settling in (august 14-31)

over the next couple weeks, i settled in to having a new dog in my house. i was just settling into denver, which had its own challenges, and now i brought a behaviorally challenged dog into the mix. i wanted to take it slow. so, for the next couple weeks, i had no visitors come over to my house. i wanted sweetie to feel safe, that she could predict the routine in this new environment and she wouldn't feel forced to react to scary stimuli.

while i had been riding my bike to work, i returned to driving once again so that i could come home on my lunches and let sweetie out for potty breaks. as advised by her former foster, she could only go 5-6 hours before needing to go outside, so i knew with my long shelter hours she couldn't go all day on her own.

our routine became, well, routine. i would give her meds in the morning and leave a couple food dispensing toys for her while she was baby-gated into the kitchen. the first days went great - but when i left her for a little longer in the morning, she had an accident. so, we continued on the 4-5 hours in the morning in her crate, a break and then left out in the kitchen the rest of the afternoon. also, at the same time, i decreased her clomipramine dosage from 3 tabs to 2 tabs a day.

thankfully, that one accident in the morning after leaving for work was the last. i started leaving her in the kitchen (baby-gated) in the morning and out still in the afternoon. then, i started leaving her un-baby-gated with free run of the house with - again, success.

then, we had total and complete success beyond what even i thought was possible when i left her out one day and couldn't get back to the house - but again there was no accident. she went over 8 hours without a potty break!

this completely housebroken behavior continues today and i no longer need to go home on my lunches to let her out. she goes out in the morning for a good 45 minute romp in the backyard and then is OK to be left alone until i return after work. she now has a "crate it" command in the morning in which she runs into her crate and then receives her breakfast in food dispensing toys.

i usually find her when i return home in the evening snuggled up on my bed or happily dancing in the kitchen when i walk through the door. she is a submissive urinator, however, and it's important to get her outside first before we have any cuddle sessions.

the drive to colorado (august 17 & 18)

after i adopted sweets (aka sweetie, sweetsie), i had to bring her back to colorado. there was no way that i was going to put her on a plane to send her here. riding in cargo is difficult enough for normal dogs - but a dog that has a fear of people, has difficulty adjusting to new environments and is sound sensitive, i was afraid it would be too traumatic for her.

so on august 17, we hauled off on our roadtrip across california, nevada, utah, wyoming and finally colorado. to make the trip as easy on her as possible, i set up a comfortable back seat in the rental car, maintained her high level clomipramine dosage (3 tabs a day) and also used alprazolam (xanax) for some situational anxiety relief.

while she barked at the toll attendant at the carquinez strait bridge, the trip was fairly low key. she even pottied outside at a couple gas stops! she slept a lot of the way.

we made it to salt lake city the first night and stayed at a dog-friendly hotel. i was worried she would alarm bark throughout the night, but she was quiet (and i was relieved). we, thankfully, didn't run into any people while walking or leaving our room, and she slept beside me the entire night on the bed. i had classical music playing - to drown out any outside noises - and blocked the door and windows with chairs to eliminate the temptation of bark patrol.

on monday, we were on the road to colorado, and the remainder of the trip was fairly uneventful. we arrived in denver around 5 pm, and i brought her to my place. until i had her there, i hadn't realized how perfect of a set-up it would be. quiet, low-key neighborhood; little traffic; 6 foot high fencing and a neighbor that was barely home.

she explored the backyard, and given her noise sensitivity and aversion to the outdoors in san francisco, i was worried about my city surroundings. but she took to it like a champ - exploring the grass and ivy intently with relaxed body postures and a high confident tail.

i let her settle in for about a 1/2 hour, and then crated her in my bedroom so I could return the car to the rental agency. unfortunately when i returned, i found that she had urinated in the crate. figuring that she hadn't got around to going to the bathroom outside, i chalked it up to first day jitters and hoped her crate and potty skills would improve.

in the sphere

this blog is for documentation purposes.

it is an attempt to chronicle my work and life with sweetie. sweetie is a 1.3 month old labradoodle that i adopted in august 2008.

sweetie was brought into a limited admission animal shelter in august 2007. she was evaluated at her originating shelter in the central valley of california and deemed suitable for adoption. she was 4 months old and surrendered with two other littermates. she was to be euthanized the day before our team arrived but was not.

upon entry into her new shelter, she was spayed and ready for adoption. she was not as outgoing as her sister (who was adopted within a couple weeks), instead hesitant and fearful in the new setting.

difficulties first surfaced when sweetie growled at a woman who wanted to pet her while she was lying down in the park. then she attended a pet fair and growled there as well. concerned about her behavioral health, we began working with a trainer dedicated to her case and began pursuing foster options. she was made unavailable for adoption.

unfortunately for sweetie, the trainer made some but little progress in the challenging environment and no foster home was found for her at 5 months of age or during her 10 month stay at the shelter. her behavioral health declined considerably. she was scared on her walks, petrified of other dogs and people, would not go to the bathroom outside and constantly wanted to return to the shelter. in the shelter, she would alarm bark at the presence of new dogs or people - and was relegated to a kennel with no visibility of passersby.

despite these considerable concerns and unadoptable behavior, i believed that sweetie had the ability to be rehabilitated and placed as a loving companion into a new home. while she was scared and reactive to new people, she was very social and was completely trusting once she made friends (which usually only took a couple meetings). and while she was petrified of unknown dogs outdoors, she had fabulous dog-dog skills and was a great player. there was hope, but it was dwindling fast.

by the beginning of 2008, sweetie continued to deteriorate, was put on medication for anxiety; however she had instances of growling at strangers and was reactive with barking - and on a couple of occasions, lunging as well. by spring 2008, we were at the end of options, so we call in a renowned board certified vet behaviorist to assess her case. after obtaining history and observations, she determined she had the potential for rehabilitation (given the shelter's resources) but she needed a foster home ASAP.

with no fosters in sight, she took sweetie into her home for a month long foster. while rough at first, she improved, was able to meet new people and live in a multi-dog household. bolstered by her behavior, she was placed in a short term foster home to continue her road to recovery. despite having no training support, the new foster was extremely dedicated to sweetie and provided a dream home environment.

unfortunately, another foster home could not be found (to help her generalize all that she had learned in her two temporary homes) - and despite no decline in behavior health, the shelter had slated her for euthanasia. given the mismanagement of her case and my belief that she had the potential and ability to rehabilitate, i adopted her. this was the least her case deserved.

this is our story together.