Looking for advice about a new dog

[Tricia]

I wish that I knew what dogs are thinking. But after decades of trying I cannot fathom their thought process.All I can do is catalog an individual dogs response to situations. I do not even try to interpret the response, although it can be fun to try...

I swear there were times when I thought Ziggy walked around with a word balloon above his head, he was so expressive. But there were other times I wish I knew what was going on.
Gypsy is very different, but amazing just the same. We're really glad that she's getting along with the Mink's dogs better, but still don't know about the anxiety when I'm gone. I'll just have to leave Phil home alone with her more often and see if this settles out.

Meanwhile here are some pics @Andy Mink took of the dogs playing in the back yard.
(Phil posted these in the dog pic thread.)

Gypsy, Pepper, Tule
Next one is Gypsy and Tule running up the bank to catch a squirrel

 

[Sibhusky]

We're having a similar issue. Mia is really attached to my wife Ellen and will howl when she's out of sight and can't follow her. Doesn't matter if either Olivia (my daughter) or I'm with Mia. No Ellen = howling.

We originally got Qimmiq during ski season and he'd howl every time I left the house for hours, which has generally, but not always stopped now. But he still goes to the dirty clothes hamper and grabs something of mine out of it until I come home. Fortunately he doesn't destroy things, he just acquires things. Now oddly the other night he snuck into the closet for about the third or fourth time in one day and reacquired a purple turtleneck of mine that I probably wore for too many days given our shelter in place status. Given I was home all day (and when he grabbed it that night), I don't know what set that off. Must be especially ripe.

 

[TheArchitect]

We originally got Qimmiq during ski season and he'd howl every time I left the house for hours, which has generally, but not always stopped now. But he still goes to the dirty clothes hamper and grabs something of mine out of it until I come home. Fortunately he doesn't destroy things, he just acquires things. Now oddly the other night he snuck into the closet for about the third or fourth time in one day and reacquired a purple turtleneck of mine that I probably wore for too many days given our shelter in place status. Given I was home all day (and when he grabbed it that night), I don't know what set that off. Must be especially ripe.

Okay, that's pretty funny. Maybe I'll keep some of Ellen's dirty clothes at the ready for when she starts howling

 

[Tricia]

Okay, that's pretty funny. Maybe I'll keep some of Ellen's dirty clothes at the ready for when she starts howling

When I had a puppy that was attached to me, I was worried about leaving him for a weekend.
The dog trainer I had been working with suggested that I sleep with an inexpensive throw blanket for a period of time before hand, and use that with my scent on it for his bed blanket when I left. It seemed to work.
It could be as simple as a scarf that Ellen is okay letting the dog have or something like that.

 

[TheArchitect]

When I had a puppy that was attached to me, I was worried about leaving him for a weekend.
The dog trainer I had been working with suggested that I sleep with an inexpensive throw blanket for a period of time before hand, and use that with my scent on it for his bed blanket when I left. It seemed to work.
It could be as simple as a scarf that Ellen is okay letting the dog have or something like that.

We've been keeping one of Ellen's fleece vests in Mia's bed and it's been working well. Maybe I'll grab it and put it on the floor next to my desk.

 

[Tricia]

We've been keeping one of Ellen's fleece vests in Mia's bed and it's been working well. Maybe I'll grab it and put it on the floor next to my desk.

I still don't know how that is going to work, but I do know I left the house to get plants for the home improvement projects today and Gypsy was much better with Phil at home along for an hour or so.
Progress.

 

[TheArchitect]

I still don't know how that is going to work, but I do know I left the house to get plants for the home improvement projects today and Gypsy was much better with Phil at home along for an hour or so.
Progress.

It had no effect last night so I picked her up and held her in my lap while I was online. Thankfully that worked well.

 

[VickiK]

My dog trainer started offering online classes. I can get more info if anyone is interested.

 

[TheArchitect]

@VickiK does your trainer have a website?

 

[VickiK]

She does: https://www.gooddogk9training.com

Her name is Adele Alvarez. On Instagram, she's @gooddogtraining. She's pretty quick to respond to DM's (direct messages) from Insta.

 

[TheArchitect]

She does: https://www.gooddogk9training.com

Her name is Adele Alvarez. On Instagram, she's @gooddogtraining. She's pretty quick to respond to DM's (direct messages) from Insta.

Thanks!

 

[Tricia]

Gypsy update. Since our last post here, we had two encounters with dogs on our normal dog walk. One when an other dog went to me for attention. The other instance was when a little dog got snarly with Gypsy and Gypsy said, "Oh yeah? Watch this!". Nothing viscous but lots of barking and snarling.

Our new rule on the walk is, when she's off leash and we are approached by someone with a dog, we call her back to get on leash. She has been amazing about getting back on leash.
As for anxiety, we are learning.
She shows anxiety in the car, although she loves to go for a ride and gets excited that she's told she can get in the car, she whines and pants once in the car.
We tried some anti anxiety pills for her, which only seemed to work moderately
She goes nuts and jumps around like crazy when she knows we're going for a morning walk, so much so that we can't get the leash on her until we finally get her to sit.(this has been happening since the beginning) We figured it was just excitement, but later realized that its more than that and we need to do some training to get her to sit and be calm so we can get her leash on without a bunch of drama.
We're making her work for everything now. We have her sit and wait for a command to get her food, getting a treat, or even play time. She responds more to touch than treats. She LOVES getting brushed, which is awesome because she is shedding the undercoat now and the Furminator is on the job.

The amazing things about Gyspy far outweigh the added work to get her to sort out her anxiety. Right now she's curled up next to me on my office chair while I type.

Oh and Bonus! She is keeping on top of the squirrel situation.

@TheArchitect How's Mia?

 

[TheArchitect]

@Tricia Mia's doing well. We're dealing with anxiety as well but we're making some progress. She has no issues at all with other dogs. Sometimes she'll stop and glance at them but most times she'll keep on trotting during her walk and ignore them. Her issues remain with humans. She's gotten much better with me, Ellen and our daughter Olivia but every once in a while she'll run like hell in the opposite direction whenever we come near. She is very unhappy whenever she sees a stranger and will either growl or if possible hide until the person is gone. The odd thing is that it's not consistent. My son came over for the first time since February (he lives with my ex) and after a bit of early hiding Mia was very comfortable with him.

The first 3 car rides we took her on were to the vet and groomer so when we took her out for a random drive she wasn't very happy. I can only assume that she figured we were taking her to see a stranger again. We've now taken her out for a few more rides and she's started to look out the window instead of curling up in a ball in the back seat. Progress!

As for training, she needs some and we're starting to work on it. At the moment she'll only respond to Sit but that's about 50% of the time and only with Ellen. She won't come unless you have a treat for her but at least she does that with some consistency. She's very smart so some of this is just figuring out the right training methods that work for her.

 

[Tricia]

@TheArchitect sounds like good progress. Keep at it.
Mia is a good addition to your home and you're a good addition to her life.

I have found two different trainers in the area that work specifically with dogs who have some kind of history or anxiety.
One of these facilities is where we looked at adopting Sully before we met Gypsy, CRCS.

It turns out, a friend of ours, and coach at Mt Rose is very familiar with the owner of the facility and knows the people who work there. She has nothing but good to say about them and their work.

What we're doing now is making progress, and we plan on adding a natural supplement to her diet that may help with the anxiety and also her dry ski as she's shedding her undercoat. (undercoat is not something you deal with in Mia

)

I had a great and informative phone conversation with @bbinder, which is when I found the natural supplement. He is an incredible resource and he doesn't hold back on what he's thinking AFAIK

Gypsy still chooses me over Phil when doing things around the house. She'll follow me anywhere and stick by my side, but the good news is, she doesn't show anxiety when I leave her alone with Phil.

 

[bbinder]

“... doesn’t hold back...” Gosh, you make me out to be a scary judgmental guy

 

[Tricia]

“... doesn’t hold back...” Gosh, you make me out to be a scary judgmental guy

Well, you offered good information about not relying on anti-anxiety meds without the actual work that needs to go into it.
You also pointed out that some of the things I saw as excitement could actually be part of that anxiety.
I trust that you'll tell me when I'm doing something wrong, and have advice on how to do it right.
Your shared knowledge and experience has been invaluable to me over the past 10 years.
Gypsy says WOOF!

BTW, she's not much of a barker, but she sure does talk when she wants to.

 

[TheArchitect]

@TheArchitect sounds like good progress. Keep at it.
Mia is a good addition to your home and you're a good addition to her life.

Awww, thanks! Same for Gypsy!

 

[Tricia]

Gypsy has been making progress yet we feel some things need to be addressed when it comes to her possesiveness of me and some of her things.
She has been doing fine between our house and Mink's house until we went to Minks and there was an additional dog and two more people. She didn't get super snarly, but she laid at my feet under the table and growled when the other dogs approached me.
I fear that our time during SIP has stunted her socialization and ability to adapt to extra people and dogs, which is not something we can have with our lifestyle.

We recently started her on a supplement that promisses to help with anxiety, and we've been following some advice on training mechanisms, both of which are helping.(thank you bbinder)

I tend to put all of Gypsy's dog bones, and her one personal toy that she seems to care about, away when I know other dogs are coming over.
AKMink came over for dinner wtih Pepper and Tule earlier this week and all three dogs played together seamlessly. While we were eating dinner, Gypsy went up to her bed and got her biggest knuckle bone and brought it down to the patio, then laid by it guarding it, but not growling or mean, just laid near it.
Different, hmmmmm.

So, things are moving along in our state with COVID restrictions making it possible to schedule an appointment with a behavior specialist and we are starting socialization classes at that facility tonight. @Philpug and I had a lengthy phone conversation with the founder of CRCS which put both of our minds at ease that we're headed in the right direction. (too many details in that conversation to put into a post at this time)

Its hard to believe that this dog snuggling up to watch a movie is the same dog that snarls at random other dogs.

 

[TheArchitect]

It's funny that we're having the opposite issues. Gypsy having anxiety with other dogs but she's fine with humans. Mia is anxious with humans but is completely indifferent to other dogs. I guess spending the first 6 years of her life in a puppy mill with other dogs will have that effect.

Good luck with the training! We're planning to meet with a trainer in the next couple weeks. At the moment Mia will only sit and stay for Ellen, and even that's only about 75% of the time. Olivia and I have no luck at all getting her to sit and stay so when it comes time to take her out it gets frustrating. She's a sweetheart otherwise.

 

[Tricia]

It's funny that we're having the opposite issues. Gypsy having anxiety with other dogs but she's fine with humans. Mia is anxious with humans but is completely indifferent to other dogs. I guess spending the first 6 years of her life in a puppy mill with other dogs will have that effect.

Good luck with the training! We're planning to meet with a trainer in the next couple weeks. At the moment Mia will only sit and stay for Ellen, and even that's only about 75% of the time. Olivia and I have no luck at all getting her to sit and stay so when it comes time to take her out it gets frustrating. She's a sweetheart otherwise.

Thats what we keep saying.
The good moments far outweigh the challenging moments.