Merry Samhain and Happy Halloween! I went a little nuts with dog outfits this month, as the weather turned sharply cold and Leilani is still sporting her summer haircut. She’s not a fan of pajamas (having her back legs in sleeves), but she’s getting better about letting me put her in clothes with minimal fuss.
This month’s adventures
- We did public access trips almost every day this month, with mixed results (but frequent exposure is good, to reduce the novelty of it). Including a neighborhood block party (where she did so well, I nearly cried).
- We went to Johnson’s Orchards for a picnic with friends. Leilani did pretty darn well, though we still struggle to focus on me when friends are around.
Notable accomplishments
- She’s finally starting to understand the concept of ‘stay’ (this is typically the hardest command for dogs to learn, so I expect it’ll take months before she’s solid on it).
- We re-started scent tin training and med bag retrieval training.
- She’s fantastic with the scent tin- she picks out my migraine saliva sample with little to no frustration, 99% of the time (even if it’s hidden on my body out of view).
- She gets bored easily with the med bag retrieval, and is still struggling with the concept of “don’t get it until I give the command”.
- Although she still growls in fear at children, it’s no longer all the time. We successfully did exposure de-sensitization at an elementary school fun fair (with petting zoo), the farmers market (where one toddler was particularly fascinated with her), and a neighborhood block party.
- I started teaching her (belatedly) the “Go say hi” command, which tells her it’s OK to visit a person while we’re out working. I expect this will also take some time, as she currently has no division in her mind between work/focus time and play/social time.
Struggling with
- Focusing on me in distracting circumstances (I have to wave my hands in front of her face because she totally tunes me out, like a typical teenager).
- Her fear of loud vehicles (garbage trucks, street sweepers, tow trucks, buses, etc.). For every day we make progress on this, there’s a day where a backfiring car or large vehicle surprises us during a walk and she freaks out all over again.
Developmental changes
She started the month at 7 lbs 9 ounces, and finished it at 8 lbs 1 ounce. We finally saw an internal medicine specialist (referred by our regular vet) about her GI issues, which have begun to make her underweight. Tests were done, one of which we’re waiting on, and she was started on a different special medical diet. So far, this new diet has restarted her appetite and her energy level (which is great for her health, but you guys, I am so exhausted by it).
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