Tinsel's Journey

I am so enjoying reading your updates on your journey with Tinsel. God bless you for youer patience and understanding with this sweet little soul.

I am sorry for your losses and am so happy he is helping you through your grief. I know how tough that is.
 
I was so excited when he went out under his own steam but it is cold and I hadn't put a coat on. The fourth time I went to take him out I did put a coat on and that was it - no way. He's back to square one with the whole process. It was nice while it lasted! You'll see that I now have an avatar. The picture was taken Christmas Eve by my daughter. He was just lounging on his comfort bed in the kitchen. Next step is to figure out how to post a couple of pictures but step one was enough for us old folk. Give all you dogs a hug from us.
 
Tagg said:
I was so excited when he went out under his own steam but it is cold and I hadn't put a coat on. The fourth time I went to take him out I did put a coat on and that was it - no way. He's back to square one with the whole process. It was nice while it lasted! You'll see that I now have an avatar. The picture was taken Christmas Eve by my daughter. He was just lounging on his comfort bed in the kitchen. Next step is to figure out how to post a couple of pictures but step one was enough for us old folk. Give all you dogs a hug from us.
Click to expand...

Great avatar! He looks so relaxed.

I am sorry to hear that he is back to square one with going out.....you are such a patient person.

To attach pictures to your post hit the reply button and then you get the box where you type in your words....look below that....under the submit reply buttons and you will see a blue bar that says additional options. In that area is a button for manage attachments. Click on that and you will get the option to Browse your computer and upload pictures. The pictures will then be embedded in your post. Let me know if you need additional help! It is tricky the first time but easy every time after that!

Dani
 
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Thanks Danisgoat. I'll get hubby to do it the first time. Computers are just not my forte.
Tinsel continues to surprise me with what does bother him and what doesn't. for example, I knocked into him and he just moved out of the way. I hit a snag in his coat and he acts like I pinched him hard. I can play with his back feet but don't touch his front. The pot drawer is right behind his comfy bed and he could care less about me going and getting noisy, shiny pots out but the stainless steel travel mug has the boogy man inside. I can stroke and tickle the outside of his ears but he is terrified of me handling the inside. All these things are works in progress but I wonder at some of his reactions. His first official in class day with clicker training is Saturday. We moved it from Wednesday night so we aren't so rushed and so hubby, a diabetic, can eat a healthy meal that night.
Today he whimpered after his breakfast so I took him outside and he pooped immediately. Glory be! I think he is nearly housetrained. He now picks up the stuffed toys around the house and carries them to the place he has decided to lay. Some of them are nearly as big as him - they belong to the Belgian - but he gently picks them up and carts them off. He's becoming a toy hoarder. Our girl Rhiannon always does this and has since puppyhood. She gets all the toys, heaps them on her bed and then lays on them all while enjoying her favourite - the Canada Goose. We called it "after the kill" as it looks like a bunch of dead things under her while she chews on poor goose's neck. Well, low and behold, Tinsel is doing the same thing. He has no interest in balls right now or running after anything but I am encouraged that he has found enjoyment with toys. We got an invitation to a westie indoor play day in February that we are considering taking him and Phoebe to. The westie rescue is hosting it and they are happy to give Tinsel a "westie wanna be" designation. Rhiannon always loves to go to westie events. She thinks she is one and how no concept of the fact she is 16" taller and brown! They, on the other hand, know full well that she's no terrier but there has never been an issue with aggression. It's 3 weeks away so we'll see how he's doing.
 
It sounds like he is taking Baby steps, but they are in the right direction. It is funny how so many shelties have little "quirks" that we just have such a hard time understanding.
 
He did it again. About 45 minutes after already being outside for his morning constitutional he started whimpering, looking my way and then going to his comfy bed. When he doesn't have to go out he takes off the other way for a tour of the house! I took him out and sure enough he passed a nice long pee. Yeah! It won't be long before I can start giving him the option of being out of his crate while I do things upstairs or at the barn. I really hate having to crate him as much as I do right now. I know it isn't the end of the world to him but I'll feel much better when I can leave him loose in the house when I am not there in case for some reason I am detained. My poor Belgian once had it happen to her. I accidently locked her into her crate - wasn't thinking - while rushing to go into town and came back to a diareahha covered hairy dog that had tried to free herself and had taken most of the leather off her nose. To this day she will not go in a crate even though she had been crate trained for over a year before the incident. I even had to stay at the vet's last year for 4 hours while she had her teeth scaled and the subsequent recovery as you can't put her in any kind of enclosed space or, even drugged to death, she will try to escape. Talk about dogs developing weird quirks! I don't know if shelties are like Belgians in that respect. Belgians are easy to train, often housebroken and asking to go out in less than 2 weeks, but that memory of theirs can cause untold problems if they have really unpleasant experiences. Oh well, after all the dogs that have lived their lives with us sleeping and travelling in their crates I guess I was due for a challenge. I hope little Tinsel can't read that!!!
 
We moved his crate - oh no! It was in the kitchen and now it is in the family room. To make matters worse, I changed the carpet in the pathway of the carriage house. He noticed! It had to happen and he was okay with it after acting silly for a few minutes. Since he no longer has to be crated as much we can now have the big green thing in a better spot and bring the breakfast/bird watching table back in. I figure I will wait until the weekend to move the table back so he can get used to move number 1 first. He also got his first taste of being groomed on the grooming table. It was a pop up and quick lick of a brush followed by a treat. Eventually I will have to start teaching him to have clippers about so I can clean him up in front of his *****. I do have little hand held ones that I use on Phoebe's ear tips. They are really sharp, quiet and not so scarey. I'll start by doing target work with them off, then on. Once he is used to getting treats on the table and is feeling confident I'll just put the clippers beside him and let them run. He may get over any jitters quickly or he may take some time but eventually he will realize that they don't hurt. In the meantime, I wipe him down with unscented baby wipes. He's pretty good about it - NOW.
 
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