Willow's confidence journal
- Thread starter snowbunny
- Start date
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
That's absolutely incredible! Did you ever imagine that you could get to this point?
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
No, but it's still early days. This morning was a little more difficult.
Alongside the blasts, Willow has always been scared of the snow plough as it goes past our building. It's tough because I often can't even hear it, but I'm sure the rumble of it as the vibration goes through the building must feel like a growl that's all around her, with no apparent source. This morning, she followed me into the bathroom and laid down on the floor - I didn't think twice about it because the underfloor heating is on in there so it was obviously cosy - BUT there is no insulation under the floor in there, so the vibrations would have been worse than if she'd been in the living room.
She didn't want to go out through the garage with the other dogs, but was more than happy when we turned around and went up the stairs to the front door. She had a great play, lots of zoomies, I let her have a ball (which she normally isn't allowed here because mountains and balls don't really go well together...
).I think, to be safe, I'm going to give her a dose of gabapentin each morning for a while, at least while there's snow to be cleared from the roads.
Beanwood
Administrator
Poor Willow, she is being so brave. I hope the gabapentin just takes the edge of and allows her natural coping mechanisms to continue to help her be brave and bold.
We had to to "turn around" on a late walk last night, it was so windy and blowy that a large white bag had hooked itself on the gate at the end of the driveway, looking like a ghost billowing around, freaked me a bit as well. I thought of you as we both played silly games back down the driveway and hunting pretend "mices".
We had to to "turn around" on a late walk last night, it was so windy and blowy that a large white bag had hooked itself on the gate at the end of the driveway, looking like a ghost billowing around, freaked me a bit as well. I thought of you as we both played silly games back down the driveway and hunting pretend "mices".
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
It's available OTC here, so we just rock up to any pharmacy and buy it
But, to be honest, the boxes are so huge, they last forever anyway.
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Great to read that Willow is turning a corner with her fears and anxiety, testament to your dedication and management.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Well, this morning wasn't great. I woke to blasting at 6:30, so I got up and immediately gave Willow some meds. She wasn't happy, but took the capsule in some pate, so not as bad as she has been previously. Sadly, it became more difficult as the plough worked outside and there were more blasts. I popped her onto our bed and put a blanket over us to make a den. By the time it was time to go out, she was a bit more settled thanks to the drugs, and so I was happy to go out and leave her for a while. When we got back, she greeted us in the hallway and I took her straight out. The plough had just gone down the street (it had been working on our street for ages, since we had a lot of snow overnight) and so I knew it was safe. She was happy to go straight out, albeit with a little confusion about which way she wanted to go, which I still have to see as a huge "yay" because that certainly wasn't the case previously. We didn't go far, we just played and played in the deep snow on the side of the road. She had a great time, full of beans and fun. We dug together in the snow, I threw snowballs for her to catch, some for her to chase into the little drift, some she chewed from my hands, and I also buried some bits of kibble for her to snuffle out. It's lovely to play with her like this, and if this is how we have to be for a while in the mornings, it's fine.
Of course I'm a bit disappointed, but she's still come such a long way. I'm starting her on Gabapentin three times a day, as she had last season during the snowiest period and hopefully that will take the edge off again.
Of course I'm a bit disappointed, but she's still come such a long way. I'm starting her on Gabapentin three times a day, as she had last season during the snowiest period and hopefully that will take the edge off again.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Here is a little bit of video I took of her playing, before my battery died. Apologies for how blurry it is - snow on the lens that I tried to wipe off and it smudged 
Last edited:
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
What fun. I hate snow, the only good thing about it is, what fun it is for dogs, they just love to play with snowballs and dig.
Ah, what a sweetie she is!!! I love snow...
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
She is really enjoying herself there 
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I've not posted in here for forever, which is bloody brilliant!!
However, over the last few days we've had a couple of storms, the first she's had to deal with in a long time. I've not given her any meds to deal with them, and she's been OK while they've been going on. She'll take herself to a bed in a corner, but if there's something going on, she'll come out again, so she's not totally freaking; her muscles aren't rigid, there's no trembling, and she's still interested in what's going on. If I saw she was worried so she couldn't process things, I'd give her some gabapentin, but it's not seemed necessary yet.
We did have a few rumbles of thunder while we were out on two occasions, and Willow takes this as a cue that going up the stairs to go outside means scary things happen. Both times, we brought her home immediately, but for a few walks in the last couple of days, she's refused to go up to the front door from our apartment, and now insists on going down the stairs and out through the garage. I'm not going to push her to go up, but it does make me smile at how happy and bouncy she is as we go through the garage, out onto the street and up the road to the front door - where we would have come out if we'd just gone up the stairs! She's bonkers.
When she's a bit anxious like this, she gets really funny and zoomy. She pushes me to play with her - I think she's learned that high energy play makes her feel better, so she bounces up to me, spins, then zooms away, or boings around me like a spring lamb. At these times, I tend to walk her off lead up the road (a dead-end road without any traffic on it - I would never walk her off lead when there was traffic around), even though it's not technically allowed, it helps her to relax, and I can throw kibble up and down the street for her to chase so she has the release of pressure.
Of course I'd always rather not have a noise sensitive dog, but I love to see how she is learning through play how to manage her own fears, how we can communicate about it, and how much she trusts me. Not blindly - she knows she always has the final say, and when that's "no", I respect it - but she will push herself just that little bit more knowing that she can change her mind at any point. She is my most special angel girl
However, over the last few days we've had a couple of storms, the first she's had to deal with in a long time. I've not given her any meds to deal with them, and she's been OK while they've been going on. She'll take herself to a bed in a corner, but if there's something going on, she'll come out again, so she's not totally freaking; her muscles aren't rigid, there's no trembling, and she's still interested in what's going on. If I saw she was worried so she couldn't process things, I'd give her some gabapentin, but it's not seemed necessary yet.
We did have a few rumbles of thunder while we were out on two occasions, and Willow takes this as a cue that going up the stairs to go outside means scary things happen. Both times, we brought her home immediately, but for a few walks in the last couple of days, she's refused to go up to the front door from our apartment, and now insists on going down the stairs and out through the garage. I'm not going to push her to go up, but it does make me smile at how happy and bouncy she is as we go through the garage, out onto the street and up the road to the front door - where we would have come out if we'd just gone up the stairs! She's bonkers.
When she's a bit anxious like this, she gets really funny and zoomy. She pushes me to play with her - I think she's learned that high energy play makes her feel better, so she bounces up to me, spins, then zooms away, or boings around me like a spring lamb. At these times, I tend to walk her off lead up the road (a dead-end road without any traffic on it - I would never walk her off lead when there was traffic around), even though it's not technically allowed, it helps her to relax, and I can throw kibble up and down the street for her to chase so she has the release of pressure.
Of course I'd always rather not have a noise sensitive dog, but I love to see how she is learning through play how to manage her own fears, how we can communicate about it, and how much she trusts me. Not blindly - she knows she always has the final say, and when that's "no", I respect it - but she will push herself just that little bit more knowing that she can change her mind at any point. She is my most special angel girl
Beanwood
Administrator
Ooh love that you have updated Willow's log, must get round to adding a few things to Otter's. There again, I share your quiet satisfaction, that we haven't because actually we have been bumbling along quite happily.
This is what resonates with me in particular. It has taken a long time to build up trust with Otter, but so totally worth it! Seeing her funny side, her amazing personalty has been wonderful, and I could only dream of being in this position last year. She is mad as a box of frogs, and very high energy. Part of this is a bit of nervous release when she zooms around, grabs a toy *sometimes a shoe...) and just goes completely bonkers I let her, cos actually that's OK, and I don't want to interrupt her own arousal self management.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
Willow is showing a bit of weirdness since being here in Spain. I think she picked up on the tension there was with regards to the state of the place (very, very long story short, we ended up kicking out the people who had been staying here) and that's triggered some anxiety around coming in through the gate, and also even coming into the house sometimes. We have a couple of friends staying at the moment to help us get things back to some sort of semblance of normality, and the other day, Willow walked happily through the gate but froze as soon as she saw them, then turned and ran back out. That's super peculiar as she generally loves people, and these ones always make a big fuss of her. When I did get her back in through the gate, she ran to say hi and all was well. But a couple of days, she wouldn't go in the house - note that our friends are pretty much only in the house to sleep, as they're working outside, we eat outside etc. Instead, she crawled under a bush, and one evening even under a trailer. When she did that, I gave her some Gabapentin to help her relax but left her be, as it was obviously where she wanted to be.
Happily, she's starting to chill out now, and coming back inside to spend her days next to me while I work on my computer, but there's still some reluctance to come in through the gate. Otherwise, she seems perfectly normal, is sleeping very well, happy to play our bitey-face games (she actually bit my nose this morning
), and is as excited as normal for food and walks.
I'm sure she'll get back to normal soon enough, especially once our friends leave at the end of the week.
Happily, she's starting to chill out now, and coming back inside to spend her days next to me while I work on my computer, but there's still some reluctance to come in through the gate. Otherwise, she seems perfectly normal, is sleeping very well, happy to play our bitey-face games (she actually bit my nose this morning
), and is as excited as normal for food and walks.I'm sure she'll get back to normal soon enough, especially once our friends leave at the end of the week.
That's very weird, but it shows how they pick up on tension. Gates are often points of stress or have been for Rory. Hope she can get back to her more chilled self soon. Hope the nose isn't too bad