Go Napi, it's your birthday. And your gotcha day.

Today is the day that we celebrate Napi's fourth birthday and third gotcha day. In truth, it is neither. His gotcha day is actually in a few days, and his birthday is a mystery, but probably still a month or so away. But we celebrate both today because his puppy hood was so awful. There's no need to belabor the point - I've written about his circumstances for coming into our lives before - but celebrating both of these days today, on Freedom Day, seems fitting.

Napi is... special. He barks too much and sometimes gets scared for no discernible reason and he's much too "protective" of me (read: he's guardy and kind of a jerk). He starts fights with other dogs and carries on when people come over. But he's also sweet and cuddly and loving with those he trusts. He's incredibly playful, whether it's with Pyg or our kitten or just by himself. He can always make me laugh. He's not the smartest dog I have, but he's eager to learn. And while I don't think I'll ever have another chihuahua, I cherish him just the same.

So happy birthday, little guy. I love you.

Can I give my dog ibuprofen? HELLS NO.

Yesterday I came home from work to find four happy dogs... and a bottle of ibuprofen in the middle of my living room, with the pills clearly chewed on and scattered about. I knew that ibuprofen is dangerous for dogs, so I called the vet. Because I didn't know who had chewed on the ibuprofen, nor how much may have been swallowed, they advised that I rush all four to the emergency clinic. That's where I learned how dangerous ibuprofen is. 

Ibuprofen does all kinds of bad things to dogs, including ulcers, kidney failure, and neurological problems. Worse, it doesn't take much to cause these problems. GI problems, like ulcers, can happen at a dose as small as 25mg per kilogram. For my three little dogs, who each weigh around 15 pounds or 7kg, give or take, that means that as little as 175mg - or less than one tablet of ibuprofen - can cause serious problems. Kidney failure is likely at about 175mg per kilogram, or for my dogs, about six tablets.

By the time we got there, Pyg was throwing up, was lethargic, and was swaying on his feet. Not good. They took him back first and made him throw up. After consultation, we agreed that all four may have eaten some ibuprofen, and so the best course of action was to take the other three back.

That's when I learned that recovery from ibuprofen ingestion is a lengthy procedure. First, everyone has to throw up. Then, they need to eat activated charcoal, which helps neutralize anything that's been absorbed. (Pyg got bonus lipids to help even more since he was so sick and problem ate the most.) Next, they need to have GI protectants (to prevent ulcers or tears in the stomach). Finally, they need at least 48 hours of IV fluids to flush out the system. Regular blood work and UAs are taken to assess if any kidney damage has happened. Hopefully the throwing up and charcoal and fluids prevents that.

We're about 24 hours in right now. Everybody is doing well, even Pyg. He's clearly tired, but he's not dull and lethargic. When I visited, he just wanted to lean on me. I'm waiting for their second set of labs to come back, which will tell us if there's any kidney problems brewing. We don't anticipate this happening with any of them since we got treatment so fast, but I'll update when they're home - hopefully tomorrow, but maybe Monday.

In the meantime- everyone should know that if your dog eats ibuprofen, it is an immediate emergency.

Let Freedom Ring! Napi's Designated Birthday/Gotcha Day!

Two years ago, my husband rescued Napi. Well, it was a few days after the 4th, but since he was saved from an abusive situation, Cesar decided it fitting to celebrate Napi's freedom day on, well, the day of freedom.

Today is also the day we celebrate his birthday. When he was rescued, Napi was probably around a year. Maybe a bit less. But since we really have no way of knowing, we gave him the 4th of July for both of his important dates.

 He has a few scars from his early years, but he improves every day. Mostly, it's been a combo of meds and love; I am sure I do a lot of training throughout the day, but none of it is all the conscious. These days, after about five minutes of barking, he will settle in and play with new people and dogs.

I love Napi to pieces. He's a fabulously wonderful, difficult, horrible, absolutely amazing dog. I wouldn't give him up for anything.

I took all four dogs to the dog park and no one died.

Two marvelous things happened on Friday. I found myself with the day off, and it was nice out.

After a long Minnesota weather, I was eager to get out of the house, and I figured the dogs were, too, so I made the decision to take them all to the dog park. I don't usually take Napi to the dog park because of all the crazy, but I decided to take the risk for a number of reasons:

1. The dog park we go to is huge and wooded, limiting the amount of interaction you have with other dogs,
2. It was the middle of the day on a weekday, further limiting the number of folks that would be there,
3. Napi seems to have the highest energy level of my dogs, meaning he needed the exercise most, and
4. I wanted to see how he was doing on the meds.

This probably isn't something I'd recommend others do, but at the same time... well, it was nice out. And you can't keep your dogs in a bubble; you need to provide challenges from time to time. And it was nice out. Yeah, mostly we went because of cabin fever. I decided that we'd leave early if Napi really couldn't handle it, and I made him drag a leash so that if he was a jerk, I could easily intervene. (And I did several times.)

Napi actually did fairly well. Here's a video of early on in our park trip:



And here's one from the end of the park visit:



Both videos suck from a cinematic standpoint; I was more focused on him vs. keeping him in the frame. Sorry about that. Anyway, he did better the longer we were there - the opposite of how Maisy is/was.

In the first video, he was barking at that other dog. He would actually snap at other dogs that he thought were threatening. A few times he was right - one dog was super stiff in its body language, and another was bothering Maisy - and a few times I think he was just guarding me/my treats/his buddy Pyg.

The second video is even cooler. You can see him stiffen up when he sees another dog approaches (it's a Springer, not that you can tell), and he then chooses to come to me for a treat. So does the other dog, but Napi only growled a tiny bit (I can't even hear it on the video).

What these videos tell me is that while Napi still has a long way to go, he's making nice progress. He's learning to think a bit before reacting. He's able to exercise some small amounts of self control. He can recover quicker from stress than he could before. He sees me as a safe person he can depend on.

Despite all this, the dog park will not be a regular part of Napi's life. He's still practicing more bad behavior than I'd like, and besides, the park will only get busier and more crowded as it gets nicer out. I don't want to risk a dog fight, and I do think that's a distinct possibility. Still, it's nice to celebrate success with a reactive dog.

What's in a Name?

This is Marley:

If he looks familiar, he should - he's the dog we now call Napi - but when this picture was taken in July 2013, he was still named Marley. Just a few hours before, he'd been tied out in the sun, gotten tangled around a tree, and when he got thirsty, began to bark at the water bowl that was now out of reach.

Marley's owner was a jerk. Instead of untangling him, he threw the water in Marley's face, all while screaming at him. This caught the attention of a big-hearted, dog-loving neighbor (now known as my husband), who watched, horrified, as the owner proceeded to beat Marley.

A few hours later, Marley was safe under the care of my husband, who was going to find him a good home. When it became clear that good home would be with him, my husband decided that Marley needed a new name. He chose Napoleon because it's a good, strong name, and he thought this poor dog could use some self-esteem.

All of this is background information to the story I really want to tell you, which is about the power of names.

It's been almost two years since Napi has heard his old name, and we were curious to know if he remembered it. My husband called him from the other room - "Marley!" Napi looked up, confused. He clearly recognized the name, but wasn't quite sure what to do. My husband called again, and Napi began walking towards him, stiff and hesitant. My husband smiled and said "Napoleon!"

And then it happened: Napi exploded in joy. His whole body began to wiggle, his mouth opened in a huge grin, and he began dancing around in circles.

"Look at that!" I exclaimed. "He knows his real name - and he likes it!"

"Yes," my husband agreed. "His old name has bad memories."

"And his new one has good  memories."

Well, shoot. (Medication Update for Napi)

The last time I updated about Napi's progress, I had just had my primary vet consult with the local vet behaviorist. Based on that conversation, we increased his fluoxetine (Prozac) from 10mg to 12.5mg. That was about a month ago, and initially, the dose increase showed some promise. Napi was still barking at things/sounds around the house, but it seemed like maybe it was less intense. On top of that, I was able to interrupt barking fits by calling his name - and he would respond!

But now it's become clear that despite these positive signs, this is NOT the med for my sweet boy. Frankly, he is not very sweet these days. He has gotten more possessive of me; he's growling, snapping, and even biting the other dogs AND my husband if they get too close to me. He's more irritable and tips from excitement to aggression very quickly while playing. He's starting dog fights. It's not good.

So, it's back to the drawing board. We will need to wean off the fluoxetine and then switch to either parotexine (Paxil) or amitriptyline (Elavil). Maisy takes Paxil, so I am biased towards that. The amitriptyline is a TCA - a different class of drug entirely - so it could be a good one to try. I will chat with Dr. Jessy this week and find out what to try next.

Napoleon Updates: Class and Meds

Napi and I have now gone to three sessions of our "class" (actually just a couple friends and I renting a training space and each doing our own thing). Napi and my thing is to sit and eat treats while other people and dogs are in the same building. I'm really pleased with how he's doing, actually. The first time we did something like this, he wouldn't eat at all.

Here's a 3 minute video showing how Napi is doing. We are sitting right next to a half-height door, so he cannot see - but can hear - what's happening in the next room (my friend and her boxer working on personal play). About ten feet away to the left, there's a closed door to another room, where another friend and her two dogs were.


 Overall, I'm quite please with Napi so far. Obviously, we have tons of work left to do, but he's making nice progress.

On the medication front, since I cannot afford to take Napi to see Maisy's old veterinary behaviorist, I had our primary vet, Dr. Jessy, consult with Dr. Duxbury on the phone. This is an awesome (free) service. The result was a nice discussion of our options. The first thing we are going to do is increase Napi's Prozac dose. If that does not work, we are going to switch to either Paxil (Maisy's drug of choice) or possibly amitryptiline (which I know basically nothing about and am possibly spelling wrong; I think it's a tricyclic?). And depending on how that goes, we will experiment some more with trazodone, clonidine, and/or Xanax.

I really just want my poor boy to be more comfortable around the house. As it is, the noises that my other three dogs ignore (even Maisy, who used to bark at basically nothing) set him off in spasms of barking. It's annoying to listen to and undoubtedly painful for him to live like that.

I must have a thing for reactive dogs, because I'm just in love with this dog. He's so sweet, affectionate, and funny. If we can just get his anxiety under control, he'll be perfect.

There Are No Magic Pills... But There Might Be Magic Thundershirts?

After my most recent post on Napoleon, my vet and I have been experimenting with as-needed, short-acting drugs to see if we could find something to help him calm down and relax around the house. We've experimented with different drugs and different doses and different frequencies and... well, let's just say that the amount of trazodone that will knock me out does nothing to him.

I tend forget about deep pressure type wraps since the time we tried a Thundershirt on Maisy was an epic disaster. As in, she got even more anxious. Still, Maisy dislikes being touched and Napi loves it, so yeah. Then I tried an anxiety wrap on him (ie, an ace bandage because I'm cheap and it was handy) and... OMG. He just curls up and goes to sleep. Oh, he still notices when our upstairs neighbor comes and goes, but the barking lasts for a shorter amount of time, and it's less intense. The hyper-vigilance is reduced, and it's just basically... well, magical.

But the magicalness of the pressure wrap really came home to me when I signed up to share the rental cost of a local training building with a few friends. I'm not really sure what they worked on, but Napi and I worked on not freaking out around other dogs and people. We started out in the lobby, behind barriers and slowly worked up to being in the same room with the others. Okay, they were mostly sitting still, and we were a good 40 feet away, but HE WAS LYING DOWN AND QUIET. Relaxed? No. Eating treats? Yes, which is better than the last time we tried to do something similar.

We're renting the training building for the next couple weeks, and while I was initially planning on taking a different dog each week, now I'm thinking it will be Napi-only. We have the potential to make a ton of progress, and I'm really excited to see how he does.

Napoleon Update

I’ve been wanting to update everyone on Napoleon’s progress, but it’s been hard to know what to say. I think that, overall, he’s doing better… but he’s still got a long way to go. I doubt he will ever make the progress that Maisy has, if only because there is no way I have the time or energy to do that again. I wrote recently about the time and money costs that went into her training, but that doesn’t even begin to touch the emotional costs. No doubt about it, rehabbing a reactive dog is exhausting and occasionally discouraging work.

Then again, living with a reactive dog is too.

Napi has a very small world. He almost never leaves the property. We are lucky to have a relatively large privacy fenced yard, and even luckier that he actually uses it to exercise. He may not get daily walks, but I’d be willing to bet that with the amount of zooming around he does -chasing and being chased - he actually gets better cardio.

It’s sad, though. I enjoy going to the dog park with my dogs; we have a large, wooded park with great paths and huge open spaces. While dog parks definitely have their own challenges, it’s my only legal place to walk my dogs off leash, so we go. Or, we used to. We don’t go much anymore since we feel sad leaving Napi behind.

His behavior makes it hard to travel; we took the crew camping a month or so back, and Napi really struggled. He ended up getting quite a bit of trazodone as a result. It’s also hard to have people over, since he gets pretty worked up when folks first arrive. While the other dogs will calm down quickly, it takes him much longer.

WHY does this picture have to be blurry??

Still… he’s doing better. We had some friends over the other day – two adults, and two children (4 and 7) – and he was eventually able to calm down and visit with everyone. We still haven’t quite figured out the best way to introduce him to new people and dogs. Restraining him makes things worse, but he’s an absolute ass for ten minutes or so (barking and nipping and dogs, barking and humping people). This time we tried crating with a bully stick for awhile first. It worked okay.

Our biggest area of struggle is just everyday living. He will bark and growl and trot around the house when he hears noises. Unfortunately, we live in a duplex, so there are often noises from upstairs. Nothing big – sounds of footsteps, mostly – but while the other dogs have gotten used to them, he just can’t. Maisy was like this at one point too, but medication really did fix that for her. Unfortunately, Napi is like this even though he’s already on meds. My vet and I are doing some drug experimentations, but so far, I’m not thrilled with what we’ve tried.

What I really need to do is suck it up and do the relaxation protocol. To start working on exposure. Find some time to get him into another reactive dog class. There’s no reason I can’t do this, other than what I said back in the beginning – I just don’t have the energy. Still, we’ll all be a lot happier if I do this, so I guess it’s time to work up a plan.

I’ve decided to start small with one small training session a day. Since his anxiety seems pretty generalized, the relaxation protocol seems like the best place to start. I suspect we’ll get the most bang for our buck, and it really doesn’t take much brain power. It’s mostly just boring. Right now I’m working on teaching him to go to a mat. I’ll spend a few days on this, then move on to a modified version of Day 1 of the protocol. I’ll keep you guys updated as we go.

Napi Update: 6 months on meds

Napi has been on Prozac for six months now.

Here's his before video:


And here's his after video:


Both videos were taken at our vet clinic, and there's a HUGE difference. The very awesome thing is that at that first appointment, the vet couldn't even touch Napi (she just prescribed the Prozac and called it a day). At the second appointment, he allowed the vet to do a brief exam, give a rabies vax, and draw blood. He wore a muzzle, although he probably didn't need to. He was very good the whole time. He didn't like it, but he's much less of a drama queen than Maisy!

I'm very happy with Napi's response to medication. I haven't done much training with him (just some basic recall away from the fence when the neighbors are in their yard) so he's still reactive towards people and other dogs. He has a small world right now as a result - we don't really take him anywhere - but he has a big yard that he and Pyg run around.

He is able to calm down quicker these days, and he is more comfortable around the house. We can even have guests over without too much drama. He does bark quite a bit at first, but generally acclimates within 10 to 15 minutes.

There's a lot of work to do, but I'm glad that I decided to put him on meds right away.

This is why we can't have nice things (Or, Napi goes to the ER)

Yesterday around noon, my fiance texted me: Napi had some hives along his sides. I told him to give some benadryl, which cleared up the hives. Napi was fine for the rest of the afternoon. I left around 6pm to do a private training consult, and when I got home again around 830pm, the hives were back, and worse, he was acting uncomfortably itchy.

I gave another dose of benadryl and the itching subsided, but the hives didn't. I figured we were in for a vet visit, but wanted to avoid the emergency vet because of Napi's stress/reactivity/aggression/whatever you want to call them issues. I know and trust our regular vet (Lake Harriet in Minneapolis- they are AWESOME for stressy dogs), but emergency vets are always a crapshoot.

But middle of the night, Napi woke me up by rubbing all over me, breathing heavy and fast, and looking like this:

Swollen and miserable.

Yup. We went to the emergency vet. He got a shot of benadryl and steroids, and sent home with a week's worth of steroids too. (Actually, I'm just using Maisy's leftover pred... the vet was a bit confused by the well-stocked pharmacy I have, lol.)

He was surprisingly not awful. He did need a muzzle, and he did growl and lunge at the techs/vet initially, but by the end, he was... well not loud and not bitey or even wearing a muzzle! Which is impressive for him!

We don't know what he reacted to, but the hives, swelling, and itching are gone tonight, and I'm very happy for that. I'll admit that before Cesar and I moved in together, I secretly wished he didn't have Napi, but now? I wouldn't give him up for anything. I love him so so so much, and I am so glad he's okay.

Happy Birthday, Napi!

Today is the day we celebrate Napi's 2nd birthday. In truth, we don't know exactly how old he is, although 2 is a pretty good guess for him. We also celebrate Napi's Gotcha Day today, although that isn't his exact date either (that actually happens July 6th).

You all remember Napi's story, right? The dog who belonged to my fiance's neighbors? Cesar saw the neighbors beating him, went over and said, "you don't like the dog, so give him to me or I call the cops," and came home with a new dog. He meant to find him a new home, but... well, he's about as good at fostering as I am.

Napi is not a dog I would have ever chosen for myself. I don't particularly care for chihuahuas, I didn't want another crazy dog, and he's not even scruffy! But over the past year, I've grown to love Napi deeply. Napi is a definite mama's boy. Wherever I am, he is. As I type this, he is curled up next to me, his chin resting on my leg. I am very, very glad this dog is in my life.

So happy birthday and welcome home, baby boy! We love you so very much.

Multi-Dog Blues

I apologize in advance: this post is going to be whiny and woe-is-me and venty. I don't usually do downer posts, but you know what? This is my blog, and this is what my life has been like. And if you all have good advice or can just commiserate... well, that'd be even better.

So I have four dogs now. I love my four dogs; they are each such just really cool individuals, and I honestly wouldn't give up any of them. But dear god, it's hard to have four dogs. Especially because I have two resource guarders and another who won't hesitate to fight. And bite. And even though I know you don't break up a dog fight by reaching between them to break them up... well, I'm a slow learner, I guess. On the plus side, I have matching bite-scars on both forearms.

This is a total blow to my pride. I'm a certified trainer, after all! Surely I should be able to handle this better! Plus, one of my good friends has eight dogs living in her house (six of her own, one foster, and one that belongs to her roommate), and she doesn't seem to have even half as many problems as I do! (She tells me that she's been doing this longer and has carefully chosen each dog to fit in with the rest, but mostly I just think she's smarter than me.) 

I keep telling myself it will get better. Only Maisy has really had any training, but we're working on the others. As the rest learn more, it should be easier. Cesar and I are getting better at predicting what will and will not cause fights, and therefore are getting better at management. And soon we will all live in the same house, which will be bigger and have a crate for each dog. This should make management easier, and will provide more consistent routines. I hope.

I don't mean to give you the wrong impression. In all honesty, we probably only have one fight a month, it's just that the fights tend to be much bigger than I'm okay with. And really, for the most part, all four dogs get along fairly well. They will all play together, though we limit that because of noise/shared housing concerns, so most of the time, it's Pyg and Napi playing. In the quieter, nap-type times, though, they've paired off in an unexpected way. Where Maisy is, Napi is, and Pyg and Lola tend to like each other's company.

But some days are just so hard. Please tell me I'm not alone? And maybe tell me what's worked for you?

We're Alive!

Whoops, I sort of fell off the face of the world there, now didn't I? If you follow the blog Facebook page, you know that I've been sick. Not the kind of sick where I've missed work, but the kind of sick that every bit of energy I had has gone to work and sleep. Since I've been gone for three weeks, how about a quick update on where things stand?

Napi
I think the big "storyline" that's been dropped is Napi. And that's actually pretty accurate, because my illness meant that Napi didn't get to finish his reactive dog class. I'm really bummed about that because if I'm honest, I'm much more motivated to train when I have a class to keep me accountable.

I'm not sure that Napi's meds are doing much. He's been on them for 5 weeks now, so I guess I'm being a bit impatient, but I know I saw more progress with Maisy when she was 5 weeks out than I have with Napi. Of course, it's kind of an apple/orange kind of comparison; Maisy and I had been actively working on her reactivity for two years by the time she'd started meds. I'm also really missing the the very detailed behavior logs (including a good baseline) that I had with Maisy. Without it, it's really hard to see progress.

Unexpected friends.

One good thing about being sick: I've discovered how incredibly sweet Napi is. He is a world-class cuddler, and I've grown incredibly fond of him. I may not want to do this whole reactive-dog-thing again, but he's definitely worth it.

Maisy
Perhaps the most interesting thing lately has been Maisy's relationship with Napi. She has decided that she quite likes him, thank-you-very-much, and plays with him way more than I would have expected. As a matter of fact, at this very moment she's trying to get into Napi and Pyg's wrestling session. They have also started to be a bit cuddly together, something I have very rarely seen in Maisy. I'll be very curious to see how this pans out.

Maisy's health- which seems to be her main storyline right now- is actually pretty good! She saw the ophthalmologist at the beginning of the month, and her corneal dystrophy has actually improved! I wanted to ask the doctor if it was an April Fool's joke... We did increase the strength of her eye drops, but I'm so glad to have seen even a slight improvement. And, after Maisy's most recent massage/acupressure/reiki session with Michelle Bame of Caring Canine Massage, she's been even more playful.

Lola
Last night, I took Lola to her first beginning obedience class. She is very different than Maisy or Pyg to train; slower, more thoughtful, and more deliberate. She's an eager student, and I'd very much like to get her CGC and maybe even a novice obedience title with her. I think it would be a good experience.

Lola is friendly-reactive. I've had a few of these dogs in classes, but never handled one directly before. Lola gets so damn excited to see friends that she can lose her mind. We had to spend the first 15 minutes of class behind a barrier in order to keep Lola from barking, and even after that, she would get pretty distracted by the other dogs. I think I'm going to enjoy working with her a lot. I know I like living with her.

I'm not sure which one is cuter.

Pyg
Pyg started the beginning obedience class last night, too- my fiance handled him during class. Let me just say that I was impressed with both of them. Pyg is a quick little dog; working with him can be a bit like having a butterfly on crack on a leash. He's everywhere, he's excited, he's intense. I love these qualities, but it was challenging for someone brand new to clicker training. Cesar rocked it, though- his timing is amazing, and they did really well together.

The longer I have Pyg, the more I love him. He's just got a great little personality. This morning I took him to an agility trial because I wanted something very specific from a vendor that was going to be there. He handled the environment like a pro. After a few minutes to settle in, he would see something exciting, and then turn to me for a cookie. By the end, he was sitting and watching me intently. We did a few sits and downs, and then left. I am very excited to do competitive stuff with him. He'll be fun!

Me
 I've been editing the second Fenzi-Jones book, and I'm pretty excited about it. This one is on motivation, and I think it's better than the first one. I cannot tell you how often I'll get all excited when I work on a passage, either because I totally agree (and had to learn the hard way) or because I've never been able to find the words to talk about it they way they have.

Other than that, not much to report. Just resting and recharging so I can get back to life! I'm not teaching right now and find that I really miss it. Pyg and I are getting ready for a 40 mile backpacking trip (less than a month!), so we've been hiking a lot to get us both physically ready. I'm sure that will be a riot...

Napi's Second Reactive Dog Class: So Much Better!

Napi's second reactive dog class went much, much better than the first one did.

As before, when we entered the building, he piloerected and barked all the way to our station, and it was impossible to distract him with food. Once we got into our little corner, he barked a little, but quieted down much faster and was overall quieter than he'd been the week before. He also started eating much sooner, although he did "run out of stomach" (got full) about 45 minutes into class. Small dogs are so hard that way. After that point, he found petting and close contact to be very soothing, which makes me think he might benefit from a Thunder Shirt. Although Napi spent most of his time pacing at the end of his leash, I was very excited that he was willing to sit this week! It wasn't relaxed, and calling it "settled" would be a stretch, but definitely an improvement.

Once again this week, we worked primarily on classical counter-conditioning. In my opinion, this is the most powerful tool a dog trainer has for behavior modification. It's not a "sexy" technique, and to those not in the know, it doesn't look like much. Sitting somewhere and just feeding a dog, regardless of his behavior, seems strange and even counter-intuitive. I sometimes have trouble getting my students on board with this, but creating positive feelings about being in a new environment around new people and new dogs will allow a dog to calm down enough to begin thinking and not simply reacting.

This paid off for us in spades because not only was the class better overall, we also had a nice five minute stretch where Napi was able to "become operant" - by which I mean, we were able to work on actively teaching a skill. While classical conditioning is simply about creating an association regardless of the dog's behavior (“being here means I get yummy food no matter what I do”), operant conditioning requires the dog to do something specific in order to get the food (“now I have to earn my cookies”).

People new to training think that it's all about getting the dog to do something, so I often see my students ask their dogs for operant behavior before the dog is ready – and able - to offer it. The truth is, in the first week of a reactive dog class, most dogs are either at or over their threshold. Although not ideal, it's nearly impossible to avoid. When a dog is in this state, he simply cannot think well enough to perform behaviors. He's too busy freaking out about what's going on in his environment. He has to be emotionally comfortable before he can learn anything, and classical counter-conditioning is the key to this. This is why I encourage my students to simply feed the dog. It doesn't matter if he's sitting or standing, barking or quiet, or even if he's responding to cues. Just feed the dog.

Some dogs can move to operant skills work in the first week. Others, like Napi, can't. This is okay. Behavior modification is not a race against others. Napi is definitely a turtle in that respect; he will not overcome his past quickly. This is why I spent the entire first class just feeding him. And it's why I spent most of the second class (55 minutes) just feeding him. But we were able to do a bit of doing this week. Although it's not something we typically teach in reactive dog class, I worked on teaching Napi to make eye contact. I chose this task because I wanted to reward him for coming in and looking to me instead of roaming around at the end of his leash. Bonus: he learned what the clicker means!

I have to admit, I really did not want to take on another reactive dog. And I wouldn't have, had it not been for the fact that he came as a package deal with my fiance. But I'm actually kind of enjoying it. I'm already really pleased with Napi's progress, and I'm very excited to see what happens when the meds kick in. 

Napi Joins the Cool Dogs

All the cool dogs take drugs. And now Napi is one of the cool dogs.

I took Napi to the vet today to discuss the possibility of behavioral medication for his extreme fear. First, I'm just gonna say it: I love my vet clinic. I chose Lake Harriet Vet in Minneapolis because I liked their mix of holistic and western medicine. I was thrilled to find out that across the board, their staff are really good at handling dogs with special needs. Today was no exception.

I called when I arrived to let the staff know that we needed to go straight into a room. They were more than willing to do this for us. We were a bit early, so we waited about 10 minutes before the tech came in. Napi was quite reactive during this time; he barked every time he heard a noise or someone walked past the door and refused to eat any of the yummy foods I'd brought with.

Here's a video of Napi before the tech came in. I did edit it lightly to remove stuff when he was off camera. He did start eating just at the end of the video; most of that is off camera, of course!


Napi finally started eating just before the tech came in. Naturally, her presence freaked him out a bit, so he stopped eating and started barking. She very wisely completely ignored him, and he quieted within a few minutes and was willing to eat peanut butter again.

When the vet came in, Napi had decided that peanut butter is better than barking, and he just made a little wuff and went back to the food. Yay! He did bark once in awhile during the exam, but overall, was very good. This gives me a lot of hope for his future progress.

For her part, the vet didn't push Napi for the sake of the exam; instead we agreed to try 5mg of fluoxetine daily, with the possibility of moving up to 10mg daily if needed. The vet also suggested a situational med - trazodone, up to 25mg every 12-24 hours - and I was thrilled that she suggested both the as-needed med and that it wasn't ace.

So. Fingers crossed this is the right med for Napi! I am super excited to see how much progress he can make between meds and training.

Worse Than I Expected: Napi's First Reactive Dog Class

Friday night, I took Napi to his first reactive dog class. I knew going into it that Napi is reactive; I've seen him bark and lunge at people. I've also suspected that he might be a bit anxious, as he seems to have trouble settling. When he and Pyg play together, Pyg will want to take breaks. Napi doesn't. More than that, it seems like he can't. My overall goal for the entire session is to evaluate if he would benefit from medication.

For the first night of class, my goal was to get him settled on a mat – even briefly- and to teach him about the clicker. We did not accomplish these goals. Instead, I had to revise them to simply eating treats in class.

Napi is a lot more fearful than I thought. Upon entering the building, he immediately piloerected (hair on his back stood up), and tucked his tail. As soon as he saw the instructor, he started barking and growling. I scooped him up, stuck him behind a barrier, and started offering him bits of bacon and turkey. It was a no go. He was not interested in eating.

Hiding behind me, but eating!

I switched to using soft praise and petting. Napi liked this, and for the rest of the hour, whenever something scared him, he would hide behind me and press up against me. I was really happy to see this because I believe reactive dogs need to see their person as safe. Since we don't live together yet, I wasn't expecting to see this.

Napi did eventually start eating treats, although he would occasionally refuse them if things got too overwhelming. He never did go on his mat (he seemed scared of it, actually), and he never really did settle. In fact, it might not even sound like we did anything. It's true that I didn't teach him any exercises or introduce him to the clicker. But we actually accomplished a lot. I began the long process of counter-conditioning. I established myself as a safe person. I learned about the kinds of foods Napi likes and doesn't like – info that will be invaluable in coming weeks.

I also learned that although he could make a lot of progress with just training, it will not only be easier but also be more humane to start him on medications. Napi's fear response was extreme, far worse than I remember from Maisy. He was louder and more intense in his reactions. He was difficult to distract, even with food. He was slow and stiff in his body movements, and there were times he just shook from head to toe.

It's true that these reactions appeared worse because I took him out of his comfort zone. It's also true that this could be avoided by not “forcing” him to go to class. But the truth is that simply being in a new place does not change a dog's underlying personality and response to the world. The fact that he was terrified says a lot about what he's experienced and who he's become as a result.

That is no way to live. Even if Napi has carved out a little part of the world where he feels (mostly) safe, all of that anxiety and fear are still underneath. Leaving a living being to suffer like this is not kind, not when I can do something to help.

La Casa del Cuatro

Observant folks may have noticed some changes around the blog. The “About Me” section, the sidebar, the header, and a recent post have all indicated some pretty big changes happening I have four dogs now.

The two new kids on the block are inherited dogs, not chosen dogs; they belong to my fiance. We don't all live together just yet, but the plan is to merge households in June. There's a bit of work to be done before this happens, which is good news for you, my dear readers, as it gives me blog fodder.

Like an angel.

Lola is a three-and-a-half-year-old basset hound. She is as sweet as the day is long, and I'm simply enamored of her. She's a special dog, holding a place in my fiance's heart the way Maisy does in mine; she carried him through a cross-country move and some lonely times.

Although Lola hasn't had much training, she doesn't need much, either. She's a very typical pet dog without a lot of issues. Except she's afraid of cats. And I have a cat. This, of course, is a pretty big barrier to us all living together, so it's something I've had to start working on. But more on this soon.

Cats love boxes. Napi loves boxes. Therefore, Napi is a cat?

Napi (short for Napoleon) is an almost two-year-old chihuahua (mix?). My fiance rescued him in the most literal way possible: he saw the neighbors beating Napi, so he went over to them and said, “You don't like your dog. Either give him to me and I'll find him a home, or I'm calling the police.” They gave him the dog, and my fiance found him a home... at his house. That wasn't the plan, but I guess foster failing runs in the family.

Napi is reactive, especially towards men, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to surmise why. So far, we've started working on some management (Napi doesn't get to go to the dog park with the rest of us anymore), but soon I'll begin training him in earnest. I can't say that I was eager to have another reactive dog, but Napi is sweet and funny, and I'm glad to have him in my life.

I'm sure future posts will discuss how we've been integrating the family in preparation for living together, but I'll address the burning question now: how does everyone get along? The answer is: surprisingly well. Pyg and Napi are actually really well matched. They have similar play styles, and it's been a relief to be able to get the boys together to play during this long winter. Lola enjoys playing too, although due to her size, she finds it hard to keep up with the younger, more agile boys.

And Maisy? Well, Maisy will forever be the socially awkward only child that she's always been. She tolerates the other dogs just fine, but given a choice, she will play ball with one of the humans. For the most part, she ignores the others and does her own thing, but since it's working for everyone, I've got no complaints.