A Note From Barce

During the past few weeks, I noticed more increased aggression with Niles. He was no longer capable of friendly meet and greets. Also, when he would hear dogs, he would start growling. This was new and disturbing behavior.

During one of our favorite walks, Crissy Field, he bit a dog after they had greeted each other. This happened two weeks ago.

I looked into other options. I posted an ad on Craig's List and tried to adopt him out to a family in Gilroy in spite of my trainer's admonition that Niles should be spared the confusion of a re-homing.

Niles brought out the best in me. When I had him, for the first time in my life, I was consistently on-time to work. I also learned a lot about how to care and love a creature solely devoted to your well-being. I grew up because of Niles.

Yay! I'm dog of the day.

I'd like to thank my Daddy, and all you paw-rrific doggies and purrific cats out there.

Still got a ways to go

A diagnosis letter about me:

To whom it may concern:
I have been working with “NILES” and his owner since November of 2007.
The initial behavior Evaluation was for explosive aggression towards other
dogs -especially inconvenient in the office. Niles also has some mild fear
of strangers and discomfort associated with handling.

Significant progress regarding the aggression has been made using
behavior modification techniques and various food and exercise regimes.
However, progress with prolonged exposure to dogs in confined spaces
is proving to be substantially difficult. There does seem to be a small
guarding component, but it does not account for the level of aggression
nor is it the main trigger. Consistent progress has been made in all
other areas of NILES dog-aggression including on-leash meet and greets,
off-leash socialization & play, stranger fear/handling and predation
(herding). Niles has also learned his basic obedience (sit, down, quiet,
stay, watch, come) and some tricks which have been included in the
behavior modification plan to address the herding/predation and toy
guarding. However, significant stress and aggression still exists in
the office with the other “office dogs” with whom NILES has had conflicts.
All other office dogs are submissive/avoidant types and did nothing to
provoke attacks except walk into “NILES space.” Additionally NILES because
agitated and frustrated when ever other dogs are playing, being pet or
given attention. There is some evidence for owner/favorite person guarding.
Again this is not a main trigger, but a component of the problem.

Overall NILES continues to show signs of stress/depression which may be
partially caused by a chemical imbalance and not just learned behaviors
and poor socialization and it is time consider using medication.
Please feel free to call me on my cell phone to discuss this matter if needed.

Thank you for your time,

NILES' trainer

Darci Tagged Me

Darci tagged me. ( http://www.dogster.com/dogs/185606 )


That means I am gonna answer the following questions.

Name 4 jobs that you have:
1. Using my paw to tell Daddy that I need to go out... again.
2. Keeping mice and rats away.
3. Keeping the kitchen floor clean of any food scraps. Yummy!
4. Returning back the ball when it's thrown.

Name 4 places where you have lived ( or stayed at ):
1. Santa Cruz, CA
2. Hawai'i (the folks who had me before Barce took me there)
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Oakland, CA (this is where Rocky lives)

name 4 places that you have been:
1. Tilden Park
2. Tenessee Valley
3. Crissy Field
4. Dogster HQ / Catster HQ

name 4 places you'd rather be:
1. at the beach
2. a place with lots of gopher holes
3. running through tall, cool grass in Crissy Field
4. with other dogs

I'm tagging:
Dewi http://www.dogster.com/dogs/339786
Lena Malik http://www.dogster.com/dogs/98633
Zach http://www.dogster.com/dogs/611296
Cooper http://www.dogster.com/dogs/631985

Thank you, Sally, for the Blanket!

Today when daddy got to work he got handed a blanket from Simon's Mom. The blanket is for me and it's from Sally!

Not on Doggie Prozac and Play Date with Rocky

Daddy decided not to put me on doggie prozac because it would mean a shorter life for me.

Yesterday, I had a play date with my daddy's brother's dog, Rocky. He is a service dog, and we got to hang out and play at Lake Temescal. I growled a bit, but I didn't get into any fights. I had a lot of fun running around.

Might have to go on doggie prozac

This week has been pretty bad for me. I don't get along with the new office dog, Simon, and Kelley says that the dogs in the office now all have a pre-conditioned fear of me.

Also, yesterday, I wasn't able to be friendly with any of the dogs on my walk.

I might have to go on doggie prozac.

Can't wait to play

I'll be playing in Bernal Heights Friday afternoon. Haven't played during work in a while.

Daddy's going to SxSW but his co-worker will take care of me

Daddy's going to SxSW, a film, music and interactive festival. One of his co-workers will take care of me while he's away.

Training is going well. I still don't like in my face puppies, but I get along with mellow dogs really well now.

I have a training walk and playdate in the park at 2pm today. We'll see how that goes.

My New Nickname

Angela at Dogster has been calling me Peanut.