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Since I've whined about this dog so much, figured I should post about progress.
So. Progress! No longer does Pixel descend into hysterical yapping and crying when I'm out of her sight for five seconds. She will go into the back yard without me (so long as the pet door is open and she's sure she can come back in at will), wander into other rooms without me and get into trouble there (so long as she's sure I'm still in the house), and has been found sneaking back into the bedroom--where she is only allowed when in crate--to sleep on top of the sleeping spouse instead of next to me in the office. So that's a lot like progress.
I've also discovered that peanut butter is the best dog bribe ever. Pixel will, to date, still enter the crate during the day--even though daytime cratings are always in my absence--so long as she's offered peanut butter in there as a Special Crate Treat. Sometimes she'll whine while I'm gone, sometimes she won't if it's for a short period of time; I try to give her a chew, or the peanut butter in her kong, so that she's not utterly bored. (Since she'll be crated daily while I'm at class starting next week, I am deeply relieved that this is going so well.) I'm not entirely sure how much of the good behavior is because the spouse is usually sleeping right next to the crate, on the bed, when she's in there in my absence... but if it helps her be reassured that crating is a fine and dandy and peanut-butter-filled thing, I'm all for it.
She still freaks out at some things on walks. White trucks (like FedEx trucks and U-Hauls, not pickup trucks) and vans: doubly so if anyone's loading or unloading things and they're parked. People carrying or dragging large items. Some people on bikes. Some people with bags or purses. Some people for no discernable reason. At times it's a minor wibble and we can continue; at times it's a major wibble and she will stand there, quivering madly, refusing to go another step away from home, until I let her take us back home again.
The shelter did have her marked as "timid" so it's not as if I wasn't warned. And as meltdowns go, standing still and shaking is, if not ideal, a lot better than fleeing or attacking or barking hysterically or peeing herself. (She's been a perfectly good dog about doing her business in appropriate places, one decision to stop and poop while we were crossing train tracks aside.) But I'm planning on working on that. It's been awfully useful at times that she's small enough that I can carry her for a block without my arms falling off. (Also a reassurance that I can get her to a vehicle if she's seriously injured. Good to know.)
Training proceeds...slowly. She will happily Sit if there's even a suggestion of a treat being available, and sometimes for the leash going on and off. Lie Down only works with a treat. Stay is only supposed to work with a treat so far--the trainer calls it "pre-stay" as a technique--and she's not great, but she's getting better. I can get her to sit still while I put away groceries, sometimes moving out of her sight, in about two or three sessions, with treats at hand.
We're having no luck at all with Leave It, because instead of learning to not go after an interesting item when I tell her not to, she's just learned that if I drop an interesting item, she should wait for me to give her a treat for sitting. Ah well. We'll work on it.
The cats have not forgiven me, and hide from the Terrifying Monster at every opportunity. We're working on that. Slowly. I mean, in the sense that occasionally the spouse will carry a cat past the dog on the couch, while I hold Pixel's collar, and she seems interested but not particularly inclined to lunge. The cats are still inclined to Flee Flee Flee For Their Lives, but...that'll get better over time as they all get used to each other's presence, right?
Right?
So. Progress! No longer does Pixel descend into hysterical yapping and crying when I'm out of her sight for five seconds. She will go into the back yard without me (so long as the pet door is open and she's sure she can come back in at will), wander into other rooms without me and get into trouble there (so long as she's sure I'm still in the house), and has been found sneaking back into the bedroom--where she is only allowed when in crate--to sleep on top of the sleeping spouse instead of next to me in the office. So that's a lot like progress.
I've also discovered that peanut butter is the best dog bribe ever. Pixel will, to date, still enter the crate during the day--even though daytime cratings are always in my absence--so long as she's offered peanut butter in there as a Special Crate Treat. Sometimes she'll whine while I'm gone, sometimes she won't if it's for a short period of time; I try to give her a chew, or the peanut butter in her kong, so that she's not utterly bored. (Since she'll be crated daily while I'm at class starting next week, I am deeply relieved that this is going so well.) I'm not entirely sure how much of the good behavior is because the spouse is usually sleeping right next to the crate, on the bed, when she's in there in my absence... but if it helps her be reassured that crating is a fine and dandy and peanut-butter-filled thing, I'm all for it.
She still freaks out at some things on walks. White trucks (like FedEx trucks and U-Hauls, not pickup trucks) and vans: doubly so if anyone's loading or unloading things and they're parked. People carrying or dragging large items. Some people on bikes. Some people with bags or purses. Some people for no discernable reason. At times it's a minor wibble and we can continue; at times it's a major wibble and she will stand there, quivering madly, refusing to go another step away from home, until I let her take us back home again.
The shelter did have her marked as "timid" so it's not as if I wasn't warned. And as meltdowns go, standing still and shaking is, if not ideal, a lot better than fleeing or attacking or barking hysterically or peeing herself. (She's been a perfectly good dog about doing her business in appropriate places, one decision to stop and poop while we were crossing train tracks aside.) But I'm planning on working on that. It's been awfully useful at times that she's small enough that I can carry her for a block without my arms falling off. (Also a reassurance that I can get her to a vehicle if she's seriously injured. Good to know.)
Training proceeds...slowly. She will happily Sit if there's even a suggestion of a treat being available, and sometimes for the leash going on and off. Lie Down only works with a treat. Stay is only supposed to work with a treat so far--the trainer calls it "pre-stay" as a technique--and she's not great, but she's getting better. I can get her to sit still while I put away groceries, sometimes moving out of her sight, in about two or three sessions, with treats at hand.
We're having no luck at all with Leave It, because instead of learning to not go after an interesting item when I tell her not to, she's just learned that if I drop an interesting item, she should wait for me to give her a treat for sitting. Ah well. We'll work on it.
The cats have not forgiven me, and hide from the Terrifying Monster at every opportunity. We're working on that. Slowly. I mean, in the sense that occasionally the spouse will carry a cat past the dog on the couch, while I hold Pixel's collar, and she seems interested but not particularly inclined to lunge. The cats are still inclined to Flee Flee Flee For Their Lives, but...that'll get better over time as they all get used to each other's presence, right?
Right?
From:
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Cat doesn't equal dog, unfortunately. Cats see tailwagging and thing face-ripping, not "hey! funtimes yesplease?!" Aim for detente?
From:
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With the cats, we're trying to convince them to at least come near her when she's restrained or confined, to encourage the idea that the cats and the dog can just happily ignore each other. It's...a work in progress. (And it doesn't help that Peejee will flee to the back yard at the first opportunity, and Pixel always runs to investigate if she hears someone using the pet door.)
From:
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so so glad it's starting to work out.