12/23/17-12/26/17: White Christmas

We spent the past few days up in Truckee. Snow had recently fallen and the dogs got to go on morning and afternoon off leash walks in the woods. Terra didn't hesitate at all about walking in snow, even though she had never seen it before. She did really well both in the condo and walking outside. She frequently played with my sister's little dog, Frankie. I brought her crate and was diligent about potty training, so we didn't have any accidents, thank goodness! At first she held her bladder as long as she could because she wasn't relaxed enough outside. That also got better as the days went on. The only negative was that she's still scared of my dad, but she's getting better every time they're together. We had a few reactive barks at noises early on, and on the last day at a little girl with a snow shovel playing outside the back patio.

Here are my favorite pictures from the trip. Click on any photo to see it come up larger.

Trying to be a lap dog on the couch.

She enjoyed tearing up the tag on her Christmas present.

Beautiful view.

Playing with Frankie.

Besties.

She liked to lie down against the L-shaped couch and rest her head in the coffee table.

Day 20 (09/30/17): two more people, crate barking, play, farm animals

The boarding doodle when home this morning, so no more easy way of tiring the puppy out, haha. A new boarding dog got dropped off but she is initially scared of new dogs so I have to keep them separate.

Terra was in her crate and the bedroom door was closed when the dog's owners arrived, as I wasn't sure if they had brought their dog to the front door or left her in the car. This worked out great because Terra heard them come in but it was a less intense moment. The dog was in the car, so I had the owners bring her supplies in, and when I brought the crate into the bedroom Terra was excited and wanted to come out. She immediately approached the owners, did mildly tentative sniffing, then got some petting but wasn't quite as into it as she has been other times. I bet if they had given her treats she would have felt even more friendly and wanted more petting afterwards, as that's what's happened before. As it was, she just settled down on the floor after a moment, but was nice and relaxed.

She had to spend more time in the crate than usual for the afternoon and early evening, and boy did she give me an earful. When she was having diarrhea, she learned that she could wake me up by whining and/or barking and I would take her out. That was useful then, but now she needs to UNlearn it. She quiets down quickly if I am outside of the house (as when I walked the boarding dog around the orchard), but when I'm home she thinks that the barking will work for her.

I gave her a frozen kong I'd made with Honest Kitchen and a "seal" of peanut butter. She loves the PB but only bothered to get part of the HK out. It's not so interesting since she gets it all the time. I have a few more kongs in the freezer but next time I'll put more unusual things in them - I didn't want to go wild at the beginning since I was still nervous about her tummy. Fortunately all has been well on that front. It seems like the roundworms really were the problem (probably combined with stress), and not the food change by itself.

We played tug and she was pulling hard until some blood appeared on the toy and she switched to just regripping and chewing on it. I hope I find her baby teeth! Cai swallowed all of his except one.

We did mat shaping again, and this time I had Cai in the room lying on his mat. He did perfectly; he didn't get up even once. I also had her follow the target stick around my body, to introduce the concept of following the target to learn another behavior (ie, right finish, or circling around)

She tried to play with Cai while they were outside together. She barked and pawed at him. He usually hates this and corrects strongly, but he seems to have formed an attachment to her and only gave half-hearted corrections, and didn't bother moving away from her when she stopped. A few times he even jumped toward her head with his front paws up, which was a play move. I was quite surprised.

We took a walk around the front of the house with Terra on a long line and deciding where to go (as long as she didn't try to eat goat or cat poop). She saw the goats, chickens, and cats. She was mostly relaxed and curious. She just got spooked when the rooster flew up into a tree, making loud ungainly flapping noises, and when one of the goats lowered her head and took a few steps forward in a clear threat display (which she never follows up on).

She pooped while we were out. So far Terra has pooped on asphalt, gravel, wood chips, and grass. No weird substrate preferences here!

Spoiled puppy.

What a goof.

No idea how her ears turned into corkscrews.

Growing!

She loves this rubbery toy.

Day 19 (09/29/17): Higby's, food toys and chews

I had to get chicken feed so I took Terra to Higby's feed store. I bought the food and worked with the boarding dog first. Terra is good at chilling in the car while I'm running errands.

I have to lift her out of the car because her legs are always tangled up and she doesn't quite know how to get them under her and exit on her own.

The feed store had been quiet, but thanks to Murphy's Law, three male employees came out front and started loudly moving merchandise around and talking right as I got Terra out. She did not like that. She tucked her tail and leaned against me. I gave her a moment, then she was willing to walk away from the store front and to a quieter part of the grounds. The more time passed, the more she expanded the area that she was wanted to explore. We just stopped and I'd give her reassurance whenever she needed it. She was not overtly bothered by a forklift going by, or a car driving by loudly on the main road. She did get very scared of the sudden sight of people when she went around a corner and peeked into the shop.

Getting high value treats here and there helped. I need to teach her a few more basic behaviors that I can cue and reward while we're out, to help her gain confidence. I just started a nose-to-hand target but it wasn't strong enough yet. I was able to reward manding (offered) and eye contact (also offered, not on verbal cue yet). Often I would add a paw-to-hand target as one of these basic behaviors, but she currently whacks people (and gates) with her paw when she wants attention, so first I want to get that under better control. (On the other hand, maybe it would be a good lesson in stimulus control to work on it now. Hmm.) Maybe I should add "behind" or "between my legs" as early behaviors.

All in all I would rate this field trip as "meh." It wasn't too bad but I wouldn't consider it a successful socialization experience.

In the late afternoon, the client dog with separation anxiety came for another training stay. Terra heard the commotion from the yard as he came in and said "nope." But once everyone was in the apartment, she came over for petting and treats from the owners, and was comfortable ignoring the other dog.

I put her in the bedroom with a kong filled with treats. Somehow, in nearly three weeks with me, she hadn't experienced food toys yet! She emptied it quickly. Then I offered her a frozen kong (too difficult, but it was worth a try), a smoked beef bone (only while she's small and has baby teeth), and her jumbo bully stick. She chewed the yummy crust off the beef bone and then settled for a nap.

Terra ate 1.5 C of Honest Kitchen for breakfast, 1.5 C for lunch, and raw chicken for dinner (about 10 oz of drumsticks and 16 oz of ground meat). The HK portion is providing about two/thirds the calories she should get per the box, and the raw chicken is providing about half of what I would expect her to eat per her weight. So I'm feeding her extra to help her gain weight, after the lack of weight gain during her first two weeks. I'm watching carefully to keep her lean, though - very important for growing puppies, and especially giant ones.

Day 16 (09/26/17): agility class, vet, weight, normal puppy energy

I had Terra in the car during Chimera's runs in agility class, and took her out to explore in between. The property has a few sheep and horses, which both weirded her out. I let her choose whether to approach or retreat or just stand and watch. With both animals she took a few steps forward, watched, then slowly retreated.

At one point the instructor called out that we were in the line of sight of the next dog, and to move her to a different side of the field, which meant being closer to the action and to the other dogs. I had a split second of doubt but damn it, social pressure made me follow her directions. I should have moved farther away. Instead we had a major trigger stacking incident: Terra is walked into an area she had not yet explored at her own pace, other dog bangs teeter, other dog races through tunnel which is less than 10 feet away, other dog runs up and sniffs her butt, instructor greets her, second student approaches and tries to greet her. Poor Terra was frozen in place with a tucked tail. It all happened within half a minute, then I regained my senses and walked her away and back to the car.

Later I took her out again but to a different area, farther away, and she explored like she usually does.

In the afternoon we had a vet visit for her vaccinations and microchip. I let her lick from a Bark Pouch while the vet did it. She didn't react to the vaccination. She slowed down and tensed at the microchip needle but continued eating, which is very good for her. I showed the vet the dead worms that had come out after her first dose of Heartgard yesterday morning. They were roundworms, which we hadn't detected earlier but apparently can be hard to find as they only come out occasionally when still alive. We got a dose of wormer to give in two weeks, and the next Heartgard will be two weeks after that, and then she should be all clear.

She was quick to approach and lick the faces of all the staff at the clinic, even ones she had not met before. She seems to have generalized that everyone there (at least everyone wearing blue/green scrubs) is safe and friendly.

The scale showed her weight at 45, maybe 45.5. I was surprised that she had barely gained any weight in the past two weeks. Her breeder is very concerned, as her siblings are gaining normally. I believe it's due to the combination of stress, which meant not eating enough during her first couple weeks (she is now choosing to eat about triple the calories), the roundworms, and the diarrhea. Her appetite is so much better now, and I'm feeding her an extra meal for lunch, so I'm expecting her to normalize. Today she ate 4.5 cups of Honest Kitchen (dehydrated food) and 3 raw chicken drumsticks.

She is getting more and more playful. She is pulling more fiercely on tug toys, following the toy along the ground more consistently (though still slowly, in giant puppy fashion), and spending more time playing with toys on her own. She puts her mouth on my hands/arms more frequently when she's feeling playful (which I gently discourage but am happy to see). She got a good case of puppy "witching hour" and making mischief this evening. I had to separate her from the boarding dog as she was being too rough with him. We played together, then did training time (fly, mat, IYC, stand-stay, hand target), then she went into her crate and chewed on the jumbo bully stick for nearly an hour. Now she's falling asleep in her usual style: on top of her cuddle buddy, rolled onto her back, and panting from all the effort of chewing despite the ac and fans going.

Day 15 (09/25/17): training, food, playing at new park

Terra had solid poop all weekend while at Sherry's, eating Honest Kitchen. What a relief! Now that she's back to normal (and getting good nutrition), I'll try transitioning to raw food again.

This morning she pooped twice, peed twice, ate breakfast, and played with Luki, the current boarding dog. Then she went into her crate for 4 hours while my sep anx dog came for another training stay. She spent the first hour barking off and on, which was annoying, but I didn't worry since I knew her basic needs had been met. She also had a jumbo-sized bully stick in her crate, which she ignored. She was just experiencing FOMO.

When the sep anx dog's owners came to pick him up, I brought her out to meet them. She was curious about them both, but approached just a bit hesitantly, and was more willing to get into the wife's personal space. After she'd had a minute of cooing and gentle petting, I handed liver treats to the husband. She manded for him and wagged her tail, and after a stream of treats she was willing to come into his bubble and get "normal" petting from him. Perfect!


Since she was full of energy, we did play and a training session in the barn. I brought out two balls and rolled them slowly. She pawed at them minimally but preferred to come and lean into me for petting. So we did "personal play" (without toys), such as "got your tail!" (trying to get behind her and tapping her butt while she spun to chase me), jumping, running, and of course interspersed cuddling. (I LOVE that she's such a cuddle bug.) Then I got a braided fleece toy and we did baby-tug, with lots of encouragement for pulling back on the toy (gaining strength!), holding the toy, carrying it, and bringing it to me.

Clicker time: eye contact while I hold treats at her nose level (anti-mugging / IYC), shaping mat (seeing some intentionality there), shaping fly with body prompting (was getting consistent movement at end, rather than standing and thinking), and stand-stay (still have to keep it at max 2 seconds).

I gave Terra two raw chicken drumsticks for lunch. She was SO excited to get raw again! She danced with her paws and wagged her tail, and it prompted her first ever jump onto the counter to try to get more!

Then she passed out for a long afternoon nap.

At 5:30 pm, I loaded her and Luki into the car and drove to Pet Food Express. Luki got his training inside, and I bought a number of rubber-textured toys, since Terra prefers those. She slept (on her back, of course) while we were gone.

I drove to nearby Walnut Park, a large grass sports field. I let her off the leash since it was sunset and few people were around, and I knew that she would stick close. Initially she wagged her tail and set out in front of me, but when we got about 30 feet from the car, she suddenly became overwhelmed and clingy. We turned back and she trotted ahead of me toward the car. Once we got back to it, it seemed that she gained confidence from the ability to return to "home base," and she was ready to explore again.

I pulled out one of the rubber stick-shaped toys and we played together - a little tug, a little chasing the tossed toy, a little run and cuddle. It was a quite fun for both of us. A year ago, I would have relied entirely on treats to do counter-conditioning, but since then I have been turned on to the magic of just playing together. When we finally tired out, Terra was comfortable walking even farther from the car. She spent most of the "walk" intensely sniffing the grass. We practiced two recalls, using cuddles and licks from the liverwurst Bark Pouch as rewards. (She loves the Bark Pouch!)

On our way back to the car again, a woman and her leashed Golden Retriever walked by about 50 feet away. Terra stopped and watched them for 10 seconds, then decided to run over and say hello. On the one hand, I was thrilled that she was much more comfortable approaching a strange dog. On the other hand, I definitely didn't want her to practice running up and accosting other walkers! I ran and called her, she slowed down and looked at me, she trotted off again, I ran and called again, she paused again, and finally I caught up to her. Lots of cuddles and treats for letting me catch her.

Dinner and playtime with Luki at home. She was fast asleep before I put her in her crate, but then she decided to spend 90 minutes chewing on that jumbo bully stick. She doesn't have much jaw strength yet, as she barely shortened it.

Everything is headed in the right direction.

This was the farthest she ever got from me.

Rubber stick!

She found some crumpled paper and tore it up.

And I encouraged it, because yay play!

Whack!

New toys!

Days 11-14 (09/22/17-09/94/17): staying at Sherry's

I had been SO worried about leaving Terra with Sherry on account of her shyness. Of course I trust Sherry with my dogs' care, but Terra's just a baby! Fortunately I needn't have worried. Terra did just fine. She met a handful of different dogs, got along well with all of them (except one she bugged to play too much), met some of Sherry's clients and wanted to greet them (!), and played with a variety of toys. She complained just briefly about going into her crate at night, then settled and slept through the night. It ended up being a good, curated socialization experience for her. Many thanks to Auntie Sherry for taking such good care of my baby! (Cai, of course, was his usual self and did fine. It's nice to have a mature, predictable dog.)

Tired puppy.

Playing with other doggos.

Apparently she liked to steal and collect toys.

Puppy party presents

Terra, Chimera, and I received some lovely, thoughtful presents from our guests at last Saturday's puppy/birthday/house warming party!

Personalized tote bag! Woo, I LOVE tote bags!!

Tuffy toy, two chews, and large and small eco-friendly toys made of rice husks (how??).

Terra likes rubber-textured toys so this was perfect.

Snuffle mat!

Cookie sheet and silicone mat for baking tiny dog treats at home! And a food toy with suction cups so you can stick it wherever!

Thank you again to my guests - of course the best present was your help with Terra's socialization!