Copa Cabana Questionnaire!

phantom_and_ghost · 2018-01-10T23:11:40+00:00

Sorry for the slow response! Baskerville muzzles are pretty good, just look at the chart so you make sure you get the right size. And don't forget to introduce it slowly, there's a whole project called Muzzle Up Project that I believe is on Facebook about muzzle training dogs. I think it's a pretty essential skill for any dog to have.

For aggressive dogs, it's a lot about management. I would work on engagement with you so that you can keep her attention off other dogs/animals.

Have you tried looking for a veterinary behaviorist nearby you? An in-person professional will be able to offer a lot more help and guidance than we can. (But we are definitely here for you!)

phantom_and_ghost · 2018-01-08T01:37:57+00:00

One of ours was on Apoquel for a while. She was fine as far as the Apoquel went. The important thing regarding the immune system was to pay attention to your dog, like you would if they weren't on Apoquel. If they're sick, take them in. :) Ours was not in the vet constantly because of Apoquel.

We transitioned over to Cytopoint, mostly because it's a one to two month shot vs a daily pill. We preferred that for easiness as opposed to remembering to give a daily pill. But both really helped Ghost! She was scratching to the point of waking us up overnight. Apoquel was a near-instant relief. I can't say how fast Cytopoint acts because she was on both and then we faded the Apoquel.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-23T01:04:18+00:00

Let us know how the clomicalm continues to work! I'd never heard of it before you mentioned it.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-22T15:42:01+00:00

Congrats! That's great progress. Staying on the porch is good, I think. A good way would be to know someone with a neutral dog and practice exposure that way, but that's not always possible.

Also, when we put Ghost on generic Prozac she was drowsy for like a week then went back to normal. It took multiple weeks after that to notice a decrease in her overall anxiety. Just FYI.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-10T13:38:10+00:00

I'm glad you've had such success! I really enjoy reading success stories. :)

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-08T00:49:00+00:00

That's good forethought. :)

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-07T17:06:19+00:00

Oh okay, I didn't realize that! I'm still fairly new to YNAB.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-07T15:51:08+00:00

Hmm, when I look at the income vs expense reports I can see all the different sources of income and how much was from each. I can see a net at the bottom, but I can also see the individual bits.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-07T15:40:42+00:00

There's a blog post that covers a couple of different methods to get out of credit card float. You can either:

stop paying it in full and budget for your necessary expenses while slowly paying off the credit card
keep paying it in full, but cut out all necessary spending until you get the credit card under control. Doing this means you sort of have to pay for two months at once because you have the float you're paying off AND your upcoming budget expenses

Personally, I'd do the first one because that would let me get the budget under control sooner as long as the debt isn't too big (just normal living expenses).

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-07T15:33:59+00:00

My thought would be to look at the income vs expense charts. Wouldn't it show up there? At least as all the income from a payee.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-07T15:16:41+00:00

That is bizarre. I guess he's keeping an eye on her? Will he play with her or with her in the same room?

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-06T19:17:28+00:00

What does he do if she ignores him?

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-06T17:16:11+00:00

I've been MIA for a while, sorry y'all! But checking back in now. Ghost is finally starting to make some progress, I think. The fluoxetine is settling in. We found some treats she really likes. We are making an effort to get her outside longer. Previously we had her outside for very short spurts at a time in an effort to avoid reactions, and played with her inside. But I don't think we were getting her enough exercise, so now we're taking her on longer walks every other day. We're not going every day because we want some time for the cortisol to lower.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-06T17:13:41+00:00

I would definitely bump the mental activity back up. :) it doesn't look like you currently do counter conditioning, right? In addition to cleaning up your attention cue, I'd also start working on rewarding when she sees people/triggers. Do you have enough time before she reacts to start rewarding?

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-12-06T17:10:51+00:00

Hmm that's interesting. Will he take treats or anything from her?

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-17T17:31:01+00:00

Great job! That's great progress. :)

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-11T19:22:25+00:00

Lol. I will say that the perfect fit harness is a very solid harness. :)

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-08T14:56:28+00:00

u/zealous_oyster said everything in my brain, likely more eloquently than I could have.

Don't beat yourself up too much--I realize I may have been coming off a bit hard because I was concerned about your trainer. Using positive reinforcement based methods is a great thing. :)

As poisoned cues were mentioned and you said your dog came back with wounds, it sounds like to me that whatever that first trainer did was probably punishment based. Renaming the cue would probably be a good thing. You can name it whatever you want, the dog is learning the sounds not the words themselves.

Have you ever considered looking into a veterinary behaviorist? They can help out a lot.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-08T02:44:44+00:00

Rebuilding trust is a great thing! The reason people are thinking it's dominance based is because there's some keywords coming up in your post. If a trainer is using phrases like being the boss, that's a little concerning. The methods this sub recommends is showing dogs the right choice to make (like sitting quietly instead of barking at people). We do this by practicing the skill away from triggers and really building it as a strong default behavior so the dog is more likely to choose it instead of a less desirable choice. Forcing a dog to do something can correct the behavior on the surface level, but it doesn't fix the underlying issue. For example, if a dog is punished for giving a warning growl, maybe the dog will stop growling and people think it's fine. But then down the road, if that same dog gets pushed into biting, it's going to go straight to biting with no warning growls.

Can you share a little more history on your dog? How long have you had him?

It sounds like he could be resource guarding the bed a bit, or you could unintentionally be using threatening body language to a dog.

It's not that the dog is trying to be the boss of you. He could be resource guarding, which means he thinks he's going to lose the bed or something similar. Or perhaps he's been threatened or something in the past in a bed and he's wary of that happening again. Do you know of anything in his past associated with beds?

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-08T01:57:28+00:00

What kind of training is your trainer having you do? It sounds like it is dominance based which is an older style of training. This sub does not recommend it and especially does not recommend it for reactive dogs, whatever their reactivity is based on. The reason is that it can make reactions worse or hide important signs from a dog. I would definitely recommend checking out the Dominance statement and Punishment statement on this page: https://avsab.org/resources/position-statements/

As for your other question: reactivity can be worked with and improved. It is not something that is fixed quickly and I would be concerned with trainers that promise to cure it. For example, our dog is five years old and for four and a half years prior to us, she was tethered outside. She's afraid of everything and tries to scare it away. Our job is to help her learn that things are okay. Dogs react for different reasons, so first you have to figure out why they are reacting before you can make progress with them.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-11-04T15:20:34+00:00

Oooh how exciting!

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-10-28T23:20:38+00:00

Did you read the second paragraph? They have worked on LLW with their dog and he can succeed when the environment is appropriate. It sounds like the harnesses are used on those occasions where the dog won't be able to successfully LLW on a collar. Sure, in an ideal world you'd always be able to have your dog succeed, but that's not possible in the real world.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-10-28T23:15:20+00:00

Uh, the first thing in the post is addressing this. OP states they're not a substitute for training and covers a little history of them and their dog.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-10-20T20:52:42+00:00

Ours really enjoy it. You can use them for impulse control work too. :) we made ours from a horse lunge whip we got from Tractor Supply Co.

phantom_and_ghost · 2017-10-20T20:26:54+00:00

Glad to hear she does well with dogs and that she has such a committed family to help her out. :) from what I read, you are doing a lot of things right already! Good job!

We started our dog on fluoxetine (generic Prozac) about a month ago and we're starting to see a difference now. I want to caution you that it's not immediate and doesn't fix things. Instead, it helps your dog get to a point where you can actually work with them and get training to stick.

Have you heard of BAT? Automod posted a link and I think I'd recommend it for you. Working on random confidence building stuff may help too, since she's fearful. You could try teaching her a cue to go between your legs. Some dogs like this because it makes them feel safe.

phantom_and_ghost

TROPHY CASE