My Anxious Shelties - Toby and Ginny - Updates on their Progress

That's awesome that Ginny is doing so well!

And I know you might be a bit discouraged about Toby's "steps back", but it sounds like you were able to manage it with medicine. At least now you have a 'prescription' that allows him to function normally. Through your dedication (and trial and error) you've found what works for him.
 
So glad to hear that Ginny is "back" !

Keeping fingers crossed for Toby. We certainly all have up and down days and hopefully a minor adjustment and / or the addition of the Lactium will even him out again.
 
I certainly hope so, I hate seeing him so anxious.

On Saturday we were at the sheltie rescue picnic and all had a lovely time, but Toby was very stressed out by the time we left and took a few days to recover. This surprised me, since it was not an overly stressful day. It was in a really nice park and all the shelties we encountered were really nice. Toby had a small startle at a nearby truck but we all, dogs included, had a great time. He hasn't reacted so badly to something for a long time. :(
 
So happy to hear Ginny is back to her old self and sad for you that Toby has taken a step back. You work so hard towards doing every and anything to give all your pups the best life possible. I pray in time things will fall into place for Toby and he'll be a happy secure boy.
 
The Zylkene/Lactium I've been giving Toby on top of his regular medication seems to be helping him worry as much. This is good and bad. Good, because it will help me get through the next month with him. Bad because he's still anxious, which I'm pretty sure means I'll never be able to wean him off meds and onto just Zylkene/Lactium. Oh well, at least an increase in his meds will decrease my monthly costs and make him feel MUCH better!
 
Another Toby Update

The weekend before last we went away with some friends for a few days and rented a couple of cottages at a pet friendly resort near Algonquin National Park.

It was amazing watching Toby experience so many new things and have such a good time. He made me laugh a few times when he came across things he'd never encountered before and didn't know how to deal with. Like two logs blocking our path on a hike that were too high to jump over but that he couldn't crawl under either. I had to show him how to look for other areas where he could cross it, he just couldn't figure it out on his own since it was a problem he'd never experienced before.

Anyway, I was a little concerned because it turned out that our cottages were closer to the road than I would have liked. Far enough away that the dogs wouldn't be tempted to try and chase traffic, but close enough for the noise to bother Toby. But Toby did great. He barked a bit at the noise the first day, then was too busy playing with the other dogs and dunking his muzzle in the lake to care. I am SOO proud of him. :smile2:

Toby is doing well in his advanced obedience class too. He was pretty nervous his first week but did better this week and recovered well from three big scares.

Medication wise my vet said its best for him to stay where he is now, that I should keep giving him the Reconcile with the Lactium (She said its fine to give him Lactium instead of Zylkene since it does appear to be the same). Toby is doing well on both, but it is costly. Between the two its costing me over $60/month, not including the liver support supplement I also give him. :(

Its been three months and I haven't seen enough of a change in him to indicate that I might one day be able to take him off of the medication. I hope its too soon to tell, it would be nice for both him and my wallet if he didn't need it some day.
 
I also forgot to brag that Toby figured out how to do a drop (vs the down command) in less than 5 minutes through targeting at training last night. He didn't think it was as big a deal as I did and looked truly puzzled by my super excited behavior. :lol:

He's still more stressed at class than I would like him to be, even though he was much more at ease last night. I hope he warms up and starts having more fun soon, I really want this to boost his confidence. I have him scheduled for therapy dog testing at the end of the month and I'm not sure now if I think he's ready for it yet. If worse comes to worse, I'll cancel I guess.
 
2012 Update on Toby and Ginny

2010 and 2011 were nightmare years for me, so I sincerely hope that 2012 lives up to my expectations!

Things in my house are MUCH calmer than they've been in a very long time.

Toby

Toby has now been on Reconcile for 6 months. Over this 6 months I've continued his training and desensitization and many of his behaviors have completely disappeared.

He's still sound sensitive but he doesn't have to bark his head off every time he walks out the door.

Our neighbors can now walk out their back door and even shut the door without Toby rushing the fence in an aggressive manner.

Toby no longer looses his mind when he sees or hears the work truck picking up my husband from work.

Toby no longer barks at every random house noise he hears and rarely barks and random objects that he suddenly notices, although he did bark at the mistletoe hanging in the doorway again this Xmas. :lol:

He is MUCH better on walks, although he is still noise sensitive and scares more easily than most dogs. He'll occasionally bark and lunge but its not nearly the explosion that it used to be and he recovers from it almost instantly.

He no longer becomes so stressed that it takes him days to recover.

In general he's still a nervous, noise sensitive dog who hides in his safe spot or behind me if he hears any unfamiliar or loud noises. I think its likely he'll always be this way, I don't expect him to be perfect. I can live with him the way he is now because he is SO much happier than he was before. I no longer doubt that his quality of life is good.

Since he's doing so much better my vet and I have decided to try and wean him onto a lower dose of Reconcile (generic prozac) to see how he does. I have my doubts that he'll ever be able to come off it completely but I think its likely he may still do well on a lower dose in combination with the Lactium.

Ginny

Now that Toby's anxiety is under control, Ginny no longer has anxiety either.

She doesn't have an anxiety attack and pee every time Toby barks. This means she also no longer requires crating when we aren't home, which was when most of the accidents occurred. All of the dogs get gated in my computer room and stay relaxed the entire time we're working.

Ginny has gotten over the bee sting incident that caused her such severe anxiety that she could hardly move, let alone go outside. She still gets anxious when we go visit our friends where she was stung, but she's otherwise back to her usual bossy self.

I can't tell you how nice it is that life is FINALLY back to normal. :smile2:
 
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