Success, and hopefully more...

Winry: "Who, me?"

The benefit of Winry has become quite apparent now with Ferguson.

Winry: "I like my brother! He has a comfy butt for a pillow!"

Now, after a year of many ups and downs, we are at a point of having a good grasp on Ferguson's separation anxiety. We have learned quite a lot and even learn new things every day about him and how it works. Most recently: a) his anxiety is directed at ME, so other people can leave him and it's no big deal as long as he has Winry (good news for Eric though!) b) he must physically see me leave the house to be satisfied that I am gone. c) a schedule is important...it's not cool when you up and leave off schedule.

But with all these things understood, it makes managing it a lot easier. I go to work every day, and because he expects it, he's able to suck it up and take it. We were even able to go out for dinner the other night with friends and our roommate said he only whined once and then settled (which was pretty darn awesome, since I was expecting the worst!).

Ferguson continues to be on fluoxetine, but because I feel that it is still helping him, I'd like to go a few more months with it, especially when I am potentially going to undergo some transitions in the near future on the job front. Nothing is set in stone, but if things work out the way I hope, Ferguson may need to adjust to a new work schedule. We'll keep our fingers (and paws) crossed and hope things work out. For now though, he is reliably left a few hours every day when Eric goes to class, and doesn't make a peep or do anything except stare when I leave for work every day.

Finally!

Otherwise, besides me working all the time, things have been very good. Winry continues to be awesome and adorable. Everyone she meets loves her, and she seems to love everyone too. Ferguson still likes her too; several times I've caught him corn-cobbing her with his teeth, and she regularly gives him kisses, especially after he gets peanut butter or his teeth brushed. They are quite a pair, and oh so cute. I think we're all better off with Winry around.

That's a little more like it...

We had a practice alone training session this morning, where I just up and left with no triggers. I think the results were pretty promising! Of course, hounds would be muzzled if left for more than a few minutes. I was very pleased that Ferguson did not pant, and was able to stop staring at the door in an attempt to get Winry to play (even if it was unsuccessful), and went to chewing his bone on his bed. Had I not come back, I think they would have settled just fine.

Next to Winry, who, I promise you, does NOT have any separation issues at all, Ferguson's interest in the door looks almost normal :).

I'm thinking this might be more of the way to go; I leave practically every day for work with them being left out, so we'll just add muzzles to the equation and hope for the best with gradual time increase. This video did make me feel a good deal better though :-). Winry's presence really does seem to make a difference.

Ferg is still on fluoxetine: 20mg daily.

Got a pal? Life is good.

^How they look most of the time.

This week has been so exceptionally crazy with work (seven days in a row with no breaks), that I've not even had an opportunity to detail more of Ferguson's progress in alone training since foster brother Newton arrived.

As I expected, as long as there is another pup, Ferg has been a-ok. What has also helped is that my schedule, as much as it sucked this week, was more more regular for him and there is a more rigid routine to follow. That means that while he was left more, it has been more clear to him what to expect, which I do think was a fairly significant contributing factor to his issues.

With the other pup around, even if they don't regularly interact (I mean, come on, they're greyhounds), I find myself enjoying Ferguson more. This is simply because he is the pup that I adore ALL the time and doesn't turn into a sack of pathetic mush at the thought of me leaving (which was at least once a day and would stress me out as hard as I tried to be completely neutral about it). He is steady, mellow, playful, easy-going and confident; everything I wanted in a hound, he demonstrates now (with the exception of being small, but this is something not able to be overcome). And so, I think the second dog around may be a permanent thing.

Additionally, I've brought Ferguson back down to 20mg of Fluoxetine, and perhaps by New Years, will wean him off completely, seeing as his anxiety is not really existent anymore (though, he still dislikes being confined to a crate when we are left, so the pups stay loose in the bedroom with muzzles).

As for Newton, while he is doing well, I think I might have mentioned that we will not be failing this go-around of fostering. He will make someone a greyt dog, but is probably not the perfect match for us in what I look for in my own personal preference of a hound. Newton has some alphaish tendencies in him that don't come out in snarky ways, but I find a bit annoying: must be first to do EVERYTHING even when I make him wait, is not much of a crowd follower/naturally obedient, and thinks it is up to him to keep tabs on everything and be in everyone's business. This especially drives me nuts in the car. He rides okay, but I was waiting in the car with the pups one evening and he simply could NOT settle. He felt like we were sitting ducks and needed to keep tabs on ALL that was going around us and was getting frustrated at the number of windows to look out of. This was in contrast to Ferguson, who was laying with his paws crossed and head down; I love how Ferguson has 100% trust in me that I am in control of the situation and has nothing to worry about. While Newton might possibly learn this over time, it is simply not natural for him. In any case, Newton is otherwise a pretty typical hound who is not lacking confidence/basic manners, so I'm sure he will make someone very happy. It is my hope that Newton gets adopted at the next adoption event in December :). Once he is, we'll probably get another foster, and then another, unless that special someone comes along...;).

Anything to make Ferguson happy <3

Ferg's First Sleepover

It's been a long week. Ferguson has been on Fluoxetine for over a month now, yet still seems anxious...it's driving me crazy. But, I've been configuring a different set up that might make his improvement more noticeable. For one thing, we're going to set up an ex-pen in the family room after disposing some trash-quality furniture left by previous renters (so it's space no one was using anyway). I think part of the problem is the amount of negative associations Ferguson has had upstairs, so if we move him downstairs where he can see more going on, I can begin without flaw the step-by-step guide that is in the book, "I'll Be Home Soon."

Additionally, we are going to be babysitting another greyhound from the Greyhound Welfare group that lives just down the road to see is there is a significant difference in Ferguson when he is left with another hound. At work, as you all know, Ferg's dangerous anxious behaviors ceased completely when he has been placed with another dog and has had the same result with 3 different dogs, so it sounds like a very good hypothesis. While it would be just GREAT if Ferg could get over his moderate SA on his own, it's important for us to keep an open mind to know what works. Additionally, having him stay with another dog that has no anxiety at all about being left might help contribute to his conditioning of people coming and going.

So, Walter is coming to visit this weekend while his family goes out of town for business. From his owner's description, Walter sounds like a very well-behaved, well-adjusted guy that is the same age as Ferguson. I think they'll have a blast. The plan for now is to first try having them stay in the Ex-Pen together; his owner seemed to think this would be no problem at all for Walter, and he very much enjoys the company of other dogs. Ferguson also seems to have little concern over personal space, so I'm hoping this will work for them. Of course, muzzles will be worn, dogs will be extensively exercised, and many practice sessions will occur before we decide it to be feasible. If it doesn't seem plausible, we may have to try crating Ferguson next to Walter in the pen, etc. But I'm really crossing my fingers that it will work out just fine.

I will have to videotape all the practice sessions and have them to compare. But, in the least, I'm quite excited to have Walter stay, and I think Ferg will be too!

Still Whining and Panting....

Don't Cry Ferguson...

My friends and I went out to eat this evening, leaving poor Ferguson for his first official trial run. I did everything by the book: extensive exercise first, leaving him for 20 minutes, k9 lullabies, right next to the DAP, etc. I recorded him with my webcam, and though I can't see him (it got dark quickly), I could hear him.

He was a little better than he's been in the past; that is, in the past, he would outright back for hours the entire time I was gone. Today, he panted excessively and would have episodes of whining occasionally. Because I think putting the video up would be pointless, it went something like this:

Ferg: *pant pant pant hrrmmmm hrrrooommm pant pant pant* silence for 30 seconds-2 min. Repeat.

Additionally, our room always smells of poo when we return, though I suspect it's just gas from the stress.

So, in short, I guess its getting better; it's certainly not getting worse. I think we need to build up our time a bit more, and see what things work for him. This outing was too long in that I wasn't comfortable leaving him out in our room for 90 minutes (plus, our room could use some cleaning), but in the future, I will mix it up and try different things with the initial routine being generally the same. We may even try doing an X-pen in the family room if I can clear out some of the stuff downstairs...I'd just worry for his paws :/.

OHH Ferguson. Good thing everything else about you is perfect.

Day 15

Ferguson continues to do well with our rehab alone training. He has been panting a lot less, and seems more compliant about the prospect of going into his kennel. He randomly gets tasty treats, and the length of time he spends in there varies drastically, so he never quite knows what to expect, but that it's really not that bad.

Something else I've recently learned about him is that he appears less stressed when left with his muzzle on, both in and out of his crate. I recorded him while I left the room (leaving him out and muzzled), and while he seemed to miss me, he didn't pant, and seemed more able to settle himself than before. Of course, he also decided that it would be okay to wait on our bed for me (in our house, no dogs on the furniture, ever), but he seemed compliant and gladly hopped down when asked like it was no big deal. To be truthful, if that's all it took to make him happy, then by all means (He still needs to get down when asked though). The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't then leave him with something tasty to distract him...though lately he still doesn't bother much with them anyway :/. Oh well. We'll figure it out.



Today, I was also productive in that I registered Ferguson in PG county so that I can apply to have us become members of that dog park down the road we always walk passed. We got the licence, and I've since applied, so we're waiting to hear back on whether or not the "board" has accepted our application. Having the park will be nice since no one is ever there when we've seen it (probably a deterrent to most people), because then Ferguson will have a large area in which he can run at higher speeds legitimately and regularly. There will definitely be videos of this to come, at least while the weather continues to be nice :).

Video Progress

(or, if that doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed-JfzrvZl8 )

Here's Ferguson practicing alone training for about 5 minutes. We've been practicing frequently and will continue to do so to help him get more comfortable. Nothing really happens in the video, though the power did go out, so you see his ears perk up and look a little confused for a moment. He just lays there and pants, but recently I've had a difficult time figuring out if he's stress panting or if he's really truly hot...actually, pretty sure I'm driving myself insane with the concept. I guess we'll figure it out in the winter when our room becomes freezing. *sighs*

In any case, this video is 2 days shy of 2 weeks being on fluoxetine. I've not seen any dramatic changes yet more than what I would assume if we were relying only on behavior modification, but we're just half-way before it reaches full effect. Not expecting any miracles, but if it IS stress panting, even that lessening would be great.

As for work, yes, he likes Svara just as much as Lily, so we're set there. I'm hoping this madness of coordinating schedules will end by the time November comes around...

All you need is love...

What a day.

As I wrote in my last post, Ferguson has suddenly had some setbacks in alone-time that have since gotten rapidly worse, faster than what I can keep up with. When I first got him, I worked diligently for months practicing desensitization, repetition, increased time, etc. which did and does work, but takes a lot of time and patience. He did get it eventually, and while he never LOVED being left, he tolerated it, and would actually sleep while I was gone, even up to 6 hours.

Unfortunately, since we've moved, I didn't take the same baby steps to get him as comfortable as I should have, and we're now seeing the repercussions. He had seemed well adjusted enough, but in the past few weeks, he's:

-Suddenly become very tense while in his crate, even if I'm in the same room. He'll stress pant and completely ignore any amazing tasty toy I put in there with him...at least until I let him out, and he instantly goes back in the crate to grab it out and enjoy it (which I in turn, remove, since super awesome amazing tasty toys are only to be enjoyed in the crate).

-Become increasingly attached to Eric, to the point where he jumped up to look outside the bathroom window on the other side of the house to see him in the back yard while they were messing with the broken lawn mower...still in sight.

-Gotten more clingy than usual. I know enough to ignore this behavior and to only try to pay attention to him when he's being calm or when I am the one beckoning his attention, but it has certainly increased to a noticeable amount.

-Whimpered when he's left without it leveling off. I only know this because I recorded him out of curiosity to see if it really was worse than before; sadly, my suspensions were correct. In the past, even a month ago, he'd only complain for a few seconds before making a "HUMPH" noise, and settling down for a nap. *sighs*

While our schedules have still been in transition, my routine for leaving Ferguson is fairly formulaic: 1. Exercise (at least 30 minutes, as well as sprinting), 2. Super amazing tasty stuffed treat, 3. Thundershirt, 4. DAP plug in (though, in retrospect, ours did recently run out. I ordered another, just in case this is the one thing he is missing), 5. Music (more recently, K9 lullabies), 6. Ignoring for 20 minutes before I leave and after I return. Because I've been doing this pretty consistently (though not always on consistent days or times), I felt a bit overwhelmed at what else I could be doing for him, and confused at how fast it seemed to be getting worse.

When I took Ferguson to work with me today, it was only 30 minutes before he was brought right back over with a bloody paw again. What might have started out as a fun game with a neighbor has escalated into an anxious behavior, and a dangerous one at that (he didn't have neighbor's today). We headed to one of the doctor's who bandaged him up, and then asked me several questions about his background and what might be causing this. We agreed that the moving is likely what set it off, and of course, the fact that he is a greyhound and was not used to being left alone during his "critical period" of puppyhood, meaning only that it is unnatural to him and resurfaces in sudden transitions. I asked him what I should do, besides obvious increase in behavior modification at home. He discussed the option of medication specifically for dogs with SA that works along with a behavior modification program to help the dog's mind be more open to alone training, and helps condition their mental state to be favorable eventually on it's own. I felt apprehensive, but the concept was one I've read about before with greyhounds specifically. Ultimately, I agreed to give it a try, simply because the medicine: a) has few side effects and does not sedate him in any way (they've found that SA dogs who are sedated are still running a mile a minute in their minds), b) would help decrease the amount of stress he will have to deal with (I love my dog, and hate to see him miserable like this), and c) would most certainly be temporary. If he's still on it in 6 months with no results, we'll have to figure something else out.

Until then though, I'm going to hold my breath and stay optimistic, thinking it will work. I know behavior modification has worked for him in the past (over several months), so I know we will get there...hopefully just a bit quicker and less painfully this time. Luckily, the wound was not too bad this time and won't require severe bed rest as before...just cleaning and covering it with my liquid bandage stuff, and a boot when we go outside. But what to do about daycare? We discussed that one too. Dr. B asked if there were any dogs he could buddy up with in a double run when I needed to bring him, to see if that might work for him while he's in daycare. I thought for a moment and remembered my co-worker had been on vacation for the weekend and left her mellow submissive and sweet beagle mix at our facility. I promptly texted her and explained the situation, and then we gave it a try...

It was a match made in heaven. The instant he was left with Lily, he was calm, and 20 minutes later I peaked in on them to find them laying close to each other. At the end of the night, Ferguson was laying on his side with Lily curled up next to him, fitting perfectly between his front and back legs. Everyone was happy. Luckily, Hilary and my other co-workers said they'd happily lend their dogs (the calm mellow ones) to be Ferguson's daycare buddies.

At least the day had a happy ending.

Ferguson will need to hang in there though until at least next year when we can even think about getting a second dog...