with her." That's a good suggestion. I fell into the trap of using language that is understood by dog nerds but not by ignorant non-dog people. But I am also, clearly, training my dog to ignore people doing that, as some bullies will intentionally try to distract a dog just to be mean.


11/30/17:
We drove down to visit Sherry and act as decoys for a leash reactive client of hers. Terra got excited and pulled toward the other dog when it was just 10 feet away. Otherwise she happily walked around and sniffed as usual.

I wish this photo hadn't been washed out by the sun because her face is so cute!

Taking a break in the bushes.

Om nom nom.

In the evening we visited Rachel for another craft party. Terra pooped (actually had diarrhea) in the back yard shortly after our arrival, but had to stay on the tether for nearly two hours until she finally peed outside. Then she got to be in the house off leash, but was so tired that she just slept on a dog bed until we left.

I had Rachel help me with a short training session. First I put on Terra's "in training" harness and cued her to wait at my side. I rewarded her for staying as Rachel approached, as Rachel said hello, and then as she used the lilting "talking to a dog" voice. It was hard for Terra because she loves Rachel! We need to practice this a lot more with a variety of people so that she will be able to confidently ignore the public.

Then I had Rachel hold a small handful of treats and I practiced hand stacking Terra. It's one way to make a positive association with a conformation "judge" approaching.


12/01/17:
Chimera has his first AKC agility trial today. Since it was on a Friday, the entries were small. I let Terra sleep in the car all morning. She would be in a different position every time I checked on her, but was always sleeping soundly. Finally, after Cai's second run, which was the last run of the day, I brought her out. She wanted to sniff every tree and post we walked by to get information about the other dogs. She wanted to say hello to almost every other dog that passed within 10 feet. I was happy to see her so curious. A loud noise dampened her enthusiasm for a few minutes, but she recovered enough to practice touch, chin, stand-stay, and IYC.

Sometime today Terra hurt herself, probably while playing with her Malinois friend. I think it's something around her back, hips, or hind legs but she didn't respond negatively to me handling her. She's been a little slower to get up and occasionally whining as she does so. At one point she stood up and then hunched over. She still wanted to play with the Malinois but would sometimes get pissed off if the other dog jumped on her back. The Malinois went home so I no longer have to deal with puppies who are desperate to play but have to be kept apart. I'll keep an eye on Terra tomorrow and see how she recovers.

Days 70-77 (11/15/17-11/22/17): socialization trips

11/15/17:
Hiked off leash on the Homestead Trail along with a boarding dog. It was a weekday morning and raining, so we only saw one other person. (Terra was scared of him.) We had to pass a very shallow creek and she was reluctant. Perhaps she remembered the previous two times she'd gone into water with abandon and then regretted. However after I had crossed and was standing on the other side, she had no choice but to follow.

In the evening we visited Rachel. Haley and Frankie crowded Terra as we walked in. I was just telling Rachel that I needed to take her through to the back yard ASAP when I saw that she had done a little submissive tinkling... and then she let her whole bladder loose. So embarrassing. I let her play with the other two for about an hour, and then put her on leash and tethered her to the table where I was knitting. I took her out every 20-30 minutes and on the third trip, she finally peed in the back yard. Then she got to play again for an hour, and then back on the tether until it was time to go.

11/17/17:
We took a trip to PetSmart. I challenged her to walk slightly closer to people than before. She's improving, but slowly.
 
11/19/17:
We've aged out of puppy class, but Nancy transferred our credit to the adolescent level. The classes are in a new location, as well. We practiced going to her mat, hand touches, IYC, and stripping her ears. We wrestled and played tug and ran around. We didn't participate in any of the training exercises the rest of the class did, since they were focused on self-control and practicing polite greetings with strangers. We skipped the play time because I have a dog boarding who plays hard with Terra and I didn't want her to have any extra roughhousing to tax her body.
 
11/20/17:
Weight at vet's is 76.5 lbs.

I needed to buy special cookies at Trader Joe's. This was a new location for her. We walked around the front of the store (away from the stream of people going in and out) and sat on a bench. She fussed at first as she didn't want to wait around, but then she gave up and sat, then laid down.

There is a Babies R Us next door, and I could see that there were very few people inside. We took 2 trips through the store. The first one was in through the entrance and out through the nearby exit right away. The second time, we went down a couple of aisles before leaving. Terra was mildly curious about the merchandise and spots on the floor that she thought might be edible. I kept her moving.

11/22/17:
Today's field trip was to Michael's. She did very well and walking around. She wanted to sniff merchandise here and there, but wasn't obtrusive. (I do let her sniff briefly as I want her to feel comfortable, but I call her to continue onward after a few seconds.) We stopped in the yarn section for a few minutes, as this is a realistic thing for me to do when shopping. She fussed and wanted to keep exploring. I got her to sit (which was great as we, uh, don't practice this ever) and after a minute she inevitably sunk to the floor. It takes so much effort to hold that giant body up!

She tends to pause (and sometimes back up slightly) when people come into her line of sight. I always give a treat immediately. I can see that she is slowly transitioning to worrying less and being more grateful for the treat.

We need more practice with stopping on cue ("wait"). Her attention and leash walking were good though, especially after I switched from the Bark Pouch to beef liver. She seems to like variety in her treats.

Unrelated, I finished stripping her ears today. Now I wait for the rest of the puppy coat to be ready to come out.

Days 51-62 (10/31/17-11/07/17): rabies, visiting parents, dog friends, outings

10/31/17:
Got rabies vaccination. Terra shied away from Shawn the vet tech. She had been friendly with him before, but he came into the room and toward her too quickly. He was in a hurry because the clinic had an emergency patient, so he couldn't sit with her and let her warm back up to him. So I positioned myself next to her side, blocking her view of what Shawn was doing at her back end, and fed her pieces of chicken. She gave a tiny flinch when he put his hands on her but it seemed surprise/confusion rather than worry.

11/02/17:
My sister dropped off her little dog Frankie for the weekend. Terra and Frankie love each other.

11/03/17-11/04/17:
I packed up Terra, Chimera, and Frankie, and drove two hours south to visit my parents. Along the way we had a private lesson with Vicki Ronchette (will detail in a separate post).

Terra loves my mom (all my dogs do, probably because she and I are very similar). She's wary of my dad. By chance, he kept startling her by popping up in doorways. I realized what was happening toward the end of the visit and told him that if he remembered to talk as he was coming around the corner, she wouldn't be startled and run away. She did approach him to sniff here and there, but would retreat when he would turn toward her or reach for her.

My mom and I took the dogs for a long walk on Friday evening. Between that, playing with Frankie, and just the general excitement, Terra was tired out on Saturday.

We had one potty accident, right as we got back from the walk. She had a full bladder but she is not relaxed enough to potty while walking unless she absolutely can't hold it anymore. Lesson learned - next time I'll take her straight to the back yard as we come in.

She didn't chew anything up except for a shell that fell from a shelf while the dogs were running around.

I brought her big crate and she was comfortable in it overnight.

A few times while we were in the back yard, she heard sudden noises from neighboring yards and alarm barked. She was also uncomfortable with the neighboring dogs doing territorial/alarm barking (which is common for puppies).

11/05/17:
Rachel and Eli brought Halley over while we butchered chickens with a couple other friends. I left all the dogs in the back yard. Terra played a little, dug a little, and sunbathed.

11/06/17:
We visited Sherry for the day. Terra played with a few other dogs. She was wiped out that evening.

11/07/17:
Had agility class in the morning, though Cai injured his foot so we left early. Terra was quiet as I left her and Cai to walk the course, but barked loudly when I took Cai out for our turn. I think I'll ask another student to feed her chicken while we run.

We stopped by the vet's for a weight - 71.5 lbs, which is an increase of 5.5 lbs in 7 days!

We went to Lowe's for a socialization trip. Terra was generally more comfortable walking all around the store. She startled at some loud noises. She was uncomfortable with people passing close by us.

In the evening we went downtown. There weren't a lot of people out since it was a Tuesday night. Terra initially was suspicious of the gourds lining the sidewalks, but her curiosity won out. She investigated, then dismissed them.

General:
She's been sleeping longer through the night, but still wakes me up to go out between 6 and 8 am. She goes back into the crate afterwards without a fuss.

She doesn't like pork but I bought it in bulk so I've been struggling to get her to eat all her meals lately. I've been adding chicken broth, warm water, and bacon fat. Not even all that is enough. I will have to buy some more beef or chicken and mix it 50/50.

Day 50 (10/30/17): PetSmart, doggy playtime, no more cheese

The Belgian Malinois is back for four days. The girls were so happy to see each other. I still have to referee the Malinois' play but I can see that Terra is bigger and sturdier than during her last stay.

She lost a canine (lower right) during play and ended up getting blood onto her own leg.

In the evening we took a trip to PetSmart; I was training the Malinois there anyway, so I brought Terra along. She was more overstimulated than she has been in the past, and so we mostly just walked all around, and did a little bit of training on leash walking. She is still nervous about people approaching her directly but it is continuing to slowly diminish.

Terra had diarrhea the past couple days and then cleared up. It correlated with getting string cheese. That is sad, as it was her very favorite treat, even better than cooked chicken.

Recap Days 35-46 (10/15/17 - 10/26/17): food, socialization with dogs, people, & places

It's been a while since I updated Terra's blog because I've been in a depressive episode and couldn't keep up. Some of her training has fallen behind, but I've continued to take her out and about. She has more energy now and needs more play and training and exercise to settle easily at bedtime.

Her weight as of yesterday is 61.5 lbs. She's small for her age, but she's growing and looks and acts healthy. She's lost a bunch of teeth and her adult molars are coming in. She's having trouble chewing and I've been grinding up all of her raw meat. I stopped giving her meaty bones because she was chewing them up the bare minimum needed to be able to swallow giant chunks, and then wasn't digesting them properly. I hope to add them back in once more of her adult teeth come back in. In the meantime she's getting bone meal mixed into her meat and organs and other supplements. I also mix in chicken broth or a small amount of bacon grease with warm water to encourage her to eat it all. Otherwise she doesn't want to eat when there's a change of protein source.

Here are the highlights of our adventures for the past 12 days:
My pushy Belgian Malinois client stayed for five days. When Terra was younger and less confident, I had been very worried about having this dog stay with me again. But this was good timing - the girls loved each other and Terra was just as pushy to play with her. At first I had to hover and referee to make sure the Malinois wasn't knocking Terra around. The more I intervened and prevented her from punching and jumping on Terra, the calmer the play was and I could relax somewhat. I'm looking forward to having them together when Terra is larger and less vulnerable. They'll be good playmates.

We visited Miki and her two little kids again. Once again Terra kept wanting to approach and lick their faces. They were not as into it. I'd love to get her around some kids who are older and dog-savvy.

Her vaccinations are all done other than rabies, which I didn't want to give at the same time. The tech was great - massaged her shoulders and slipped the needle in quickly. I play-wrestled with Terra's head while she did it, and the pup didn't even notice.

Took a second trip into Lowe's and two into PetSmart. She's more confident every time. The last trip to PetSmart, we were able to do rapid-fire training on hand touch, chin target, eye contact, stand-stay, and walking at my side. We also took a break to sit/lie on the floor and look around.

Chimera had a Fast CAT trial and of course I took Terra along for socialization. She had some brief moments of being overwhelmed but really settled in. She wanted treats and play and pulled toward people standing nearby to get petting (particularly women, but also a few men). Met an adult female Wolfhound and they sniffed each other's privates but were not as excited to see each other as I'd expected.

We've had some negative experiences around men, when they approached too close too quickly. Sometimes it's hard to stop people in time. I need to get faster; my natural reticence to engage with strangers gets in the way.

Had another session of puppy class. We were able to participate in an exercise in which we paired up and practicing approaching and walking past other owners and puppies. I had string cheese, which seems to be her highest value treat so far. We skipped the play time at the end because I'm worried about Terra playing too rough and scaring another puppy, and harming its socialization. She gets plenty of social time with other dogs at home and when visiting friends, and currently her social skills are just right for her age.

Went to Cai's Agility class and hung out in a heavy duty x pen I brought. She wasn't worried about being there but got upset when I would walk away (whining, demand-barking, and pawing at the pen). She also dug holes in the gravel. Next time I need to bring a thick mat and fresh chew, and a separate crate for Cai so he doesn't steal it.

She loves to dig - she's also tried to dig holes in the wood chips in the yard (doesn't get far because there is landscape fabric over the ground) and in dirt while we were on a walk.

When she's bored or wants something she sometimes raises her paws and scratches at the wall. Noooooo bad puppy!

Visited Auntie Agnes yesterday and played nicely with little Frankie and was much more comfortable walking along busy Mission St. Peed three times in the condo and didn't pee when we took her outside to a quiet area. She's banned from visiting again until she's potty trained/more comfortable peeing in public. She does get agitated and pace just before peeing indoors but it's hard to recognize because she also walks all around the place because she's excited and wants to check things out and play. I can tell when she's about to poop because she raises her tail up a few paces beforehand.

Day 31 (10/11/17): bath, training, Home Depot

Terra got a bath. She smells so much better now.

SO SAD

WHY DID U DO THIS TO ME

The fur on her back was sticking up afterwards.

SAD DOG

She now consistently goes to the mat and stands and looks at me. I'm jackpotting for sits on it. She also plants herself into an awesome stand across my body, facing right (as for conformation). I've started adding my movement to the picture. Working on getting her to place her chin in my palm rather than me putting my palm under her chin. In nose work, she consistently puts her nose by the tin when I'm holding it at head height (and I have treats in the other hand at head height). Now we're working on lowering the tin (and treats) to the floor.

We went by the vet's for another weight: 56.5 lbs.

After that we headed to Home Depot. My favorite way to introduce a dog to stores is to visit a plant nursery, or go into the nursery area of Home Depot/Lowe's/OSH. They tend to be more open (plants on tables rather than aisles that completely block your view) and look like a blend of outdoor (more familiar) and indoor spaces. Terra immediately walked into the nursery, letting her nose lead the way. I had to pull her away from a few plants she wanted to chew on. We headed into the store proper after a few minutes.

I stopped in a little open area just to the side of the door. Terra was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds and smells and started circling around me, trying to take everything in. I waited until she stopped, and because standing is tiring, she sat and then laid down. I squatted down and pet her for a while, letting her continue to process.

When I felt like she was ready to walk around, we headed through the aisles. For the most part she was leading the way into new parts of the store. Sometimes I guided her down specific areas (mostly to avoid people or animated Halloween and Christmas decorations). Sometimes people scared her and she wanted to retreat, but she doesn't always choose the best direction to go, so I have to use the leash to interrupt her and encourage her to turn in a different direction. Sometimes people made her only slightly anxious, and by putting a hand on her shoulder, I was able to get her to just pause and wait for them to go by. So there was some negative reinforcement for both walking with me, and for standing at my side. There were also times that she didn't react to people, and a few times that she wanted to approach - even, one time, a man!

We stayed in the store too long. After 35 minutes she sat down and gave a couple of yawns. We left as soon as she was ready to walk again. I'd give this trip a B-; there was still a lot more good than bad.

Day 28 (10/08/17): puppy class take two

We finally returned to puppy class! We had missed the previous two weeks due to scheduling conflicts. Our first time "in class" had required staying VERY far from the dogs and people, and just doing our own thing. Terra has made so much progress in the meantime, that we were able to (slowly) make our way over to the gathered puppies and owners, put a mat down, and join in! Terra hesitated when she saw the big group, but then was willing to proceed without any help from me.

We didn't participate in the exercises, as Terra couldn't focus with all the activity going on. We spent half the time just walking the perimeter and sniffing around. We hung out on our mat, though Terra sometimes pulled toward the nearest pups. I'm very happy that she's now willing to approach other dogs after just a moment of checking them out... but now I need to be careful that she doesn't develop leash frustration!

Toward the end of the hour, rather than being tired out, Terra was more settled and able to give me more focus. She turned down the peanut butter and berry flavored Bark Pouch, but was eager to eat the Real Meat treats I got from Jodi. We did hand targets, a teeny bit of stand-stay, IYC/eye contact, and a little walking at my side.

I didn't have Terra join in the off leash play that the instructor does at the end of the class. I'm happy that she is more comfortable with dogs, but she's getting plenty of social time with the boarders and when we visit friends with dogs. When we're in a class or trial setting, it's work time and not play time.

A few women and two men approached over the course of the class. I had them all stop at a distance that Terra still found comfortable (about 10 feet) and let her approach them. With the women she was very quick to approach would get into their personal bubble. She was hesitant with one of the men and sniffed him but kept her back end oriented away from him. The second man had a disability and his speech was different from "normal," and his body language was more stiff and still than most. Terra approached for a moment but then backed up, then backed up more, and I turned her and led her a few extra feet away at that point. I'm guessing that it was the body language that alarmed her.

One more thing about her socialization with people - they all wanted to give her treats as she approached, and I let them despite a voice in my brain saying "noooo." I should have listened to it instead of giving in to peer pressure. What I got was a puppy that started to approach people to mug them, without being more comfortable in their space thanks to it. God damn it, I know better! I was being too nice/polite. Next time I will say, "don't give her any treats, but you can get down low and offer petting."

I love this bright yellow patch on her cheeks.

First tooth lost!

Day 26 (10/06/17): growth assessment, great trip to park, food, training

Chimera had his monthly visit to his amazing chiropractor, and I took Terra along for socialization. She was ready to greet everyone at the clinic. It was all women on staff, and I'm sure she recognized the setting as similar to our regular clinic, where she's comfortable. You couldn't tell that she's normally shy with strangers.

The doctor noticed that her front feet are a bit "easty-westy" (turning out to the side), and said that it's because her bones have grown but the muscles and tendons haven't caught up and aren't strong enough. She said to cut back on the extra portions I was giving her. She also said that otherwise she's looking good, and not to compare her growth to her siblings, but just look at the dog in front of me. I'll keep bringing Terra along on Cai's appointments, so Dr Wallace can watch her growth and keep an eye on things for me.

At twilight I got her out to Arroyo Park in Davis. She showed a big jump in her comfort level with people walking toward us and passing us. She still sometimes retreated and/or hid behind me, but other times she stood her ground and air scented and wagged her tail, and a few times she even stepped toward the strangers!

We also cuddled and wrestled and ran around. So much fun!

On the way home.

I still gave her a small amount of bacon fat with the organ meat in her ground meat at breakfast. At dinner I skipped it, and added her supplements instead. (She hasn't been getting the supplements since the diarrhea.) She seems to really like the fish oil, and I added some water from cooking chicken. She ate it all with gusto.

Training updates:
Stand-stay: still switching up duration between 1-5 seconds to get her really solid on it.

Mat: she finally would step onto the mat with her front feet, then pause and look up with that "where's my click?" look! Next step is adding duration.

Chin rest: just started this. Easy-peasy because she LOVES physical contact. Rather than shaping or luring, I just placed my hand under her chin and gave multiple rewards in a row. I'll keep repeating this until I see little movements of her head toward my hand.

Target stick: mostly review; she will now follow it easily in a circle.

Touch (hand target): adding the verbal cue and getting her to look for it and follow it.

Nose work: still at the first step of choosing to place her nose by the tin while I hold food in the other hand. I had been using a treat toss to reset and switch hands, but she started staring at the floor rather than offering duration at the tin. After two sessions with no reset treats, just lifting my hands away to reset, she had some duration.

Day 22 (10/02/17): playing at park, new people and dog, nose work

Terra weighed in at 49.5 lbs on the vet's scale. She said hello to a couple new staff members. She happily walked up to one standing but was wary of the two sitting in big black rolling chairs.

We drove to Cooper School Park. We arrived at 2:15. Terra walked and sniffed around under her own initiative. She hid between my legs when a man walked by 15 feet away, and retreated farther behind me when he called out "hello doggy." She resumed exploring. She laid down on the grass.

At 2:30 the elementary school next door ended their day. I hadn't known that was coming and was worried, but Terra handled it better than I'd expected. She watched the kids walking by from her shady spot in the middle of the park, and sniffed the breeze. She didn't show any overt stress signals, just curiosity. At 2:37 she stood up and resumed sniffing around. She even wanted to approach three kids playing nearby (I didn't let her as it was not a controlled enough situation).

At 2:45 we started playing, switching up between jaw and paw wrestling, running, cuddling, and resting. We both had a grand time. Twice more she tried to approach the three kids, with her tail wagging higher and faster each time. But I don't want to let her interact with kids I don't know at this point in time.

At 3 pm we returned to the car. Terra spooked when a girl came around a corner and turned right toward us. She tried to run directly away but I used the leash to steer her off the side instead.

She went into her crate for a nap. More demand barking put through extinction. Ugh.

I had invited a couple clients to come over with their six month old Dalmatian, Beedo. I particularly wanted Terra to meet the boyfriend, and then the pup. We were outside when they arrived, which gave Terra a good sightline and plenty of warning that new people were approaching. She quickly went up to the fence to say hello to the girlfriend. She backed away for a moment when the boyfriend came up, but he talked sweetly to her and put his fingers through the fence, and she tentatively came up to sniff his hand. When they came into the yard, again she approached the woman but retreated briefly from the man. As the minutes went by, she was willing to get closer to him, and at the 25 minute mark she came all the way up and pushed into him for a cuddle.

Soon after that, I had them bring Beedo over. Terra came right up to the fence to sniff him. As he came through the gate, she let him sniff her but tensed and slightly tucked her tail, and then walked away for about 30 seconds. She came back and they sniffed each other again. Beedo wanted to sniff all around and wasn't pushy with her. After a couple of minutes she wandered off and found a big wood chip to chew on. Then Beedo did the same.

It wasn't until Terra went all the way up to the boyfriend, and then placed her paws on his shoulders, that Beedo thought about playing with her - she had been too quiet before. Now he pawed at her head and shoulders. Terra responded in kind - "oh, we're playing now?" And they were off to the races! They ran around and around the yard, and wrestled. They played for an hour (with self-imposed breaks).

Kangaroo-puppy!

I signed up for a gold spot in Nose Work 101: Introduction to Nose Work at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Class officially started yesterday and my vials and scent q-tips arrived today. I had ordered a kit with the NACSW scents (birch, anise, clove). I hope that the AKC scent sport will take off locally and there will be more opportunities to trial, but for now I'm just assuming that we'll do NACSW.

The first homework assignment is an IYC-style targeting exercise: hold treats in one hand and a hot tin in the other, and reward the dog at source when they choose to check out the tin. Terra startled at the strong smell. She did quickly choose to move toward the tin rather than futilely nosing at my treat fist, however she's not at all "drivey." She will do a few reps of one behavior, then take a lap around the room and drink some water, then sniff the floor, then either return to work or just lie down. That's okay - her ability to focus and desire to stay in the game are slowly increasing over time. It just doesn't make for snappy video.

We also practiced stand-stays and we can sometimes get to 4-5 seconds. She is rarely manding in confusion. But she will walk off and sniff around every few treats. Gotta keep it short and sweet, and give breaks before she decides to take them on her own.