Bye Bye Uncle Mark...

My brother left this morning. Headed to mom and dads for a few days. I took Darcy for a walk and when we got back I took her to through the apt at our house where he stayed. She smelled everything and was looking for him. When she was satisfied that he was gone I took of her collar/lead. She settled down fairly quickly. We both had to work tonight and decided she needs a night to "chill" and let herself calm down to our usual peaceful and quiet house. She laid on her raised bed outside to catch some rays of sun before we left. I told her no partying tonight.. heh heh.. Tommorrow I'll boil up some chicken and we're gonna hit the trails. Talk about the best agility course ever!

Darcy did do something that she hasn't done yet. She was outside and didn't see hubby working on something. She stretched out on the grass and then rolled over to get a good grass rub in!! I think she's itchy a bit from the fly spray and I'm going to give her a bath soon... but she did look like she enjoyed the stretching and rolling!:)

One gone, one to go!

So my father left 2 days ago. Darcy was happy about that. Only my brother is in and will be here until Friday (3 more day). My brother is kinda loud, and very funny. Darcy just looks at him and runs away. We've started her meds and have upped her training some. She's got the look command down. She was in the kitchen, I was doing look while breaking down a burger. My brother walked in and she started to look at him and got white-eyed. I said Look, she did and got a piece of burger. Way to go Darcy! I can't get overly joyful with her, it freaks her out. Told her good girl and we continued with our training.

The other day I took off from work and my brother and I went out to the store. When we came back Darcy came through the doggie door to greet. I got out of the truck, my brother stayed in to watch her reaction to me. Well she did a bunch of stretches, playbows and hops (hopping must be a boxer thing!:) I opened the gate and she flew out and played with me on the hill behind the house for about 20 minutes. Then my brother got out and she hid in the edge of the woods and watched him. My brother couldn't believe the change in her since the last time he's seen her (October 2010). She has come a long way, but still has a long way to go. The fact that she stayed in the kitchen when my brother came in AND took food is a step forward! I know once my brother leaves we can really focus on some training. I'm going to make some jumps, ramps and weave poles in the yard to get her to focus more - we'll see, time will definately tell!

Ok, who are these guys again?

So my brother and father came in last night. They're in town to help raise the baseboard heat in our house. Well my brother (a licensed plumber) got up early and by 7:30 am was cutting out half of the heating plumbing and was still cutting out piping when I left for work at 1:30pm. Poor Darcy, she just couldn't hide far enough away from the noise. Luckily they are doing one side of the house at a time. So she hides in my bedroom on her pillow. I left the tv on and would check on her periodically. I took her for a pretty long walk and she did eat a little bit of breakfast. Which is pretty good considering how noisy it was. It's going to be a long couple of days for her but we'll get her through it.

Last night while everyone was out on the deck I had Darcy in the living room with me and her container of treats. We worked on the "look" command. Which she picked up so quickly. It paid off already today. She was pacing around the house and I said Darcy Look and she did and actually came over to me for safeguarding. What a good girl!

Unfortunately me and Karl have to work tonight. But I left strict orders for my brother and father on what not to do with Darcy. They are really good about making sure she's alright.

Vet Visit

Took Darcy to the vet today. What a great vet we've got. She sat on the floor with Darcy the whole time! For almost 20 minutes she just sat there as Darcy inched her way closer to her! :) Then she listened to Darcy's heart and confirmed what I've known. Her fears are not genetic. You see when she listened to her heart is was at a normal rate and not racing. Which means her fears are learned behavioral. That's actually the best news I could get today! One thing we all know about behavior is that it can be changed! :) Dr. Mount drew blood for workup. The baseline came in and Darcy is one healthy girl! More good news! :) We have to wait a few days for the thyroid results and depending on the results we'll either start her on thyroid meds (if there is a problem) or prozac. Then it's back for a 6 week blood draw and follow-up visit. Thank God we have a vet who understands shut-down dogs. When I explained what happened to her as a pup she completely understood where the fears generated.

Dr. Mount also looked at her teeth and that was interesting. Seems that Darcy's k-9's have the most plaque. She stated that most dogs have plaque build-up on their molars. Got a hmmm out of her on that one. She said there may be a thyroid problem because of there being more plaque on the k-9's than the molars. I did not know that was an indication. Guess we'll wait and see. How awesome would that be - a thyroid problem compaired to a mental stability problem... Wait, does that sound right?

So our fingers are crossed and we're sending out prayers for a good result in the coming months. In the interim we're extending the fence line (bigger dog yard) and going to put up some agility jumps and ramps for her to build her confidence on.

Darcy got extra special treats after the vet visit, while traveling home in her crate. It was probably one of her best vet visits ever!

What was that?

Mom came home from work and took a 3 hour nap! What?! She said all of this driving has her exhausted and she needed a break! When she woke up we went for our walk. It was nice and cool out (68). We walked to the cemetary and came around the perimeter of it. I like this walk and smell alot of critters there! Well in the woods mom heard something rustling and then running away. She figured it was deer since we've seen soo many of them on our walks. Nope - it was a black bear! :o Needless to say we walked on out of the cemetary quickly!! Mom said - gee wish Blaze was here to keep us safe.. Hmmmm.....

Then we were walking back and mom saw some ears in the high grass. Sure enough 2 doe were watching us. Then we saw a baby bunny! He was so cute!

This mornings walk was pretty uneventful only another baby bunny. Maybe we didn't see anything because we went in the other direction! Mom took me about 50 feet further than our usualy turn around before I started to get anxious.

Today I'm getting a bath, mom said it's a necessary evil. Company is coming on Wednesday and I've got to be clean... oh well...

It's Alright

Please understand the medication we're looking at for Darcy aren't because she's bad. It's to help her relax mentally while we work on her to develop more confidence. Darcy wants to do things when she starts to it's like she remembers be afraid and stops, backs ups and leaves. The meds will help her relax and focus on moving forward. It may or may not help. But we won't know until we try. It's not just a pill it's also behavior modification that goes along with it. It's the last attempt to give her a calm life where she feels confident to interact with humans.

Going for Bloodwork

So after Darcy shut-down around Blaze I made a bunch of phone calls to some behaviorists I know. She's hit a wall and has been "stuck" for quite some time. So I made an appt for her to have bloodwork drawn and I'm going to put her on meds for a while to "get her over the hump" and hopefully, move forward with more confidence. Luckily our new vet is experienced in this field and we are hoping for some positive results soon.

Not a Happy Dog... :(

I went to the kennel for a few days. I came home and there is another dog in the driveway. Hmmmm. Dad was walking him. So mom and I walked over to meet him. We sniffed, he's bigger than me. We took a walk and he seemed alright. We got back to the house and mom and dad took our collars off. We did a bunch of playbows and ran around. Then WHAM! He ran right through me. Hey, I don't like that! Stop. Then he ran around and wham, got me again. Stop! So I ran away from him.

He's been here a few days now and still trying to get me to play. I would just freeze and look away. He's tried to get me to play and I've growled at him. Yesterday, he playbowed at me, shaking his head. I looked at him and he mouthed my leg. I growled at him. He put his paw on my side and shoved me, then I snapped. Stop! Mom was right there and pulled him away from me. Luckily she had a ball to throw for him and he left me alone.

Darcy isn't too thrilled with Blaze. Which is too bad for Darcy. Blaze is bigger than her and we don't think he realizes how big and strong he is. He's a wonderful dog, but he's too big for Darcy. We're taking him back to the rescue on Wednesday. Darcy may be relieved but we are going to miss him - he is a wonderful dog with an amazingly calm temperment...

The sun'll come out...

Today!! Wahooo!! This afternoon the clouds went away and the sun is shining!! :) I'm on my raised bed outside. Mom puts a blanket on it for me so I'm comfy! Gonna be sunny all week...

Blaze update: The first week of June I'm going to Rainy Day Kennel for a week at the "doggie social club". Mom scheduled this week for me a month ago. Mom got in touch with CompAnimals about blaze and her and dad are going down to meet him on Wednesday. So when I come back from Rainy Day I should (I hope) have a new friend!!

Mom and I have been walking like crazy. Mom figured out that if she does this quick walk I trot and have a good time. I've been taking mom to the cemetary and back it's a couple of miles each day and I love it. A car came by us yesterday and I just kept my head and tail up and kept moving forward. Then a pickup came and I got freaked. Mom kept me off the road for a bit, until I calmed down and we continued with our walk.

Mom has been threatening me with a bath for a week or so now, so far I've been keeping mom busy so she'll forget!! I think with me heading to the kennel soon I'll have to get a bath though. Mom loves sending a shiny dog to the kennel.

Diary Pick of the Day!

Whoot Whoot!! We got diary pick of the day!! That is soooo awesome!!

We're gonna ask everyone who read this to keep their fingers crossed for us!! We put in an application for a friend for Darcy. His name is Blaze and he's a 7 month old American Bulldog. We're being patient and hoping that we get approved so keep your fingers crossed....

Thanks for the Diary of the Day pick!! :)