The One With Day 16

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 16
May 30, 2005

I can't figure this guy out. Every day, I put the muzzle on him, lined with liver paste. Every day, he puts his face in the liver paste muzzle and stays in there for a few minutes. Then, I take it off. Nothing bad happens to him. I don't torture him or do anything but pet and love him. Yet, he's getting more and more nervous to put the muzzle on. Today, it took forever to get him to put it on. He tried everything to get out of it -- doing sits and downs, trying to shake my hand, trying to knock the muzzle out of my hand and trying to lick the paste out of the muzzle without sticking his nose in. I'm not sure why he's so scared. I try to be as cheerful and encouraging as possible. Today, once he got it on, he backed in the corner with his face to the wall and wouldn't move. That ended up being good because I brought the door toward him a lot and handled his back leg, which is what's going to happen at the vet. But I'm not sure how long it will take me after the vet to get a muzzle back on him. He seems to forget all the good experiences and latch onto the bad ones. I guess that's because of his poor coping skills. I feel sorry for the guy.

He did very well at Door! because I went back to using liver treats. He didn't try to escape, even though he seemed uncomfortable and he took treats the whole time. I guess that's because after the muzzle training, everything else is cake. I just don't know what's going through his head.

I had to stick with my boss' advice, though, and not let him out of the training. No matter how long it takes, I have to stick with it until I get that damn muzzle on his face. But maybe I'm pushing a little too hard. I'll try doing shorter sessions and see if I can't get him back to wanting to put his face in the muzzle. Maybe that will never be possible. I guess as long as he doesn't try to bite, things are going well.

The good news is that it's been more than a week since he's blown up at Robby and it's been two or three weeks since he's attacked Chubbs. That's good progress. However, now it's summer and we have to keep the window open, so he's constantly barking at things he hears outside. Short of quarentining him to the bedroom, I'm not sure how I can solve that problem. It's a rough life he has.

The One With All the Crates

My pups are so cute. Right now, Fenway is curled up in Chubbs' crate and Muggsy is asleep in his. Chubbs is sprawled across the living room floor. They've just had baths and gone on walks, and I guess they're done for the night. I feel so happy to have them. And I'm excited to have a new car. Life is good today.

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 15
May 29, 2005

Today, I gave Muggsy a little break from muzzle and Door! training. It was unintentional, but I just ran out of time today. I gave the dogs a bath and worked on loose-leash walking with Chubbs, which is going very well. I hand-fed him dinner and worked on down-stays, which he's been having trouble with lately. It's amazing how easily dogs can forget what they've learned. Muggsy didn't seem to want to do anything tonight. So now, I think it's too late to work on the other stuff. The poor guy gets a little break before we go back to it tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day tomorrow.

The One With Day 14

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 14
May 28, 2005

I told you last night would be crucial in the training because Muggsy would be a little afraid after the amount of progress we made Friday. It was. He refused to put on the muzzle at first, although he didn't seem scared in his old way. He wasn't backing away and glaring at me. He was wagging his tail and play-bowing as if it were a game to figure out how he could get the liver paste without putting his face in the muzzle. I was patient and didn't let him out of it, like my boss said, and he finally put his face in the muzzle. I again left it on for several minutes and let him relax in the living room with it on. He didn't really relax, but I pretended not to pay attention to him for awhile. He needs to be able to have it on for a half-hour that includes a drive and vet visit. I only have him at five minutes. So I have some work to do.

I had him behind the door again, and he clearly doesn't like that. He tried to bolt several times, and this also required patience. He wouldn't take treats, so I just had to hold the leash and leave him back there. But even in his nervousness, I was able to use the Look command and he looked at me instead of trying to run. It was good progress, I thought, and I let him out of the "bad place."

Today, he's going to get a bath, a walk and more training. Maybe I'll even take them for a ride in my new car. :)

The One With Baltimore

Today, I decided I wasn't going to buy a catallitic convertor for my car, which I have never really liked. So I bought a new car. I really shouldn't have because I was trying to save money, but I don't like my car and didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. So I bought a 2004 Honda Pilot, an SUV for those who don't know cars that well. It seats eight, which will be perfect for long travels with my dogs. In case you haven't noticed a theme lately, I'm making a lot of big changes for my dogs.

I named the car Baltimore. I have named all of my cars. The first, as you all know, was my baby, my 1978 Oldsmobile, Troi, named after Troy Aikman, but she's a girl, thus the I. Then there was the 2000 Nissan Sentra, Maria, named after the reference in Counting Crow's songs, which refers not to a person but a part of Adam Duritz's mind that gives him his creativity. I named her that because I was taking my dream job and needed a reliable car -- and more creativity. Now, I have my Pilot, Baltimore. This is a long story, as far as car names go, I think. Driving to my dog lessons this morning, thinking about buying a new car, I was listening to August and Everything After as I always do when I'm depressed. I've been in the middle of one of my depression cycles, and that CD is the epitome of what my depression feels like. "Raining in Baltimore" can perfectly describe how I was feeling this morning, and one line says, "Maybe I should buy a new car." Every time I get in a depression cycle, which happens every two years, I've noticed I make a life change: at 17, I moved away; at 19, I ended a very long relationship; at 21, I moved away; at 23, I moved away. Now, I can't move, and I don't want to end my relationship, so I bought a new car, very fittingly named Baltimore.

My day didn't help much. I saw a dog so aggressive he's probably going to have to be put down. Every time I see that happen it makes my stomach drop because I'm so afraid of having that happen to my own dog. My boss is on the heels of the one anniversary of the time she had to put her own aggressor down, and this probably isn't good for her right now, either. It was a hard day for us both. But it helped me see all the differences between this dog and Muggsy. For example, this dog locked in on my boss and never checked in with his owner. Muggsy checks in with me and increases his distance if possible. He turns his back to what is upsetting him to calm down. All of these are good signs. (We later saw a dog who did some of this and seemed much more re-hab-able, thankfully for both of our mental healths.) Also, there has been no improvement with this dog after three lessons, though my boss has continued to show herself as non-threatening. And this dog habituates. He gets used to situations that stress him out and becomes more aggressive as a response. Once Muggsy grows accustomed to a situation or person, he warms up, as can be seen through his relationship with Robby's parents.

So this leads me into yesterday's diary entry:

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 13
May 27, 2005

I don't think Muggsy has attacked Chubbs since I started this entries. That's excellent, considering it used to happen every two or three days. He's much more relaxed with his "own bedroom." He's also gone a week without aggressing toward Robby. I started letting him sleep outside the crate again, so we'll see if this changes his behavior.

Last night, we worked with the muzzle some more. He kept it on for about five minutes, a record, and we went around the house in it, so he can get used to being places other than the bedroom. Soon, I will take him outside with it on and so on. I need to be ready for the vet mid-July. That's my goal.

I went beyond his stress threshhold in the Door! activity. I held the leash while he stood behind the door that completely entrapped him. He looked like he was about to blow up and lash out on me -- he stopped taking treats and gave me The Look -- but he chose not to. I let him out after a couple minutes to lots of lovings and treats. Tonight will be important because he has to get back in the situation and still be able to do it. Poor baby. I hate working with him, but he needs to be ready. Soon he will have to do it with the muzzle, then with the muzzle and my boss there, then at the vet as practice, then at the vet for real. We'll get to the bottom of his stress issues, though, and then he'll be much happier.

I guess this has been enough. Happy Holiday Weekend to all.

The One With Day 12

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 12
May 26, 2005

OK, I'm so lame. Let me just admit it here first. I am the laziest person on the face of the Earth. I had a long list of things to do last night: clean the kitchen counter, walk the dogs to focus on loose-leash walking with Chubbs, work with Muggsy on vet prep and work on my book. Guess what I did? None of it. I had a splitting headache and went to bed at 8 p.m. and that's after taking a nap from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Good thing I don't have anything on my list for tonight because now I have to do all of that stuff tonight so I can get Saturday's even longer list done. I feel terrible. Here Muggsy relies on me to make him better, and I go to bed on him. What a mom. But I'm back at it tonight, and I'll make things better by spending lots of time with him over my three day weekend. I have three aggression lessons with my boss, but after that, I will have the rest of the weekend to focus on my own aggression case.

I'm also having problems with my car, so that might be a bunch of time and money out of my weekend. Damn catallitic convertor, or however you spell that...

The One With Day 11

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 11
May 25, 2005

Yesterday, I learned something I was doing wrong while training Muggsy. I'm not supposed to back off when he gets stressed. He's learning that he can get out of doing things. So, even though he was hesitant to put on the muzzle, I put it on him. He wore it for a couple of minutes and left the bedroom with it on for the first time. With Door!, I was able to get him all the way against the wall with the door all the way up against him. He took treats, but once I stopped treating, he freaked out. I shouldn't have kept the door closed that long probably, but I wanted him to get used to it. Then, he wouldn't go back behind the door. But I didn't want to finish on that note, so I finally got him back there with treats, gave him a quick session with the door almost touching him and then let him finish. Tonight, I will try a little longer since I don't have dog class because of Memorial Day weekend. I'm observing my boss in three aggression evals this weekend, so that will be good experience.

I also hope to get back out with Chubbs again tonight to do some more loose-leash walking. And I watched a tape on TTouch. I'm going to try it with Muggsy again because I wasn't doing it exactly right before. I hope it helps him relax.

The One With the Mini-Celebration in Honor of Muggsy

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 10
May 24, 2005

My renewed dedication to Muggsy's training program has paid off. I have been so depressed lately I can barely stand it, but I'm not the kind of person that can shut down and wallow for very long. I spent the whole weekend undevoted to dog training, and that's all the time I can allow.

Last night, Muggsy was very anxious and hard to work with, but tonight, he was a totally different dog. I think he has some bruises because he was uncomfortable with T-Touch in a couple of spots, but he was receptive to training. He kept the muzzle on for two minutes with no panic. Then, he went behind the door very well. I added a command, "Door!" which seemed to make it a little more clear to him. He went there and gobbled my treats. I was able to open the door all the way with him flush against the door. I couldn't get it to point where the door could touch him, but it went very well. When I finished, he kept standing by the crack in the door, hoping I would dispense more treats.

You aren't supposed to introduce a command to dog training until the dog understands what you are supposed to do, but Muggsy just doesn't work like normal dogs. He likes having the command. It makes him try harder to figure out what you want him to do. Commands help everything. On my reactive dog message board, several people have been posting that their reactive dogs are very smart ("My dog can learn a trick in five minutes," one owner wrote) and eager to please, just reactive when frightened. That's Muggsy to the T. I taught him sit, down and shake all in less than five minutes. I taught him potty-training in less than a day. He wants to do what I tell him. He just gets freaked out and falls back on aggression, which isn't a desireable trait. Is he frustrating? Extremely. But what in your life is worth having that you don't have to work for?

When Muggsy had such a good night, it was a mini-celebration in honor of me. He got ham. He got lovings. Thank you, Amsterdam. Holland loves Muggsy. Good-night!

The One With the Training Success

I thought today I'd share some fun training that I did -- training Chubbs to loose-leash walk. This can be a very hard task, as I had reinforced for me in a particularly hard training lesson with my boss two weeks ago. But that lesson gave me plenty of experience to tackle my own dogs. I spent 30 minutes taking Chubbs around the block, but he was really starting to get it! We don't get to go where I want to go unless I'm on a loose-leash. I was proud of his success in only a brief time. Of course, I have to keep working at it, but Chubbs is a fast learner. He still does a perfect come with little practice.

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 9
May 23, 2005

Muggsy had a blowup last night before bed, growling at Robby when he came to close the door of his crate. I guess only I get to do that now because I went over there and Muggsy did just fine. Something about Robby in the dark, I think, just makes Muggsy nervous.

He has been doing well with the barking since my new method: acknowledging the barking and making it my responsibility. I read on a trainer's post, since I am on several training message groups, that with dogs who are bred to guard, you can acknowledge that they have alerted you, look at what he's barking at, thank him and have him shush. That works beautifully with Muggsy. He's now looking to me to solve some of his problems.

Today, we also worked on some vet training, but he seemed very nervous, so I kept it short where he could be successful. I put liver paste in the muzzle and let him lick out of it but I didn't fasten it since he seemed hesitant to put his head in. I fed him some beef jerky through the door, but he freaked out with the door opening more than a few inches, so I kept that session short as well. I may have been trying to move too fast with him because I'm so anxious to get him to the vet to find out if he is medically OK. So I'll try to slow it down a little and work every day.

But I'm proud of both my babies today.

The One With Days 6-8

Muggsy Training Diary, Days 6-8
May 20-22, 2005

It's a lot harder to write on the weekends. I'm really busy with dog training and chores and don't spend a lot of time on the computer. This weekend, I didn't get a lot of training done either. I rearranged the house and took care of chores. Plus, I went to the dentist to get some cavities filled, which always makes me feel icky. Pretty much a waste of a day.

Monday, I'll be back at it!! And next weekend, I have three days off to spend plenty of time working with my Muggsy. We did have one blow-up, but it was Robby's fault. He reached into Muggsy's crate in the dark to pet him. It was a nice gesture, but not good with a reactive dog. He got scared and snapped and barked, immediately running up to Robby for forgiveness. He seems to value his crate space a lot, but just when it's dark. I wonder if he can't see that well at night.

I did see his tongue a couple of times. I started doing a little dog massage on him, called T-Touch, that another of the trainers I work with taught me. I'm helping her with a case study so she can become certified. He seemed to like it sometimes and be hesitant of it other times. But it will be an interesting experiment to see if I can get him to relax more.

The One With Days Four and Five

I've been pretty busy the last couple of days, so I haven't really had time to write, but I think I've been seeing a little improvement in Muggsy. I also taught my first solo group class with dogs and I think it went really well!

Muggsy Training Diary Days Four and Five
May 18-19

Muggsy wasn't very receptive to training Wednesday night. He wouldn't take even my best treats through the door. Of course, there isn't a lot of space to work with him, so it's complicating the process a little bit.

This weekend, I'm going to rearrange the house so that there's room for Muggsy to get better training and have some more alone time. I'll remove the dresser from behind the bedroom door for training, and I'm going to put Muggsy's crate behind part of the couch so he can have some distance from Chubbs, who seems to bother him a lot. I also brought home a crate for Chubbs so he can have his own space. Who would want to be in the same room as their brother all the time with nowhere to go for privacy when annoyed? No one. I have to respect that Muggsy probably feels the same way as I did with my brother -- get me the hell away from this kid!

I expect training to go more smoothly once I make these changes to my house. I will keep you all updated on the progress.

The One With Zena, Warrier Princess

Last night, I assisted in a group class my boss taught. I have my own classes now, two days a week, but I still attend my bosses because there's still a lot to learn. There's a 12-year-old boy in the Tuesday night class with a Boxer pup named Zena. I spent the evening helping him a little because he showed up late, and it was so cool to see how he progressed. He was so excited when his dog started listening to him! It was cute. I felt really good after class because I felt like I really helped someone. He was doing better than a lot of the adults in the class.

Muggsy's Training Diary, Day Three
May 18, 2005

Tonight, I was working so again, I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Muggsy. But I did see his relaxed tongue! We had just finished playing a great game of "The Toys Strike Back" and he relaxed enough that I could see his tongue! It's probably not the best game for an aggressive dog because we kill a toy together, but he really enjoys it and we hardly ever play it anymore. I was so happy to see him relax, just for a second.

He seemed to be better with Chubbs, but I did have to interrupt a stare-down. Poor guy. I wish they liked each other better.

The One With Day Two

Day Two of Muggsy's Training Diary
May 16, 2005

This morning, Muggsy was guarding Chubbs' food. Robby feeds them before he leaves and I pick up the food after I get out of the shower. I guess this will have to change because Muggsy can't be keeping Chubbs from his meal. I put Muggsy in a down-stay by me while I ate breakfast and removed Chubbs food after he ate a little and went into the crate. I don't know if he did that because he was scared of Muggsy or done eating. Muggsy left the room to lie in the kitchen.

Last night, Muggsy was pretty well-behaved. He barked at Chubbs from his crate again, but I started training him for the vet and he was a pretty good sport, considering how badly it started. I put the muzzle on him and tried to get him to stand behind a door. Robby was holding the leash as I tried to close the door. He carried on and wouldn't let it happen. So, at my boss's suggestion, I put treats through the door to him unmuzzled and tried to shut it more. No pressure. He did pretty well. Then we laid on the bed for awhile and relaxed. I love him like crazy. I hope we can get this figured out.

I did spend 30 minutes on the phone with my boss as she convinced me that I wasn't a terrible mother but, in fact, a good one for trying so hard. :)

The One With the Bad Mother

Do you ever feel like a bad mom? I have been feeling like a terrible mother lately because Muggsy's aggression is just not improving. My boss thinks he has a medical problem, so I am working on training him to go to the vet. This requires muzzle training, go-behind-a-door training and desensitization. I just feel terrible taht he hasn't seemed to be making much progress. The health problem has me very worried, so I got health insurance this weekend. I hope the poor guy's OK.

My boss suggested making a training diary, and I think I will use this as that forum. After all, Friends isn't on the air anymore and it isn't college basketball season, so there's not much more to say about those topics. I don't like my full-time job, so I won't be commenting on that, and I'm writing a book, but that's personal and not for discussion on public forum.

So here's Day One of Muggsy's training diary for May 15, 2005.

Saturday, Muggsy guarded his bone from me, the first time he had ever done such a thing. When I tried to retrieve it, he lunged, showing his teeth and growling. I did get the bone -- I couldn't let him keep it or he would learn that aggression is the solution to his problems. After all the work I've done helping him learn that he can trust me and doesn't have to try to take on leadership of the pack, I couldn't let him regress.

Ongoing training that I'm working on are hand-feeding his meals and sleeping all night confined to his crate.

Yesterday, I worked most of the day -- working two group classes and two private lessons with my boss -- so I wasn't able to observe much of Muggsy's behavior. I hand-fed him his dinner, focusing on him taking treats from me in the heel position. We also worked on proofing the down-stay. In the evening, while I was at my computer writing, Muggsy was lying in his crate, growling or barking at Chubbs every time he walked by. He would come out of the crate and be friendly with Robby and I, but he's started growling at Fenway, too, which he had never done before.

I hope he's not cracking up. My boss's dog cracked up when he was four, right around the Fourth of July. I know the likelihood of that happening to Muggsy, too, is very minimal, but I still get worried when I see him regressing like this. I hope it's a medical problem that can be fixed, though it will be a life-long management process and probably decrease the lifespan of my treasured best friend.

What's new with your baby? Are you even posting on this site anymore. :)

The One With Season 2

I've been watching Season 2 of Friends over lunch the last two weeks, and how awesome is Season 2?

I love Friends, and unlike my friend, Buck, I feel that it never "jumped the shark." But when you watch Season 2, you realize how much the later seasons were missing. Every single storyline was great in those early seasons, and the dialogue is incredible. Chandler is still sarcastic and funny. Monica is quirky without being nuts. Ross is obsessive but loveable.

Today was The One With the Lesbian Wedding, and it's hilarious. A dead woman living in Pheobe, Chandler telling Joey the world is his lesbian wedding, Ross breaking down and giving Carol away, Rachel's relationship with her mother, Monica not planning enough time to make the food for the wedding -- all of the little things I didn't appreciate watching the show when I was 17 are so much more funny at 25. Every episode is Season 2 practically is a classic. Much more fun than eating lunch at my desk at work.