Day 13: Not so lucky

Yesterday was not a great day.  I took Dyl to training by myself for the first time, and made some serious miscalculations that set us both up for failure.

First, I was having a terrible day, so my mood really set the tone.  Second, I was running late, so I just slung Dylan in the crate in the car and didn't give her time to run some of her energy out before we went.  Also, it was her first time riding in the car in the crate with me. 

This was the worst part I think, as it seemed to bring back some sort of terrible memory for her, and she screamed the entire way to class.  That may seem like hyperbole, but I can assure you it was not.  I was worried every time I stopped at a sign or light that the pedestrians would think I had kidnapped a child.  It was a terrible noise, and I couldn't help but feel bad for her.  What happened to her before she came to us that made her so anxious in a crate in a car? 

When we got to class, I took her out of the crate, but we sat in the back of the car together for awhile.  She couldn't seem to calm down back there, so I took her out to see if walking around helped.  Then we got sort of pulled into class, and she was inconsolable.  She wouldn't take a single treat from me, and she wouldn't even focus on the trainers. I knew the entire time that she was too worked up for class, and I really blame myself for not just taking her out of the situation.  I just kept holding onto hope that she would calm down.

We went down and had another socialization with one of the shelter dogs.  According to the trainer, she did well, but she did growl when he tried to play with her, so I was discouraged.  I guess it's good that even with as anxious as she was, she didn't bite or get aggressive. 

When we got home, she was still so anxious that she couldn't calm down in her crate.  I had to take her out and hold her for about an hour before she finally relaxed.  It was one of the worst days I've had with her since we got her, but I think it seemed even worse because we've had so many really good days since we started training her.

To her credit, Nala was amazing yesterday.  She stayed out of the way and let me comfort Dylan when she was all worked up, and she continues to impress by sleeping through the night on her bed.  She's been great with her leash training and she is getting better at anticipating sitting at corners.  This morning, she chased a cat in the front yard, but stopped before she got to the street (so...good, not great).

Overall, I learned a lot about Dylan's anxiety.  I'm hoping that the longer we know her, the better we'll be able to react to her and the more security she will feel when she is with us (crate or no).

In the mean time, my motto will have to be:

Day 11: The "Meet-Cute" (9/21/13)

Miss Dyl was back at outdoor class on Saturday, and got to go right to class rather than having to walk a half hour worth of laps before starting.  The trainers decided to just throw her into the fire and see how things went.

They went ok.  The first 20 minutes or so, we could no even get her attention - she so badly wanted to meet the other dogs.  Eventually, we were able to get her to focus on us (sometimes) and sit.  By the middle of class, she was allowed to "meet" March, one of the trainer dogs.  She did well with it - they smelled each other, but didn't seem to care too much either way about the meeting.  This was apparently good news, and now the trainers know she's not trying to eat the other dogs.

This was the first time she was really allowed to participate in class, so we were thrilled.  Things were still pretty messy - she still had a hard time focusing consistently, but she was able to take a few treats eventually.  By the end of class, she was consistently sitting while in a circle of other dogs.  Great news all around.  We'll see how tonight's "socialization" class goes.

Day 4: Dyl's First Day of School Take 2 (9/14/13)

Yesterday was a big day for the girls. Dylan had her first outside class, and Nala got to learn some new moves on her walk.

We arrived early to class and one of the trainers came to meet us.  He asked that we didn't get too close to the class so as not to upset the other students, so we practiced a leash technique with her for about an hour. It was slow learning, but she really started to get it near the end!!

Similar to our first day, she wasn't fully invited to join the class. Her peers were so smart! Sitting and rolling over with 15 strange dogs around?! We can't wait until she's at that point. She did get to sit and observe class, and she did ok. Fewer monkey sounds, more excited whining. Once she calmed down, we also got her to work on sitting and focusing while dogs walked on either side of us. HUGE progress from Monday.

We even got invited to join the pack walk at the end of class (and at the back of the line)!! She did ok...but she lost all of her leash manners when she had to be last in the pack.

We also learned about 2 helpful products that we picked up after class: a martingale collar and a kong. Dylan loves her Kong. She hates the collar.

Miss Nala also had a big day. She learned the focus cue (which was big since she's what you might call an old dog) and had a great walk on a loose leash!

They both enjoyed a long rest with their new Kongs, and mom and dad took a long nap, and had a.nice date. Training is hard!

Back for more: The Chronicles of Dylan

Anyone who actually reads this mess is caught up on my life since 2008, so the only purpose of this post is to begin a real-time log of training our newest little turkey, Dylan. 

She's the new sister that we just rescued for our original pup, Nala.

Obviously, we have a type: small, female, brindle pit mixes with white necks and bossy personalities.  Since Nala is 4, and actually pretty well behaved, we thought adding the new gal would be fairly easy.  It wasn't, and they had a few squabbles.  So, we put little Dyl in training class.  So begins my log of her training and Nala's adjustment to her new sister.  I'm hoping that we can look back on our progress whenever we get discouraged, and feel better about where we once were.

Day1:  Dyl's Assessment and First Day of School (9/11/13)

We walked Dyl over to class, and she did ok on her leash until we got to downtown Kirkwood.  She became very distracted by all of the people and dogs.  We walked her over to the trainer, and she was sweet to him, but then a dog walked by and she started making her "monkey sounds" which are a combination of a whine, a bark and a gargle.  Good tricks, Dyl.  We walked her around the park, and learned how to walk her properly and keep her from pulling as much.  We walked by a few dogs and she pulled and whined.  Needless to say, she was not invited to indoor class, so I suppose the title is a misnomer.

We were invited to outdoor class on Saturday to further assess her.  He also suggested that she spend more time in her crate, which is a relief honestly.  That means we don't have to constantly monitor the girls when they are inside, and we can make every interaction a good one (good play time outside, good walks together when we can, and only let them play together when Nala "invites" Dylan).

Nala doesn't seem to mind having Dylan in the crate either.  She likes getting more of our attention again, especially since we're training her too.  She's learning to walk on a loose leash and generally be more attentive to our commands (sit/stay/focus/you can't sleep in bed with us anymore, sorry). 

So there's day 1.  Here's hoping things improve by day 30!