Tinsel's Journey

Tagg said:
What I am concerned about is he is regressing and I don't know why. He no longer wants to visit with strangers and he growled tonight when my hubby was carrying a stool into the family room where he was relaxing. It was definately a fear response but the first time he has done it or shown any sign of fear aggression. Hopefully it will not be a recurring thing.
Fingers crossed that this is just a set back.
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I'm sending you an email about this but a growl at this point isn't necessarily something to worry about. As long as it doesn't escalate, it may be a good thing that he's showing an emotional response instead of just shutting down. It seems like a very normal reaction for a typical dog in an unfamiliar situation, so this might be an indication of the progress he's making emotionally.

Toby barked, growled and lunged in a very aggressive manner but it was all show, he doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. When he easily had the worst scare of his life, he still didn't bite.

Toby is a different dog than Tinsel and his situation is very different, I'm only saying that a growl doesn't necessarily equal aggression, it may be nothing more than a very normal signal that he's feeling uncomfortable. That stool may have made him feel uncomfortable before but he was unable to communicate his discomfort.
 
Tinsel had a better day today. He loves the wind so he was all happy when he went out this morning and it was windy. Meanwhile our westie, who I lovingly dub the West Highland Bermuda Terrier, was not impressed with the cold at all. She would much prefer to have the sun thank you very much!
He's now going from about half way down the little hall to the door to go out. He runs back in when he's done his business and his little tail just wags like crazy. He is doing the sheltie spin as I make his breakfast or dinner which tells you how much stronger he is getting and how he far he has come in his happiness levels. He also is liking the new orthopedic bed in the family room and has claimed it for tv watching which by the way he now expects.
We'd like to take him for his first off property walk in a controlled enviroment so I've decided to take him to the fair grounds. He might meet one or two people but not hordes. Sunday I am going, without Tinsel, to visit an obedience school to discuss using a class to socialize him. He's not ready for formal training but even if we sit in a corner and watch the goings on, occasionally getting treats from others, I think will help him. Not sure it this school will be the one as I will be really fussy. He might surprise me since he is social with other dogs and hopefully will want to follow in but I have no expectations of it at this point. I have three different places that I want to visit before deciding on which one, if any, will be his introduction to the outside world. Classes start at the end of January. In the meantime we will work on simple trick training to give him confidence in his own abilities. He taught himself one. It's called, stand at the counter and see if there is anything I can reach. Hmmmm. Thank goodness he's only 15" tall is all I can say!
 
This morning we were surprised to hear Tinsel start to "bark" while doing the breakfast spin. The noise is sadly one I recognize from years of being around dog activities. I'm pretty sure now that someone attempted to debark him. I shudder to think how. Anyway, it's a bit milder today so today's the day to try our walk. He continually amazes me that he would even try to overcome the cruelty that he had to live with. I don't think I could do it if I were in his paws. His braveness gives us the patience to deal with his insecurity.
 
Yeah, it was great to hear him do some vocalizations even if they are odd enough to have the westie think something was dying and she had to finish it off! Fortunately it only takes me saying her name firmly for her to cease and desist. I want you all to remind me how happy I am that he is making a noise. I'm sure there might come a time when I wish he would be quiet again ;-) He's upset with me now. I caught a snag in his leg furnishings and he whirled and snapped. He was immediately chastised and so he took off for his crate and there he sits. That twice in a week that he has reacted badly to something and had to be told. I can't let him get away with it but at the same time I hate that he has to learn these hard lessons after what he experienced before. Oh well, he will come out eventually. I can and will outwait him. I need to do the fish tank anyways so I'll just carry on like nothing happened.
 
It only took about 45 minutes before he decided he would come back out and lay on the bed in front of the couch were scary mom was sitting. All is well again. We went for our walk in the hay field - figured he had had enough stress for one day - and he is funny to watch. He doesn't like the coooold snow and he looks like he is on a forced march, seldom putting his head down to investigate anything. I can almost read his mind and I'm sure he is saying "this fool of a woman keeps taking me out on the horrid lead expecting me to wag my tail and get excited. The only thing exciting about this is the occasional treats she gives me." Poor little Tinsel! Maybe I'll have to lay a tracking trail of treats to make walking more interesting. We bought him a coat to wear. He's going to love that - not, but he'll get used to it. The velcro scares him so we are introducing the noise of opening it right now. The coat is like a horse blanket and we buy them at the horse tack shop. Warm polar fleece liner with quilting between it and a waterproof outer shell with reflective piping. He doesn't have much undercoat so he will need it this year. Funny, my horses don't wear blankets, even though they do have them for if they get ill, but my dogs do.
 
Well I went to visit the training facility and wasn't impressed. There is no way that Tinsel would thrive there. In the meantime, my daughter suggested I give another one that she knew of a call. Aha! It is a Karen Pryor certified trainer that will tolerate no negative reinforcements, has no use for gentle leaders or prong collars, and has a maximum class size of 5. She is active in conformation and agility and my daughter says her Aussies are really well mannered, happy and beautiful. A match made in heaven. I have enrolled him and orientation is Wednesday. The downside is that it is a bit of a hike from here so fingers crossed that our Canadian winter won't get in the way of us getting there. I have also decided to try and improve Tinsel's enjoyment of going out for walks by laying a tracking trail of chicken weiner pieces and then guiding him to find the goodies. I know I might end up with a sheltie that acts like a bloodhound but he has to learn that walking is actually fun and I am ready to try just about anything. He also had a visit by the woman that used to part board my mare Kassy. Judy is a lovely kindhearted woman and Tinsel took very little time to decide to follow her into the living room so he could meet this gentle soul. It's the first time in over a week that he has initiated a meeting so hopefully he is back on track.
 
Thanks so much for the ongoing reporting of Tinsel's saga. You are to be commended for being so darn patient. I know some day Tinsel will blossom and your heart will be so joyful! :yes:

It's a wonderful sign that he approached your kind friend. Baby steps....
 
I got my notes for orientation and started to laugh really hard. I am to bring between 200 -300 pea sized treats with me each night. The treats can be anything, including his food, so I sat and counted how many pieces of his kibble make a meal. Surprisingly there was 130 pieces in 1/2 cup and he is fed this twice daily so I will give him 1/4 cup in the a.m. and then use the rest of his daily diet plus some of his favourite chicken weiners in the training pouch. One thing about this little guy he is food motivated. I just hope he doesn't vomit on the way home from classes. Since he doesn't go to class this week I think I better start changing the way he eats as of tomorrow.
Still working on getting him to walk the scary hall to the door that leads out to the dog yard. Only a couple of more feet now and then hopefully the days of carrying him will be over. He did do a sneaky left turn into the bathroom off this hall today and then scooted back to the kitchen GRRR but it did teach me to prepare for this by shutting the door to the bathroom. So now the routine is: turn on the lights in the carriage house and laundry room, check washroom for the cat - she is unforgiving of locking her in anywhere, shut door to bathroom, open the door from the laundry room to the carriage house, locate Tinsel and carry him to the new spot that he has learned to start a potty trip from, act like he is doing the best trick in the world for walking forward, follow him through the carriage house to the back door, open it and stand there in whatever weather shivering while encouraging him to find a spot and then praise. I tell you, when this little guy learns to go outside without this much effort, I am having a party.
 
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