So what came out of the consultations with Royal?
During the consultations, it was observed/confirmed that Royal is sensitive to noises when inside, and startles easily with any sudden movement and/or noise. His body language often shows signs of stress. So, our primary goal is to reduce Royal’s anxiety so that he doesn't startle as often to noise and movement and that his belly-band-wetting decreases.
If you are looking for consultation with force free professionals, I highly recommend:
Lori Stevens CPDT-KA, SAMP
Ruth LaRocque, CTC, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Dr. Louisa Beal
If you are looking for consultation with force free professionals, I highly recommend:
Lori Stevens CPDT-KA, SAMP
Ruth LaRocque, CTC, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Dr. Louisa Beal
All three women were beyond helpful and extremely responsive to providing assistance to Royal.
Our Training Plan includes:
Daily work noticing Royal’s triggers in order to pair them with food or something else that he enjoys. Continue doing this as often as possible, especially around human movements and noises that cause constant startling. Desensitization and counter conditioning works best with very specific timing: trigger happens first, and then food happens. We are working at changing his emotional response. Here's a great link by Eileenanddogs talking about successful desensitization and counter conditioning
Daily work noticing Royal’s triggers in order to pair them with food or something else that he enjoys. Continue doing this as often as possible, especially around human movements and noises that cause constant startling. Desensitization and counter conditioning works best with very specific timing: trigger happens first, and then food happens. We are working at changing his emotional response. Here's a great link by Eileenanddogs talking about successful desensitization and counter conditioning
Assigning a verbal cue when we know something that could be scary to Royal is going to happen. An example of this is when I'm going to be "snapping" the lid on a glass storage container while in the kitchen. Pairing this action with food or something else he enjoys. Again, working at changing his emotional response.
Working on teaching Royal to retreat – doing this by slowly and gently tossing a treat away from him. Starting on the carpet and start with tossing the treat low to the ground. This is an important skill for Royal to learn as he's a dog who will push through the anxiety causing even more stress for him. More at working on changing his emotional response.
Continuing to use a long line outside in various locations so Royal can exercise outside in places he feels safe and can make choices about where he wants to go. Using a long line will allow us to avoid going to dog parks where he has had at least one scary encounter with other dogs.
We are continuing to use white noise machines and playing through a dogs ear to manage indoor noise. To learn more about Through a Dog's Ear - Music therapy for the prevention & treatment of canine anxiety, here's a link of Current research into the effect of music on dogs
We are continuing to use white noise machines and playing through a dogs ear to manage indoor noise. To learn more about Through a Dog's Ear - Music therapy for the prevention & treatment of canine anxiety, here's a link of Current research into the effect of music on dogs
Anyone that follows my blog knows I'm a huge fan of TTouch. So, desensitize to TTouch wraps with the goal of incorporating TTouch wraps with Royal a few times per day—using good treats and moving slowly around the house. The goal is for Royal to have a positive association with the wraps and for his nervous system to calm when he’s wrapped. The wraps, over time, will be another tool that can help him during anxious times. More work at changing his emotional response during stressful time.
Working towards incorporating nose work with Royal, and to continue to work on training skills that he enjoys doing! This will build confidence and pair a fun game indoors and I love nose work for any dog.
We also started Royal on a fast acting anti-anxiety medication to see if that made any difference. We did see a reduction in his wetting of the bands which reinforced that we are working with anxiety. Because of the changes we quickly saw in Royal on the fast acting drugs, the decision was made to place Royal on a longer term anti-anxiety medication.
We also started Royal on a fast acting anti-anxiety medication to see if that made any difference. We did see a reduction in his wetting of the bands which reinforced that we are working with anxiety. Because of the changes we quickly saw in Royal on the fast acting drugs, the decision was made to place Royal on a longer term anti-anxiety medication.
Royal has been on the longer term medication for a couple of weeks and we are seeing improvement. We are having fewer wet bands, he can think more clearly and he is visibly more relaxed. The medication is still building up in his system so, as time goes on we expect he will be feeling better!
Does this mean Royal will always need to be on medication? I'd say probably not. The hope is that the medication will help him feel less anxiety while we work on desensitization and counter conditioning. Again, working at changing his emotional response! As his emotions to the environment change it's likely he would then come off the medication.
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