Trixie

[Shamas mom]

I was also watching the Calm Settle video after the one you put up for me---Shamas can use it. He wants to police Trixie.

It doesn't help that she's getting bigger, and likes to zoom from one end of the house to the other, shaking things. But she needs to play, and get it out of her system...given that she's still being penned when she can't be watched, and will be until she's fully housebroken. I don't want to go to work and come home to find the dog ate the TV cords, or something else dangerous. She currently fits UNDER all out gates, and through the TV stand...so she can get into a lot if not directly under supervision. Tried blocking off the TV stand with a collection of DVDs...but she's pretty sure those are chew toys

and the wetting in the house is getting out of hand. There's no rythm to it. Hubby's got 4 days off coming up, and he's going to go all the way back to week 1 basic potty training with her. Start over. She's now just squatting anytime she feels like it. Inside, outside, no care in the world. I know they say never to punish a puppy for having an accident....but I have to admit she's getting a firm "No Trixie" when she squats in the house, and moved out of the way so she can't eat my paper towel as I clean it. I actually caved and bought permanent pee pads for the pen....she's peed on every spare blanket I own because I was using spare bedding as dog bedding, until she grew out of accidents. She no longer gets ANY bedding of any type. I know part of this is because her pen is too big. But she could/would not calm down in the crate. She cried the whole first week, on and off. The pen was to simulate the pen she was in when we picked her up, and she settled ok in that...but it's got too much room and she can pee in one end and sleep in the other.

I never had this problem with Angel........

 

[Beanwood]

@Shamas mom, ask your trainer for more clarification. That's what there are there for, if you need to lower the criteria ( difficulty) because Trixie needs a bit more time to embed a particular part of a behaviour you are working on, that's OK. All pups are different and learn at different speeds. This is important because if Trixie is getting frustrated, then she is not learning. Learning should be fun for both of you after all! It takes as long as it takes.

Try not to mix and match different training techniques , this will confuse the both of you! It is also not a good idea to jump ahead when training dogs, just start from the beginning. Always. Take it slow, training puppies is not a race, nor is it a tick box exercise.

 

[Beanwood]

and the wetting in the house is getting out of hand. There's no rythm to it. Hubby's got 4 days off coming up, and he's going to go all the way back to week 1 basic potty training with her. Start over. She's now just squatting anytime she feels like it. Inside, outside, no care in the world. I know they say never to punish a puppy for having an accident....but I have to admit she's getting a firm "No Trixie"

She is just a puppy.

Trixie is weeing because 1. She has not achieved bladder control in certain situations 2. Doesn't understand where she needs to go 3. She just needs to go 4. Is experiencing conflict - this is not surprising if you have started scolding her.

 

[Shamas mom]

@Shamas mom, ask your trainer for more clarification. That's what there are there for, if you need to lower the criteria ( difficulty) because Trixie needs a bit more time to embed a particular part of a behaviour you are working on, that's OK. All pups are different and learn at different speeds. This is important because if Trixie is getting frustrated, then she is not learning. Learning should be fun for both of you after all! It takes as long as it takes.

Try not to mix and match different training techniques , this will confuse the both of you! It is also not a good idea to jump ahead when training dogs, just start from the beginning. Always. Take it slow, training puppies is not a race, nor is it a tick box exercise.

I'll keep that in mind. I feel like the trick here is to offer Trixie the word focus, to bring her attention up to us when she Leaves it. Since that's what the trainer's asking for. I did ask,,and what he wants is for the dog to disengage and re-orient back to the handler. Which is why he holds on the reward until he gets the focus

As for Trixie wetting in the house...it's frustrating, but I don't hold it against her. I understand she's a puppy, and we've screwed up somewhere. I think our best bet is to go right back to the start, and reset potty training. As in all the way back, so we're taking her out every 1/2 hour, after naps, after food, after play. Set alarms in case we get doing things. I have a schedule posted on the fridge from when we were first potty training her--hubby and I agreed we need to reset to the beginning, as though she just came home and knows nothing

Part of me wants to give crate training another go....part of me thinks that after that first week, crate training is better left alone

 

[SwampDonkey]

Has she been checked for a UTI?

 

[Shamas mom]

no, I didn't think of it. I'll see if VCA can get us in...she's terrified of Ham road now, and also showing fear of men over 190lbs. Rather than let me lure her with treats, they forced her into position, and pinned her


She has no symptoms, aside from the behavioral aspect. but that's not new. I'm just frustrated after doing so much laundry

 

[Shamas mom]

Has she been checked for a UTI?

called the vet, they're not at all concerned. They can run a urinalysis and blood work if I want to...but they don't think it's anything more than a 17 week old puppy who's getting too distracted when they go outside to pee.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Just keep an eye on her then. She sounds very stressed about peeing maybe take the pressure off her a bit and not expect too much. She really can't help it if her tiny bladder is not big enough to hold much pee yet. All that comes eventually it's not such an unexpected or big thing for her to make mistakes at her age. Calmness consistency and forgiveness is more import than the right place at the moment. She just can't do it yet. It doesn't mean she won't it's just she isn't physically capable.

 

[Shamas mom]

Just keep an eye on her then. She sounds very stressed about peeing maybe take the pressure off her a bit and not expect too much. She really can't help it if her tiny bladder is not big enough to hold much pee yet. All that comes eventually it's not such an unexpected or big thing for her to make mistakes at her age. Calmness consistency and forgiveness is more import than the right place at the moment. She just can't do it yet. It doesn't mean she won't it's just she isn't physically capable.

I've been taking her out every 1/2 hour or so this morning, and penning her between going out as prescribed by the training plan . Only one accident, after a vigorous play session. When out of the pen, she's either going out to pee, coming in, or at my side. When she pees outside, I'm praising and giving a treat.

I think our mistake was letting her go too long. an hour between outings. SO if she didn't pee one time, she couldn't make it to the next

 

[Shamas mom]

Trixie injured her shoulder last night. Pretty sure it's a sprain. She jumped ver Shamas and tripped on my foot as she landed, causing an awkward landing. We can't get her into an in-person vet till next week, so I used a service that triages you to local services, and they connected me to a vet over the phone. She agreed it's sprained. Prescribed reumecam once a day at a dose of .9ml.

Take her into an in-person vet if not better in 4 days. Was able to pencil in an emergency appointment on Saturday

It's very annoying that out of 3 vets, no one could see her...but at least we have other alternatives for care for minor things.

An emergency vet is only taking life-threatening emergencies now. Everything else is being turned away as there are so many pets in need. Only real emergencies are allowed. "My puppy is limping and in pain" doesn't count. Wait for your normal vet to have a spot.

 

[Granca]

Poor Trixie. It’s worrying when you have to wait to see a vet. I hope she’s better soon and it‘s just a sprain that’s caused a bit of discomfort.

 

[Candy]

Hope poor little Trixie's OK and that it's nothing worse than a sprain, although that an be painful enough. Poor little sweetheart!

 

[Stacia]

@Shamas mom, what a worry that you couldn't see a vet! Is there a shortage as there is here?

 

[Shamas mom]

@Shamas mom, what a worry that you couldn't see a vet! Is there a shortage as there is here?

There are plenty around, but they all told me to go to my home vet. None are taking new patients if you already have one. I've got her slated to switch to VCA, which is more of a corporation... allowing me to access three different offices in our city. But none could see her before Saturday. What they DO offer though is a free service where you can chat with a Vet Tech through the app. They referred me to "smartvet" which is a telephone triage service, linking you to local vets, and also having available vets for teleconference and skype-style appointments. So I did this to have her "seen" today. They gave me the correct dosage for reumacam, and I administered it from the bottle I have here at the house.

Trixie was back to herself in about 25minutes. We skipped the evening walk, opting instead to have supper out on a patio. We took pig ears for each of the dogs, and a blanket to lay on. So they had their car ride and outing, but no strenuous exercise.

I absolutely did NOT want to take her into Ham road after her last emergency visit...she was held in place by one man, while another gave her needles, and made her throw up. They forced her onto the scales, instead of letting me lure her onto it, and now she's showing fear of men. I fear that any more trips into that office will cause lasting trauma and behavioral issues. In a dog estimated to reach 80-100lbs, I do NOT want her being fearful and potentially aggressive towards men or anyone else. There's a possibility He could have fitted her in (he can always fit in emergencies)...but I wasn't worried enough about her physical condition to risk the mental repercussions of another visit to that vet. That's the same vet I avoid using for Shamas, after he cornered him, and grabbed and held onto his sore paw, earning an air snap and snarl. First time I ever saw human aggression from Shamas. He wanted me to put him under aenesthetic for a torn nail....I went for a second opinion, and it just needed trimming and filing.

This guy can always fit you in...but he'll push for unnecessarry radiographs, etc so that by the time you're done your bill is closing on 900bucks. I never get out of there for less than 500-600, and my other vets usually average 300-400 even with 100office fees.

My neighbor is helping me with the timidity towards men, by simply letting her come to him at her own rate. He's fine if she backs away from him, and only does a sniff and jumps back. He has the patience to let her come to him. We are doing a treat and retreat right now. She is offered a treat by the person who wants to see her, and another by me as soon as she takes(or doesn't) the one from them.

 

[Stacia]

@Shamas mom, the first vet I worked for many moons ago, believed in manhandling. It was a revelation when I worked for the next one, no need to manhandle at all!

 

[Candy]

There are plenty around, but they all told me to go to my home vet. None are taking new patients if you already have one. I've got her slated to switch to VCA, which is more of a corporation... allowing me to access three different offices in our city. But none could see her before Saturday. What they DO offer though is a free service where you can chat with a Vet Tech through the app. They referred me to "smartvet" which is a telephone triage service, linking you to local vets, and also having available vets for teleconference and skype-style appointments. So I did this to have her "seen" today. They gave me the correct dosage for reumacam, and I administered it from the bottle I have here at the house.

Trixie was back to herself in about 25minutes. We skipped the evening walk, opting instead to have supper out on a patio. We took pig ears for each of the dogs, and a blanket to lay on. So they had their car ride and outing, but no strenuous exercise.

I absolutely did NOT want to take her into Ham road after her last emergency visit...she was held in place by one man, while another gave her needles, and made her throw up. They forced her onto the scales, instead of letting me lure her onto it, and now she's showing fear of men. I fear that any more trips into that office will cause lasting trauma and behavioral issues. In a dog estimated to reach 80-100lbs, I do NOT want her being fearful and potentially aggressive towards men or anyone else. There's a possibility He could have fitted her in (he can always fit in emergencies)...but I wasn't worried enough about her physical condition to risk the mental repercussions of another visit to that vet. That's the same vet I avoid using for Shamas, after he cornered him, and grabbed and held onto his sore paw, earning an air snap and snarl. First time I ever saw human aggression from Shamas. He wanted me to put him under aenesthetic for a torn nail....I went for a second opinion, and it just needed trimming and filing.

This guy can always fit you in...but he'll push for unnecessarry radiographs, etc so that by the time you're done your bill is closing on 900bucks. I never get out of there for less than 500-600, and my other vets usually average 300-400 even with 100office fees.

My neighbor is helping me with the timidity towards men, by simply letting her come to him at her own rate. He's fine if she backs away from him, and only does a sniff and jumps back. He has the patience to let her come to him. We are doing a treat and retreat right now. She is offered a treat by the person who wants to see her, and another by me as soon as she takes(or doesn't) the one from them.

Poor little girl, what horrible experiences for a little pup. Our vet is lovely, very patient and always let's me encourage Joy into whatever position he needs her to be in. He noticed a new young vet trying to take her from me once. I was about to object but he stepped in first, saying 'No, Mrs James goes with her dog, it works much better like that.'
I do hope you can find a more sympathetic vet.

 

[Shamas mom]

@Shamas mom, the first vet I worked for many moons ago, believed in manhandling. It was a revelation when I worked for the next one, no need to manhandle at all!

Exactly!

I know it used to be common practice, but today we know better. Moving in on a timid dog and forcing them into position does not make them more agreeable to your job requirements; rather the opposite. It breeds fear and frustration, and teaches the animal not to trust you

I had hoped to get Trixie into Sana Adelaide, where they are gentle, patient and kind..but they are full and not accepting patients. So I'm moving her to VCA in hopes of a better staff. At the very least, not having to go back to where she was treated such a way will be good for her It says something that this vet has now seen four of my pets in emergencies, and all four have reacted negatively to him and his staff. Specifically their bedside manner. Even MATT hissed at them, and he's the most tolerant cat I ever met. I've literally paid twice the rate to use the ER when they let me in rather than go to this vet.

Now don't get me wrong, he's good at his job, and has saved the lives of my pets a few times.....it's just his bedside manner. His bedside manner is so matter of fact that you'd think he was handling an object rather than a living creature. If he needs to see the belly, he flips them over. If he needs to see the teeth, he opens the mouth. Examinations and treatments are done with no further ado. You get the idea.

And unfortunately, he was the only one able to take her in less than a few weeks notice. SO we had to go with him for vaccinations, while we waited for a permanent vet

 

[Shamas mom]

Working on boundaries while watching a show tonight

I had goldfish crackers, and Trixie wanted them. So I started with a sit command, paired with "off" when she jumped on me.

As she got the idea, I left off the command to sit, and only rewarded the sit when offered...then waited a little longer to see what she'd do.

She laid down

Yes!

From there on out, I used "off" when she got pushy, and rewarded the lay. Soon she was consistently offering the behavior of laying at my feet.

I'm very happy


You could see her think about it. "I want the treat and jumping doesn't work. Sitting worked...I'll sit....hmm, nothing. How bout a lay? Aha! There it is...yum!"

 

[MrChew]

Thats quite similar to how we got Chewie used to being a "cafe dog" and now he may or may not need to be asked to lie down but is quite calm about the whole thing. Though he might occassionally squeak a little.

 

[Shamas mom]

Thats quite similar to how we got Chewie used to being a "cafe dog" and now he may or may not need to be asked to lie down but is quite calm about the whole thing. Though he might occassionally squeak a little.

I used "don't beg" and "go lay down with Shamas....but he's got a very limited vocabulary and is slow to pick up on things lol. We use what we know with him

In contrast, Trixie is like Baby genius, learning really quickly and teaching the old boy new tricks. Including how to play