anxiety update....and will it pass the Dexter test?

I'm going to be very honest....we have been horrible at practicing with our pup lately. Dexter is still drooling immensely. So, yesterday we began again from scratch. We left for 5 minutes to sit in the car and came back and ignored him for about 5 mins and let him out. There was a lot of drool...A LOT!

Today Brandon practiced with him for about 7 minutes but couldn't find his Kong so he left him with nothing. It did not go well haha . Dexter immediately began barking. We're going to practice again in about a half an hour.

We're trying to build up to leaving him for a half an hour. This takes a lot of time and as I'm relearning again A LOT of patience.

I really contemplating getting another dog but after a lot of thought, I don't think that will fix a problem.

This training process worked well the last time. We think something may have caused him to have a little bit of a relapse. Now that I think of it we had a few really windy days and I think he may now associate the crate with the storm/noises from the wind.


I'm certain we can help him again but it's going to take a while. We are sticking to it and we'll continue to track his progress. Let's call this officially the second Day 2 the haha


Two practices of leaving Dexter for 5 minutes. Copious amounts of drool.

Now for a new segment?

Can Dexter wreck it?

Today I stopped by this AMAZING local pet supply store called Golden Tails!
What did we pick up?

All natural dog chews! Antler chews! www.petchoicepharma.com

How does he like it?

LOVES IT! So far just a few minor chew marks and its keeping him entertained. I think it's even tired him out.

random act of kindness

There's a family going though some hard times due to a house fire and could really use some random acts of kindness.   Without this family and what I believe to be fate, we would not have dexter. Dexter brought a lot to our lives that I didn't know was missing to begin with.  If you can help at all please do! Email me for info on where to send donations.

They have 5 kids
Cie- med womens tops, size 8 pants, size 10 shoe
Phil- med mens tops, 18-20 husky pants, size 8 shoe
Ryenn- same size as cie
Zackery & harold- 8/10 tops. Size 8 and 10 pants and size 2 and 3 1/2 shoe


Sherylbeck26@gmail.com

happy valentines day

Last year

And This year

dog park saturday

I never get bored watching dexter play with other dogs!   He is a nut haha

Separation anxiety update.... It's been pretty cold and snowy so I did not get to practice with Dexter the last day or so. Brandon and I did leave him again the other day for 10 mins and he was a drooly mess when we got back (not as bad as usual) but still drooly. I go back to work today so I have to put him in the crate for 3 hours. But I'm off tomorrow so I'm going to try a couple times tomorrow. If you're worried you might break a cycle by going from practicing at 5 or 10 mins to leaving him in his/her crate while you go out or to work.. Don't be! Just keep doing intermittent little leaves in between. This almost creates a confusion where your dog will not know how long you'll be gone. Which is not a bad thing!

Happy Sunday!

Day 2 separation anxiety practice

I left Dexter alone in his crate for 10 minutes today.  I noticed that he was very into his Kong when I set it in the crate. Lately he's been kind of ignoring it as I leave him. He was very focused on it today. I took a walk around the block just shy of 10 minutes and noticed him barking when I got back in front of the house. So, I'm not really sure how long he was barking.

After a few minutes of doing dishes I let him out and he didn't seem as attached to me as he usually is. We practiced stay again. He stayed several rooms away for 30 seconds until I called him to come get the treat. It was pretty awesome! So even though he's crying/barking still I believe he's making progress. I just have to keep at it.

I love that my dog loves me but I want him to be at least a little independent. Right now he's in the living room relaxing on the couch not at my feet for once haha. I don't know if its because our training is working or he's angry with me :)

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.” 

― Milan Kundera

Day 1 part 2

Part 2 of day 1.

About 6 hours after I practiced leaving Dexter alone Brandon and I tried it together. We went outside for 5 minutes. Dexter did not bark at all for the 5 minutes (compared to 2 mins and 30 seconds earlier) he did drool a little but I'm hoping that will slow as I continue this process. A definite improvement from  this morning.  Small...but big at the same time!

If you don't crate your dog and he's at a place he can see you leave you can do the same exercise but you'll have to actually get in your car and go around the corner for 5 mins then return and when you come back you have to ignore the dog until the dog is calm and settled possibly laying down then you approach the dog and praise. This way he learns that he gets recognized when he's calm.


I'm hopeful.

The plan for tomorrow is to get up early and try again around 9 and then again around 12 and once more around 4 or 5. This way I can bump the time up to 10 or 15 minutes.

Here's the D dog while I type

Come on and pay attention to me already! He's such an attention hog!

separation anxiety

So, if you don't know already many boxer dogs (and other breeds) can get pretty bad separation anxiety. Wait...Let me start off by saying I am NOT a professional dog trainer. I  just read a lot and do a lot of  research to help my own dog. We practiced leaving with our dog last year and got him to a good place where he didn't bark while we were gone. Recently he has gone back to his old ways so we're starting all over again. I'm also using this blog to keep track of our training sessions with him so I can see his progress.

Today I tricked him by putting on the black pants I usually wear for work and took my purse and put him in his crate with his kong with peanut butter. I stood outside and waited 5 minutes. He began barking at the 2 min 30 second mark so I waited. When I came back in I ignored him for about 4 minutes and let him out. He's quiet immediately as he sees me but I want him to know that its not just quiet we want its calm. So I don't reward him by letting him out until he is calm. A little while later I practiced stay with him and walked to another room. He used to be PERFECT with this. Now he starts to follow me after a certain point so we practiced this a little bit and he picked it up quickly.

When Brandon (my husband) gets home in a few I'm going to have him do it again with me later today to see how long it takes Dexter to start barking.

We're going to keep gradually building the time up to 10 mins..then 15...then 20 mins...then 25 t hen 30 mins. They say once you get to 30 mins you should be good. It did work the last time. I'm also going to practice starting my car but not leaving the driveway then eventually leaving the driveway. I hope to have a lot of progress by Saturday....Here goes

Maybe i'll bust out the thunder shirt again



Day 1- left house for 5 minutes....started barking at 2 mins 30 seconds

The journey so far.

Introduction

October 13, 2011 is when our Journey began. We had just been married 5 days earlier and decided we wanted to add on to our family.

 The story is not an automatic love story. It's a story filled with doubt, uncertainty, and a lot of hard work. We stopped to visit my grandmother who wasn't able to make it our wedding. She had been pretty sick. We stopped before we left for vacation and I saw a paper at their house and began looking through the pets section and saw an ad for boxer puppies. We had done CRAZY amounts of research and tests previously to determine what dog breed would be best for us. But in the end I went with my gut and my heart.
The day we returned from our little getaway to the blue ridge mountains we called and went that day. The puppies were everywhere and each one gorgeous but one was the most mellow (which now I think he acted this way just as a ploy for us to bring him home...and we did. His name was Brutus and we took him home.

But within 24 hours we began worrying about how much we might have to crate him or if we'd have enough room. We didn't even have a backyard for him to run around in.
So we panicked... we took him back.
We went home drank wine and pouted like little babies all night miserable. The very next morning I couldn't take it anymore. I said "Do you think we should go back and get him?" My husband said "Don't even say that because I'm getting in the car right now". So we went back and got him.

His name now is Dexter. and He's almost a year and half old now. We've gone through a lot with Dexter.
Lots of chew toys....2 crates....a toilet paper holder....some other casualties along the way

but all of it is worth it.

I've created this blog to document Dexter. Aside from my husband he's the love of my life and I know one day he won't be around and I want to remember every day we spent with him. So Starting now I'm documenting it all.

Love,
Dexter's mom