Willow's confidence journal

[HAH]

I would swear she demonstrates pride in herself after doing something like this. She goes so silly and smily!

I’ve wondered about this and I’m pretty certain they do feel pride, or a sense of achievement (?) - not the same scale but if Kipper ‘gets’ a thing after not getting it for a while, he is definitely more silly and smily! (In that instance I guess it could be relief, or feeding off my reactions etc).

It sounds like Willow is fairly consistently improving, I’m so pleased she’s doing so well. One thing I find particularly impressive is your level of control, I can only imagine the actual ‘FFS’ feeling when you heard that blast but you pushed it down and brought out a (very effective!) party. Blooming good work that woman, you’re one heck of a friend for a dog to have

 

[snowbunny]

One thing I find particularly impressive is your level of control, I can only imagine the actual ‘FFS’ feeling when you heard that blast but you pushed it down and brought out a (very effective!) party.

Thank you, but it's just practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the more it just becomes second nature. I've even done the loud gasp in situations without my dogs... people have stared....

 

[snowbunny]

This evening we were out and there were two blasts, which is VERY unusual for the evening. The first one, I wasn't even really sure if it was a blast. Sometimes they are so far away they just sound like a vague rumble, but Willow has always picked up on them before. She completely ignored it, so I wrote it off as just a noise in the village below. But the second one, about ten minutes later, was very clear, and although not massively loud, was enough for her to have freaked out. She did become a little bit hyper, so she was a teeny bit stressed, but also happy to take part in her party, chase kibble and dig for it in the snow.

I'm very, very pleased

 

[Selina27]

That's so good, I'm so impressed by what you have achieved with her -- for her.

 

[Charlie]

That's just fantastic. Amazing work Fiona and Willow. xx

 

[Stacia]

Good news. I remember being frightened of bangs, so can understand how she feels, I am not frightened anymore but they can make me jump! I am sure Willow will eventually stop worrying altogether as I have.

 

[HAH]

I'm very, very pleased

Hooray! Very very pleased for you

 

[Joy]

It's lovely to read about Willow's progress towards being fear-free.

 

[snowbunny]

Sooo... I have weaned Willow of the Gabapentin now, because we have no significant snowfall due and so hopefully no risk of blasting. Because the drug works so quickly, I can simply start up again if I need to, and have it working to a large extent almost immediately. You do get a cumulative effect, but I see little point for her to be on it when there's nothing scary going on.
It's not a drug you can stop suddenly, so I've taken a week to wean her off of it, decreasing her dose gradually. It has a short half-life, though, so it leaves the system very quickly.

This morning, we were out on our normal walk when something rather unexpected happened; a helicopter came around the mountain, almost eye level with us in the valley. It shocked me, let alone Willow! She looked a bit worried, but without hunkering down like she can do. I did my litmus test of tossing a piece of roast pork, and she didn't go after it, so I knew she was feeling anxious and I went into my normal protocols. Within a minute, she was bouncing round and playing with me quite happily.

I can't say where this would sit on the scale of scary stuff because it's not something we've experienced before, but I'd have thought that a huge metal monster making a racket right in front of us would have been pretty high up there!

Anyway, no lasting effects from it at all; she's not been in her safe spot or anything since coming home.

 

[Cath]

Anyway, no lasting effects from it at all; she's not been in her safe spot or anything since coming home.

Well that's good Fiona.

 

[Charlie]

That's very positive. x

 

[Beanwood]

That is real progress! I think any dog would be a bit freaked when confronted with a helicopter practically at eye level!

 

[snowbunny]

It's interesting to see that Willow is still apparently far happier and more relaxed than she was before the Gabapentin, even though she's been off it for a week and a half. We had a guy watch the dogs the other evening for a couple of hours, who hasn't seen them since early January, and he commented on how much happier and more relaxed she seems. And a couple of times, she's actually got on the same bed as Ginny, which is unheard of; she's not a dog who likes to share space. In fact, the other day, Willow had a patch of Ginny-hair on her bum where G was using her as a pillow!

I do find the genetic propensity towards anxiety interesting. Their sister, Annie, has started to refuse morning walks, and if she's on walks with just her and her owner, she will stay behind her the whole way. If we go somewhere different together with all the dogs, her body language is very uncertain; sticking to us like glue, a very low-wagging tail. She relaxes in time, but if I try and engage her, she offers similar stressed behaviours to how Willow reacted in the early days; a frantic energy, jumping at my face and so on. Poor girl, hopefully it's just a temporary blip.

 

[FayRose]

That is interesting. Do you believe, if it is the dog's underlying nature, to be anxious, the only way to deal with it is medication? You say there is still a difference in Willow and she's been off the meds for over a week - does that drug have a half life or has something changed in her?

I wonder because Molly has a tendency to be nervous and I'd like to think this will ease with age, but it may just be 'her'.

 

[snowbunny]

No, I believe it is the combination of genetics and environment; they cannot be separated. So, if you have a dog who is predisposed to anxiety, it may never manifest if the environment doesn’t trigger it. Anxiety and fear are two different things. From what I understand, when a dog learns to be fearful of triggers during developmental periods, and those fears are not extinguished before the brain becomes “set”, then the only way to create real extinction is through medication.
But that’s to do with fears, not anxiety. However, when an animal is being triggered frequently, their stress levels will be constantly high. So if you can address the fears through counter-conditioning, then the overall stress levels will decrease and you’ll likely see diminished general anxiety.

The Gabapentin that Willow was on recently has a half life measured in hours, so she certainly has none left in her system, but the counter-conditioning that happened whilst she was on the drug persists.

When it’s a question of whether it’s intrinsic or not, I don’t think it really matters; the real question is whether what is happening is affecting the dog’s quality of life. If it is, and it can be helped, then it should be.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Fiona, just in case you didn't know, Gabapentin is being reclassified as a "Schedule 3" controlled drug in the UK from 1st April.
It's unlikely to affect you, mostly has an impact on prescription wording, quantities and repeat intervals, as well as handling/storage/disposal for dispensers.
Not sure how much customs and border control are bothered by such things, if at all, but thought I would share this.

 

[Stacia]

My vet wanted to try Rourke on Gabapentin for his lameness, but I was concerned about the side effects and rejected his idea. Perhaps I should give it a go as Willow didn't appear to have any?

 

[snowbunny]

Thanks @Jacqui-S, that’s useful to know. I don’t imagine I will be travelling with it, but I’ll drop customs an email to find out where we stand with it just in case.

@Jelinga no, Willow had no noticeable side effects, and I didn’t notice anything with Ginny, either, although it was very early days that she was with us, so we might not have noticed anything subtle. Of course, she was on a whole range of drugs, plus the effects of the surgery itself, so far less of a known quantity.

 

[Stacia]

@snowbunny, thank you useful to know, will probably consider it now.

 

[snowbunny]

We’ve had high winds all day today, and when it came to an evening walk, we got a couple of hundred metres down the track and Willow stuck her heels in, not wanting to continue. It wasn’t dangerously windy, but the trees are close on all sides and were very loud, which was all a bit much for her.
I decided to come home and give her a half dose of Gabapentin and try again. Once home, that would normally be it; she would tuck herself up in bed and not go outside again when I took the others out, but I gave it fifteen minutes for the drugs to kick in and, when I went back outside, she trotted along with us.
I took a Chuckit ball with me and every time the wind gusted, she got a noise party. She hasn’t had a ball since December, so this was the Best Thing Ever, and we had a ninety minute walk with her happy and relaxed, no signs of worry at all.
Bloody wonder drug, it is!