Running Away to Feel Better

Stevie sticks to me around the house and in the unfenced yard. Going from house to fence has never been an issue. This week he has "taken off" three or four times, deaf to me, intensely involved in sniffing, around the neighbor's house, totally out of the norm behavior for him in our home environment.

Coincidentally, he has also been unwell, sporadic diarrhea, an episode of repetitive vomiting, and at times appearing totally normal, and other times obviously lackluster. Last night he also had urinary urgency, he seems to have been consuming lots of snow.

I suspect his extreme sniffing is self-soothing or escapist behavior. The adrenalin rush that accompanies the sniffing and hunting behavior eases his physical discomfort. He's a smart doggie and he's repeated it for some relief.

I wonder if this could also be applied to a family that asked me about their English Pointer, who instantly took off and always seemed to need to be outside and whined constantly. Now you could say "typical pointer" but I would want to look into physical discomfort (whether structural or systemic such as thyroid imbalance or auto-immune) as a driver for the behavior because their description of it was so extreme and consistent. Was the only time this dog had comfort for his physical ills when he was self-medicating with adrenalin?

The Fear Factor

No, not Stevie's. MINE.

Last week when showing off Stevie in his new homemade hunting season safety coat, and looking for construction feedback from my friend and our local Postmistress Alvina, Stevie froze and snapped at her face when she was handling him. I had a flash to his first snapping incident at the vet's office. (I wonder who generated that flash, me or him?)

Alvina is a farmer, horse trainer, and mother to all. She hardly batted an eye and insisted she finish making her point about my tailoring. Stevie was stiff as a board by then, but I held his muzzle and let her finish.

Okay, now I could point out every single mistake I made, but really it boils down to this:

I am afraid that if my dog stiffens, I can no longer influence his behavior, and I lose my focus, and it's a done deal. This is my public confession so that I can move on and do what I need to with Stevie.

We just spent about a half hour out front doing some pushing and heeling to warm up. Stevie spotted workers at the convenience store hanging holiday lights and started barking, so I jumped on my training opportunity.

We ended up sitting on the bench out front with me just grabbing and working his back, neck and throat while people walked by or stopped.

Stevie has skin allergies and has spent the past 4 month scratching endlessly. He has funky hips and is bowlegged, and very touch sensitive. The total truth of how much his physical condition messes up his mental response really hit home with me as I observed him working today and then massaged him. This dog needs way more touch than he has been getting. If I can bring balance and relaxation to his body, I know the mind will follow, and today it did.

After I finished touching him, Stevie lay down behind my legs and sighed, in full public view. Imagine that.

Thank you Neil and The Natural Dog Blog!

Stevie on a whim

There's a story behind this video. I was cleaning the basement and put out our old paperbacks, free for the taking (please don't tell my husband.) Last night it rained, so it was time to put three boxes of soggy books into the rubbish. This seemed like a job for Stevie, so here's a short video of him doing just that, along with a little heeling, courtesy of Natural Dog Training. Pardon my attire, I've been doing some painting.