Shamas the rescue....journey of a pound dog

Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Well done on landing the job! Hope it all goes well, I am sure Shamas will adapt, he does like his routines though doesn't he? I might be thinking of changing his timings a few minutes at a time so he has plenty of time to adjust :)
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Beanwood said:
Well done on landing the job! Hope it all goes well, I am sure Shamas will adapt, he does like his routines though doesn't he? I might be thinking of changing his timings a few minutes at a time so he has plenty of time to adjust :)
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Yes...that's one thing that'll play in too. His moring walk is usually 9:30, but I start at 9:30 this week.

It's not uncommon for him to be driven somewhere to walk, or taken out for a car ride instead of walked on a reactive day, so we'll probably bring him with us when we take me to work
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
SO Shamas made a run for it today. He's not getting walked enough while I'm working, because the kids are at school. I was home today..but Matt's sick and I had to run him to the vet before it moves to his chest. He started sneezng last night, and this morning his mouth was full of slime. Got him antibiotics, and a second med that the drugstore is filling for me-for constipation. Waiting for urinalisis.

Annoying thing(financially) is, now I have to wait another paycheque or two to take Shamas in :/ But he's not sick, just needs shots and a lump assessed. Priorities

SO as AB was coming out with Matt, Shamas made a run for the tracks.....I refuse to chase him, because that's one game I refuse to teach him. So I waited for him to finish peeing, and got his attention...then I ran in the opposite direction. "hey, wait mom! I'mma coming too!" *cliips leash* Good boy, aren't you a good boy?
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Whoops! looks like we have a new game.

Shamas has escaped twice more, and it looks like he just wants to play chase. He goes to the tracks, and chases us home. I've told people to give him a Stay command before opening the door, so he doesn't follow us out.

He doesn't barge out the door or anything- just joins the group when we leave, and aren't paying attention(he's always been good about staying inside unless invited) and then makes a dash for the tracks. So far no trains have been out...though I think that'd put a quick stop to his run......trains are terrifying!

I wasn't working today, so I got him out twice and he still made a dash when we went to leave to go for a walk without him. The neighbour across the street saw it, and saw AB run. He said "dont run" obviously considering the possibility of the dog running off in the opposite direction.....But AB knew what she was about-she ran in the opposite direction of the dog and he came straight at her, making the catch easy. I Grinned at the neighbour, and said "run in the opposite direction ;) He wants to come too :D"

When we got back from the store I took him down to the tracks to look for rabbits. He found one, but couldn't catch it-I'm too slow lol! But he had lots of mental exercise tracking it
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Well, Matt's feeling better. and now hes rejecting his pills.

Durned cat is an expert pill-spitter.

It takes two people to get the thing into his mouth in the first place-one to hold him, one to pill him....then we have to clamp his mouth shut so he can't eject it. Well if he didn't just wait patiently until we let his mouth go, and spit the thing in our faces! I endded up getting a shringe of water, and putting the pill back in his mouth whilst squirting water into his clamped jaws to force him to swallow. So he spit the water at us instead:headbang::wtf:Gross!

Time to search out Pill Pockets, and see if I can trick him>:)

Meanwhile, Shamas is crowding in, wanting some of whatever Matt's trying his hardest to throw back at us LOL!
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
snowbunny said:
Brie works the best for Ginny, and I know people have used it successfully with cats, too. It's easily squishable around the tablet and sticks nicely.
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Thanks! I tried the Pill Pockets, but he doesn't like them. However, he didn't stubbornly sit witht he pill in his mouth when we pilled him with the pill wrapped in the pill pocket.....so it's half a win? He's still got a week left, so I'll pick up some Brie
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Shamas did very well today. I took my son, who is his emotional rock. And we walked to the corner store at the busy corner. Not the main corner that terrifies him, but the one that makes him very nervous. He needed a walk, and I needed some things....so I wanted to try him at the better-stocked store.

Along the way, a dog was off-lead on her front yard and barked once before coming to check him out. I gave him only a few seconds, since he was not willing to walk away. Hes good about off-leash dogs...it's the ones on leash that he goes crazy at.

Then we coaxed him to the main road. It's not too busy this morning. I am kicking myself a bit-I thought we had travelled enough on back-streets that he'd only have a block or two on main road but he had 3. And he got a bit upset at about the two block mark. SO I handed him off to my son and he calmed down again. We didn't force him, just called him to "Come on, let's go" and he came with us. My son waited outside of the store with him, and I bought him a back of Milkbones to carry home. I figured that would help build a positive association with that place, like I did with the butcher and Timmies(I buy him a bone any time I take him to the butcher, and a bag of Timbits or a cookie or a coffee tray at Timmies)

Any time we go somewhere that involves travelling through an area that he's not comfortable with, he gets something to carry home once we reach our destination. I try to make that something in a paper bag, so he can take it under the table and rip it open himself.
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Didn't do Shamas' evening walk today, as he has been quite fussy. Barking, growling at every noise outside. Which is getting quite frustrating. Had him tethered to me for whole chunks of the afternoon, so he wouldn't charge the window

There's work going on at the neighbouring property, and I imagine it's stressful to hear all of the goings-on and not be allowed to chase off the offending noise-makers. Add to that, I've been starting work at his normal morning walk time and relying on P(my son) to walk him. Those are good walks for him though...P's got the strength and size to take him out on only the back clip of his harness. and he lets him track scents. If he DOES have a problem with another dog, P is calm about it, and has the strength to move Shamas off with little to no fuss. He's nearly fully grown, and sees Shamas as all bark....so he doesn't have the same reactivity towards dog-dog interactions that I do, having dealt with Shamas at his worst in the fall and spring
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Shamas did well with Tiko in sight this morning. we had a decent distance. 75 feet? i saw his tail come up, and stopped him. Told him "calm" When he settled, I moved him a few steps, and his tail came up again. a bit of a growl. "Ah! Sit" He did, and whined at me."Good boy" At this point, Tiko and Bob had reached the end of their walk and were starting to turn towards us. We were only at the house next to us so all I had to do was get him home safe.

Once he settled, I moved forward a few more feet. Tail came up. growl "Ah! Sit" Whine. settle. "Good boy! Okay, let's go inside."

At the end of the drive, he pulled towards Tiko, tense but not lunging. Tail wagging slightly. I gave him a few seconds to look, then prompted him to come in the house.

Bob and I are both impressed
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Shamas might have a walking friend :)

Barb, who lies a few doors down, has a huge dog named Max. Shamas is used to seeing max from behind the fence, and barely reacts to him now. We talkl in the driveway, Max is in his back yard.

well, yesterday morning, Shamas was particularly fearful. He didn't want to go for his walk, and hid in Barb's driveway. barb wondered if he'd do better in a pack. I thought he might, because he takes the lead of the other dog. so she brought Max around fromt he back, and they had a sniff. They crowded each other a bit, and there was some telling off..but no fight just a snarl and a bark. . Then we were good to go. Shamas went for a walk around the block, following Max and sniffing his pole markings.

Normally I don't let Shamas and another dog crowd for as long as they did, but Max is very big, and we had some trouble pulling him away from his initial sniff. Shamas would have liked to have broken off a few seconds sooner, and there we had the snarl. and I don't think Max realises how big he seems in all his fur- physicaly, they had plenty of space as he and shamas circled......but with all of his fur, he was touching Shamas most of the time. Shamas felt the need to make space
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Shamas is doing OK with his Cat desensitising. He's learning to look, and not immediately jump from 0-60 emotionally

Helen, on the other hand, still hisses every time I open her door. Hopefully as Midnight becomes braver, and meets Shamas without being chased every time, he'll go back and tell her it's OK. I'm expecting this to take months, as we have a longstanding habit of chasing, combined with low impulse control. And Helen instigates

PA has been getting Shamas out for plenty of walks, so he's not dealing with pent up frustration...which helps. He's walking really well now too. I'm not seeing neary the reactivity that he had before PA started working with him. He did start to lunge at a dog today, but it had come around a corner and barked at him. He only needed turning, backing up a few feet, and was able to sit down.
I've been walking him on the Martingale because I'm finding he responds better than on the harness. it's much easier to make a little flick of the wrist, and offer a command when we first see signs of trouble, vs physically turning him when he's over threshold.

My son prefers the harness, because he lets Shamas pull. If he "goes off" he just sort of plays statue and locks his arm by his leg. Shamas is at his side and can't lunge. This might be why he doesn't act up as much for PA......he gains nothing? also, PA is confident, not dog reactive. He never walked Shamas during the time that he lunged at every dog. He sees Shamas acting up and just puts it down to "Barking obnoxiosly" Doesn't correct barking, just prevents lunging. That self-rewarding behavior isn't rewarding anymore
I don't have nearly enough strength to pull that trick lol. I watch him, look at his tail...have him sit down if it "flags" etc. management, avoidance. Those are my tools.
 
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