Wow, 5 months down the line... 7 months since Blake arrived

Time flies and I just got little time to update. We have had lots of progress over the weeks and months, though we are not 100% there yet. I will post a bunch of pictures shortly to illustrate Blake's journey. But for not, I can say that no more harness or lead is needed indoors, he has all but stopped his explosive displays and things are pretty good most of the time now. He is now only separated when I am not supervising. He has learnt a lot of the appropriate canine language and things have been much more chilled. Watch this space for more pictures and detailed updates.

Another month down the line - baby steps improvements!

Well, it's been over two months now that Blake arrived here. Doesn't time fly.

Things are improving very gradually, but they are... a bit of two steps forward, one back, two forward, three back... but we will get there.

Things have actually been quite settled. Until yesterday, we haven't had any further incidents, and when everyone is calming (usually in the evenings), everyone is sitting with me calmly and chilled.

16th April

Blake is also better now with waiting, stopping when I tell him to, he is now backing away when a dog growls, though still doesn't understand when someone tells him to bugger off (e.g. the other day he was play bowing at Skye who didn't want to know and had a go at him - just pretending, no intention to hurt him, but nevertheless telling him clearly to get lost - and he just kept play bowing. Neither Skye nor Blake were really understanding each other).
I am now at a stage where he doesn't wear the harness anymore indoors as he is fine being led around by the collar, which is a great improvement.
He still occasionally panics or just gets worried and then goes into stupid mode, which makes it virtually impossible to control him then. But these incidents are also getting much less frequent.

Yesterday Blake caught his harness on the bench accidently when I had him in the garden harnessed and leashed and in his panic slipped it and started racing around the garden mindlessly like a fury, with the other three dogs in hot persuit... and me chasing after them like a demented banshee trying (successfully in the end) to prevent a major incident that would jeopardize their still fragile relationships. Flash listened when I told him to stop, and in the end, Blake jumped over the low fence which stopped Jesse chasing him. I then got all three into the house, and then retrieved Blake afterwards. I am so glad as nothing further happened as another major kerfuffle would have caused a huge amount of damage to their relationship, perhaps irreparable. But we are fine, slightly more wary but nothing that can't be fixed.

So the whole things is still very hard work, but there are small steps of progress and we just keep at it. As Blake gets older, he will also settle down a bit, helped by the training that I am doing along the way.

Three weeks ago (7th May), Blake also got neutered (picture below taken when he came home).

All went well and after he broke the clip on the lead a week after the op, and he was racing around Knettishall Heath with a goldie, I didn't bother keeping him on lead in the garden any longer. The wound healed really well and he is doing great.
Several times before he got neutered I took him to the vet's just to sit in there, let him get used to the environment, feed him loads of treats... and it was working as he is now quite happy to go to the vet's. Result!



Keeping him calm after neutering... that was a whole different story!

Last Sunday, he went to his first obedience show. He was hard work (yet again... seems to be a recurring theme with this boy) as he doesn't do "doing nothing", but he eventually settled, realised that he can't go up to every dog, and actually also greeted a few dogs calmly (with a bit of my help) rather than bounce all around them. He really does need a polish on his doggie etiquette!

24th May after the obedience show

 

At least he was a little bit tired

 

I also took him to Kamal's training day earlier this month and he did great! Kamal loved him, and Blake really is a joy to train. So far we are doing heelwork foundation, retrieve and working on sits and stays... though the latter is a challenge as he really finds it hard to sit for longer than a few seconds. We will see whether Louise's magic hands will help a bit with this when she comes for the chiro next month.
I have also started taking him to obedience training at West Suffolk, although he is - yet again - hard work there as he doesn't like doing nothing. But the training itself went really well. Unfortunately there are no regular classes anymore now at the moment, but hopefully we can resume them soon.

I have also introduced Blake to the flirt pole, and boy does he love it! It is like a lure coursing event in my garden when he gets going. It is a great reward thing, gives him an outlet for his chase drive and it is a great tool for self-control games.

And oh my god, does he love water! In Knettishall Heath, there is a pond/river where we let the dogs have a paddle after our group walk, and Blake goes absolutely mental. That's also where he broke the lead clip, but wow, he adores water. I can't wait to take him to the beach one day.

So, here we go. Things aren't easy yet, but much easier and things are getting more settled. Hopefully as the hormones settle more, and the boy is getting a bit older and more chilled, and together with all the training in general manners and obedience we will at some point be able to get rid of all the baby gates again. Until then, I shall just enjoy the madness that is Blake - bless him!

21st April 2015

 

 

He does get himself into the weirdest positions. Here he is upside down next to me on 22nd April.

 

And he tried out the little red bed too

 

Another mountain goat in the family (28th April)

 

About these weird positions... 28th April... life is never boring with this boy

 

 

On 1st May, he got his first bone... and no resource guarding issues at all!

 

 

Well... LOL (5th May)

 

Well, he is a bit special... that's how he slept on 15th May.

 

 

 And here we go again... 25th May - you try fitting him back together right... LOL

 

 

And here are just some lovely pictures taken yesterday, 27th May (just before the mayhem ensued mentioned above).

 



Nearly a month

Wow, time flies and Blake has been here for nearly a month. Things haven't always been rosy and pink, but we are getting there very, very slowly in baby steps.

Blake is still mostly separated other than when I am there supervising, and even then he is on lead and "coached" by me. Flash and Jesse are still uncomfortable with him, so I make sure Blake doesn't bother them, especially with Jesse I am super careful as he doesn't always give a lot of warning before he "goes"... But for the last two weeks, we have not had any further incidents and all the dogs are getting used to the arrangements in place now.

Skye seems happier with Blake than the other two, and she actually goes and greets him too. She still doesn't like it if he spends too much time sniffing her, or when he tries to play (whilst he is on lead), but she is definitely quite relaxed around him (unless she has something to guard!).

Blake has made great progress with training, he now sits (after Louise Cooper, chiropractor, gave him a little bit of treatment) and lays down on cue (though not reliably yet always), we have started off with the food follow and statics for heelwork and he is doing fine for that, and he does a pretty good hand touch too. We have also started the muzzle training. whistle recall is getting really good! When he accidently slipped the lead out of my hand he returned on a six-pence to the whistle.

He has really come out of his shell and now enjoys his walks and rarely gets nervous. He still worries about dogs approaching him on lead, but is getting better with that. I also do livestock training with him, and he is actually very easily distracted around sheep etc. and he takes virtually no notice of horses. He does react to deer and rabbits, but he stands still rather than trying to go after them. Cats he is not too bothered if they sit still, but will react like to rabbits when they run. But he is overall making great progress.

 At Knettishall Heath, with some WTDT members below.



His naughty and indeed cheeky side is coming out as well now... LOL He loves beheading flowers (just like Dylan did when he was a youngster... LOL), digging, has taken a couple of chomps out of my hallway telephone table and the TV cabinet and keeps trying to sling the dog beds around! On the other hand he has started to eat the stuffed kongs I leave him, so that's something that will keep him occupied. (He does apparently howl for about a quarter of an hour when I leave, but then settles).

So yes, things are still a little tense here with Flash, Jesse and Skye still, but there are promising steps that it'll all work out! Blake is an amazing dog, and just needs to learn a few more manners, most of all to leave the other dogs alone if they want to be left alone, e.g. they growl! He'll get there. I am also quite confident that neutering Blake will make a difference, once all that testosterone is gone. That will get done some time in the next couple of weeks.










Today, he had a play date with Melissa's Knox. I thought I'd best make sure to introduce him to plenty of lovely dogs and some that play with him. We went for a walk first, and then we popped over to Melissa's for a romp - and my, did they have a great time! He is fast, and he is mad, but he plays lovely!

Here are some pictures and a couple of videos:

 

 

And some pictures that Melissa took:

 

 

2 weeks Update

Well, things have improved some, but not hugely, though definitely more settled now.

Blake is still kept separate from the others unless I can pay 100% attention to them all, and me usually holding on to him to control his movements. But when everyone is settled in the sitting room, all is nice and peaceful. :-)
In the garden he is now always on lead, unless I have him out on his own (which he gets to do about three times a day when he can run and play to his heart's content, and of course clicker training too.

Skye is a little grumbly still if Blake wants to sniff her, though she has had a few more waggy tailed hellos with him.

Flash is still quite cautious, but in the last couple of days also a couple of waggy tailed and friendly greetings with him. Again, just being around Blake is fine, but when Blake goes up to him, Flash occasionally "smiles" at him.

Jesse is much better again since I upped his thyroid medication again. I have booked an appointment with his vet Rachel next week to officially discuss the meds, and see whether I can increase it a bit more even possibly. He is definitely  more relaxed (and I also haven't seen him lag on walks since then, nor lip lick which could indicate that his mouth is not dry anymore, another hypo symptom) and even went up to Blake a couple of times through the gate. He also doesn't worry anymore when Blake whines or barks on the other side of the gate.. which really unsettled him at first. I am still ultra cautious with Jesse, but he is definitely happier with Blake, and apart from a couple of grumbles, he has been ok (though wouldn't want to test this without holding on to Blake).

I am doing various bits to help.

• Feeding all the dogs alternatively with Blake on one side of the gate and the others on the other side, feeding them really close together. At the start Jesse was very unhappy with this, and now he can cope well with even really close feeding even if I drop Blake's treat near the gate. His body language is definitely much more settled and he rarely looks uncomfortable now. I do this at least three times a day, often more.

• Doing individual clicker training session with all of them, including Blake, to keep them mentally stimulated.

• I verbally praise any nice interactions I see which is starting to help.

• I encourage Jesse to lick my hand through the gate when Blake approaches the gate teaching him a calming and alternative response to growling.

• I encourage Jesse to pick up his toys when he gets worried, again an alternative response and something that is comforting and calming for him.

• I play with the dogs (especially the spaniels) near the gate with their toys and Blake plays on the other side of the gate with his toy. This encourages bonding by doing things together. Again, I can see improvements as there is no negative body language usually.

• Blake is always on a harness (unless I am out) which allows me to manoeuvre him around without him freaking out - something which is impossible by using the collar. In fact, that was one of the incidents when I tried to stop him from going through a gate by holding his collar, he freaked and Jesse went for him. This hasn't happened at all now since using the harness at all times. All is much calmer this way.

So we are making progress, but it is tiny baby steps. I think one of the problems is as well that Blake is still entire, and once neutered things will be more chilled I am sure.
It is much easier now that Blake knows to wait at the gates until I tell him to go through, that I can lead him by the harness without him freaking out and that he knows to wait when I ask him to.

Exercises I am teaching him so far:

• Name game - the first thing I taught, and he responds nicely to name now. I continue to practice it when we are in situations where he is more distracted
• Hand touch - getting quite good, starting to work on duration now
• Recall - getting quite good, have introduce the whistle today (three pips)
• Down - have just started this with toys first, and with food today. It is very hard to free shape him for positions as he doesn't offer them, so I have started luring the down
• Sit - I very rarely see him sit on his own accord. I am at the moment not sure whether that's confirmation or whether he needs a chiropractor. But today I got him to sit really well via the down position rather than from the stand. I have had no success so far getting him to do it from the stand as he will just walk backwards, but he does it well from the down. So that's what we are doing until he can do it from the stand too.
• Food follow - hey, I have to start competitive heelwork at some point. LOL So I have started with the food follow over the last couple of days and we manage three or four steps now.
• Flat high hand target for heelwork - only just started.
• Heelwork statics - getting him to do the back end turn into the heel position. Started just a couple of days ago and he's got the hang of it.

Blake is quite easy to train, he picks things up very quickly and enjoys clicker training. We are going to have so much fun together.

Here are some pictures and videos over the last week:

Blake is so much for confident on walks now, and he has even learnt to scan around him whilst still walking rather than having to stop and watch. LOL

I am using lots of treats to get him to respond to various situations, e.g. when he spots cats, when he is worried about something etc. and it is starting to pay off.

And here are a couple of videos I took - he is one happy bunny LOL:

1-week Gotcha Day

Well, it's already a week since Blake arrived here, doesn't time fly. He has settled in really well, and until yesterday, all the dogs were doing pretty good. Skye in fact suddenly relaxed with Blake on Friday and has been no problem since. I am totally surprised as I thought she'd be the most difficult. I still need to supervise, but she hasn't shown any signs of worry for the last couple of days.

Flash was really good with him too, where as Jesse was more grumbly, but doing really well too. It certainly wasn't a problem to have them all together, though I would never leave them unsupervised.

But yesterday, that changed... Karen and Jim, Blake's foster parents, came to visit Blake here. I tried to usher everyone into the garden, but didn't get any further than the conservatory. I wanted the dogs to have more space, hence the garden, but as that didn't happen it was all a bit cramped and Jesse went for Blake when he got too close. I stopped him and no damaged was done, but it wasn't helpful.

Blake was very happy to see Karen and Jim, and he wasn't upset when they left (other than wondering for a couple of minutes where they went). So that was fine.

I then let all the dogs out, and Blake invited Flash to play, so they started running about. For the first couple of circuits, it was ok, but then Flash nipped Blake into his side. No damage was done, so he just pinched his skin, but Blake screamed blue murder and ran back to the back door, where Jesse was and went for him (he always reacts when a dog yells) big time. I stopped him again, so again no physical harm was done, but it was a complete relationship breakdown both between Flash and Blake and most certainly between Jesse and Blake. Blake was terrified, and I left them to rest.

A bit later in the afternoon, I managed to coax Blake out and he got more confident again after a game with me in the garden. Then unexpectedly Blake invited Skye to play (which is fine, she plays nicely), but I quickly grabbed Flash to stop him from joining in, and in addition to his collar, I accidently grabbed some of his skin and this time, Flash screamed... (blooming sighthounds...). Jesse went after Flash, but didn't do anything, but Blake freaked out again, ran into the house, onto the sofa and then didn't budge!

I felt absolutely devastated, all the progress I made with them throughout he week was gone... in fact, Jesse was so wound up now that I had to completely separate them.

I then gave Blake some rescue remedy and if by a miracle, he got up after a few minutes and seemed fine, though a bit more wary of all the dogs.

Since yesterday, I have kept Blake and Jesse completely separate unless I am sitting right next to Blake or Jesse. I do lots of counter-conditioning with Jesse and Blake on either side of the gate. It is slow progress, but it'll work eventually. I will not try anything more with Jesse right now until the adrenalin levels have dropped a bit, then I will get them together a bit more again. Right now, Jesse is very unhappy about Blake being anywhere near him. :-(

I am gutted, it went so well until yesterday... just one incident caused a break down and I am back to square one, one even further back with Jesse.

I am also taking Blake out in the garden on his own a couple of times a day, so he can have a good run without the risk of upsetting any of the others, and I play with him with toys and do training. He really loves that, and today he went absolutely bonkers with a soft toy, lifting all four legs off the ground and running around like mad. I had to laugh so much, it is great to see. Just a shame he hasn't got a dog here he can play with at the moment.

Blake is also getting a lot more confident on walks, he rarely stops now and when he does it's just for a few seconds to have a look around. He has done a lot of trotting and some running (with me in tow) today. He is still very shy of dogs and people outside though, so I need to get some socialisation sorted for him.

So baby steps continue. I am so frustrated with Jesse's behaviour and can't wait to get this sorted, but then it's only been a week and these things take time.

Blake is fabulous though, and I am looking forward to sharing my life with him.

Here are some pictures taken through the week showing the progress we made:

On 18th, Skye allowed Blake to lay on the bed next to her sofa spot. :-)

And he even managed to secure a sofa spot.

 

 

On the 19th... he loves the sofa. LOL

 

 

 

And Blake getting close to Flash... Flash was ok, but not too keen (wouldn't be able to do that now... :-(  )

 

 

 

Yep, feeling comfy. 20th.

 

 

 

21st... Skye is starting to mellow towards Blake.

 

 

 

Mad hound. LOL