Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Diary of Lulu in a Thundershirt, Day 4

To read Day 3, go here.

DAY 4

More mixed results in the Thundershirt today, but some progress too.

The day started right out with trouble,  in a small package. We walked out of the apartment, and in the place above us one of my neighbor's yappy dogs started barking violently (won't say what kind of dog, because I don't want to upset breed lovers). Lulu did eventually start barking at it, but it didn't last long because the dog's owner grabbed the dog and shut the window.

Walked Lulu to the park, and she didn't have much to get upset at. She did bark at one of the other neighborhood dogs, Zelda. But it was not her crazy bark -- she was trying to get my neighbor's attention. Zelda is one of Lulu's best friends, and she wanted her to come play, but they couldn't.

On the second walk, just as we got outside, the lady with the yappy dogs upstairs came down to walk her dogs. And her pack has grown now from one dog to three! Oy! They came down yapping all the way at Lulu, and Lulu was happy to oblige. I had to drag her in the opposite direction.

As we walked by, one of the other neighborhood dogs barked like mad, and Lulu barked back. But she only barked a bit, and she came along easily.


But here is a positive moment. As we walked, we came by one of the neighborhood dogs. Normally Lulu would immediately bark at this dog, but this time she just watched it, and then went about her business. Meanwhile the dog watched her!


The only time Lulu barked at the dog was when it barked at her.

Other than that, Lulu did ok. She also barked at some noises outside while in the house, but I never quibble over that. It's kinda what she's paid to do.

Another roll in the grass!

13 comments :

  1. Great to hear about a bit of progress, Lulu!

    Tigger, my dog, used to hyper-panic at everything (and I mean *everything*) - flew to the end of the leash, into the air, and then would panic into the back of my leg. Couldn't do any walk without this happening, as it was unpredictable and unavoidable triggers.

    We desensitized the world for her by jogging (Thundershirt wasn't nearly enough... worked wonders in the car for our other dog, but wasn't enough for this!). For me, jogging is basically the speed of a fast walk. The activity is like an ongoing distraction to whatever else is going on (other people, dogs if that's the issue, sounds, etc), even more distracting if you change directions and sides of the street often. By outing 2 she didn't panic at all (she'd look, but not panic anymore).

    Used it with several dogs (aggressive and anxious... even stubborn walkers) and it works like a charm. (A bit more detail, here: http://bit.ly/dogjogging)

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    1. I have found that changing directions does confuse her and she focuses less on other things going on. Which is great. I am concerned about jogging with her because the few times I've tried and she has gotten distracted I usually end up on my keister. lol But how does that work if she needs to stop and sniff around to use the bathroom (which is all the time)?

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    2. Oh that reminds me of the beagle mix I used to have! The reason I started jogging in the first place was because of his incessant sniffing :) I let him have three big sniffing sessions (about a block or so walking, and letting him stop as much as he wanted) - once at the beginning of the walk, one break in the middle, and then again at the end. Good warm up/cool down and break from jogging as well. Every once and awhile he would stop like a lead brick for a smell while we mid-jog (that risk of being pulled over! happened once to me due to a hill and unfortunate timing), but the stopping did end up being fairly rare, eventually.

      He was a real stubborn case, more so than what seems usual (ok, well, out of the 6 or 8 dogs I've jogged with), but he did seem to "get it" eventually. I think the key is probably just being very firm about when the sniffing is OK and use a consistent location at first, so it's a clear definition of when it's her time vs jog time.

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    3. Sounds exactly like Lulu. I need to up my exercising, so this may be what I have to do. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  2. You must be pleased to be seeing some progress...checking back in with the trainer is a good idea...wearing the coat is a new thing and i'm sure that having it fit properly is important to your ultimate success

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    1. It's good, but I don't know if this is something we are going to stick with. I dunno... I'm gonna drop in and see him tomorrow and we shall see.

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  3. Linus has a Thundershirt and we've had similar mixed results. I'm working on his leash aggression and may try implementing our Thundershirt into the mix. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'll let you know how things go with Linus.

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    1. Please do, Colby! I know at least one woman who says he dog loves their Thundershirt shirt.

      Christie

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    2. The Thundershirt seems hit or miss. I've heard some rave about it while others don't see any improvement. I plan on giving it a go on our walks. Thanks for the updates on Lulu!

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    3. I think it really does depend on the dog. She was definitely mellow today, but I'm still not sure.

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  4. For me it has really depended on the cause of the issue and level of anxiety. Situation has to be anxiety or fear, and the level I imagine cannot be panic. As an example, my dog Mort. He has a lot of fear/anxiety in the car, and clipping nails. The Thundershirt worked instantly in the car (he went from pools of drool and puking to perfectly fine), but it did very little for the nails (I imagine because he pretty much goes into a panic and moves around a lot). We did go from nearly getting bitten to ... seeing the tension that may lead to a bite but getting one nail off. But nothing dramatic, and I'm not sure if it was the shirt. I actually think, from casual observation anyway, the thundershirt might work better when the dog is stationary.

    A thundershirt that has minor change in behavior might be the fact the dog is distracted by it being on (you can see improvements in a dogs behavior by putting some pet wrap on their leg -- they are distracted by the feeling, and this alone can improve the problem). It's also possible the shirt is just a distraction.

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  5. Sorry, I need to add that it is "a distraction" when it isn't working as a calming element. From what I've seen in the car mentioned above, the dramatic improvement, it wasn't acting as a distraction at all.

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