Denise Fenzi Seminar: Ring Ready

A lot of people think that if their dog knows all the exercises, he’s ready to compete. Denise would argue that not only is this not true, but also that you’ve failed to prepare him for the most important part: dealing with the stress inevitable in a new environment. I touched on this a little in my last seminar post, but today let’s explore this idea just a little more.

To recap, to be successful in a trial environment, your dog should either be confident with chaos going on around you or he should be willing to take your word for it when you tell him he’s safe. Either way, you’re going to have to do some work, whether that’s doing planned exposure to a trial site or developing a trusting relationship. The latter requires that you actually step up and protect your dog, both at trials and in the rest of his life.

But the environment isn’t the only stress inherent in competition. For most dogs, the sudden cessation of classic rewards (food, toys, etc.) is frustrating. Dogs who think the lack of reward means they’re wrong can start to worry. Others will become demotivated and not see the point of working that hard. Because of this, you should both build up playful interactions that can be used as a reward in the ring and practice using these during trainings. Your dog needs to be able to work for long periods of time without toys or food.

Another stress is the sudden change in the way you’re acting. This is especially important if you tend to do most of your training alone. Most people act differently by merely having an audience, but you will also go from having your sole focus on your dog to needing to split attention between dog and the judge. At the very least, have an “invisible judge” in training with you. Look at and listen to the invisible judge. Take directions from the invisible judge. Talk out loud. Bonus points if you can play trial sounds while training. (You can totally get these free, by the way. Most smart phones will allow you to record and playback audio. Set your phone down at a trial and let it run for ten minutes or so.)

You will also need to find a way to recreate stress in yourself so that your dog learns that it’s no big deal if you tense up. I’ve heard many suggestions for this over the years, but I liked Denise’s: get a metronome (again, smart phones are awesome; download a free app), set it for between 125-135 beats per minute, and heel to that beat. This will force you to concentrate on something external, which will replicate that face you’re going to be making when listening for a judge to call instructions during a trial.

Finally, teach your dog to learn how to wait. Most people never do this in training, but dude. We do it all the time at trials. You wait for your turn. You wait for runoffs. You wait for awards. It’s helpful to practice by watching another team, but if you train alone, simply practice standing around for 5 or so minutes at a time. Denise recommended using “squishing” during this time. She recently wrote about this on her blog far better than I could, so go read about it here. 

Once your dog knows how to wait, how to work for long periods without food or toys, is comfortable with you acting weird, and trusts that you’ll protect him, then you can consider competing. What do you do to prepare your dog for the ring? Do you have other suggestions? Please let us know in the comments!

Maisy's Home! (Again)

On Wednesday afternoon, we got the results of Maisy's spinal tap and adjusted her medications. One of the things we did was increase her steroid dose. I was warned that one of the side effects would be an increased need to urinate, so when she asked to go out frequently on Thursday morning, I didn't think much of it. But on Thursday afternoon, we noticed that she wasn't actually going every time she squatted. Then she started to squat every thirty seconds, no matter where she was (including in the house, and she is very well housetrained).

I took her to the ER, where an x-ray showed that her bladder was huge, indicating a blockage. They weren't sure what was blocking her since they didn't see any stones, but did a therapeutic cysto (they stuck a needle through her abdomen and into her bladder in order to remove the urine that way). Yesterday they did an abdominal ultrasound and found several small and one large stone (approximately 7mm, which is about the size of a pinky fingernail, I think).

A lithotripsy was performed. This is a non-surgical procedure where they put a small video camera up her vagina and then used a laser to break up the stones. Then they did a combination of stone basketing (not really sure what this is- Dr. Google isn't very helpful!) and urohydropropulsion (a urinary flushing technique) to remove the smaller bits.

Lab analysis showed that the stones were struvite, which is the best kind a dog can have. Struvites are usually the result of an infection, especially staph infections. As you may remember, Maisy was found to have a UTI caused by staph when she was in the ICU a few weeks ago.

Originally, they planned to keep Maisy overnight, but she recovered from the anesthesia quickly and they felt she would be “more comfortable” at home. When I picked her up, I found out what that meant- apparently any time someone came near her, she would snap at them. She was brought out to me in an e-collar with bright red stickers on it that said “CAUTION: MAY BITE.” Poor Maisy. I really don't blame her (I would feel bitey, too!). Oddly, on her discharge paperwork, they said “She is a very sweet girl and we really enjoyed working with her.” Ha.

The plan going forward: She will continue the steroid treatment for the inflammatory disease of her spinal cord, and we're adding in antibiotics for a couple weeks and pain meds as needed. She was also sent home on a prescription diet and orders to follow it strictly. Maybe it was just trigger stacking, but this was the first time I actually cried throughout all of Maisy's health woes this month. And oh, how I sobbed on the phone with friends. I didn't realize how important  it is to me to be able to share junk food with her.

Anyway, Maisy is home and doing well, or at least, as well as she can considering the circumstances. She's very, very tired, but when she's awake she's happy and playful. I am so glad she's here with me. I have no idea what the future looks like, and only a small idea of how it might change, but she's here, and for that I am grateful.

Finally, I just wanted to answer some of the questions I've been getting:

Is this related to the inflammatory disease of her spinal cord?
It's highly unlikely. More than likely, it's just some seriously bad luck. The thing is, Maisy has had recurrent UTIs her entire life (including a previous scare a few years back), so this was bound to happen at some point.

Why didn't they catch this when she was in the ICU before?
I don't know, but I don't think it's because they missed something. They did all the diagnostics they should have. She had two UAs/UCs, and a ton of x-rays. The x-rays she had on Thursday night didn't show the stones, either.

Have you considered a raw diet/supplements?
Maisy was actually on a raw diet before all this started and we used supplements (cranberry, fish oil, and probiotics, mostly, although we'd run out a few months back and I hadn't gotten around to starting them again because money has been tight). When things settle down in a few months (and I have the money again), I'm going to schedule an appointment with the nutritionist at the U to discuss diet again. Although I believe in the prescription diets, I also hate them. I don't think there's any actual meat in the one Maisy's on.

Speaking of money...
Have I mentioned how grateful I am for all of you? To date, I have spent $6,957.77 on Maisy's health care this month alone. There will be more bills to come (neither issue is resolved at this point), but hopefully they will be smaller. I have received $4,444.03 in donations, so I only have to pay $2,513.74 out of pocket. This is still more than what's in my emergency savings, so I'm in the market for a third job. Even so, I cannot even express how thankful I am for everyone who has supported Maisy and I in the past month. I'm not sure what I would have done without your financial assistance.

If you're local, please consider signing up for one of my reactive dog classes to help me pay the bills! I also do private lessons. Email me for more info about either one. I have a class starting next Friday for easily distracted sport dogs and/or mildly reactive dogs that isn't full yet!

I also make and sell quilts and weighted blankets. The weighted blankets are great for people with sensory processing disorder (also autism, insomnia, anxiety, etc.). The shipping for quilts isn't bad, but for the weighted blankets, it gets expensive. Email me for info and pricing. 

Spinal Tap Results

The results of Maisy's spinal tap came back today and... I don't know. It's not bad news, really, but it's not exactly good news, either.

Here's the deal: They tested the cerebral spinal fluid for tick borne diseases and ran a full infectious disease panel (that included things like fungal infections or protozoa). These were negative, meaning that we don't definitively know what caused the inflammation of the spinal cord.

But we do have a guess based on her current condition. Overall, Maisy is doing well. She's bright, perky, eating well, and wants to play. She's been friendly and outgoing with people, though a little reserved around other dogs. I think this is related to low-grade pain that she continues to have- or at least, that I think she has. She moves stiffly and sometimes just looks like she hurts. She has very little stamina; if we go more than four or five blocks, I have to carry her home from our walks. And if she does get this tired, her back end becomes weak and/or uncoordinated. She's tripping a lot more, especially when going up steps.

So, when we look at this picture, the vet believes that Maisy's illness is probably immune mediated. I only kind of understand what this means. I started to google it, but the wiki article talked about increased morbidity and mortality, so I backed the hell out of that window. I do know that the vet said arthritis can be an example of an immune mediated disease. It also means that Maisy's illness is likely going to be a long-term, chronic problem. I spoke with a friend of mine that's a vet, and she said that typically immune mediated diseases can go into remission, but aren't usually cured.

Tonight Maisy will start an increased dose of steroids, roughly tripled what she was on before. We will see how this goes over the next week and then will reassess the treatment plan. The goal is to taper off the drugs, but she may need to be on some dose of steroids for the rest of her life. The good news is that a little known (to me, anyway) side-effect of steroids is that it can actually improve behavior, and so far, Maisy seems to be one of these dogs. (Seriously, I had to drag her away from toddlers the other day.) Of course, they can also cause recurrent UTIs, an issue Maisy already struggles with.

I'm trying not to freak out about the future implications, like whether or not she'll be my hiking buddy again. For the most part, our day-to-day lives should be relatively unchanged (though perhaps with fewer, shorter walks), and I am grateful for that. Right now, I'm trying very hard to just take things one day at a time, and enjoy the present moment with her as much as possible. Since I tend to be a worrier, this is pretty difficult for me, but it's also probably very good for me.

I'll keep you all updated on how Maisy is doing on the steroids...

The Things You Miss

When Maisy was in the ICU, I never once wondered if we'd ever compete in another dog show. I didn't think about the ribbons and the titles. Surprisingly, I only briefly questioned if we'd be able to go hiking again.

Pillow hog.

No, what I missed was her glorious naughtiness.

I missed the way she hogs all the pillows at night. I missed the way she will nose open the sock drawer in order to steal her favorite ones. I missed the way she runs circles around my feet in the morning, nipping at my calves if I don't move fast enough.

I couldn't eat without being overcome by sadness that no one was there to beg for food. My morning routine felt short and weird because I didn't need to spend ten minutes waiting for someone to find just the right spot to pee. When friends came to visit, it felt bizarre that there was no one dancing at my feet, excited to see who was on the other side of the door.

After she got home, I celebrated the smallest things. Stealing an apple out of my hand while I was eating it. Waking up with a tennis ball in my bed. Chasing a squirrel down the block.

The things you miss are now what you expect. Yes, sometimes Maisy annoys me, but lately, these obnoxious acts are nothing short of a miracle. I'm so thankful to have my (rotten) dog home and (mostly) recovered.

Denise Fenzi Seminar: Stress and Your Competition Dog

Be a safe person. (It helps to have more than one safe person!)

Last December, Denise Fenzi came to town. Ya’ll know I love this woman’s training style, right? And that she’s a pretty cool person on top of that? Yeah. You should definitely go to a Fenzi seminar if you get the chance. This was actually my second time seeing Denise, and even though the topics were the same, I still got a ton out of it.

My favorite bits were when she talked about stress in competition dogs. Of course, this is a topic near and dear to my heart because Maisy is a nervy little thing in competition venues. I have accepted the fact that I will probably never achieve the same level of success in the ring as Denise; I am simply not interested enough to train to those standards. Still, I enjoy a few weekends in the ring every year, so I definitely appreciated Denise’s wisdom. Today I’m going to share it with you.

First and foremost, from the moment you bring your dog home, you need to be a safe and trustworthy person. I think we all want to be this person for our dogs, but we don’t think through how our actions might undermine our goal. If we want our dogs to know that we will protect them, we need to actually, you know, protect them. They need to learn that we won’t abandon them.

This starts when we are socializing a new puppy. Denise explained that socialization is about exposure and desensitization to new things. It does not necessarily mean interaction. In fact, forcing a puppy to interact with something he’s wary of is not only likely to make him more nervous around that thing, it’s also going to teach him that you can’t be trusted to keep him safe. In fact, Denise prefers her performance dogs to treat strangers more like statues: they are boring objects that aren’t worth interacting with.

As much as possible, you should be very clear in your expectations. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you didn’t know what was expected of you, you’ll understand why. It’s stressful to have to guess about how you should be acting. It’s even worse when the rules seem to be inconsistent or constantly changing. I once left a job because my boss was so unclear! But our dogs don’t have that option.

If your dog starts throwing behaviors at you (outside a shaping session where he’s supposed to!) consider if you’re being unclear. Denise finds that dogs who do this are often frustrated and don’t know what you want, so they just start cycling through things they know, hoping to find some clarity.

Keep in mind that softer dogs are more sensitive to pressure, both physical and social. While some dogs enjoy rough-and-tumble interaction, others prefer that you interact with them in a quieter manner. This will change the way you reward your dog both in and out of the ring, as well as how train him. For example, during heeling, turning to the left (towards your dog) will be more demotivating for a softer dog as it puts pressure on him. Likewise, be careful about how and when you lean over him or otherwise get in his space.

Clear expectations are important for training, but also for trialing. Even more important than teaching your dog the behaviors needed for competition, you need to teach him what to expect at a show site. Dogs that can take your word for it if you say it’s safe will be able to focus on you, not the environment. Make sure that you prevent other dogs or people from visiting him unnecessarily at a trail. Teach him how to enter the ring, what to expect from the stewards and judge, and so on.

Denise actually had a ton more to say about trial preparation, and we’ll talk more about that in my next recap of her seminar. For now, though, I’d love to hear what you do for your stressy competition dog.

The CPDT-KA Exam Experience

On Monday, September 9^th, two big things happened in my life. First, and most significantly, Maisy was admitted to the ICU at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. Because of this, the second thing- taking the CPDT-KA exam- went from being the centerpiece of my week to completely unimportant.

I’m honestly glad the exam was scheduled when it was. Maisy seemed unwell Monday morning, but she was not yet critically ill. I left her at my vet’s office for testing while I took the exam, and had complete confidence that she was in good hands. Had the exam been scheduled even a single day later, I likely wouldn’t have taken it at all (it’s harder and/or more expensive to reschedule than you might think).

I can’t tell you much about the exam itself because the Code of Ethics I signed requires that I keep the contents confidential. For the most part, the exam was as I expected: computerized, 250 multiple choice questions, with the content being fairly close to what was listed in the candidate’s handbook.

The exam is computerized, which is nice because you can “flag” questions to review before finishing the exam. I flagged questions that I wasn’t 100% sure about the answer. Because I’m a worry-wart, at the end I used that to estimate my score: about 85%. I reviewed the questions, unflagging the ones I was pretty confident about, and it went up to 91%. So I think (hope!) I passed… but they don’t tell you what a passing score is, and they don't send the results until 4-6 weeks later.

It took me about 1.5 (out of the allowed 4) hours to complete. I really should have used more of my time to review the entire exam instead of just the flagged questions, but my brain was fried. Part of this is because the type on the screen was HUGE and there was no obvious way to change it; while it makes sense that they want to make it accessible to folks with all visual abilities, it was pretty distracting for me and therefore made it harder for me to concentrate. Well, that, and I was concerned about Maisy and wanted to leave so I could call my vet for news (phones aren’t allowed in the examination room).

There were a few questions that I just don’t understand how they fit into the content areas outlined in the handbook. I’m sure they do- the test is pretty rigorously reviewed- but I have no idea HOW. There were a few in the husbandry section that seemed oddly specific for a dog training exam. As expected, there were a couple where there seemed to be more than one correct answer, but there were also one or two where NONE of the answers seemed right.

I wish I had some good advice or tips for those who have yet to take the exam, but I just don’t. I guess if pressed, my advice would be: don’t schedule it for over a meal time (mine was scheduled to go from 10am to 2pm, and I was getting hungry by the end), start studying much further in advance than I did, read the questions and answers thoroughly before answering (just generally a good idea), and relax. It’s just an exam, albeit an expensive one. Trust me, there are FAR more important things in the world. My dog being alive is one of those, and just hours after the exam that was no longer a given in my life.

But Maisy is improving, and there is nothing left for me to do to prepare for the exam. So now I begin the arduous task of waiting… 

If you took the exam, what did you think? Any advice for future test takers? 

Looking Back

A lot of this has been shared on Facebook already, but I need to write about it some more because that's how I deal with stressful stuff. Plus, I wanted to include some of the non-medical happenings and share some pictures.

One week ago yesterday, everything in my world was normal. It was a lazy Sunday spent half-heartedly studying for the CPDT exam when I would have rather been reading a novel, so when my friend Elizabeth invited me over for supper, I gladly accepted. I took Maisy with me even though Eliz has an 18 month old, figuring that Maisy could hang out in a crate if it got too stressful.

It really wasn't. Maisy and Baby O got along wonderfully. In fact, Baby O was more interesting in giving Maisy treats than anything else. Feeding Maisy became a reward for everything else- eating supper, taking a bath, putting on a diaper. First do this, then you can feed Maisy.

We came home, went to bed. Maisy did need to go out in the middle of the night, but considering the sheer amount of junk Baby O had fed Maisy, I wasn't surprised. I did note that she looked a little stiff when we went up the stairs to our apartment, and made a mental note to email her chiropractor to schedule a visit.

Maisy was not in bed with me when I woke up, which is weird. I came out into the living room to find her sitting hunched over, glassy-eyed and panting. She took her medicine, but refused to eat breakfast. I called the vet.

From here, you know the story. In the span of 24 hours, she went from happily playing with a toddler to being admitted to the ICU. That first night, even with IV pain medication, she would cry out in pain every time she was touched. She had a high fever and we didn't know why. Nothing significant came up on spinal or thoracic x-rays, blood work, a urinalysis, or from a neuro consult. She had a spinal tap done, and we finally learned that she has an inflammatory disease of the spinal cord, although we won't know what caused it until the result come back sometime this week.

Those days are a blur in my mind. Visiting hours are pretty limited, but thankfully I have a flexible job and an understanding boss. I saw Maisy twice a day, with regular phone updates in between. The morning after being admitted, she looked better, but just barely. She couldn't settle down until I physically held her in my lap, but it wasn't long until she got up and asked to go back to the ICU. Heart breaking.

That evening, once again I came and brought her to the visiting area. She was restless but also reactive, barking at every noise and movement outside the closed door. I felt awful for her; being sick is bad enough, why did her anxiety have to rear up again? Still, with a lot of coaxing (read: cookies), she was able to lie down with me for a bit. She was even offering me her paw in exchange for food.

On her last day in ICU, I went to visit before she had the spinal tap. Because it was done under general anesthesia, she couldn't have treats. Still, she seemed more settled and curled up with me on the floor. The tech told me that she'd been a bit of an attention-seeker overnight; if the staff were on the other side of the room, she was quiet, but if they were working with an animal in the cages near hers, she'd begin howling. As soon as they came to check on her, she seemed to brighten up and quit vocalizing.

Still, it was clear that it was mom that she wanted. When the vet came in, asking to take her back for a quick test, Maisy refused to leave my side and they had to tug a bit on her leash. When Margaret (Maisy's former vet behaviorist, who works in the same building) came to visit us a bit later, Maisy got up and hid behind me... even though she knows and likes Margaret in other contexts. And when I finally gave her back to the ICU staff, Maisy would not go with them. I had to turn and walk away before she would, and I think that was the hardest thing I've done in awhile.

Maisy was glad to come home. With the antibiotics and steroids, she is making progress each day. I'm actually pretty surprised at how quick her recovery has been. Today- one week from when all this started- she tried to initiate play with a dog friend, has been bringing me her ball, and is just generally acting like herself. She doesn't have her normal stamina and endurance yet, and I expect I'll need to keep her quiet for awhile, but I think she's out of the woods.

Now that I think she's going to have a full (or incredibly close to it) recovery, I'm finally feeling the full impacts of the week's events. I'm finally acknowledging how scared I was. I'm finally feeling the physical effects of so much emotional stress. It was a weekend full of naps and massages and hot baths. And spending time with my dog. I want nothing more that to be with her just one more day; thankfully, it looks like my wish will come true.

I will end today's post in gratitude: I am grateful that Maisy is home and improving. I am grateful that she is acting mostly like herself. I am grateful to the staff at the U who took such good care of my baby dog. I am grateful to all my readers and friends and their friends who made it possible for me to get Maisy the care she needed without having the stress of money over my head. I would have made it work, but I don't know how. It probably would have involved a lot of Ramen and skipped meals. So thank you all for your support and love. I have so much to be grateful for.