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- Thread starter Doberluv
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Thanks you guys. He's really not all that great, but a little better.
Thank you Barb. He is doing OK...just had his liver enzymes checked again and they're not worse than they were but they're not better either. The vet here said he's going to run it by the vet he saw for all his procedures because "she has more initials after her name and is the real liver expert" (lol) wasn't that cute? Anyhow, he would like to see them come down more because the liver should rejuvinate a little bit....it's capable of it, but it doesn't appear that his is....the more damaged cells (which some of these enzymes indicate) the worse it is. So, in other words, it doesn't look like it's gotten any worse, but not better either. So.....I'll probably hear more on Tues or Wed. But Lyric feels pretty good I think...a little less energy but otherwise pretty bouncy and happy. Thanks for asking.
But I will try not stress over this dog reactiveness part of Lyric...just manage it and not worry about trying to over come the whole thing. It's just not worth making too big of a fuss about it. He probably won't be with me as long as he would have and I don't want to spend that time left with him obsessing about having him be perfect. He is just about perfect in every other way (I love this guy dearly) and I figure it's just one of those things.
Thank you Barb. He is doing OK...just had his liver enzymes checked again and they're not worse than they were but they're not better either. The vet here said he's going to run it by the vet he saw for all his procedures because "she has more initials after her name and is the real liver expert" (lol) wasn't that cute? Anyhow, he would like to see them come down more because the liver should rejuvinate a little bit....it's capable of it, but it doesn't appear that his is....the more damaged cells (which some of these enzymes indicate) the worse it is. So, in other words, it doesn't look like it's gotten any worse, but not better either. So.....I'll probably hear more on Tues or Wed. But Lyric feels pretty good I think...a little less energy but otherwise pretty bouncy and happy. Thanks for asking.
But I will try not stress over this dog reactiveness part of Lyric...just manage it and not worry about trying to over come the whole thing. It's just not worth making too big of a fuss about it. He probably won't be with me as long as he would have and I don't want to spend that time left with him obsessing about having him be perfect. He is just about perfect in every other way (I love this guy dearly) and I figure it's just one of those things.
Nope...not out of the woods yet. lol. Just keep on socializing the livin' daylights out of him with new dogs every day if you can. That's probably what's wrong with Lyric....there just aren't that many dogs around where I live that he could meet every day....just class once a week and a dog here and there otherwise...not enough I guess. I really went out of my way to find people for him to socialize with and other things, situations etc, just not enough with dogs. He's so brave about all kinds of other noisy things, he could walk right next to a jack hammer and not give a hoot or walk on weird surfaces...gun shots... the vets, doing weird things to him, anything else.
Well that is where he DEFINITELY has Orson beat to pieces then! Orson HATES loud things, Fireworks, booms from the railroad, most of the kids mechanical toys like RC cars & robots, he doesn't care a great deal for skateboards or those razor scooters either.
I really want to work on it, but honestly I don't even know how to go about it
I really want to work on it, but honestly I don't even know how to go about it
Go Dober and Lyric! Any little bit is a reason to cheer!
Sawyer is fine on leash until we come across a group of dogs that are playing. Then he wants to get in there and make them go to their seperate corners and behave. :lol-sign:
He also has a huge thing about yellow dogs. He does not like yellow dogs doing anything except sitting quietly in a corner. Especially female yellow dogs.
Sawyer is fine on leash until we come across a group of dogs that are playing. Then he wants to get in there and make them go to their seperate corners and behave. :lol-sign:
He also has a huge thing about yellow dogs. He does not like yellow dogs doing anything except sitting quietly in a corner. Especially female yellow dogs.
I forgot to come back to this thread and missed some great posts. A-r-g-g...
Lynn, his recall is super good in every other situation I can think of. He just seems to get beside himself if I fail to "set him up" before he gets too close. I don't do the thing where he is to focus on me exclusively. I want him to see the other dog at a distance where he's not so aroused and reward him for keeping his composure rather than having him avoid the whole thing by not looking at the other dog at all. It's only when I mess up, am somehow caught off guard and all of a sudden, it seems we're almost face to face with too little distance between. If I had more dogs to practice with at home, day after day, I could get someone to work with me the way it is described in Click to Calm. But there just isn't anybody. And when I'm at home, there is no need for him to have this skill. However....when I'm visiting in Seattle or some other dog-crowded place.....a-h-k-k-k-k...lol.
Tosca sounds like a dream, but you're right. If she's that trusting, she might get herself into trouble. On the other hand, she probably sends out good signals to other dogs, hopefully. When Lyric was younger, he loved every dog he met and still didn't ever really learn how to greet in polite dog speak. LOL. He'd go right up to dogs and thrash his paws around, on their face, anywhere....."Hey! Let's play!" And he'd hardly give them any time to check each other out first.
Zoom....those groups of dogs really get their attention, huh. So, Sawyer wants to organize them. LOL. It's funny because if there is more than one dog, that is apt to make Lyric tend to want to play, not argue. "Oh....this must be a party. Can I play?" Yup...those yellow dogs. Nothing worse. ROFLOL. Too funny.
Angie, People skateboard, roller blade, ride bikes, run, yell, wear weird clothes right past Lyric....inches away and he pays absolutely no attention to them. Somehow, he got use to that and never bothered him. I have a sort of "shooting range" right on my property and while the dogs are inside, my son and I target shoot. At first, I fed the dogs cheese while my son shot. The only dogs that are a little nervous are the girls. My two boys don't even flinch. Thunder storms don't bother any of the dogs.
There are ways to desensatize your dog to those things....just gradually. Start at low, low levels and work up. They sell sound tracks of thunder storms (I don't know where) and you can play them all day long at a barely perceptable level of volume....ever so gradually working it up...over months of time. Skate boards and things, you can get one or ask a neighbor kid to let you fiddle with his. Tip it upside down so it doesn't move and feed treats on it. Or use a clicker for when he gets a little closer to it. Then turn it upright and move it back and forth a little, rewarding as your dog shows curiosity, not fear. Then stand one foot on it and move it....just work up so that eventually you're out in your driveway playing on it. Then try it with other kids. Dogs can get use to these man-made things if it's done gradually enough and where good things (food) is associated with them too. And that attention and fuss isn't made over them when they're over reactive to them.
Lynn, his recall is super good in every other situation I can think of. He just seems to get beside himself if I fail to "set him up" before he gets too close. I don't do the thing where he is to focus on me exclusively. I want him to see the other dog at a distance where he's not so aroused and reward him for keeping his composure rather than having him avoid the whole thing by not looking at the other dog at all. It's only when I mess up, am somehow caught off guard and all of a sudden, it seems we're almost face to face with too little distance between. If I had more dogs to practice with at home, day after day, I could get someone to work with me the way it is described in Click to Calm. But there just isn't anybody. And when I'm at home, there is no need for him to have this skill. However....when I'm visiting in Seattle or some other dog-crowded place.....a-h-k-k-k-k...lol.
Tosca sounds like a dream, but you're right. If she's that trusting, she might get herself into trouble. On the other hand, she probably sends out good signals to other dogs, hopefully. When Lyric was younger, he loved every dog he met and still didn't ever really learn how to greet in polite dog speak. LOL. He'd go right up to dogs and thrash his paws around, on their face, anywhere....."Hey! Let's play!" And he'd hardly give them any time to check each other out first.
Zoom....those groups of dogs really get their attention, huh. So, Sawyer wants to organize them. LOL. It's funny because if there is more than one dog, that is apt to make Lyric tend to want to play, not argue. "Oh....this must be a party. Can I play?" Yup...those yellow dogs. Nothing worse. ROFLOL. Too funny.
Angie, People skateboard, roller blade, ride bikes, run, yell, wear weird clothes right past Lyric....inches away and he pays absolutely no attention to them. Somehow, he got use to that and never bothered him. I have a sort of "shooting range" right on my property and while the dogs are inside, my son and I target shoot. At first, I fed the dogs cheese while my son shot. The only dogs that are a little nervous are the girls. My two boys don't even flinch. Thunder storms don't bother any of the dogs.
There are ways to desensatize your dog to those things....just gradually. Start at low, low levels and work up. They sell sound tracks of thunder storms (I don't know where) and you can play them all day long at a barely perceptable level of volume....ever so gradually working it up...over months of time. Skate boards and things, you can get one or ask a neighbor kid to let you fiddle with his. Tip it upside down so it doesn't move and feed treats on it. Or use a clicker for when he gets a little closer to it. Then turn it upright and move it back and forth a little, rewarding as your dog shows curiosity, not fear. Then stand one foot on it and move it....just work up so that eventually you're out in your driveway playing on it. Then try it with other kids. Dogs can get use to these man-made things if it's done gradually enough and where good things (food) is associated with them too. And that attention and fuss isn't made over them when they're over reactive to them.
Good for Lyric and you! Anything is better than nothing at all. Tiny steps means improvement. Keep it up and your will get where you want to be.
Harmony went through a phase of DA before I corrected her thyroid when it went loopy. It was not fun taking her out on walks and having people look at you like your dog was rabid if the other dog touched yours. We started our own private bubble that others were not allowed to enter for sometime.
Harmony went through a phase of DA before I corrected her thyroid when it went loopy. It was not fun taking her out on walks and having people look at you like your dog was rabid if the other dog touched yours. We started our own private bubble that others were not allowed to enter for sometime.
