Papillon Kisses Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 (edited) Hehehe, I'm cracking up because I'm pretty sure Malcolm would be smaller/shorter than both of your dogs (he's smaller than Scottie boy) and I just bend down. :laugh: I believe you that Justice is shorter than he looks (I can tell roughly by the car bumper). Everyone is surprised by Malcolm's size, I think because Mr PK has a picture of Malcolm on his massive computer monitor at work so they expect a kelpie sized dog! You do realize it's harder to scoop up hip sized dogs and carry them in one arm? :D Edited May 31, 2016 by Papillon Kisses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 FYI thistle is hip height and we still get bunny hops. Impatience for treats! ;) And I can carry her in one arm! (For small distances. Like 1 metre. Confidence building exercise XD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Lol.. Thistle is so adorable and I think we need a video of you carrying her under one arm!!! Definitely! Pics or it didn't happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottsmum Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 (edited) Hehehe, I'm cracking up because I'm pretty sure Malcolm would be smaller/shorter than both of your dogs (he's smaller than Scottie boy) and I just bend down. :laugh: I believe you that Justice is shorter than he looks (I can tell roughly by the car bumper). Everyone is surprised by Malcolm's size, I think because Mr PK has a picture of Malcolm on his massive computer monitor at work so they expect a kelpie sized dog! You do realize it's harder to scoop up hip sized dogs and carry them in one arm? :D Scoopability is a lovely thing. I must admit. Ps Scottie is huge for a foxie type Edited May 31, 2016 by Scottsmum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 FYI thistle is hip height and we still get bunny hops. Impatience for treats! ;) And I can carry her in one arm! (For small distances. Like 1 metre. Confidence building exercise XD) Lol omg! I was going to say, I can pick up Quinn with two arms and carry her a bit but she is knee height and under 20kgs. If you are carrying Thistle you are superwoman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Lol.. Thistle is so adorable and I think we need a video of you carrying her under one arm!!! Definitely! Pics or it didn't happen! Ok! Ok! Tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliecat Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Oh my goodness Snook, that's such a huge jump forward in progress again! I also loved the bunny hop for treats. Justice did so well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Maybe he needs to rotate his training days with not-so-training days? Here you guys go - I realise we are not the most graceful but better to be prepared in teaching her to tolerate random things like being picked up/pulled up etc (for vet, hiking, whatever life throws at us etc) :laugh: Different arms Edited June 1, 2016 by Thistle the dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliecat Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Wow, look at that carry! And Thistle's cute little white footsies <3 You've got some serious muscles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 I got idea from a TV show on working dogs - they would do things like this to teach the dog to stay calm and just hang limply instead of freaking out. The show was search and rescue dogs strapped to ppl abseiling but I think the broader techniques can be applicable to anyone XD i remember when little my dads GSD X got stuck up a ledge while camping and they couldn't lift her down for some reason. They did eventually get her with a call out and ramps n stuff but I want to minimise things like that. Just making a weird thing less weird for the dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 That's awesome Thistle. :D Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 OMG how absolutely awesome was Justice with the Husky. So very very rapt for you both. Life was great for you and Justice on that outing. May the BAT continue from here on in. Poor Thistle, just minding her own business, then suddenly airborne No way could I do that with my heffalumps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Poor Thistle, just minding her own business, then suddenly airborne No way could I do that with my heffalumps Your heefalumps have a bigger build and more mass I would think XD Thistle is misleadingly narrow. "Oh i'm getting pats and treats???" "HUP!" "I am hup???? oh look kangaroo sticks ok" *nibbles the treats* The power of food and ongoing verbal praise :laugh: Not something she will grow to love, but not a trauma or a concern either :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Today unfortunately wasn't so awesome and he got frightened by some teenagers yelling from right over the other side of the oval we were on (he wasn't on valium). Normally, he'd not want to walk in their direction but would happily walk in a different direction, but today he just wanted to go back to the car. I've emailed his VB to ask if even though yesterday he presented as coping well, could his body still be producing big amounts of stress hormones because it's so used to that being his response to seeing a dog? Today's reaction was like he has been when he's had a big fright the day before and is trigger stacking, so I'll be interested to hear her response. He also tore up the contents of a cardboard box when I went out a couple of hours after the trial yesterday. He's not normally destructive and I didn't think much of it because it's the box my groceries were delivered in, so probably smells of food, but put together with today, I'm now wondering if it was a stress reaction. I'll update when I hear back from her, although it might not be for a couple of days. We spent the rest of today staying home and relaxing, so hopefully he'll be happy to go out and about again tomorrow. If it were Malcolm I'd say carry over stress, but all dogs are different and there's Justice's new medication to consider. Remember that even going outside (and being inside in some cases) is stressful in and of itself, as there's the potential to come across triggers—other dogs in this instance—even in your usual walking area. Spending the rest of the time at home relaxing is great. That's what I do when Malcolm has had a very stressful day or incident, as he can take a day or more to re-establish his equilibrium. For us this means no walks as well. Ripping up a discarded box might be a more healthy coping mechanism? I've been meaning to make a thread about this somewhere, but I've inserted some sensory/enrichment elements into our garden with plant selection based on applied zoomopharmacosy, which is where animals self-select various plants or other natural substances seemingly to self-medicate. When Malcolm is highly aroused for whatever reason he takes himself out into the garden and really gets into sniffing and eating his plants. It can look quite feverish, but he returns in a calmer state. Our VB says he's found a healthier way to manage his anxiety vs. other behaviours (e.g. fixating on light reflections/shadows, attacking walls). He also uses play as a stress reliever. I hope Justice is having a better day today. xx Edited June 1, 2016 by Papillon Kisses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 So Malcolm also had a bad day yesterday with his OCD and is so far struggling a bit today too (shaking). He was fixating on the walls and light reflections during both the day and night, was also staring at me with a strange intensity during the day (like he was really freaked out and asking for help), and was more reactive with Mr PK in response to noises and movements at night. He chose to turn away and lay down in the opposite direction after batting at a wall on one occasion, but in general we had a lot of trouble trying to redirect him: he'd turn to look at us briefly but then immediately go back to staring. Not entirely sure of the trigger. I had missed his trazadone the night before, and our VB says it's possible it was already helping him (he was ok on it the preceding days). His Adaptil collar is also old: I was waiting until closer to when we leave for our holiday to replace it as I wasn't sure it was doing anything, but maybe it is. I hope he improves because I really don't want to leave him when he's this bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Your garden sounds fantastic. I might look in to something like that when we can finally move to a house with a proper yard. Malcolm is very lucky to have you!! There's actually stuff you could do without a yard! Many beneficial herbs can be grown inside. Malcolm's favourite is lemon balm. He hasn't had that kind of response to going to the park in quite a while and is normally really excited to get out and explore, so now I'm worrying that maybe he's been traumatised by the exposure to the dog the other day, even though he seemed to be coping well while the medication was in his system. Maybe he's too damaged to be able to do behaviour modification work if it's going to have this kind of impact on him for days afterwards? I just don't know what to think or what to do. I'm really hoping his VB can get back to me before the weekend and talk me through it all. You might just need to increase his distance to the trigger. You were very close. I've heard of dog that needed to start at a distance of an entire football field away before very gradually moving forward. I'm so sorry to hear that Malcolm is having a rough time of things too. My first thought was that maybe he was having withdrawals from the Trazadone but since it's a short acting medication, I'm guessing that's fairly unlikely? Trazadone can have an immediate effect and Justice's behaviour responded to it with one dose, although it went in the opposite direction to what we were looking for, so I would think it could also have been having a positive effect on Malcolm just as quickly? Maybe it's what you've suggested and a combination of missing the Trazadone and his Adaptil collar not working properly? It can sometimes be hard to really notice the benefits of something until it's not there, and then you realise just how much impact it was really having. I hope Malcolm is doing much better very soon, the poor little monkey. God I hope it's not rebound anxiety. He did end up having a better day today after a rough start, though. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Everyone please cross your fingers for Thistle tomorrow! Taking her to the beach again with TWO of her doggie friends as her good examples/leads/playmates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Everyone please cross your fingers for Thistle tomorrow! Taking her to the beach again with TWO of her doggie friends as her good examples/leads/playmates Fingers and paws crossed over here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) Thistle gets a B+ on dog beach etiquette! She was pretty excited of course, so right out of the bat she wanted to say hello to everyone so was a bit too intense for a couple of more submissive dogs. I'm never sure what to do then and I don't think she is either so she keeps trying to get them to play which upsets more. One she disengaged herself, the second I removed her using the handle on her harness and she was :confused: and the third she came back after a few calls because the ?puppy? big dog had gone to its owner and she's hmmmm no ppl pls. She also upset a cranky boston. Not sure who growled, they kind of ran at each other head on, someone growled, we helped (other owners and I) to help get them out of the stares and I clapped/oi'd when Thistle tried to follow after the dog. She has like no interest in golden retrievers or labs at the park at all? She likes the small fluffies (GENTLY thank god. She looked like a mountain with 3 or 4 white bichon poodle type things around her. It was hilarious to look at). Got on great with a young white bull arab girl. Who I got to pat, sooo soft and such a good dog. Also a very timid brindle staffie who she lured into chasies but then would not return to us as we kept moving away because new!!! friend!!! She tried and failed to lure various ball chasing BCs into play. You think she'd realise ball dogs don't want to play. She wrenched her own leg trying to tackle Didi and sooked a bit. BC owners laughed. I laughed. But mostly was a very good if slightly enthusiastic puppy who wants to RUN FOREVER. Will hopefully grow out of the need to play with all dogs XD as she is very intense about her approach and misses other dog's cues for personal space also, did not bark at anyone and went quite close to various people. I am trying not to be too harsh on her or lose my temper because these are skills she is late in developing. So i think she did quite well in trying to navigate doggie life :) Plot twist, I brought Cookie (my friend's old kelpie x) along! Cookie gets an A- because she doesn't really listen and potters along doing her own thing. Also she pooped TWICE. Didi and dididog get an A+ and two cookies for being amazing! Hoping one day Thistle can be as settled as Didi and I as calm as Dididog, even though we do not have as frequent dog socialising access (NO WAY would i let thistle loose in the dog parks around here. too many dogs and not enough space...) dididog took most of the photos so I'm waiting eagerly on all of them so here's a video of thistle and didi playing and Cookie thinking about it (she's not much of a rough and tumble girl but she loves to refereee!) ^Video link of all three chasing a ball *edit* Typing at the same time! Monday is soon, hopefully you and Justice can enjoy some chill out time together :) You both deserve a break! Edited June 3, 2016 by Thistle the dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I'm glad you're feeling better! How is the little man? Did you two enjoy your short break? I'm feeling the need for more photos... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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