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: