Tinsel's Journey

Today we were back at Mindful Behaviours with Mirkka. Tinsel did really well coping with the barking Jack Russell/pug cross. We took him upstairs to the store for about 10 minutes before class and he initiated touch with a lady customer. Her husband, however, was just about to be able to give him a scritch when he suddenly started speaking in French to Tinsel. Tinsel's eyes widened and he back away quickly. Remember, he was taken from a puppymill in Quebec and I have avoided letting French be spoken around him. As expected, he equates the language with bad memories. I guess it's time for me to start using my high school French on him! He also, while nervous of being in the parking lot, let another customer carrying a bag of dog food in one hand and a little girl about 6 months old in the other approach and give him a tickle. We were able to get a martindale collar with a buckle snap while in the store today. Now we are in business! I adjusted it to fit him and then you put it on like a flat collar only it is a martindale. I feel a lot better taking him to new venues now that I know he isn't going to be able to slip his collar if he panics. He had a full grooming session on Thursday with Meaghan and felt confident enough to give us a bit of a struggle. He also showed Meaghan what he has been learning, a big step for a little guy that is not were he wants to be. Also, he didn't lift his leg this time at the groomers. Next week we start the "sacred recall". Mirkka told us that she wanted us to have a different word than come or here for this exercise as those words are probably poisoned cues by now. We did polite walking and sits and I have to say it, he was the star of the class. We also did mat work but that is a work in progress for both of us. I'm teaching him to wave goodbye. He looks so cute when he lifts his leg into the Lassie pose and waves it in the air. His eyes are full of life and his bum wiggles against the floor. I'm going to teach him to do this when he hears me hum the closing music from the Lassie TV show. Have I told you lately how much I just love this little guy?
 
I'll try but you are talking to the computer dolt. I'll see if hubby can figure out how to upload a video.

How's Gypsy? I think about her all the time and pray she is doing better.
 
omg can you believe it. SOOOO glad he got to go to groomer and was a good boy, I know you were worried about it!
OF COURSE he was star of the class, he IS a Sheltie after all, even if he is scared and had no good social interactions before...
You're working miracles with him and he is paying you back with all the love he has :biggrin2:
 
I wouldn't classify his behaviour at the groomers as good exactly. He snapped a few times but never tried to connect. She just kept working with him and telling him "no bite". He actually turned and licked her arm while she expressed his anal glands. Go figure! He struggled with the bath and the dry but not horribly. Cutting his nails was accomplished with a lot of treats BUT he did do sits for her once he was back on the floor and didn't pee anywhere. She is one of the most patient people with animals I have ever met. Sheltie rescue is soooooo lucky to have her in their corner.

Last night my daughter brought her male sheltie Connor over for a visit. Just when you think that Tinsel has grown a lot of his coat back you see Con of the huge coat. Poor Tin looks skinny beside him. Connor is so patient with Tin and is a great ambassador for the breed. He loves everyone, does agility, herding, rally and obedience. Once I know for sure what the grating sensation is in Tinsel's wrist and how it will effect his activity level our daughter and I can decide how best to use Connor in Tinsel's adjustment to society. I discovered this wrist issue during his bath at the groomers while he was trying to avoid having his underside rinsed. When he stood on his back legs I cupped his wrists to keep him up while Meaghan rinsed. His right wrist felt like gravel in a bag with a grating kind of movement. I'll be calling the vet in the morning to have her look at it. Visually it looks fine, there is no heat in it but it definately isn't right. I think Tinsel is going to help me pay for the other side of the parking lot at the clinic!
 
very moving and touching story. you should make it a book. you are a very good writer. i read this since 2 am...kept my interest, so could not go to bed untill finished. i would be the first one in line to buy the book !! you have a ton of knowledge and wisdom, and many can learn from that.
 
A book would be great with pictures! I stay up reading about rescue till wee morning hours. My Danny still reacts to French being spoken. He came from a mill. He also strongly reacts to a large bell ringing. Like a church bell or a ranch come for dinner bell. He gets really upset if he is sleeping and hears one of these two on the tv. He gets up and looks around confused to make sure he is not back in that awful puppymill. Poor guys. But just look at them now - living the sheltie dream. Waiting for your next post and maybe pictures.
 
Danny's Mommy: First let me tell you how you inspire me with all the searching you do to bring the plight of lost and abandoned shelties to the attention of those in the position to help.

As far as the bells go, have you tried to use counter conditioning to help with his reaction? Sometimes it helps. Tinsel seems to get past his nervousness if I do some training with him using the clicker. He's a big chow hound so his sense of reason is in his stomach. With my belgian, an ice cream cone can usually get her mind off of noises that scare her but nothing that she has to chew on will do. The Thundershirt has helped with her aversion to storms. Don't you just want to have one hour in a room with the creatures that did this to these lovely little dogs? I'd also like to cage up our government for allowing this to continue. I understand that the women that owned the puppymill that Tinsel came from are busy setting up another one. Give that little boy a big hug from Tin and me and take one yourself.
 
I was told the one Danny came from left the town it was in. But that doesn't mean they aren't still in business. I campaign against puppymills and pound seizures. Doing experiments on dogs or cats is no way to treat them. I have no idea why puppymills are not banned. Their dog auctions are a sight to behold. Lately I have seen more senior dogs dumped in pounds just because they got old. I worked all week trying to get a poor old ger. Shepherd pulled from a kill shelter. A writer wrote about his plight when i told him about the dog in a Michigan online paper so maybe he will melt someone's heart if he's well enough for rescue. Danny's startled reactions happen too infrequently now for me to bother with them. I think his chronic skin problems are because of being in the mill. He just about died being in there. Danny sends dog kisses to Tinsel.
 
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