positive results from dexters training!

So It has been one week and one day since we changed the greetings and goings with dexter. We started gradual departures at just 5 minute intervals and had some whining.

Yesterday was the FIRST day we left dexter alone since my vacation for a longer period of time.

We did a couple things differently so its hard to pinpoint exactly what helped or if it was a combination. A few things we did:
-we have a crate in the bedroom for sleep and one in the living for when we leave. we moved his bed into the living room crate and use cozy blankets for his bed time crate. We practiced gradual departures and no dram hellos and goodbyes.

Brandon came home yesterday from work after having dexter in the crate for 5 hours and dexter was LAYING DOWN CALM and absolutely NO drool! Same happened today and when we let him out of his crate he's calm and just stretches.

Before he would drool profusely, be hunched over because he didnt want to lay in his drool, and he was itching to get out of the crate and go crazy.

Needless to say so far it's been a great success! We're still going to keep practicing little departures with him.

Also.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely crazy wonderful husband. Thank you to bre, zev, and brandons parents for coming to celebrate!

It's bed time I'm running on E.

Matthew Good - "Anti-Pop"

\

Everyone needs a feel GOOD anthem (pun intended)

All is full of love

I just have to say unplugging from facebook saved me a lot of wasted time.  My vacation comes to an end today.

We spent a lot of time cooking outside and cleaning up the hard.

Today I practiced a 5 minute departure with dexter in the morning and later in the evening.  He started to whine inside at the 2 minute mark.  Were not sure yet how long he does it.  At the 5 minute mark we came inside and when his body looked relaxed we let him out of the crate. He calmer down fast after and then after another. Few mins we praise him.

That's all we have so far! Back to the daily grind.

Doggy update!

So Brandon and I were about to go get his new shoes and I decided to stay. We had already locked dexter in his crate so I decided to use this as a training opportunity. I stayed outside for 5 minutes and listend to him bark :(. It was SOOOO hard! But I did it!
I went in and he was sitting there uncomfortably so I walked around and took off my purse checked my email and then came back and he was laying in the crate so I let him out and of course he ran around for about 2 minutes and so I did dishes (still ignoring him). Then I realized he wasnt following me so I checked the living room and he was laying on the floor so I praised him and told him what a good boy he was for calming down.

We have been working really hard on the doggy independence. He has not been following us around nearly as much! Ignoring his attention seaking behavior has made him relax alone a bit more than he used to. I was tripping over my feet on him sometimes!

We continue to recognize any and all good behavior to reinforce what a good boy he is. We also have been practicing stay in other rooms with him. I'm going to practice tomorrow with him again.

I'm trying to decide when its best to practice again since it stresses him out I dont want to let him out go through all the motions and put him right back in again. I'm going to have to ask denise about this.

I'm going to take dexter to the doggy barking lot on saturday to let him play with other dogs and just be a dog! Make sure you get your pup socializing so they remember they are a dog. Sometimes spending so much time around me and brandon I think dexter starts to think he's human too haha.

dexter calm after I let him out of his crate and ignored him for a few minutes

independence

Morning everybody!
Denise our "dog whisper" haha or common sense as I call it came over yesterday to sit down with us. I decided to keep a log/blog type entry each day or close to it on our progress.

First let me say that dexter is NOT a bad dog! I know some people may read this and when they hear separation anxiety they think a bad dog or a dog chewing on everything in the house. That is not the case with our dog. But I can tell and feel his anxiety and I want him to keep comfortable and happy while we're gone.

Does your dog have prewarning signs too of separation anxiety? (Every dog is different and has their own personality, its best to get a professional to help. This is not relevant for every dog)

1. Does your dog follow you everywhere? I mean EVERYWHERE.
2. Does your dog seek attention alot? Nudging, whining, barking, staring.
3. Does your dog drool when you're gone?
4. Does your dog try to break out of their crate?

We think it's adoreable that dexter follows us around and he constantly is looking at you placing his head on you and lately he's been finding ways to try and get you to pet him when hes on the upper part of the couch looking out the window. This is ATTENTION SEAKING behaviour....my dog is an attention hog haha.

So first we are ignorning this behaviour all together. We're not going to make eye contact until he gives up and walks away. A few minutes later we're going to say good boy and praise him. We want dexter to become a little more independent. He's already started to wonder around the house without us but he's still very clingy.

The hardest part of the upcoming weeks is going to be the no more big hellos and goodbyes.
Dogs tend to associate the door with a party. Everytime that door opens or closes its a party!

This means everytime brandon and I come home we have to ignore dexter until he calms down once he calms down we'll set a self timer for 5 mins. After 5 mins we'll pet and praise dexter. This teaches them that when you get home you take care of yourself first. If you praise them right after they calm down they'll learn to trick you by being quiet so you'll let them out of their crate right away. This would be teaching them to be quiet, not calm. You want them to learn calm.

The hardest part of this will be getting guest who come over to ingnore him until he's calm.

Denise is also sending us sit and stay exercises. So this way we can also get him to sit and stay when guests come over.

Lastly we're practicing gradual departures starting tomorrow when his new crate gets here.
We spoke with denise and she says it is not bad to put him in the crate while we're at work. Dogs do not have a sense of time whether its 1 hr or 10. The crate does not cause his anxiety, it us leaving that causes it. So I ordered this awesome heavy duty crate thats coming tomorrow. its going in the living room and will be open all the time when we are there to get him comfortable with it. The other crate will be just for sleeping in the bedroom.

We also got him a smaller thunder shirt that fits perfect and looks SO FRICKEN CUTE! We got him wearing it all the time for now. next week we'll take it on and off every couple of hours so he wont associate it with the crate or us leaving.
It's good to put this on at least an hour before you leave. or if your dog doesnt like thunder and it looks iffy that day put it on him/her ALL day not just when the storm starts.

BRE, since i'm not currently on facebook, I was talking to denise about dogs and fireworks. If you want to share this with gretchen. She said that it is best to ignore your dog when they freak out over fireworks. By giving in babying you're teaching them that its ok to be scared. You want to act calm so that they will learn to mimmock your reactions. They eventually learn...shes not coming to my rescue...she's calm....nothings happenings..everythings ok. Its hard to ignore becuase they're our little babies but it will nip his fear of loud noises in the butt fast!

Rugby thundershirt dexter!

And an oldie but goodie <3

In my life, I love you more.

know what you are worth and what you deserve

I was fortunate to spend some time with some great people last night. Self worth and self esteem became a topic on mind.

I think we all struggle with this a little bit and I found some good healthy tips on a website that I couldn't agree more with and I plan to live in action more. I think many of us could benefit from these.

1. Set an intention. (DECIDE what kind of a day you're going to have and remind yourself of this all day...Today is beautiful and perfect!)

2. Be true to yourself, Being a people pleaser is a very frustrating way to live. Get in the habit of pleasing yourself. You are responsible for your own happiness. Your feelings are important. (AMEN!)

3. Change your mental diet.  Avoid debby-downers. Don't let anyone bring you down

4. Be aware of what your monkey mind, the voice in your head, is saying. Keep focus on the great things and disregard or leave the negative.

5. Upgrade your physical diet. Bre will attest to this!!!

6. Stop comparing yourself to others. I think we all struggle with this one, and it can really be a detriment to your health mentally and physically. love what you have and are

7. Create an uplifting environment for yourself. 8. Celebrate your successes.

9. Be grateful.

10. Create a list of accomplishments and review it often. Give yourself credit!

11. Don’t take yourself, or life, too seriously. This one's easy for me!

12. Learn something new. Teach yourself somethign new! I always feel good after trying a new recipe.

13. Do things that stretch your comfort zone.

14. Do something nice for yourself. I'm feeling ice cream today!

15. Do something nice for someone else. (without expectation of getting anything back)

16. Spend time regularly doing things you find joyful.

17. Do something physical. Dog walks!

18. Spend time with supportive, uplifting people.  <3 

19. Create positive affirmations about yourself.

20. Allow yourself to be where you are. Meditation helps

21. Remind yourself often you are a miraculous, sacred, perfect expression of Life.

22. Spend some time just being. Nature!

My furnace wouldnt kick on this morning which wouldnt be a big deal but for some reason it's colder in my house than it is outside!

I missed yoga with my best friend and support bre So I need to make time to get in some yoga and help bre out with some planning for her upcoming big day!

Instead after the furnace got fixed, Dexter and I went for a walk, I vaccummed, did dishes, cleaned floors, I even vaccumed window wills haha.

I'm waiting for brandon to get home so I can finish raking the leaves the last owners left all over the place.

Dexter loves the sun, its the first time I saw him sit and lay on the grass just for fun.

Oh! and the update on my unplugged to facebook week. I haven't logged on since! It was actually easier than I thought it would be.

First I found tiny puppy pictures of dexter!! look how little he was!

 And ...now!

Unplug

I think I'm going to unplug myself more from things like facebook to spend more time in the real world. I think blogging is healthy but facebook can be such a time killer sometimes in a bad way.  So.... Try it! I am starting tomorrow! I won't look at Facebook or be on Facebook.

It's going to be hard since ill be on vacation, but I look forward to new home owner yardwork!

See you all next week!

you're not happy unless you think you're happy.

 “Either once only, or every day. If you do something once it’s exciting, and if you do it every day it’s exciting. But if you do it, say, twice or just almost every day, it’s not good any more.” -Andy Warhol

What's my point? It has to be constant and everyday!

Starting today (with my am yoga burn routine) I am going to get back into doing yoga EVERY day. Whether it be a quick 15 min work out or a full hour of yoga burn or flow.

Everyone should have a morning routine to start their day right. It sets the pace for what the rest of your day is going to be like. I want mine to be full of more energy and happiness.

This is my happiness project.

Yoga everyday, green tea, and puppy walks.
I already eat a good breakfast everyday. I've made that a habit.

There are a lot of negative things in the world and even the happiest of us are constantly fighting them.
Don't kid yourself bad stuff happens. We sometimes feel lost or depressed and you have to acknowledge that first.

I have such few real friends I can count them on one hand. In fact the only three people I converse with on a regular basis = 3. My husband, my sister and my rock bre.

I like to think of myself as an outgoing and friendly person. I like to give everyone a chance, but I can't seem to find people who are the easy going people I hope to find.

I want more good REAL honest people in my life. It sucks wanting to do something like go for a walk or go to a park and then get stuck going alone. Once in a while it's definitely good, but not all the time.

It probably stems back to being an outcast because lets be honest I was never the popular type. I was insecure and I learned to mask that by being loud and outgoing. I never feel smart enough, talented enough, hip enough, or cool enough for half the people out there.

But I know that half of them are probably putting on a show too because they're just as insecure.

Anyways, I want to be proactive about this debby downer issue. I need some friends.
I need to find a new way to make some more real friends.
Any groups out there I can join?
Suggestions?
Friends? haha

Do what's right

So, I emailed denise who did puppy classes with us and she's going to come next Sunday to help us work with dexter and his anxiety.  She thinks we,should be able to nip it in the bud, since overall he's a well mannered dog. 

I want to train my dog right and I want him to be happy and comfortable, so this is our next step and I'm excited!

Reach out for help early on!

rich in love

I just want to say that yesterday was GORGEOUS!
it was almost 60 and sunny with just a bit of wind but it felt so good to walk and feel sun on your face!

So on my day off Brandon and I decided to take dexter for another walk.
He is SO good now on a leash! He never barks at any other dogs. I don't know if its because he's used to socializing with other dogs from the puppy classes and barking lot but he doesnt care to bark at another dog. He does sometimes get distracted and stops to look but doesnt put up a fuss.

He walks by people no problem its just...awesome!

Today I walked him again, and after our walk we did a couple minutes of "stay". We worked on noises. I left him at the bedroom walked down the hall and opened the door to the pantry/doggy treat door and closed it hard. He DID NOT move!  after about 30 seconds i came down the hall to praise him.

I was able to get down the stairs in the kitchen today too NO problems at all! I even touched the bells on the door (for his potty) and then came up the stairs down the hall and he still STAYED! of course after i praised and released him he ran down the hall to the kitchen to the bells to see who was here hahah.

He seems to be retaining this info pretty good even though hes crated. Brandon says when he comes home it doenst appear to be as drooly and last time it did not look like he made any attemps to chew on his crate. Here's hoping today will be the same if not better. He's only going to be in there for less than 2 hrs.


thinking about starting a full on dog blog since thats what this has become haha. I'm not an expert by any means but its a day by day process of retraining yourself more so than your dog.

No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich- Louis Sabin

with that said...I'm out....theres a dog sleeping on my feet ha

Stay day 2

Well, my keys are definitely a trigger for dexter getting anxious to me leaving. So, today I picked up my keys and carried them around jingling while I matched socks and had breakfast. 

I have to keep showing positive recognition also, when he goes outside for me. Right now, half the time its a stare down because he doesn't want to go out in the cold.

So we practiced stay in the bedroom where we keep his crate. I have not done it yet in the crate.  I was fine getting down the hall but once I walked down the kitchen stairs and touched the floor near the door he would come running.  So we went back to the room and tried again 2nd, and third time he stayed!

Alas, I had to go to work so I set his toys in the crate and decided to crack the curtains, when I turned around he was just sitting in his crate haha.

I started reading. The power of positive dog training
By pat miller....read it!

Stay

I really wish we would've worked more on "stay" like our puppy class teacher said.  Now, its harder.

This morning I didn't have much time but a little so I had dexter sit in the bedroom and stay using the word and hand gesture. I took a step back then praised.  I managed to get down the hall and into the kitchen by the end.  I want to start this in his crate later. I work until 5 but brandon gets home by 2 I'm hoping he can play with him then maybe work on stay in the crate .

Dog goneit

Well my puppy has separation anxiety. The first step is admitting!

Now....what to try to fix it.  I'm going to start with diffusing triggers that he associates with me leaving.  I'm going to randomly put my shoes and coat on but sit down to watch tv or have breakfast.  As days go on I'm going to keep mixing it up by picking up my keys and purse and then go do my hair.  

When we get home were going to continue giving little attention at first.

Were going to start practicing putting him in the crate and taking a step back. We'll wait a minute then let him out and praise if he remained calm.  I hope to get to 5 minutes tomorrow.  I just hope he doesn't regress when I have to crate him Sunday for work.  That's my biggest fear.

We're going to keep working on walks and heel to keep establishing alpha position.  I think by also getting him to stay and let me walk up the stairs first will help with alpha position too.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  

We will start by saying his anxiety is a 10 just for scale sake and ill keep track of his progress!