Canesisters 2023 journal - turning my Disasters into Delights

[canesisters]

You're doing good - don't give in.
You ~might be able to go say "hi" and then leave w/o letting her out at all. Guessing you've already done that though.

Tried that, didn't seem productive. She immediately went back to biting the panel & trying to shove herself through the spaces

Probably best for now to just go about the day - running the vacuum, carrying trash out to the car & fridge cleanings to the chickens without stirring her up.

I looked out a little bit ago & she was flat out on her side. I wanted to make sure she was OK without getting her wound up so I carried a (nearly empty) bag of trash out to the car. She didn't move. I came straight to the kennel & she popped up doing the wiggle dance. I have her a little scratch & told her she was the goodest girl.
.... she's been plenty active since then

TIME! SHE NEEDS TIME!!!!
Be Patient.
Patience - Persistence - Consistency

 

[Baymule]

What about leaving in your car, can you walk back without her seeing you? Or a friend drive you by so you can see how she is doing?

 

[canesisters]

What about leaving in your car, can you walk back without her seeing you? Or a friend drive you by so you can see how she is doing?

Do you mean, what does she do when I leave? I've left 2x today. Will pull the card out of the game camera & review in a little bit.

Edited to add: same stuff; bark, pace, pant, sometimes shove her head through the spaces..

 

[Baymule]

I think in addition to her anxiety, she is spoiled to someone never letting her be alone. One feeds the other. Hope she does good today.

 

[Mini Horses]

Eventually, she'll learn. At least -- she'll still enter the set up. Seems to realize it's a temporary place..maybe she knows?

 

[canesisters]

This AM she went in with no leash, just "Birdie - kennel."
She sat - VERY UNHAPPY BOXER FACE - while I took her collar off and pulled the gate closed. She was pitching a FIT as I left - barking, howling and that gargling scream that short-faced breeds are sooo good at.
Dad called about 8 and I nearly had a heart attack. I think I'm having mild PTSD from seeing his name pop up on my cell.... But he just wanted to let me know that he could hear her bark for a while, then get quiet for a while, then bark again. Which is the same as she did all weekend.
So.. it seems that she's doing ok.

I - on the other hand - have a HUGE chip on my shoulder and am working VERY HARD to keep my face from saying ugly things here in the scale house.
I've been wondering since Friday AM why my boss would suddenly have a problem with a dog sleeping in my office when HE didn't have any reason to even know she was there... But this AM, the 2 troublemakers - who have made a big deal of sweet-talking to Birdie every morning, haven't 'noticed' that she's not here. I'm guessing that THEY were expecting her to not be here today.

 

[SageHill]

Do you mean, what does she do when I leave? I've left 2x today. Will pull the card out of the game camera & review in a little bit.

Edited to add: same stuff; bark, pace, pant, sometimes shove her head through the spaces..
View attachment 100477

Yike on pushing her head through.
If you have extra panels you could double the up but offset so she can’t get her head through.

 

[Ridgetop]

Head through panel - not good, possibility of slipping and strangling. Sorry to add to your anxiety. Can you add wire over panels to prevent her putting head through spacing. On outside so she can't pull it off?

The fact that she will enter the kennel, play in the pool, etc. on her own with no fear or hesitation shows that she is howling for attention and expects you to give it to her on demand. Spoiled brat behavior. Those tantrums are definitely the acts of a dog whose previous owners responded to her noise to keep her quiet. She learned that if she makes a lot of noise owner will come to bring her inside and be with her. That may be a reason she was relinquished to the shelter. Sadly, most rescue dogs come with many bad habits courtesy of former owners who did not train properly.

You might try buying a pair of noise cancelling headphones to help with the headaches while she learns that you can't be coerced by her bad behavior. If she sees you constantly going about your affairs and ignoring her screaming in the kennel, she will eventually stop.
Eventually = Days? Weeks? Months?
She has had 9 years to learn her very effective bad behavior. Physical punishment for the howling will not be productive and will cause worse behavior. Unlike my children having a tantrum who responded to my threat to "give them something to cry about", you can't do that to her since her understanding does not reach those levels. She has to be retrained slowly and calmly which you are doing. You live far enough from neighbors that the screaming and howling will not result in an immediate visit from animal control.

Working on formal obedience training is great. Once she is doing well, you can insist on "perfect" heeling, sitting recall, etc. Once the heeling is coming along well, you can spice up her lessons by speeding up the pace then suddenly barely moving along at all. Walking along briskly and suddenly pulling a turn is also effective since this teaches them to concentrate on you. A well-trained dog can complacent. My old dog loved that sort of challenge. Tricks and retrieves are fun interludes in the training. Don't forget the long stay in both sit and down positions. Both while she has you in sight and when you go out of sight. It doesn't take hours of grilling, just a half hour total lesson with occasional off lead intervals while you take out the trash, do chores in the yard, etc. The whole idea is to train her to see you as the pack leader, and that obedience is fun. You will know you have reached that point when the jingle of the obedience choke chain brinks her to her feet with a gleam in her eye and a wagging tail.

I love obedience training. The one thing about my Anatolians that I really am sad for is that they are not obedience dogs! They will give you an apologetic look and then go do what they think they need to do to defend the sheep or you, regardless of any command you give. Thus, it is safer not to give any commands when they are in pursuit of intruders - no point enforcing that they can ignore you at will. LOL

You are doing a great job with Birdie. It will be worth it in the end!

 

[Baymule]

I think I would have to drop a comment to my coworkers, Y’all will be happy to know that Birdie won’t be coming to work with me anymore. The boss got on to me about it. Since he doesn’t come in the office, I wonder how he even knew?

 

[SageHill]

I think I would have to drop a comment to my coworkers, Y’all will be happy to know that Birdie won’t be coming to work with me anymore. The boss got on to me about it. Since he doesn’t come in the office, I wonder how he even knew?

I LOVE that idea - it ~could clue you in who the complainer is. Though I'm guessing your favorite coworker.