Update On Bailey...

Sending you hope that you will overcome these problems with Bailey. You know your dog best and if you feel that medication will be the best thing to help her deal with the environment it truly is the right step to take. I look forward to hearing about your progress with her.

From the agility video you posted from this weekend, it really seems like you guys have a great bond and communicate well. It was very fun to watch! If you can progress that well in agility I'm sure you will do tremendous work with her in no time when the medication helps lower her anxiety to a point where she starts responding to training and ignoring the noises in your apartment. Best of luck!
 
Just thinking out loud. A lot of "anti-stress/anxiety" type of things need to get into the system. Real Rx drugs take at least a month. If it's herbal, i wonder if it'd be the same. So definitely give it more than 2 weeks.

I saw some of the videos, gawd, Bailey is as bad as Koji. You poor thing. I so understand. Koji LOVES to meet new dogs/people, but first he'll bark/lunge at them before they get to him, then do the same after they leave. It's damned embarrassing, so you're definitely not alone.

I have met dogs on Prozac. It does help them. Heck, my co-worker is bi-polar, drugs help her so much. lol. Even she admits to it. The point I'm saying here is, if Bailey does have to go on drugs so she's not so "on high alert" all the time, it'l make her life easier.

As for the skateboards and moving objects, I wonder if she just has a high chase drive. Koji does. If it moves, he wants to chase it down. I've had people ask me if I've tried herding (I would, but I'm afraid of what he might do to the sheep, but then, maybe it'd help him find a "job" doing what he loves best...chasing). I also thought of putting Koji into luring, but there's not a lot of that around either. I don't care if he loses to all the whippets. lol

I have no real advice for you. It'll be interesting to hear what the vet behaviorist will say. I do think of lot of this may be a high "herding" drive combined with who knows what, fear? That's Koji's issue. Fear.

Sending you some big hugs because I totally understand. I wish I would've taken care of this earlier. We have alwasy lived in apt/condo, so Koji's used to outside noises (doors, people, etc), but if he hears the jangling of metal tags, he is barking up a storm running around crazy. Sound familiar? Sigh.
 
Update

Some days Bailey shows amazing signs of improvement and other days she's like an attack dog.

She's getting better walking past strange dogs. She can walk by them if they're across the street, but still has trouble with most dogs if they're on the same side of the street. I try to avoid walking past dogs has much as I can.

In the morning, Bailey is much calmer and usually walks fine. At night, she is a different dog. She is much more reactive and high alert. I think she stresses more at night. She will lunge at dogs even if they are across the street.

She has not improved in my building. She will still try to bite any neighbors on the elevator, in the hallway or in front of the building. Unfortunately, this is something that I can not avoid. She also is still barking at the front door whenever my neighbor goes in and out of her apartment and wakes me up at least once a night. I blocked off the window, so she can't bark at dogs walking by, however if she hears dog tags rattling, she will still bark.

She is still reactive aggressive. A few days ago, we had a great walk and were very close to going home until a dog started barking from inside of a car. This drove Bailey nuts. I tried to calm her down and get her into my building as fast as I could, but she lunged at an innocent woman walking by. She couldn't get to that barking dog, so she went after the first person she saw. I felt so bad.

She is getting worse when people leave my apartment. If me, my bf, roommate or her bf try to leave the apartment, Bailey goes for our ankles. She's never made contact, but she comes close. She also sometimes stalks my roommate and if she closes her bedroom door, Bailey will get angry and bark and jump at the door. I need to work more on the "mat" training with her on this.

I still have mixed feelings about going to a vet. behaviorist. My agility trainers and classmates say she is a sheltie and this is how they are. It kind of makes me feel guilty for bringing her to a vet. behaviorist, but I also think saying she is a sheltie is making an accuse for her behavior. Sheltie or not, she shouldn't be trying to nip people. One of my trainers says she is not being anxious, she is just being a bossy b**ch, which I do see from her. I'm just very worried about her actually biting a neighbor. :(
 
Randi, I am very happy you are seeing some progress on walks!
In the morning, Bailey is much calmer and usually walks fine. At night, she is a different dog. She is much more reactive and high alert. I think she stresses more at night. She will lunge at dogs even if they are across the street.

That definitely sounds like how my walks are going with Kyara. She is the exact same way with Humans instead of dogs and at night it is always tougher. It may be caused by more cars driving around and more activity on the streets at night.

On some walks, if she is triggered to a certain point, I feel like there is nothing to do and she will go nuts at things that normally don't trigger her (like how Bailey lunged at that innocent woman). Just recently though, I have been able to patiently get her to be calm after a couple of those incidents. It wasn't easy cause when she starts panicking and lunging, I stress so I had to calm myself down in order to get her to relax. What I tried is to move away from the sidewalk, and work at getting her to focus on me for a few minutes, after I managed that, I could resume the walk as if nothing happened!

If she gets to that point on a walk, try to get away in a quiet parking or an ally to regroup and have her do a few basic commands like sit/paw/etc to get her focus back. I would then start back towards the side walk but if I saw she was still on high alert, I did a U-turn back to the calming spot.

I still have mixed feelings about going to a vet. behaviorist.

In my opinion, you are doing the right thing taking her to a vet behaviorist. My opinion is mostly based on the fact that with Kyara, I am seeing progress in the condo as well as on walks at pretty much the same rate. In the condo, she's less on edge, less barking and if she does start barking, I can distract her now (that used to be almost impossible).

It seems like Bailey is just not able to cope with the apartment environment no mater what you do. She is like overly aware of the surrounding noises to a point where it does not seem possible to train her. Don't beat yourself up! You are doing this to help your dog and also to prevent anything bad from happening.

Just out of curiosity when is your appointment with the Vet behaviorist?
 
Bailey calms down pretty easily. Once the dog is out of sight, she usually is back to normal. But I can see a difference in agility. Last Thursday, I took her out of the car even though she barking at another dog. She was terrible in class and I could see that she was worked up. She ran up to a few dogs, barking and screaming. Last night, I made sure I didn't take her out until she was calm. I also wouldn't run her unless she was calm and she was so much better.

Just out of curiosity when is your appointment with the Vet behaviorist?
The appointment is in 3 weeks.
 
I still have mixed feelings about going to a vet. behaviorist. My agility trainers and classmates say she is a sheltie and this is how they are. It kind of makes me feel guilty for bringing her to a vet. behaviorist, but I also think saying she is a sheltie is making an accuse for her behavior. Sheltie or not, she shouldn't be trying to nip people. One of my trainers says she is not being anxious, she is just being a bossy b**ch, which I do see from her. I'm just very worried about her actually biting a neighbor. :(

Don't, you're doing the right thing. Whatever is motivating Bailey's behavior, her behavior IS over the top and needs to be addressed by a professional. At the very least a vet behaviorist will be able to help you understand what is going on in Bailey's head and give you suggestions on how to handle her.

Don't forget that no one but you can decide what is best for you and Bailey. Everyone's opinions are just that: opinions. Take them or leave them and do what YOU feel is best.
 
In my opinion, you are doing the right thing taking her to a vet behaviorist. My opinion is mostly based on the fact that with Kyara, I am seeing progress in the condo as well as on walks at pretty much the same rate. In the condo, she's less on edge, less barking and if she does start barking, I can distract her now (that used to be almost impossible).

It seems like Bailey is just not able to cope with the apartment environment no mater what you do. She is like overly aware of the surrounding noises to a point where it does not seem possible to train her. Don't beat yourself up! You are doing this to help your dog and also to prevent anything bad from happening.

Just out of curiosity when is your appointment with the Vet behaviorist?

I agree- keep your appointment. Just because she is a sheltie is no reason not to get help. there are definitely shelties on here with similar issues but there are also plenty who do not have these problems. maybe it's the crazy city life but the behaviorist should be able to give you tools and skills to deal with your situation:yes:
 
I still have mixed feelings about going to a vet. behaviorist. My agility trainers and classmates say she is a sheltie and this is how they are. It kind of makes me feel guilty for bringing her to a vet. behaviorist, but I also think saying she is a sheltie is making an accuse for her behavior. Sheltie or not, she shouldn't be trying to nip people. One of my trainers says she is not being anxious, she is just being a bossy b**ch, which I do see from her. I'm just very worried about her actually biting a neighbor. :(

This is one of those things where it's up to how you feel.

My in-laws are always telling us to let Bentley "be a dog" and to not chastise him when he barks, or goes crazy at barking neighborhood dogs or jingling tags. Some people (obviously) either don't care or don't notice those behaviors.

But, if they bother you, affect your quality of life, or make you worried, then it's your choice to do something about it.
 
Don't, you're doing the right thing. Whatever is motivating Bailey's behavior, her behavior IS over the top and needs to be addressed by a professional. At the very least a vet behaviorist will be able to help you understand what is going on in Bailey's head and give you suggestions on how to handle her.

How do I know her behavior is over the top? What is considered over the top?

This is one of those things where it's up to how you feel.

But, if they bother you, affect your quality of life, or make you worried, then it's your choice to do something about it.

I don't know how I feel. I'm really worried about making the wrong decision. I'm also worried about her biting someone. I just don't know if she needs medication or needs proper training? I'd hate to medicate her when I can just train her. I also don't want to spend $420 on a vet. behaviorist to tell me I just need a good trainer and then have to spend another $200 for a trainer. That's a lot of money to consider.
 
I don't know how I feel. I'm really worried about making the wrong decision. I'm also worried about her biting someone. I just don't know if she needs medication or needs proper training? I'd hate to medicate her when I can just train her. I also don't want to spend $420 on a vet. behaviorist to tell me I just need a good trainer and then have to spend another $200 for a trainer. That's a lot of money to consider.

That's a good point. Can you just get a vet. behaviorist on the phone? I'd be interested to hear their take before you bring them in for a serious observation/consultation.
 
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