The Last Straw with Ellie! Rant/vent

I would remove the dog park from the mix. Those places are not good for dogs without coping skills, and Ellie may lack those skills right now. And they are unpredictable, which you see in her reactions.

Can you simplify her life down to house/yard/immediate area around house? No stores, no parks, no outings, etc. until she learns to cope and react appropriately? I think her brain may be a little overwhelmed.

I also wonder if she has a mild seizure thing going on. I only ask because my landlords Poodle is medicated for seizures (potassium bromide), and she occasionally has these "fits". The last one caused her to run the fence and slide in the mud, over and over and over and over. Nothing stopped her until Jacky was able to catch her. This resulted in both Poodle and Jacky being covered in mud, and the Poodle getting a bath. It was like the Poodles brain had spun up and couldn't calm down. Her aggression has increased as well. She can't be out with my dogs, because she attacks one of them regularly. They used to be able to coexist in the yard.

Anyway, I wonder if Ellie's little brain is mixing signals all over.

Oh, she hasn't gone to the dog park for a long, long time. Too much for her. She has one doggie playmate who she plays with one on one. She usually gets along just fine with her. Ellie does occassionally bite Ginger for some reason known only to her that makes Ginger yelp so badly that it makes me tear up.

I hope she doesn't have seizures! Yikes!

I am reading The Reactive Champion blog. I am totally fasinated and not getting anything done that I am supposed to be doing, lol. I see so much of Ellie in the blogs. I am going to order a DVD on dog body language that I saw. I have renewed energy on this. I am getting better informed.
 
I went to the APDT website and scrolled down about halfway on this page to their note (and box that follows) regarding dog trainers and behaviorists:

http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/certifications.aspx

You can then click on The Animal Behavior Society link and see a list of people with certifications. Doesn't seem as though there are many listed, but I do see one in Austin and one in College Station. That's probably a trek for you .........

You might want to speak with your vet first and explore something in a low dose ?

Yes, Austin and College Station are about 4 and a half hours one way. :(
 
I would remove the dog park from the mix. Those places are not good for dogs without coping skills, and Ellie may lack those skills right now. And they are unpredictable, which you see in her reactions.

Can you simplify her life down to house/yard/immediate area around house? No stores, no parks, no outings, etc. until she learns to cope and react appropriately? I think her brain may be a little overwhelmed.

I also wonder if she has a mild seizure thing going on. I only ask because my landlords Poodle is medicated for seizures (potassium bromide), and she occasionally has these "fits". The last one caused her to run the fence and slide in the mud, over and over and over and over. Nothing stopped her until Jacky was able to catch her. This resulted in both Poodle and Jacky being covered in mud, and the Poodle getting a bath. It was like the Poodles brain had spun up and couldn't calm down. Her aggression has increased as well. She can't be out with my dogs, because she attacks one of them regularly. They used to be able to coexist in the yard.

Anyway, I wonder if Ellie's little brain is mixing signals all over.

What you describe is very similar to what Toby does, except he isn't seizing, his anxiety takes over and he stops thinking. He might run back and forth or around a certain piece of furniture repetitively while barking, or he might spin and wine. Either way he won't stop until someone is able to catch him.

Some times when the dog has an extremely stressful event, it can take days for them to recover. This sounds like what's going on with Ellie. During a time of stress they release stress hormones, which can take days to leave their systems, especially if they were extremely stressed.

Reducing Ellie's exposure to the outside world sounds like a good idea. No dog park is vital. For exercise either go somewhere very quiet that won't cause her any stress or stick to your yard.

Personally, I'd look into natural remedies before medication. You may want to try going to a natural vet, who may have more non chemical solutions for you.

Training is number one, which you've done thoroughly. You should pat yourself on the back for that one, so many people would have given up.

Natural medicine is next. Rescue Remedy has been helpful to us but more than likely won't be enough for severe anxiety and aggression.

Like I said, L-theanine has done wonders for Toby. If you're not comfortable using the type for people you can buy the name brand made for dogs.

http://www.virbacvet.com/Products/VirbacAnimalHealthBehavioralHealth/ANXITANEChewableTablets.aspx

If you do try the type for people, don't buy chewable, it contains xylitol.
 
I am reading The Reactive Champion blog. I am totally fasinated and not getting anything done that I am supposed to be doing, lol. I see so much of Ellie in the blogs. I am going to order a DVD on dog body language that I saw. I have renewed energy on this. I am getting better informed.

I'm glad that you're finding it helpful, I felt so much relief and excitement when I came across that blog. Its definitely given me renewed help, especially since I've found something that helps improve Toby's quality of life.

I don't know how far you've gotten, but she does eventually end up medicating her dog, after years of training and only getting her so far. She goes on to say that her only regret was not trying meds sooner.
 
I'm glad that you're finding it helpful, I felt so much relief and excitement when I came across that blog. Its definitely given me renewed help, especially since I've found something that helps improve Toby's quality of life.

I don't know how far you've gotten, but she does eventually end up medicating her dog, after years of training and only getting her so far. She goes on to say that her only regret was not trying meds sooner.

I haven't gotten to that part yet, but I have seen a lot of references to it. What meds does she put her dog on?

I am LOVING her blog!
 
I haven't gotten to that part yet, but I have seen a lot of references to it. What meds does she put her dog on?

I am LOVING her blog!

She has Maisy on Paxil (paroxetine).

I love it too. Like you I couldn't stop reading it and it prompted me to start taking notes, write down questions and start a log about Toby's behavior. It gave me so many ideas of things to try with his training and has a great section on natural alternatives to medication.

I thanked her for writing the blog, which some how seemed inadequate, because its given me so much hope.
 
She has Maisy on Paxil (paroxetine).

I love it too. Like you I couldn't stop reading it and it prompted me to start taking notes, write down questions and start a log about Toby's behavior. It gave me so many ideas of things to try with his training and has a great section on natural alternatives to medication.

I thanked her for writing the blog, which some how seemed inadequate, because its given me so much hope.

I saw Toby's photos on the blog and I wanted to shout, "Hey I know that dog!" lol.

I want to write to her as well. DH and I are discussing putting Ellie on the natural drugs. I want to do some more investigation, but we are leaning towards it.
 
Sniff Walk

Well, the fences aren't going to be fixed for two more weeks! Ellie is very much aware that the fences are down and that causes her anxiety in our backyard. The neighbor's on both sides are awesome and we know each other's schedules. When know each others work schedules and the times that the dogs usually want out to do their business. We check to make sure that the other bordering dogs aren't out before we go out with Ellie. Ellie does her business very quickly and constantly checks to make sure one of us is standing there with her and then she wants back in the house NOW.

Because of the disaster of the walk yesterday, we have taken a new approach for her exercise. We take her for a "sniff walk" behind our house. There are no cars, no people, no loud noises, no interference at all. We give her the command, "all done" to let her know she doesn't have to heel and that she isn't "on" and she can sniff everything to her heart's content. We have had two incredibly nice walks this way. She is excited to go but not scared or anxious. She loves to smell everything and walk along. Sometimes she gets a scent of something and becomes really excited following it, other times she ambles along, smiling. She is at peace and so are we. We will continue to let her get her excercise this way until we can get her enviornment back in order. We will practice her Rally exercises inside so that she can concentrate on me and not worry about another dog possibly coming into the back yard.
 
I agree with Chris on this one. As I have posted this before, my sister has a Lahsa, and he is a biter. I tried to help her out, and spoke with a breeder of Lahsas, and she stated to me she would grab them by the ruff and say NO.

My sister had three trainers, the first two came once each and quit. The last one did a good job, but my sister still has to be on her toes with this dog.
I also told my sister not to take her Lahsa to my vet, because mine would put her dog down. #1 they are not fond of this breed because of this reason.
They are basically a one person dog. He is her dog, and I told her she has to show who is the leader. He loves to bite my BIL for no reason, but he does it often.

BIL will be cutting the grass, and the dog will lunge at his leg and bite. If he reaches down to pet the dog, the dog will lunge at his hand and bite him. BIL has never mistreated the dog.

I know what my sister has been through and its so frustrating. My heart goes out to you, and Richard.
 
The thing about Ellie is that her behavior is NOT and NEVER HAS BEEN a "constant." That is the biggest reason I have problems knowing what to do for her.

That's why I think you should really give medication a go. Erratic behaviour is very symptomatic of a chemical imbalance. And I would hate to see you spend more money on behaviourists when no amount of training will correct a chemical imbalance.
 
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